leaders policy statement july 2013

7/28/2019 Leaders Policy Statement July 2013

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fairprosperous

democratic

birmingham

working

to

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LeadersPolicy Statement2013


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L E A D E R S P O L I C Y S T AT E M E N T 2 0 1 3

Leaders introduction:

Working together or a air, prosperous and

democratic Birmingham 02

Looking ahead:

An emerging new model o City Government 04

Valuing our employees 08

1. A Fair City: Tackling deprivation and inequality

and improving lie chances 09

Social Cohesion and Equality 09

A city that supports amilies and values children

and young people 13

Health and Wellbeing 16

2. A Prosperous City: Supporting jobs and sustainable growth 18

Economic Development, Transport, Skills and Jobs 18

A Social Enterprise City 22

Using the councils buying power better 22

Providing new homes 23

International strategy 24

Culture and the visitor and creative economy 24

A Green and Smart City 25

3. A Democratic City: Involving local people and neighbourhoods 29

Public Engagement 31

Local Decision Making 32

Neighbourhood Strategy and Transorming Place 33

Community Saety 33

Contents


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Our rst annual Policy Statement explained how we would take orward thecommitments in our 2012 Election Maniesto. This years statement showswhat we have achieved over the year and sets out the priorities or action in

201314. Our aim is to be open and transparent so that people can engagewith our priorities and judge our progress.

Alongside these ambitions we are having to contend with the most drasticcuts ever in local government unding, including cuts o over 100m in thecurrent year. In addition, the organisation we inherited suered rom a lack o

strategic vision and momentum. One o our biggest challenges has been torebuild a sense o direction and shared purpose across the organisation.

The city aces huge economic and social challenges in the years ahead. Wemust respond to these challenges and develop a radical new approach togoverning the city and providing public services, re-stating the role o thecity council. So this years statement also gives an outline o the direction ochange to come.

Despite all o this, we have secured some real achievements during the year:

Introduced the Living Wage or council employees and adopted our

Business Charter or Social Responsibility to get our contractorsto ollow us

Taken steps to drive orward improvements in saeguarding or childrenin the city, with a specic ocus on improving ront line practice

Successully integrated the 79m Public Health unction into thecity council

Secured 63.1m unding or the Paradise Circus redevelopment which willopen up a key part o the city centre or regeneration

Set up the city centre Enterprise Zone and launched our other economic

growth zones to support key sectors Established the Birmingham Jobs Fund and launched the Young Talent or

Business Programme and the 1000 apprenticeships in 100 days challenge,ollowing rapid work by a Commission on Youth Unemployment

Opened up the city council by creating a web streaming service ormeetings, with 70,000 people accessing it in just a ew months across40 plus meetings

Embedded a victims centred approach to community saety across thecouncil and partner services through the adoption o a Victims Charter andthe appointment o a Victims Champion.

Leaders introduction:

Working together or a air, prosperous and

democratic Birmingham


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We also set up the Green and Smart City Commissions, both o which haveproduced early reports, and we held an Arts and Culture Summit, a SportsSummit and a Symposium on Homelessness. We published a White Paper onSocial Inclusion and we have set up the Challenge Unit that will support the

Cabinet Member or Social Cohesion in his role o providing challenge to allparts o the council on these issues. The ideas generated by this work and thenetworks o enthusiastic contributors they have brought together will eed into urther action in the year ahead.

This has been the year in which we have aced up to the reality o thechallenges aced by the city. We have initiated a comprehensive and intensiveseries o service reviews to take a resh look at all services, generate new wayso working and identiy the things we may have to stop providing. We willidentiy the new strategic role o the city council and drive orward devolutionand localisation with ar more pace, so that it becomes real to local people.

To succeed we must work as one organisation ocused on shared priorities.We must ocus on our core purpose o serving the people o Birminghamand turn outwards to partner organisations and community groups tohelp us deliver this. Importantly we must also reach out and orm strongerpartnerships across the city region.

Three words capture our mission:

Fairness to protect the most vulnerable in our city, open up opportunities tothe most excluded and narrow the gap in lie chances between our citizens

Prosperity to help make Birmingham the Enterprise Capital o Britain and

create a Green City and a Smart City that provides growth and jobs or all

Democracy to deliver on our vision or devolution and localisation andto rebuild engagement in local democracy by putting local people andcommunities at the heart o everything we do.

Our overriding priorities or this year are to make progress in:

Tackling deprivation and inequality, protecting as ar as possible those worstaected by the cuts

Improving educational perormance

Supporting amilies and making young people and children saer

Helping people into work

Setting out clear long-term plans or new homes and transport inrastructure

Taking orward the recommendations o our Green and SmartCity commissions

Driving orward devolution and localisation.

In the ace o growing challenges we have urther stiened our resolveto become even more ambitious, with a commitment to turn adversityinto opportunity.

Albert BoreLeader


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A Resilient City and an Activist Council

Birmingham will need to be resilient to get through the years ahead anda resilient city needs an Activist Council. Birmingham has always pulled

together and adapted to change by being bold, inventive and creative.The role o an Activist Council is to support that resilience, that unity andthat creativity.

An Activist Council is open to new ideas, new partnerships and new wayso working. It understands that its role is to provide leadership, to brokerrelationships, agreements and solutions and to support the enterprise andinitiative o others.

A resilient city has strong relationships between the public, private andsocial sectors. It succeeds through working together and building up thestrength o each to take action. It does not just create opportunities or themost able but also cares or the most vulnerable.

Working together, doing things dierently

There will need to be big changes in how we operate i we are to maintain anacceptable level o local public services and achieve the outcomes we wantto see within the severely reduced unding that will be available. We needto develop a new model o city government that can support the ollowingchanges in the way we work:

Integration o services and budgets, or example through the Single Local

Growth Fund, through Community Budgets and through integration oHealth and Social Care. This will allow us to reduce costs and allocate moneymore eectively and to capture the savings rom better targeted services.

We know that we can do this even more eectively i government allows usmore fexibility in how we manage and target budgets.

