Ruth made this speech to the Sutton Partnership Conference yesterday. It wasn't written for her, she wrote it herself and it is her thoughts about where we are, how proud we should all be of our borough and our achievements and how we can keep Sutton a special place by working together.
"Welcome everyone, welcome to
this meeting of the Sutton Partnership. To those of you I've known for many
years and those of you who I'm looking forward to meeting very soon, thank you
all for coming along this afternoon.
It’s a huge privilege to be the
new Leader of Sutton, to do a job that can make such a difference and to serve
the community where I live with my family. This is a wonderful borough to live,
work and bring up a family and I know that we are all determined to work hard
to ensure that it develops, prospers and offers everyone the opportunity to
achieve their potential.
I’m hugely excited by my new
role but I’ve also got my feet very firmly on the ground. I know there are huge
challenges and money is tight – but I really do believe that the talent,
enthusiasm and determination of all the people here today means that we can be
confident as we look forward.
I know it won’t be easy. When I
said to my Mum that I had been chosen to succeed Sean as the next Leader, she
looked me straight in the eye and said, “You mean everything will be your fault
from now on?” And that’s an important part of the role – someone ultimately has
to take responsibility for what’s happening, good and bad. That’s why
partnership working, team working is so important. Because we are better,
stronger and more successful when we work as a team, when we harness our
different skills and interests and draw on our different experiences.
Sutton is a very special place.
It has a special way of doing things. And I don’t want to change that. People
genuinely care about their local area. They have strong attachments to their
local district or village. They mind when the High Street doesn’t turn out the
way they had hoped. They care when the parks and streets don’t look properly
cared for.
I wouldn’t want it any other
way.
And Sutton politicians, and
community leaders and public servants genuinely want to raise standards and
make improvements. We have been working in partnership for many years now – and
we know it works. We don’t always agree – but we sort out our differences, we
talk them through and we find solutions that work. Building a community where
all can take part and all can take pride. We coined that phrase over 20 years
ago – it’s just as relevant today.
We don’t make a great deal of
noise about Sutton and we tend to be quite modest about our achievements. But I
really do think that over the last twenty years or so Sutton has quietly and
consistently become one of the best places to live and work in the South East.
We’re close to Central London and close to the Surrey countryside. We have
lovely parks, excellent schools, first class libraries, low crime rates, a
strong sense of community, low unemployment, a high percentage of young people
in education, training or employment, some lovely heritage buildings and
thriving district centres.
We haven’t achieved all this by
chance. It’s taken a lot of hard work and some very exceptional people to get
us where we are today. And we’ve been incredibly lucky to have had someone like
Sean Brennan leading the Council for the last ten years. You all know Sean, his
integrity, his warmth and his strong sense of justice. He is a real gentleman
and I consider myself very lucky to have worked so closely with him for the
last 6 years. Sean is respected by everyone I meet and he has left this Council
and this borough with strong foundations for a successful future. I know we are
all very grateful.
Last year was a difficult year.
We witnessed riots uncomfortably close to home. Household budgets are being
squeezed and families are worried about keeping their jobs and paying their
bills. There are fears about the future of the banks and the Euro and
government ministers continue to demand that local government makes huge cuts
and efficiencies. Though it might be nice if central government took on some of
the burden too! I'm told local government is making 28% cuts compared to 4%
from central government. Might be an idea to even it up a bit! I can't wait to
meet Eric Pickles.
The council faces increasing challenges.
Demand for services is increasing while our income falls. A rising birth rate
is putting huge pressure on our schools. We need to do better - much better -
at safeguarding our vulnerable children. An ageing population is putting more
pressure on social care. So standing still isn’t an option. Councils that do
that will simply run out of money and have to slash services with no regard for
the impact on their residents, with no regard for health, welfare and social
inequalities. That is not going to happen in this Borough, not on my watch.
We know from the Council borough
wide survey that people like living in this Borough and they have confidence in
us as a Council. They also have high expectations of us, of the Council and the
services we provide. And that's fine - it keeps us on our toes and reminds us
that we are public servants, here to serve the residents of Sutton.
So let's be honest - we don't
always get it right. We haven't always managed our major projects as well as we
should. Generally our services are well managed - but then we trip up over the
details, we don't explain what we're doing properly, we don't feed back and
address people's genuine concerns, we look and sound out of touch and
bureaucratic. This has to stop.
Some of our council letters and
communications are just awful. You need an honours degree in gibberish to
understand some of them. They are too long, too technical, full of jargon.
They're written for council officers, not the general public. That has to stop.
