Opinion: Making progress towards financial sustainability

This week we received some third-party endorsement for our rapid progress, from our Independent Improvement and Assurance Panel.

The panel was set up a year ago to provide external advice, challenge and expertise in driving forward the development and delivery of our Improvement Plan.

Panel members have now submitted a second report on our progress, which was due to be debated by Full Council last night (7 December), and I’m pleased to say they have found that we have made significant progress.

There has been a whole council focus on our Improvement Plan in the past year and significant work has gone into delivering the improvements highlighted by our panel members.

Since I became leader back in 2021, I have ensured we now have greater control of our finances, and that members are working more collaboratively, and we are developing plans to transform the way we operate and deliver services in the medium to long term.

In particular, the panel praised our achievements in moving towards becoming a financially sustainable council, maintaining a grip on spending and curtailing our borrowing and completing a deep dive into all our companies and commercial arrangements to make sure we’re getting best value.

The report also highlighted that we have developed a transformation programme which will change the way the council operates and delivers services and that we’ve published a new corporate strategy and City Priorities document, setting out how we will deliver long-term improvements and meet the changing needs of resident and deliver on our priorities.

Our staff deserve huge praise for their commitment and determination this year, so I am pleased that panel members also noted this in their report.

We know that much hard work remains in 2023, but as this report shows, we are most certainly on the right path, and we are most certainly up for the challenge.

Educational attainment is another area we have seen huge improvement in recent times.

If you tuned into Monday’s Cabinet meeting you will have heard Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Lynne Ayres, announcing that children in the city have been praised for their strong performance in new tests of their multiplication skills.

In Peterborough, 29 per cent of pupils taking the assessment scored the full 25 marks – that's higher than the East of England and national averages.

The point of the test is to determine whether children can fluently recall their times tables up to 12 – something that was drilled into me as a youngster! It’s an important measure for how well children are performing and what additional support they might need.

What’s more, in the national Progress 8 table - which measures how far young people progress in their education across secondary education in eight subjects – Peterborough has recorded an improvement of 0.24. It is the first time we have had a positive Progress 8 outcome.

Out of 151 local authorities, this places Peterborough as 38th nationally, up from 107th. Our progress scores for primary schools also improved significantly with Maths being above national average for the first time since this measure was introduced.

These impressive outcomes are the result of intensely hard work by everyone across the education system in Peterborough. Staff in schools and the education department at the council – and of course the children themselves - have worked tirelessly to produce the results we know Peterborough’s schoolchildren are capable of.

And finally, in last week’s column I mentioned that we were due to launch our Budget Consultation this week.

You may have taken part in our Budget Simulator challenge recently, to learn more about the services we provide and the challenges we face in balancing our budget.

We’re now asking you to have a look at our budget plans for 2023/24. The document we have published sets out our priorities for the coming year, including supporting people who are struggling the most, focussing on the city centre so it is a vibrant place where people feel, and are, safe and investing in growth, regeneration, and economic development to drive forward at pace our ambitious plans to increase the number of homes, attract new businesses, create better jobs, and ensure that growth acts as a lever to address inequalities.

The Budget Consultation is now live, so please visit our website to take part in an online survey. Hard copies of the form are also available by emailing [email protected] or by calling 01733 747474.