Looking ahead:

An emerging new model o City Government


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Whole Place public services

We see Whole Place working as a key element to tackling deprivation andinequality by delivering more cost-eective outcomes through better joint

working across statutory, non-statutory and private organisations locally.We recognise that given the scale o Birmingham, we will at least initiallyneed to adopt a thematic approach at city level, and implement in a

geographically phased way in some areas. Our early areas o ocus at citylevel will include:

Older people: A transormational project to bring together social careand health work around Birminghams older people. Through integratedplanning and care, we intend to reduce unnecessary admissions andcosts to the public sector at the same time as improving outcomes orolder people

Young people and amilies: Focusing on integrated approaches to earlyhelp across all agencies, third sector and private organisations. We willwork to reduce uture demand at the highest levels o need, includingtroubled amilies, and to ensure that our most disadvantaged youngpeople are able to maximise their potential rom education and training

Growth, skills and training: Negotiating greater infuence in directingskills unding locally. This will enable the supply o skills to be matchedmore closely to the needs o the local economy. We will work with localemployers to ensure a coherent skills and training oer.

Shiting spending rom acute (problem fxing) services to prevention.

It costs much less to prevent problems occurring, or example through earlyintervention with amilies and children, public health initiatives to reduce illhealth or community housing maintenance schemes or small repairs, than todeal with the consequences o delays through hospital services, the criminaljustice system, major housing repairs and so on.

Engaging local people and helping communities to make their owncontribution to tackling local problems and designing better local services.

We need to value the enormous contribution o active citizenship andvoluntary work in our neighbourhoods and the knowledge and judgemento people when it comes to dealing with local issues. We need to buildstronger local civic governance in our local communities. We also need tohelp people make better lie choices and to take control o their lives soreducing the incidence o chronic health problems and drug and alcoholdependency. We need to help people to gain better skills and qualicationsand enable people to live independent lives in the community.

Developing a wider range o very local providers or hubs such as

schools, community organisations and housing associations providing a

wider integrated support to the lie o the neighbourhood.


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Transorming Places

A key element o the new model or city government is the ocus onlocal governance and neighbourhood working in all services not just

those that are devolved to districts. By coming together to ocus onthe local places in which people live we can nd the linkages between

health, housing, education, policing, social care, welare to work andenvironmental services and design services that better meet the needso individuals and communities. Instead o housing management orenvironmental services we will deliver neighbourhood management andneighbourhood services.

A Community Budget initiative is already underway in Shard End andwill assist in the development o this model. We want to make sure localpeople are at the heart o decision making and able to get the best romthe more limited resources the council will have in uture.

We will be bringing together perormance inormation across a range oservices at the district level supporting the role o district committees inholding services to account on behal o local residents.

Redesigning the machinery o city government

To achieve this it is clear that we will need to redesign the machinery olocal government and make it work better or the world we now live in.Over the year ahead we will be expanding our vision or a new model o city

government and engaging with the government, the political parties andothers to build support or change. Moreover, we can already begin to seethe outline o that new model.

It will require devolution o unding and decision making to three levels what we call a Triple Devolution strategy:

1. The City Region. The city council is concerned not just with the deliveryo services within the city boundary but also with the wider economy o theGreater Birmingham area, stretching across the conurbation and into thesurrounding commuter districts. We must operate at that level to support

economic growth and invest in transport and other inrastructure.2. The City. At the city-wide level it is vital that we work even more closelywith our partners in the Health Service, the Police and Fire services, ourschools, colleges and universities and the Department o Work and Pensionsto achieve shared objectives.

3. The Neighbourhood (supported by our devolved District and Wardstructures). We are also committed to devolving and localising our serviceswithin the city and enabling local communities to have a greater say over themanagement o their neighbourhoods. It is at the neighbourhood level that

community groups can make a direct contribution to the goals we have set

or the city.


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Above all we need to nd ways o getting all three levels o the tripledevolution working in harmony. Integration o health and social care atthe city level will mean nothing without a neighbourhood and communitylevel ocus on helping people to be healthier and more independent. The

regeneration o local neighbourhoods will require links to the city regioneconomic strategy and the provision o transport inrastructure and housingthat can make it easier or people to nd work and a home.

Public services as we know them were largely designed in the last century andhave not been signicantly altered since. We aim to challenge conventionalthinking and set in place an agenda or change.

Government enablesjoining up of fundingunder community budgets.

2

Districts provideintegrated neighbourhoodmanagement and linkinto local hubs andcity-wide services.

THE CITY

REGION

THE CITY

THE

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Strategic approach toeconomic development,infrastructure investment,land use planning, housingsupply and skills.

Integrated public serviceswith accountablecommissioning. Health,social care and support,community safety, housing,environment, etc.

Local hubs such as one-stopshops, health centres,

schools, housing associationsor community organisationsproviding services andsupport community action.

Government devolvesa single funding pot.

City council andother services devolvefunding and decision

making to districts andneighbourhoods.

3

1

ONE-STOPSHOPS

HEALTHCENTRES

SCHOOLS

The Triple Devolution model ocity government


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The public servants o the city perorm a vital role in ensuring its social andeconomic success, oten in very challenging circumstances. These are verydicult times or public sector workers with extensive redundancies madeinevitable by the depth and speed o the spending cuts, as well as on-goinguncertainty about their uture role.

We cannot promise to eliminate compulsory redundancies but we will worktirelessly to keep them to a minimum.

Equally, we cannot hope to deliver our aims as set out in this statement

without the support and whole hearted commitment o our sta. So we are

arming our Fresh Start programme to provide more support to employeesand to encourage that commitment and perormance.

We believe that no public employees in this city should be orced to work oran inadequate wage, so we implemented the Living Wage as soon as we tookoce last year. We would urge all other public services operating in the city toollow suit and we have launched our Business Charter or Social Responsibilityto encourage our contractors to ollow our example.

