Our administration has been in power for almost a year now and I’m extremely proud that we’re moving the dial and making positive change happen.
We inherited a council facing difficult challenges, but with commitment to the cause, plenty of hard work and a co-operative approach we are turning the ship in the right direction.
One area where we must make positive change is our children’s services department, which was rated as inadequate by Ofsted back in November 2023. Quite simply we owe it to every young person in Peterborough to enhance the services we provide for them.
Since that rating, we have actively strived to do just that and I’m delighted that some of our changes are making a positive difference. Don’t just take my word for that, because we’ve recently had an encouraging outside perspective on the department.
That came from Ofsted inspectors who returned to the council last month for a monitoring visit, their second since the inadequate rating. They’ve now sent us their findings, painting an improving picture which I'll aim to summarise below.
The inspectors stated that our new leadership team, led by an experienced and determined director of children’s services and supported by the improvement board and Cllr Katy Cole, the cabinet member for children’s services, is providing drive and direction to improve outcomes for children.
Following priority areas identified for improvement, service leaders set up a Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) for Peterborough last year which supports highly effective joint working and decision making for children and families. Inspectors found that the MASH is functioning effectively, which is an impressive achievement in a short time frame.
To further demonstrate our commitment to supporting vulnerable young people we recently launched the Peterborough House project, which will play a key role in helping local care leavers to achieve successful independent futures.
Inspectors summed up by stating that the pace of change is gaining momentum and while there is much still to do there are promising signs of improvement for children in Peterborough.
Rest assured, we are fully determined to continue this progress and further enhance our service offer to young people.
The sight of spades in the ground and cranes across a skyline is something you see in cities on the up, such as Peterborough.
We’ve got several exciting projects either on the go or in the pipeline, including a new road scheme in Thorpe Wood which will make it easier for people to walk and cycle in Thorpe Road. Work will get under way next month after the council successfully secured an Active Travel grant of £2m from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.
This will see the construction of new and widened footways, a segregated bi-directional cycleway, two zebra and cycle crossings and the installation of a new bus shelter. The improvements will provide better facilities to those who already walk and cycle in the area and encourage more people to make the change to more sustainable modes of transport.
The new infrastructure will also link into the new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the Nene Parkway, providing a seamless transition between Longthorpe and Thorpe Wood. I’m looking forward to seeing this work completed and the long-term positive effects it will have.
Increasing the amount of waste that gets recycled in Peterborough is a key goal and something we are making steady progress with.
We’ve been reminding residents of the importance of recycling food waste correctly by disposing of it in the grey caddy bins we provide. Throwing food waste in black refuse bins costs us £870,000 a year and we simply must reduce this.
Our message is clearly hitting home as during January we saw an incredible 479 tonnes of food waste recycled, which is more than any January over the past six years.
A big thank you to everyone for helping us achieve this, by recycling properly we can save money and the planet. Don’t forget that there is plenty of recycling advice on our website www.peterborough.gov.uk
Continuing with an environmental theme, we’re inviting residents to boost Peterborough’s biodiversity by taking part in a unique community project.
Three mini forests will be planted in the city as part of an initiative between the council and the local environment charity PECT and everyone is invited to get involved.
A mini forest is simply a compact forest, typically about the size of a tennis court (10 by 20 metres) and blends wildflower meadow and native woodland species to form a rich, overlapping ecosystem.
A series of planting events are taking place at the three sites – off Celta Road in Woodston, David’s Lane in Werrington and Bradwell Road in Longthorpe. Admission is free and equipment will be provided. You can find out more information at www.pect.org.uk/events/
Finally, we are hoping to have some further good news to share on the Lido very soon.
I can’t say too much more other than that we are looking at co-operative solutions for its future use, tying in with our key aim of making Peterborough a city of successful co-operation.