Council leader’s list of pledges to Telford

Council leader Shaun Davies said his cabinet would continue to invest £80 million a year in protecting the most vulnerable adults and children in the community, including those who are victims and survivors of sexual exploitation and domestic abuse.

He also said the council would invest £50m in roads and footpaths across Telford and Wrekin and continue to invest in creating new jobs for residents, and that the council would fight any proposed merger with Shropshire Council.

The pledges have been made as part of a report to the council's cabinet, which meets on May 30.

The report says that recent local elections were effectively a community-wide consultation on the future focus of the organisation and how it delivers its priorities.

Councillor Davies said: "Residents overwhelmingly endorsed our approach to invest, protect and care for Telford and Wrekin. The report to cabinet is our first step to ensuring our manifesto will be implemented in full as council policy during the next four years.

“Our ambition is for Telford and Wrekin to be a family-friendly borough. We will seek to protect, care and continue to invest in services and the community despite the severe financial challenges that still lie ahead.”

To support the work, the council has proposed 13 themes.

Inclusive

They include working for every community, improving health and wellbeing across Telford and Wrekin, securing the best start in life for children and young people, investing in Telford and Wrekin, supporting inclusive growth, jobs and new skills, supporting home owners and renters and making Telford and Wrekin safer.

Others include a home for heroes, improving transport in Telford and Wrekin, ensuring a sustainable environment in Telford and Wrekin, our past, present and future, making Telford and Wrekin a great place to visit and culture, leisure and arts at the heart of Telford and Wrekin.

Councillor Davies added: “These themes and actions build on our track record of delivery and achievements for and with the community over the past eight years.

“They provide a foundation for the minimum that we will seek to deliver over the life of the administration over the next four years.

“We know that delivering on these commitments in their own right will be challenging and we will do this despite a further £30m budget saving by 2022, uncertainty over the government’s funding model for local authorities and a lack of certainty over the future of adult social care.

“To ensure these commitments and objectives are driven, we will revise the Council Plan and Community Strategy. A new plan will be presented to cabinet in July and a revised community strategy will be presented to cabinet in the autumn.”