Closer working with our sta (Fresh Start)

We are engaging more with employees, to provide: Listening sessions with the Leader and Deputy Leader or all employees

A ocus on employee health and wellbeing and preventative measures

Robust management development pathways or all council managers todrive consistency and support or managers and the organisation

Economic support or employees through utilising tax ecient salarysacrice schemes (Child Care Vouchers, Cycle To Work, Green Cars,Additional Leave), generating NI savings or the council to reinvest

Sta discounts with local retailers rom applying the signicant

purchasing power o the council

An employee volunteering opportunity scheme launched to support ourlocalisation agenda

Internships, work experience and other opportunities or young peoplethrough the launch o B Inspired

A ocus on celebrating employee diversity (e.g. LGBT Network)

Recognition or excellent attendance amongst employees.

Valuing our employees


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Our caring, education and health services exist to create a airer citythrough giving young people a good chance in lie, helping people tolive healthier lives and caring or those in need o support. They are a vitalresource or reducing inequality, alongside the care that communities,amilies and individuals are able to oer. We are also determined to break thecycle o unemployment and dependency that blights too many householdswithin the city.

The citys tremendous diversity and cultural mix has or a long time beenone o its great strengths driving innovation and giving us close links toeconomies around the world. We must ensure that this economic and social

advantage is ully exploited in the years ahead.

Social Cohesion and EqualityThe city remains very unequal

1. A Fair City: Tackling deprivation and inequality

and improving lie chances

Lozells and EastHandsworth

Lowest Ward Average

YEARS

70YEARS

90

11.8 yearsMale Life Expectancy Gap

Birmingham Average Sutton TrinityHighest Ward Average

71.7 76.8 83.5

Shard EndLowest Ward Average

6.6 yearsFemale Life Expectancy Gap

Birmingham Average Sutton New HallHighest Ward Average

78.8 81.6 85.4YEARS

70YEARS90

Birmingham Lie Expectancy(Lie Expectancy 200810)

Source: Oce or National Statistics Annual Mortality Extract


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Our relative position on income has worsened and Birmingham was the

worst perormer o the Core Cities in the decade 19992009.

Low wages and unemployment are a critical challenge to the city.

Sutton ColdfieldBest District Rate

0%

23.2% gap

Birmingham Average LadywoodWorst District Average

4.1% 12.1% 27.3% 30%

Sutton ColdfieldBest District Rate

0%

13.1% gap

Birmingham Average LadywoodWorst District Average

2.9% 8.1% 16.0% 30%

Birmingham Unemployment(Unadjusted Claimant Unemployment May 2013)

Source: June Unemployment Brieng Economic Research and Policy Birmingham City Council

2.0%

1.0%

0.0%

-1.0%

-2.0%

-3.0%

-4.0%

-5.0%

-6.0%

-6.0%-5.7%

-3.7%-3.6%

-1.0%-1.0%

-0.4%

0.5%

1.6%

Birmingham England

Leeds Bristol Sheffield Nottingham Newcastle-upon-Tyne Liverpool Manchester

Local Authority District Average Score on IncomeDeprivation Domain, Change o Score between 19992009


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Deprivation and inequality is a dynamic process though the most

deprived areas remain remarkably constant. Some physical areas o the cityhave benetted rom regeneration and may have very dierent populationsrom ten years ago. We need to understand in detail the relationship between

people and places.

Economic Deprivation Index (EDI) at LSOA levelChange in score between 1999 and 2009

The two income and employment

domain scores ranked, transormed to

an exponential distribution (to control

cancellation eects) and combined with

equal weights to produce the overall

EDI score.

This map is reproduced rom the Ordnance Survey Material with the

permission o Ordnance Survey on behal o Her Majestys Stationery

Oce Crown Copyright. Unauthorised reproduction inringes

Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings.

Birmingham City Council License No. 10021326 2011

Legend

Change

Above 10 better

5 to 10 better

1 to 5 better

Around the same

1 to 5 worse

5 to 10 worse

Above 10 better


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Our achievements in 201213

Introduced a Living Wage or BCC employees

Published the Business Charter or Social Responsibility encouraging

business to play a stronger part in delivering a air society and betteremployment conditions

Worked with the Bishop o Birmingham and partners to deliver the SocialInclusion process which has involved over 1,000 local groups and agencies,

developing an agreed agenda to improve inclusion in the city

Established a multi-agency Welare Reorm Committee, bringing togethera partnership o key players, including those working on the ront line withvulnerable individuals and communities. The committee is ocused uponboth short-term support and longer term policy development, protectingthose aected by benet cuts

Established an Early Help oer or children and amilies to ensure thatamilies receive the early help needed to prevent problems, with over 1,600amilies beneting in the rst year.

Our plans or 201314

Host a major national conerence to share good practice in protectingvulnerable people rom the eects o Government cuts and welare reorm

Develop foor targets or social inclusion minimum standards or allgroups across the city, or example around educational attainment, skills,

employment and health. These will express our long term aim to reduce thegap between the most well o and the least well o communities in the city

Work with credit unions to help people manage their nances well; clamp

down on loan sharks and companies providing unair credit; and lobby orpowers to limit the number o betting shops

Develop a debt advice, employment and job search oer with theDepartment or Work and Pensions and the Councils Landlord ServicesDivision or the unemployed members o households aected by welarereorm and housing benet changes

Help young people to travel around the city more cheaply by publictransport and by improvement o cycle networks, to access jobsand training.


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A city that supports amilies and valueschildren and young people

Research shows that 36% o our residents are under 24. We are Britainsyoungest city. This brings unparalleled opportunities, or instance in thedigital capability o many o our young people and the willingness o manyyoung peoples groups voluntarily to support the wider community. The rstphase o each persons lie is vital to their uture well-being and, hence, theuture o the city as a whole.

Inequality, however, is stark. While the city as a whole out perorms thenational average or 5 A* Cs including maths and English at 60%, the gurealls to 30% o boys on Free School Meals, 23% or children with specialeducational needs and disability (who are 25% o our school population) and15% or looked ater children. Birminghams children deserve a air deal and

despite bucking national trends, we will not settle until every child has a airchance to succeed.

Overall our schools have improved well in recent years, but stark inequalitiesin perormance between dierent parts o the city persist.

