“All about taking control rather than the direction of travel”

Peterborough City Council’s Milestones in Delivering a City of Opportunity

It’s just over a year since Labour took control of Peterborough City Council and my Cabinet and I set out to deliver what’s in our Corporate Strategy, simply put that’s to deliver a city of opportunity for all.

It’s not been plain sailing – is it for any council leader? But when I look at what we achieved in those 12 months I honestly feel proud.

We opened a new facility for care leavers, to help them transition from childhood to adulthood. The House Project, as it’s known, is the first in the region.

The Station Quarter redevelopment has moved forward at pace, with Full Business Case approval from Government secured and work due to start on site later this year.

Only this week, the announcement from our Labour government of its commitment to supporting a new swimming pool for Peterborough as part of a new Sports Quarter is fantastic. It is also proof, yet again, that we are being heard at national level, there is support for our growing city along with much-needed extra money to back it up.

My Cabinet and I committed to doing what is necessary to deliver a much needed new pool for the city, and this new £240m fund to carry out local projects like the pool allows us to take a big leap forwards towards it moving from an aspiration to being achievable and we will now work with our MPs and our partners to progress this, again at pace.

We agreed a new Corporate Strategy, which was signed off following input from the public as part of our Shaping Our City consultation.

We’ve undergone an inspection of our Adult Services by the regulator, the Care Quality Commission, and initial feedback has been incredibly positive.

We’ve hosted numerous monitoring visits from Ofsted, and in the latest report inspectors reported that improvements to Children’s Services are being made at pace.

Just last month we received the welcome news from Government that our non-statutory intervention had ended, a signal that we are no longer of concern at a national level.

It was a tough year financially, they all have been in recent years, but we listened, we adapted, and in February we set a balanced budget for the current year – with support from some opposition members I might add.

We may not have got it all right in our first year – what administration does?

So, I can’t honestly see any reason some opposition councillors would want to unseat us, as reported in the media, other than to get their five minutes of fame. A grab for power, you might call it.

This is an alliance of the discontented, putting their interests before the city’s at the expense of council taxpayers. What our council and our city need, more than anything, is stability. Any council officer will tell you this, and if our Improvement Panel were still with us, I am sure they would say the same.

If we remain in administration the council gets stability, and our collaborative approach across the council chamber remains.

For example, we are continuing to offer chair roles for scrutiny and regulatory meetings to opposition members, to ensure we are not ‘marking our own homework’ and to allow opposition members to play their part in local democracy. We took the decision last year, yet the coalition, led by Peterborough First, looks set to reverse that by keeping seats to secure support; how democratic is that, you might ask?

I call on all councillors at next week’s Full Council meeting to put politics aside and consider what is best for our council and our city.

In the coming year, we face ongoing challenges to meet high and rising demands. We are being innovative and creative to provide services differently, but the leadership will need to continue to be willing to make difficult decisions.

There are a huge number of opportunities on the horizon too, I might add. It isn’t all about the money. We continue to work at pace on options for local government reorganisation.

It’s not about power, or, ironically, politics for that matter, it’s about doing what’s right for the council and for the residents of Peterborough, and I hope councillors think carefully about their actions before next week’s meeting.

If such a decision needs to be made, should it not be at the ballot box next year and the years to come? That is surely how genuine democracy should work.