Devon County Council has set out an ambitious plan describing its strategic priorities over the next four years.
The plan describes goals that the Council believe will help make Devon the best place to grow up, and where more of us can live well and prosper.
Supporting it, the Council will have annual plans setting out what it will do each year to achieve those strategic goals.
And it is asking for the public’s input to the annual plans, inviting people to let the council know what could and should be done in order to achieve the priorities.
Those priorities, available on the council’s website, are:
- Helping Devon respond to the climate and ecological emergency, and working to protect and improve our natural environment
- Working together to ensure all children are safe, healthy and can thrive with opportunities to fulfil their potential
- Helping Devon achieve inclusive economic recovery and sustainable growth, ensure more people can take advantage of opportunities, and invest carefully to improve infrastructure
- Making Devon a fairer place, address poverty, health and other inequalities, and ensure support for those people and families struggling most
- Help people to be healthier and more resilient, ensure everyone gets the care they need, and support people to live their lives well
- Support all our communities to be safer, better connected and more resilient with a focus on communities at greatest risk or in greatest need
And below each heading, a subset of priorities that include:
- Prioritising sustainable travel and transport and supporting the transition to low emission vehicles
- Improving children and young people’s mental health; and continuing to close the attainment gap for vulnerable groups to ensure children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities achieve the best possible outcomes
- Supporting training providers and employers to increase the number of traineeships and apprenticeships; attract new inward investment to Devon; and deliver £500 million Council capital investment programme over five years
- Building a sustainable care system for Devon; tackling the longer-term impacts of COVID-19; and supporting carers in their caring roles
- Tackling social isolation, particularly among older, younger and disabled people, and those with a long-term illness; and making it easier for key workers and people on low incomes to find affordable homes
- Reducing food and fuel poverty and supporting people who are experiencing hardship; promoting community cohesion; challenging inequality; and prioritising the delivery of the council’s domestic violence and abuse strategy
The Leader of Devon County Council, Councillor John Hart, said:
My priority is to ensure Devon enjoys a strong recovery from the pandemic so we can improve the health, incomes and opportunities of our residents.
“We will focus on a clean, green recovery to renew and regenerate our economy and bring greater prosperity and opportunity for all our communities.
“Alongside this, we’re developing our annual plan that will help us achieve those priorities. But these are priorities that we all have some stake in delivering.
“Prioritising sustainable travel and transport, for example, requires cooperation and engagement with us all to make it work. Building a sustainable care system, requires more people to come forward to work in health and care.
“So we want the public to get behind the plans and to help us develop the actions that will achieve the priorities. For example, what needs to happen for us all to prioritise sustainable travel and transport, or switch to electric vehicles? What’s going to encourage more people to work in care?
“We also want to know what people could do themselves to help Devon achieve these goals, and what help, if any, would they need to do so.
“We will review our annual plans each year, to make sure that they are working towards achieving these priorities.”
To view the council’s priorities, and contribute ideas towards plans that will help achieve those priorities, visit the council’s website, The best place – Strategic Plan (devon.gov.uk)