Billesley

Stechford& YardleyNorth

SheldonSouth Yardley

AcocksGreen

YARDLEY

64%>

5564%

5055%

4050%


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Integrated our amily support and saeguarding services so that all childrencan receive the right service at the right time, reducing the need or

inappropriate use o statutory child protection plans. Layers o managementhave been reduced and resources ocused on the ront line

Developed better saeguarding arrangements or vulnerable children,

introducing a Childrens Saeguarding & Adoption Board

Put in place strengthened arrangements or improving adoptionperormance

Established a Steering Group working with Skills in Birmingham to takeorward the Birmingham Baccalaureate proposal

Made progress with developing the Birmingham Education Partnership

with schools and universities (incorporating the Birmingham Academy Trustproposed last year). A Shadow Board has been created

Established a Transitions Project Plan to improve support to vulnerableyoung people moving rom childrens to adults services.

Our plans or 201314

We welcomed the impressive engagement o young people in our budgetconsultation last year. Their activism was a positive sign or the uture o ouryoung people and we want to respond to the messages they gave us, giving

children, young people and parents a say in shaping the services they need.We will work with all local agencies to develop clear shared ambitions oramilies and young people through a Believe in Birmingham approach.We will:

Work with the Childrens Society to establish Child Action Zones through awhole place approach to improve the lives o the most deprived

Strengthen social work practice while urther integrating service teams toorm locality level Family Support and Saeguarding Hubs to provide advice,support and statutory intervention where this is required

Support the Childrens Saeguarding & Adoption Board in taking orward arobust approach to tackling the problem o child sexual exploitation

Focus on recruitment and assessment o adopters and take switer action onthe adoption o children when children do need a permanent home

Put in place plans to build up to 1,800 new primary school places, 400special school places and up to 750 new secondary school places


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Produce a Schools Development Plan to deliver sucient high qualityschool places in the right locations to meet current and uture populationgrowth, integrated with the Birmingham Development Plan and HousingGrowth Plan

Take orward proposals or an International School and or a Birmingham

Community College as a centre o language excellence

Extend the impact and range o school-business links and provide avehicle to support schools in providing up-to-date inormation, advice andguidance to every young person. A pilot programme on the BirminghamBaccalaureate will run rom September 2013 with an initial cohort o1015 schools

Launch the Birmingham Education Partnership with our universities and allschools to ensure that the education system promotes pupil achievement

across the city with support services and with pathways through educationand into work, including access to work experience, particularly or youngpeople at risk o becoming Neither in Education, Employment or Training(NEET)

Publish more comprehensive perormance inormation on local schools,including their contribution to the local community, health outcomes,keeping young people in education and training, and progress or childrenwho currently do not achieve well at school. District Committees will beasked to provide a local ocus or this process

Develop a charter ocused on the employment needs o care leavers and

deliver a Care Leavers Apprenticeship Initiative with a pilot within theCouncil or 10 care leavers, to be rolled out to other employers, and workwith our universities to provide undergraduate degree places or care leaverswith suitable educational qualications

Introduce a new partnership model or the community youth service.This could include implementing a Birmingham Youth Trust as an investmentvehicle or attracting and distributing resource. Connexions will be anintegrated part o the Community Youth Service, supporting the delivery othe Birmingham Jobs Fund and a targeted service or young people not ineducation, employment or training

Develop a new Special Educational Need and Disability strategyincorporating all aspects o a childs needs in one coherent plan, takingthem through childhood to adulthood and aiming or the best uture orevery child.


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Health and Wellbeing

Health and wellbeing starts with the right to amily lie: services delivered

to children with needs that will endure across their lie need to support andsustain a lielong network o support rom amily and community.

Health and wellbeing is a right to a house within a community capable osupporting people to live with lower requirements or ormal care support.

Health and wellbeing is a right to be supported by a thriving communitythat has the capacity to assist more people to ull their wish to live athome or as long as possible. There are very serious challenges as the mostdisadvantaged communities have the least social capital. This means that weneed to understand where demands exist and plan at a local level to improvecommunity response.

Our ambition is to integrate social care and the NHS and to re-orientate them

so that they are properly rooted in the communities that use and pay or them.


Introduced the Telecare home service to give reassurance to those who liveat home, or those at risk o alls, dementia and home saety. 7,000 peopleare now using the Telecare home service

Received national and local acclaim or our Eyes and Ears campaign toencourage the reporting o adult abuse which led to an 11% increase insaeguarding reerrals

Increased participation in leisure and sports activity by investment in BeActive, particularly amongst disadvantaged communities and staged theGreat Birmingham Run in October 2012, with 18,000 participants andincreased investment in Be Active as a start to helping make Birmingham anexemplar o health and wellbeing

Worked towards a single health and social care system by aligning PublicHealth, Supporting People and third sector spend. Developed pilots thatprovide teams around the GP to work in the community with people with

complex needs.


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Our plans or 201314

Finalise and implement a Leisure and Sport strategy to reduce childhoodobesity and help improve the wellbeing o the citys vulnerable children

Implement the Domestic Violence Action Plan

Introduce Ageing Well Plans at a District level to provide an understandingo where there is demand or services that enable individuals to live at hometo bring orward opportunities or improved community response

Implement a new strategy that extends across children and adults services,engaging with the NHS

Double investment in Be Active or another year to maximise opportunitiesor people to be healthier and more active

Introduce District Scorecards or health indicators which could include

measures such as vaccination, stroke recovery and quality o care received.


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Economic Development, Transport,

Skills and Jobs

Our city has been hit harder and aster than any other part o the UK by theworst recession since the 1930s. Despite this, we have made great strides

over the past year and condence within parts o the business communityis beginning to grow. We have set out an ambitious programme o practical

initiatives, key investments and resh policies that are all aimed at bothcreating the conditions or local growth and ensuring that the people oBirmingham are well placed to benet rom the opportunities ahead.

With around 36% o our population aged under age 24, we have a wealth otalent moving through our schools, colleges and universities. We aim to helpequip our young people with the skills they need to succeed, to connect localpeople to local jobs, and help everyone develop more opportunities in lie.

Many o our aims can only be achieved by working at a city-regional level ocused on the real economic geography o Greater Birmingham. So weare determined to build a strong city regional partnership o local authorities

and to work closely with the business community and other partners to drivethis agenda.