I'm ambitious for Sutton, even
in tough times. At the very moment when money is tight and resources are
scarce, I want to take a new look at how we prioritise our services. I want a
grown up, open and honest dialogue with our citizens. We need to stop
pretending we can do everything for everyone - that's just not possible any
more.
And ultimately that was never
the Sutton Way – at the heart of which is the belief that local people know
best and must be empowered to take decisions, and shape their neighbourhoods,
themselves. When tough decisions need to be made it is vital that the
priorities are being set by our residents. When resources are tight it is vital
that we are not letting the pride and enthusiasm of our residents go to waste.
In times of austerity, Localism is not a luxury but a necessity.
I’m talking about real Localism:
about trusting people, relinquishing power, and challenging the tendency in
this, the most centralised country in the Western world, to concentrate power
in the hands of a few. So when we talk about Shaping our Neighbourhoods we
aren’t talking about another grand design imposed from above. It's about the
people who live and work in those places, the people who care about the grass
verges and the parks, the traffic and the litter, the schools and the shops.
The people who want their kids to have every opportunity in life, good schools
and good jobs, safe streets and fun things to do. The people who rant and rail
and then roll up their sleeves and get on with it.
The challenge facing the
Council, and many of your organisations too, is the one that we will be
tackling at this workshop today: how do we provide our residents, our citizens
with the opportunities to shape their neighbourhoods, how do we empower them
and by so doing unleash their pride and enthusiasm to the benefit of the whole
borough?
Part of the answer has to be
devolving greater powers and bigger budgets to our Local Committees, so that
more and more decisions are made at the level that is closest to our residents.
It also means making sure that people are more involved in the design and
delivery of the local public services that they use. This is a chance to draw
on the pride that Sutton people have in their local area, to utilise the
skills, interests and experience of our residents to make our services, and our
borough, even better. How to achieve this is the question we have set ourselves
this afternoon. How can the Council change the way it designs and delivers its
services? Is there potential for voluntary organisations and community groups
to play an even bigger role as the bodies through which local people are able
to shape their neighbourhoods?
These are complicated questions
and might require solutions that are equally complicated, messy and
unpredictable. Solutions might differ from place to place, but then Sutton is
already like a patchwork quilt of villages and district centres, each one
unique with its own set of strengths and problems. I want to celebrate this
diversity, and build on it as a source of local pride.
Pride and participation are key
ingredients in creating a better borough for our residents, a borough made up
of thriving district centres with the right mix of jobs, school places, green
spaces, play areas, post offices, libraries and places to meet. But there are
other ingredients too, not least the need for local growth, local prosperity
and local jobs. Traditionally this has been considered the realm of national
government - and of course Westminster has an important role to play. But local
government, local councils can make a real difference.
Think about our Borough. We have
excellent schools and a skilled workforce. We have key transport links. We have
identified sites that are ripe for development. We have low crime, strong
community cohesion, a thriving voluntary sector.
Now we need to capitalise on our
assets and open our doors to business. We want to welcome entrepreneurs and
remove the barriers to enterprise. We can build on our strong environmental
reputation and become a magnet for green enterprise and green business. This
sector of the economy is growing faster than any other, creating new jobs and
promoting sustainable solutions to modern problems. If we can attract this
investment, harness this energy and enthusiasm and develop a green hub in Southwest
London, we can back long term sustainable growth which will benefit the entire
community.
I want every part of our
organisation and our partners to re-examine how we can contribute to growth,
jobs and skills. I want us to work together so that all our residents are able
to access the right training, skills and apprenticeships. I want local
businesses to thrive here, offering local jobs to local people. I want them to
feel part of the community, to be proud of working in Sutton, to make a
difference to their local area. I want to realise the ambition of a
sustainable, dynamic suburb, not a sleepy, sluggish suburb.
So in conclusion, shaping our
neighbourhoods and building strong communities is not just the Council's
business, it's everyone's business. We are already well placed to make this
happen - but there is a lot more we can do and we must do. I want us to take
the best of what we have already, learn from our mistakes and inject a new
sense of purpose into delivering real
localism, creating jobs and encouraging a sense of pride in the place where we
live.
I don't have all the answers
because this can't be done alone. It needs your help, your energy, your ideas.
So for the next three months I'll be in listening mode. I want to hear your
views and ideas. I want to hear from you what will work and what won't. I want
you to tell me what's important and what isn't. I want you to help me make this
a reality – starting this afternoon.
Thank you very much for
listening - and thank you for all you do to make Sutton such a glorious and
exciting place with such huge potential for the future."
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