Recalibrating Warwickshire
Introduction from the Leader of the Council
On behalf of Warwickshire County Council, I am proud to introduce Recalibrating Warwickshire - our plan to deliver improvement for the people of Warwickshire.
This council has many strengths; staff who are talented and committed, stable public services and a county that is one of the best places in the UK to live, work and start a family. But we also face several major challenges:
- Rising demand for children’s services and adult social care.
- A SEND system under pressure, with families often feeling let down.
- Roads and infrastructure that are struggling to keep pace with growth of local areas
- Layers of bureaucracy, targets and form filling that add cost but don’t improve outcomes.
- A cost-of-living squeeze on residents and local businesses, with financial pressures and costs continuing to soar.
- A council finance system overly reliant on borrowing, continuous council tax rises in an economy of never-ending pressure on families’ household budgets.
Our residents are being asked to pay more and more each year. At the same time, many feel they get less in return. That is not sustainable - for you, or for us.
This plan sets out how we will recalibrate Warwickshire, to make sure that the people of Warwickshire get a better deal.
We will:
- Put residents of our county and their interests first in everything that we do. From planning decisions to how we allocate school places and design social care, we will fight for the best interests of local people.
- Scrutinise ourselves by cutting waste and needless red tape and bureaucracy, and reviewing every contract to ensure value for money.
- Support residents who need help to make sure they don’t get left behind. We will do this by putting a new focus on prevention, personal responsibility and early intervention instead of crisis management to reduce the likelihood of an individual needing more expensive care in later life.
- Build stronger communities through new town and parish councils, safer streets, better-maintained roads and visible improvements to our towns, villages, high streets and our countryside. Our towns and villages are the lifeblood of our economy, heritage and culture and we must do all we can to support them.
We will do this while keeping council tax increases as low as possible, to recognise the financial pressures faced by all the residents of Warwickshire, always remembering that every pound we spend needs to deliver for you, the taxpayer.
You will also see a different tone and Recalibrating Warwickshire approach from the council.
We will focus on clear, common-sense outcomes.
In the light of the worsening economic and geopolitical circumstances, and that residents’ top priority is now the cost of living, it is clear that the council’s previous commitments to Net Zero, set out in resolutions in 2019 and 2025, are no longer economically sustainable in the short term.
Therefore, the adoption of this Council Plan by Full Council will confirm that the Administration of Warwickshire County Council will not be bound by the 2019 and 2025 declarations of ‘Climate Emergencies’.
However, the council is mindful of the need to deliver sustainable development and to counter the ongoing risks of seasonal change, the challenges to food production and flooding. Instead of previous commitments on Net Zero, we will deliver a practical environment and energy plan that delivers real benefits for Warwickshire - lower bills, cleaner rivers, less flooding.
Further we will continue to deliver protection for our natural environment through the Warwickshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy.
We will make sure that we meet our legal obligations, but we will remove unnecessary form filling and box ticking exercises.
We will talk openly and proudly about personal responsibility, the limits of what the council can and what it should do, while championing the importance of strong families and local communities.
This is a live document. We will keep ‘Recalibrating Warwickshire’ under regular review and update it as needed, through transparent decisions taken in public.
Our ambition is straightforward:
To make sure that Warwickshire is a place where local business can flourish, families can thrive and where children have the best chance in life. Above all, we want Warwickshire to be a place where residents know that their council is doing all it can to make them safer, healthier and wealthier.
Cllr George Finch
Leader of Warwickshire County Council
Monica Fogarty
Chief Executive, Warwickshire County Council