During the year Birminghams prole has grown as we have ocused on howto support local economic growth. British cities must be given more resourcesand more powers to invest in inrastructure and support growth. We have

worked closely with the other cities and with our Local Enterprise Partnershipto make this case to government. This has included the high prole GreaterBirmingham Project with Lord Heseltine and a series o meetings withministers, beginning with our cross-party delegation to see the Prime Ministerlast year.

We intend to develop an integrated urban transport mobility ramework toconnect people, businesses and jobs. The development o HS2 will cementour position at the heart o the nations economy. Connectivity also extendsto developing next generation digital inrastructure, ensuring access to theglobal economy and making the most o our own digital and data assets.

The Green economy also presents tremendous opportunities or the city.There are signicant new opportunities building on the innovations byour universities and the interest rom business in installing energy andenvironmental systems in the city. These are vital in creating new jobs,reducing the citys total energy bill and making Birmingham a leading

green city.

2. A Prosperous City: Supporting jobs and

sustainable growth


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A38

A38

A41

A45

A34A38

THE FOOD HUB

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING HUB

ENVIRONMENTAL ENTERPRISE DISTRICT

LIFE SCIENCES CAMPUS

THE

ENTERPRISE

ZONE

LONGBRIDGE ITEC PARK

Birmingham Airport& NEC

M5

M6

M5

M6

M6

M6

M6


19


Secured a 128m investment plan within the Enterprise Zone that will deliver600,000 sq metres o foorspace and 20,000 jobs around the city centre

and help kick start transormational projects such as the redevelopment oParadise Circus and the extension o the Metro

Launched the Economic Zone Prospectus, a pioneering blueprint or the

citys uture economic landscape. The Prospectus sets out six zones wheretarget growth sectors are aligned with key development opportunities. TheZones will attract 1.5bn o investment, generating in the region o 1.8m sqmetres o foor space and 50,000 new jobs. Over 7m has been secured toaccelerate delivery o these key growth sectors1:

Advanced Manuacturing Hub Environmental Enterprises District

Lie Sciences Campus Food Hub Enterprise Zone IT, Electronics and Communications

(ITEC) Park

Birminghams Economic Zones

1 For details and a 3D map o the Enterprise Zones visit http://tinyurl.com/birmez. Further inormation also at http:/www.birminghamenterprise.org


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Developed better nancial support or local businesses through FinanceBirmingham, whose oer now includes both an equity und and a loan undor SMEs, and a creative industries und

Opened the rst phase o a Womens Enterprise Hub Secured unding o 63.1m to enable the Paradise Circus redevelopment

to go ahead opening up an important quarter o the city centre or

redevelopment, generating around 10,000 jobs and circa 450m gross valueper annum to the local economy

Set up and completed the work o the Youth Unemployment Commission leading to a major programme to create jobs or young people, supportedby a Birmingham Jobs Fund (council commitment o 2m) combined with anambitious challenge to employers to create 1,000 apprentices in 100 days.

Made progress on some important development projects such as opening

the rst hal o the new concourse at New Street station; putting plans inplace or a mixed use development at Icknield Port Loop, comprising 1150new homes as well as retail, service employment and leisure uses; openingthe new Eastside City Park and the introduction o six new city centre businterchanges

Secured cross-party and wider stakeholder support or a 22.9mCycle Ambition bid to make cycling an integral part o Birminghamstransport network

Launched a new Car2Go city car club pilot to provide a urther alternativeto car ownership.

Our plans or 201314

Take orward the delivery o the economic zones with a range o activitiesto support businesses through simplied planning and investment ininrastructure

Publish the pre-submission version o the Birmingham Development Planor consultation

Resolve the long-term uture o the Birmingham markets and the

development opportunity o the Southern Gateway on the site o thewholesale markets

Produce a City Centre Retail Strategy to dene uture growth opportunitiesin the City Centre or retail businesses

Boost womens enterprise by providing the second phase o the WomensEnterprise Hub with business incubator units and a package o support toencourage start-ups and enterprises


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Take orward the recommendations o the Birmingham Commission or YouthUnemployment by re-directing 2m o council unding matched with up to1.5m o National Apprenticeship Service AGE grants, the GovernmentsWage Incentive and Talent Match Big Lottery money, to a new Birmingham

Jobs Fund to deliver jobs and apprenticeships or young people

Establish a Birmingham Youth Employment Partnership to grow a multi-agency response to youth unemployment, with a call to arms or Birminghamemployers to create jobs or young people

Take orward the Advanced Manuacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI).BCC is now the accountable body or this 125m programme whichaims to help companies in the manuacturing supply chain to becomeglobally competitive

Deliver a 3m investment rom ERDF to support SMEs in Digbeth and the

Jewellery Quarter, East Birmingham industrial corridor and Tyseley that willhelp businesses improve their properties, deliver new business foor spaceand create or saeguard jobs

Pilot local economic summits through District Committees to introduce localbusinesses to the economic implications o the Social Inclusion Process andhelp to build links between businesses and schools

Stimulate job creation through sel-employment and business supportmeasures and, generally, through the Birmingham Chamber o Commercewith a sign-posting scenario or Birmingham businesses

Transorm the way regulation is delivered to business, improving the

relationship between regulators and the business community that enablesgrowth, employment and export opportunities

Publish a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan or Birmingham building onthe recommendations o the Overview & Scrutiny Committee report onTransorming Urban Movement through Cycling and Walking in Birmingham.This will set out a long-term vision and short to medium term steps towardsthis rom our current position o over-reliance on private cars, with a 3D planor transport options (walk, cycle, bus, car and Metro) that acknowledgesuture land use and movement around/in/out o the city

Produce an integrated transport strategy or the city centre that will supportthe proposed High Speed 2 line and enhance Birminghams prole as awelcoming, attractive and inclusive place to do business

Bring orward detailed plans to roll out a 20mph limit or Birminghamsresidential roads, supporting a saer and healthier environment or all.


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A Social Enterprise City

A social enterprise can be any kind o business and as such could deliver any

services and products. It is particularly well suited to the environment sectorand recycling, health and social care, education and child care, training andemployment, hospitality, ood production, sport and tourism. The sectoris also particularly good at working with disadvantaged groups includingex-oenders, homeless and ex-homeless people, people with long-termill-health and disabilities.

