There have been concerns for some time about the availability of careers advice to young people in our schools.  Whilst education is not normally part of a District council’s brief, Babergh and Mid Suffolk are keen to assist in this situation.  The Navigator project is the result of joint working by Connect Education and Business (ConnectEB) together with our two councils. Its aim is to help young people understand the labour market and the skills and qualities needed to help them to make smart and well informed career decisions. There are so many different employment opportunities on offer. The approach will be through employer led work in schools, and assessed from student, school and employer perspectives. For the first time there will be data that evidences the benefit and impact of these experiences on young people and their choices.

A number of businesses and organisations such as EDF, Ipswich Building Society and Beacon East have signed up to the Navigator Project, as have 10, out of a total of 11 high Schools from across both districts. Activities will take place in the 10 schools over the next two years, delivered by these and other local and national businesses. Students will benefit from direct guidance and feedback from people in business, and the schools will be supported to help their students’ access these opportunities.  (The ICanBeA website has been up and running for some time now and is a valuable resource.)

There are several big and challenging agendas currently running in our Districts. We are in the process of finding a new joint Chief Executive for Babergh and Mid Suffolk and hope to make an appointment this month.  We are also recruiting a new Monitoring Officer.

Local government and residents in Suffolk are facing some radical changes in the way things work. Decisions by Babergh and Mid Suffolk on Devolution for Norfolk and Suffolk have been deferred to mid-late November. The Devolution deal potentially offers some real benefits in terms of new money to help deliver the growth ambitions already enshrined in various major strategies drafted by the New Anglia LEP and the County Council, but it also proposes another layer of local government – a Combined (Mayoral) Authority – headed up by a directly elected mayor, the election for which is scheduled for next May, along with the County Council elections. Members of the new CMA Board will be the Leaders of all the councils who have opted in, together with a NALEP member. The new organisation will set its own governance arrangements and committee structures and have powers to hire staff and contractors.

Both Babergh and Mid Suffolk administrations are discussing whether to change from the current “fourth option” committee structures to a Leader-Cabinet constitution, which will invest direct decision-making and spending powers in the Leaders and individual Portfolio holders. The overall role of Council and the involvement of back-bench councillors will be reduced and reserved to matters such as the Budget, council tax, planning and some statutory functions such as Licensing. There is no longer a requirement to consult the public about such a move. Part of the rationale is said to be that most of the other councils involved in the devolution deal have cabinet-and-leader constitutions. There is currently a review of governance and the constitution taking place on the existing committee system.

Alongside this discussion is the Boundary review, which will change ward boundaries in order to even up electoral representation across the Districts. The two Administrations are also likely to want to reduce overall councillor numbers at the same time.

As my colleague has reported, Council voted to move its headquarters from the two sites in Hadleigh and Needham Market into Endeavour House. This should deliver cost and efficiency benefits to the councils, but concerns remain about the economic impact on the two market towns and the fate of the existing premises.

There is a new Joint Local Plan being developed in the midst of a strong directive from Government to grow the economy through house building. Locally we await imminent applications for two major developments, with others potentially coming forward in future years.  We have no feedback as yet about the second call for (smaller) sites which has been running this summer.