State Of The Area 2024 Report
State of the Area Event
Held on Friday 4 October 2024
Introduction
As you will be aware the Elected Mayor hosts an annual State of the Area Event, as defined in the Council’s Constitution. This event chaired by the Council’s Chair provides an opportunity for the Council, its partners, residents, stakeholders and the voluntary and community sector to reflect on the work that we are doing, share ideas and think about how we as individual organisations might support each other and offer a joint approach to some of the work that we do.
The 2024 event focused on the key achievements of the Our North Tyneside Plan and addressed the challenges and priorities for the next five years.
Over 100 participants attended, including Council representatives, public sector partners, Elected Members, the voluntary and community sector, young people, business leaders, and residents.
Before splitting into workshop to discuss the themes of the Council Plan - Thriving, Secure, Family Friendly, Caring, and Green the Elected Mayor emphasised the importance of reflecting on the progress made since last year.
The event also included feedback from Young Mayor Coby Black, who highlighted achievements related to young people during the Year of the Voice of the Child.
The Chief Executive followed this by presenting some of the key highlights from the Our North Tyneside Plan, setting the stage for the workshops.
Each workshop was led by a relevant council officer and discussed three questions:
1. What priorities should we focus on in the next five years?
2. What challenges might arise?
3. How can you/your organisation be supported to achieve these priorities?
The feedback from the workshop and the area of focus included:
Thriving - Facilitated by Director of Resources
• Priorities: Improve communication, involving young people in planning, aligning strategies across all sectors.
• Challenges: Resource constraints, inefficiencies, and barriers to entry-level jobs.
• Support: Increased collaboration, business partnerships, and VCSE involvement.
Secure - Facilitated by Director of Regeneration and Economic Development
• Priorities: Improved safety in estates, town centers, and transport. Focusing on reducing anti-social behaviour.
• Challenges: Limited resources, lack of a holistic approach to security.
• Support: Use young people as mentors, foster collaboration, and information sharing.
Family Friendly - Facilitated by Director of Children’s Services
• Priorities: Support mental health and well-being, improve communication, and reduce waiting times for services.
• Challenges: Limited resources, socio-economic inequality, and cultural barriers.
• Support: Partnership working, sharing information, and creating a sense of community.
Caring - Facilitated by Director of Adult Services
• Priorities: Address the needs of vulnerable groups (children, elderly, homeless), focus on prevention and accessible advice.
• Challenges: Complex system, funding, and efficient partnership working.
• Support: Collaboration with partners, including GPs and dementia support services.
Green - Facilitated by Director of Environment Services
• Priorities: Promoting sustainable transport, green energy, and enhance green spaces.
• Challenges: Cultural barriers, cost of green alternatives, and conflicting priorities.
• Support: Resident engagement, community groups, targeted education, and linking environmental and health benefits.
The feedback we received from a range of different attendees was positive and provided an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of the Our North Tyneside Plan, highlighting its impact on the borough and its residents.
While challenges were acknowledged, there was strong commitment to the priorities of the Council plan.
Strategic collaboration and effective communication were seen as key to achieving shared goals and using resources wisely. The Business Forum and young people expressed a desire to collaborate with the Local Authority to ease the transition from learning to work.
The North Tyneside Housing Forum committed to developing housing support projects.
The Trades Union representatives emphasised their role in promoting national training schemes.
The VCSE sector pledged to bring in additional funding and continue offering support for children, young people, and those in need.
Residents, particularly the younger delegates, showed enthusiasm for working with the VCSE, Business Forum, and Local Authority to drive behavioral change, build community engagement, and raise awareness on issues like sustainable living.
The information collated from this event will be shared to help inform the Council plan/priorities moving forward.