Our plans or 201314

Promote and celebrate the social enterprise sector in Birmingham,specically in Digbeth where there is an emerging Social Enterprise Zone

Enable social enterprise to ully contribute to the economic development

and local regeneration o Birmingham, particularly with support that enablesaccess to premises and or a social enterprise host or start-up and growingsocial enterprises in Digbeth or elsewhere

Introduce a social enterprise strand to Find it in Birmingham that willencourage purchasing and procurement with and between social enterprises

Create opportunities or social enterprise to address issues o communitycohesion and empowerment

Using the councils buying power better

The city council has a signicant purchasing power and we are determined touse this to achieve positive outcomes or the local economy and community.To achieve this we are developing a Social Value approach to commissioningand procurement, promoting business social responsibility through ourBusiness Charter and through our own actions like implementing the LivingWage or council sta.


Increased to 18,000 the number o businesses registered with Find it

in Birmingham, which has led to 1,800 business opportunities worthcirca 3.61m

Published the Business Charter or Social Responsibility (including theBuy Birmingham First policy and a Social Value policy).


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Our plans or 201314

Implement the Business Charter or Social Responsibility; promote theLiving Wage across Birmingham and champion a Buy Birmingham First

approach which supports local companies to bid or council work Modernise Birmingham City Councils commissioning arrangements to drive

orward and maximise the social value o council spending

Drive increased eciencies, innovation, perormance and value across the

council through improved contract management, to be rolled out across thecity council during the year.

Providing new homes

Ater years o inadequate house building we ace a severe shortage ohousing o all types, but in particular housing that most people can aord.This is driving up rents and house prices, orcing people to live in inadequateor overcrowded accommodation and creating an unnecessary burden onthe public purse. So we are determined to use every means available to thecouncil to support the provision o new homes o all tenures.

We know that there is a need to build around 80,000 new homes over the next15 years, a rate o new house building not seen since the 1960s. We want toensure that there is a supply o housing o all types to meet the needs o all oour residents.


Delivered 573 new aordable homes through direct provision and working

with housing associations

Launched a new Repair and Lease scheme to bring empty properties backinto use as aordable housing

Enabled an increase o new house building rom a little over 1,400 newhomes in 201112 to over 2,000 last year.

Our plans or 201314

Provide 1200 new homes through Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust

Develop a Housing Growth Plan or Birmingham or the delivery o a widerange o housing types, tenure and aordability through the BirminghamMunicipal Housing Trust, Housing Associations and private sector developersand by developing innovative orms o nancing

Conduct a easibility study on the potential o creating housing investmentcompany models linked to council assets

Develop models to incentivise the development o private rented sectorhomes in the city unded by institutional investors.


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International strategy

Birmingham has enjoyed successul engagement in European and

international aairs or a number o years that have seen the city accesshundreds o millions o pounds worth o EU unding supporting growth andemployment in the city and investing in many fagship initiatives such as theICC, Brindleyplace, Millennium Point and Eastside.

Alongside this, meaningul engagement with our European and internationalpartner and sister cities has led to hugely benecial collaboration illustratedby events such as the Frankurt Christmas Market. Looking orward, thisengagement will be strengthened through the introduction o the newEuropean & International Strategy which sets out rereshed objectivesand priorities.

Our plans or 201314

Act upon the new European & International Strategy or the city,with our distinct priorities:

Maximising European unding opportunities Strengthening international partnerships, trade and investment Enhancing infuence and reputation internationally Developing better Joined-Up working with key partners.

Culture and the visitor and creative economy

Arts and culture make a vital contribution to the lie o the city. They providea quality o lie which contributes to the wellbeing o residents, as well asattracting visitors and long-term business investors. Culture is an importantcomponent o the local economy and supports jobs in related areas suchas tourism, hospitality and ood. It has a close relationship with the creative

industries which play a key role in driving innovation as one o the citys highgrowth sectors.

Maintaining a rich and diverse cultural base is at the heart o what Birminghamis as a city. Our reputation is growing and much o our visitor economy andinward investment is attracted by what we have to oer as a place to work,stay and live.

The Creative City initiative will develop and promote aspiring innovative andentrepreneurial talent, develop a local market or cultural and creative activityand enhance our reputation as a place to do business.


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Hosted an Arts and Culture Summit and identied several areasor action which will be taken orward in 201314

Delivered a Cultural Olympiad 2012 programme, celebrated thecentenary o the Rep theatre and held two world lm premieres

Created a new city culture team within the Development and CultureDirectorate to create synergies between the visitor economy, skills

and planning.

Our plans or 201314

Establish a Sport and Leisure strategy or the city including a programmeo major sporting events

Establish Birmingham as a Festivals City, with a coherent calendar andeective promotion o distinctive, ambitious and high quality events

Further develop localised delivery o culture, building on the Arts Championsand Local Arts Forum arrangements and Arts on the Move mobile service,supporting the implementation o District Arts Plans and celebrating districtscultural achievements

Hold a Youth Arts Summit to encourage a stronger voice or young people incultural planning and delivery

Take orward a Tourism Business Improvement District which will maximise

the potential partnership with hotels in Birmingham and secure investmentinto the local convention and conerence economy

Open the Library o Birmingham.

A Green and Smart City

The Leaders Policy Statement 2012 committed us to acceleratingBirminghams transition to being one o the worlds leading green cities. Ourvision or a Smart City is about promoting state o the art digital access to

support todays businesses and citizens to learn, to create and to do business.We were selected as IBMs UK Smart City or 2012.


Green City

Developed and published a Vision Statement Building a Green Citythrough the Green Commission, with a priority ocus on publishing a newBirmingham Carbon Roadmap, linked to the national Carbon Budget planperiods through to 2027. The key priorities are to accelerate investmentin how we heat and power our city; to create local renewable energy; to

improve the way we travel and to widen our investment in energyeciency programmes


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Completed the procurement o Carillion Energy Savers to drive orward ourBirmingham Energy Savers programme, which commenced in February 2013to retrot up to 60,000 homes in the next eight years

Consulted on new planning rameworks to guide uture development andinvestment in the city and on the uture role o Birminghams green spaces

and ecosystems

Held discussions with the Green Investment Bank and European InvestmentBank on our key priorities, with a view to creating a Green Fund

Began to transorm waste collection in Birmingham with the introduction owheelie bins in two pilot wards that ultimately will create a cleaner and moresustainable service.

Smart City Established a Smart City Commission, drawn rom academia, health,

transport, education, utilities and business

Secured up to 10m to drive the take up o broadband serviceswithin the Digital Districts o Digbeth, Eastside and Jewellery Quarter.We are now working closely with government, the EU and majortelecommunications providers to develop a programme o opportunitiesor local small businesses

Brought the Young Wired State Festival or Coding to Birmingham withhundreds o young people gathering to showcase their digital skills and

innovative applications

Attracted major organisations to work with the city to host a NextGeneration Skills event with Microsot, Millennium Point and the Youth

Unemployment Commission which has resulted in Microsot announcing 100new IT apprenticeships or Birmingham

Approved an Open Data Policy and Strategy as a key element o deliveringour Open City ambitions

Incorporated a Smart City Development Fund into the GBS LEP Risk CapitalFund o Funds.


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Our plans or 201314

Green City

Complete the work o the Finance and Investment Task Group under the

Green Commission to identiy how the nance needs o the Vision Statementwill be met and a Green Fund established

Publish through the Green Commission a new Carbon Roadmap orBirmingham in November 2013. This will set out the key actions and

programmes to make Birmingham a leading green city

Ensure that the Commissions Green Vision is embedded in the citysmarketing and investment work through Marketing Birmingham

Adopt a new Supplementary Planning Document Your Green andHealthy City which will drive a sustainable uture and encourage green

developments, jobs and investment Adopt a Green Living Spaces plan to improve liveability and guardianship

o natural spaces in the city

Undertake a detailed energy assessment with Department o Energy &Climate Change support and produce an Energy Plan.

The Carbon Roadmap

The Green City vision, published last year will be taken orward throughthe Carbon Roadmap, which will set out our longer term priorities:

Create an Energy Plan or Birmingham and expand new district energynetworks in major regeneration and development areas o the cityand link these to existing housing to help reduce energy bills. This willaccelerate the installation o new district energy schemes in the city,especially at Longbridge and at Icknield Port Loop

Publish a Sustainable Urban Mobility Action Plan or Birmingham. This

will set out how we will improve travel by promoting alternative choiceso transport and the procurement o low carbon/electric vehicles acrosspublic and private organisations

Improve the energy eciency and aordable warmth o buildings, bycontinuing to roll out the Birmingham Energy Savers programme, whichwill see the retrot o 60,000 homes, with annual savings in uel bills and40,000 people taken out o uel poverty by 2020

Create decarbonised local energy generation capacity by building on thesuccess o the citys existing solar installations and exploit the potential othe citys land and building assets to generate a renewable energy.


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Smart City

Publish our Smart City Roadmap and Action, building on the key themeso leadership and ownership, exploitation o new technologies, service

transormation, support mechanisms or innovation, new inormationmarketplaces, support to citizens and businesses to close the digital

divide and proling and infuencing to attract investment as a recognisedSmart City

Develop a programme o activities that build on our Digital Districtsinitiative to accelerate digital connectivity and stimulate growth in ourhigh value businesses

Identiy initial city council databases or a prototype open data platorm anduse this to drive the use o public data in the city and ultimately the widercity region

Improve digital connectivity or businesses in Birmingham and support SMEsand entrepeneurs to trial new technologies

Exploit the use o digital technologies in the transormation o city servicesthrough innovative approaches to procurement and service redesign

Attract European and national unds to deliver new digital hubs and otherinnovative projects and activities across the city

Recruit 2013 Digital Champions through the national GO ON initiative andwork with schools, local communities and the commercial sector to reducedigital exclusion. Develop a Digital Inclusion Strategy that links to social and

nancial inclusion.


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3. A Democratic City: Involving local people

and neighbourhoods

Much has been achieved on the localisation and devolution agenda set outlast year. However progress on creating a genuinely locally ocused andintegrated approach to local services has been rustrating. In order to ensure

aster progress and to build support and commitment amongst all sta o thecouncil, we will be issuing a Localisation Challenge to all members o thecouncil and sta.

We will launch a new approach to public engagement based on the principleo Engagement or Action, ensuring we move up the ladder o publicparticipation rom previous tokenistic approaches towards engagement thatleads to real practical action and a greater democratic right o residents toinfuence and shape the services they receive

The Cabinet Member or Social Cohesion and Equalities will continue workwith senior managers across the council to drive orward the next stages olocalisation and devolution, as part o the general portolio role o challengingservices to deliver. This will include paying particular attention to thelocalisation and devolution o housing management.

The Localisation Challenge

The Challenge is to:

Deliver ully on the commitments in this Leaders Policy Statement

Drive orward the vision o Birmingham as a truly devolved city

Achieve a signicant increase in locally binding Executive decisions

Focus the whole o the city council on shaping outcomes in local places

Ensure that the devolved arrangements are ully responsive to scrutiny.

Reducing crime and creating saer communities is a high priority or

local residents and the city council plays a key role in this as part o theCommunity Saety Partnership alongside the Police and other agencies. LocalNeighbourhood Tasking meetings between the agencies and the communityare a key part o our approach.

Birmingham has become again the saest o the English core cities, accordingto the latest crime data. Other positive indicators include a below averagelevel o re-oending and a reduction on oenders appearing beore the court(partly because o increased use o restorative justice).


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Re-energised, the programme o devolution and localisation started in 2004,radically revising the councils constitution to pass Executive decision making

on a wide range o services (e.g. council housing and libraries) to localDistrict Committees consisting o local elected councillors

Established a new directorate ocused on localising service management

and delivery

Began the commissioning o a Social Lettings Agency to increase housingoptions or those seeking to rent

Licensed over 300 high risk houses in multiple occupation bringing the totalo licensed premises to over 1800. The Midland Landlord accreditationscheme operated by the regional consortium Homestamp now has 2,000members, 50% in Birmingham

Increased the number o households prevented rom becoming homeless byover 7,000 and achieved national recognition or the work o the Youth Hubwhich provides support, advice and assistance to young people at risk obecoming homeless

Improved public engagement, or example through Cabinet Member-led public meetings on the budget, public questions to the Cabinet,revamp o the website, the Peoples Panel, open data, public dialogue andengagement around service reviews and the on-going live streaming ocouncil meetings

Improved accountability by providing detailed perormance data on localservices to District Committees

Developed a know-how guide and online support or neighbourhood orums

Appointed a new Victims Champion who has led on the developmento the Birmingham Victims Charter and the launch o a new domesticabuse campaign

Agreed the Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy

Approved the Birmingham Alcohol Strategy

Carried out a review o Neighbourhood Tasking Groups and identied good

practice across the city

Carried out Domestic Homicide Reviews through the Community SaetyPartnership and implemented improvements.


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Our plans or 201314

District Committees will:

Adopt an annual Policy Statement that sets out objectives or the year at the

rst meeting o the municipal year

Adopt a Development Plan that sets out a vision or the district that can beused to shape service provision and long-term investment

Implement the new Homelessness Strategy: urther increase the number

o cases where homelessness is prevented and reduce the use o bed andbreakast accommodation

Complete the development o the new housing allocations system which isair, simple and transparent and which allows people to make the best use oall available housing options

Develop a Letting Suite in each district quadrant working with tenants tosel-serve to obtain benets and understand their responsibilities as a tenantand launch the Log Book channel shit approach or tenants to manage theirown tenancies.

Public Engagement

Launch a youth engagement commission to establish how we can bestengage with the disenranchised youngest 26% o the city

Develop an inclusive and sustainable tenant engagement structure. Thiswill include setting up ten District Resident Panels or all tenures supportinghousing improvements and shaping better neighbourhoods. They will have adual role o meeting statutory requirements or tenant engagement but alsotaking orward a much broader approach to housing in the lie o the wider

neighbourhood and community

Develop a new neighbourhood strategy in partnership with localcommunities that will ocus on building networks o active residents andlocal democratic structures

Provide support to increase the number and expand the constructive activityo Neighbourhood Forums

Develop urther the councils use o social media to engage with a widerrange o residents

Launch a civic enterprise challenge inviting Districts, Wards and residentgroups to bring orward innovations in the way local services are managedand delivered and new ways o eectively involving residents in the work oWard Committees.


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Local Decision Making Set a clear timetable or localised decision making covering issues such as

the timetable or District Committee decision making, routine perormancereporting arrangements, District Conventions, local executive decisionmaking, and good practice examples rom Districts

Deliver an Organisational Development Plan and a cultural changeprogramme in partnership with the Public Services Academy to drive orwardthe behaviours and innovation that supports localisation

Develop a devolution commissioning toolkit to support decision-makingwhen contracts and services are being reviewed, to enable DistrictCommittees to have timely involvement in commissioning reviews.

Driving improved outcomes in each district

As we build up the role o the devolved district committees, we are

developing a district level ocus on the perormance o a range o localservices. This includes:

The proposed new Floor Targets on inequalities

Perormance data on social housing

More comprehensive perormance inormation on local schools

District Scorecards or health indicators

Ageing Well Plans to understand how older people can be supported bytheir community

Local economic summits to work with local businesses in tacklingsocial exclusion.

Establish a Leading Localisation Programme so that our most senior ocershave strategic responsibility or place alongside unction. This will see 50senior ocers engage in the localisation agenda and the mission to makeBirmingham a truly devolved city

Ensure that districts can determine the shape o local services in theirpatch. Starting o with a undamental review and options appraisal o sportand leisure provision across each district, placing public health outcomesto the ore

Amend the city councils constitution to give districts greater involvement innancial decisions. The Housing Revenue Account Business Plan will evolveinto a true budget or each district with the potential or surpluses to be

reinvested in local priorities. The aspiration is that over time signicant sumswill be controllable in this way.


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Neighbourhood Strategy and

Transorming Place

Organise a Democratic City Summit to consult on the nal shape o theBirmingham Neighbourhood Strategy, Transorming Place. The BirminghamDemocratic City Summit will bring together active citizens rom across thecity to work together with the council to re-shape service managementthrough the Neighbourhood Strategy. This strategy will build on success todate in improving outcomes in localities and provide a long-term sustainableramework or innovation and delivery driving orward localisation. DistrictCommittees will identiy locality delivery zones and Cabinet will agree the

ramework in Autumn 2013

Develop a Sustainable Communities Prospectus in each district engaging

the emerging District Housing Panels and housing providers in identiyingthe pattern o development required to meet our aordable and markethousing strategy

Establish three trailblazers in Kingstanding, Ladywood and Longbridge orDistrict Skills and Learning Partnerships with a roll out programme

Develop a Birmingham Citizens Charter in line with the Birmingham:Where the world meets Overview & Scrutiny report

Explore the setting up o Neighbourhood Welcome Centres asrecommended by the Social Inclusion Process bringing together a range oexisting acilities and services to make them more accessible

Establish a City Leaders programme in conjunction with the Public ServiceAcademy which will equip leaders rom across all agencies with thenecessary skills and perspectives to drive orward our uture vision.

Community Saety

Work with the Police and Crime Commissioner on community-led policing inBirmingham through the Police and Crime Panel and the designated VictimsChampion to promote the saety o citizens in Birmingham

Adopt the Victims Rights Charter to ensure that all victims o crime and anti-social behaviour receive a timely and meaningul service rom all agencies

Implement key aspects o the Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy, includinga neighbourhood early intervention approach. Council House TenancyConditions and Service Standards will be reviewed

Implement the recommendations o the Domestic Violence NeedsAssessment due to be completed in summer 2013

Along with the Birmingham Community Saety Partnership, create a LocalPolicing and Crime Board to enable local communities to set priorities

Carry orward the current review o Neighbourhood Tasking by strengtheningmechanisms or engaging active citizens in identiying local issues oncommunity saety and quality o lie.


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leaders policy statement july 2013

Documents