For Sheffield and with Sheffield – the council’s One Year Plan

A One-Year plan designed to help Sheffield rebuild from covid, empower communities and deliver for the city and its amazing people has been agreed by the council’s Co-Operative Executive.

The plan vows to “put Sheffield first”, delivering on clear priorities in the coming months, and laying the foundations for a bright future. It will focus on empowering people and businesses to thrive, building sustainability into all areas of life and keeping Sheffield’s diverse communities at the heart of all plans.

There are four areas in the One Year Plan, with clear priorities and actions in each. They are Communities and Neighbourhoods; Education, Health and Care; Climate Change, Economy and Development; and Our Council.

Communities and Neighbourhoods:

ambition for all communities to love and be proud of where they live, to have great facilities, feel safe and live without discrimination, and be healthier and happier. To support this work, the plan focuses on

• engaging, enabling and empowering residents through Local Area Committees, and supporting communities as Covid restrictions ease
• making sure everyone has high quality, safe homes, in neighbourhoods that are clean, green, safe and thriving
• supporting young people in Sheffield to develop and flourish and investing in sport and leisure facilities to support better health and wellbeing

Education, Health and Care: 

ambition for every single person in Sheffield to be able to achieve their full potential, addressing educational inequalities and supporting people to stay fit and healthy, so fewer people reach crisis point and families thrive. To support this work, the plan focuses on

• giving everyone the best start in life and supporting children and young people through the Covid recovery process
• striving to provide the best children’s services, supporting those in our care to achieve their full potential, delivering effective, person-focused SEND services, and reducing exclusions
• enabling adults to live the life that they want to live, improving the transition of vulnerable children into adulthood, investing in social care services and more integrated working with health care partners

Climate Change, Economy and Development:

ambition for Sheffield to be a flourishing, sustainable and inclusive city, creating opportunity and great jobs for Sheffielders. Working with businesses towards a dynamic environment for enterprise and innovation and achieving net zero carbon by 2030. To support this work, the plan focuses on

• taking immediate steps to reduce carbon emissions, tackling harmful pollution and making the air we breathe safer, while securing a sustainable future for public transport and delivering high quality, sustainable homes
• supporting Sheffield businesses to recover and grow, regenerating our high streets, establishing thriving city and local centres, and maximising opportunities for arts and cultural activities in all parts of the city to support economic recovery
• supporting people to get the skills and advice they need to get back into work, supporting young people with 500 new apprenticeships, working with people and employers to upskill our workforce and developing new career opportunities

Our Council:

ambition to lead boldly with purpose and decisiveness, putting the communities and people of Sheffield at the heart of everything, and working hard to deliver excellence always. To support this work, the plan will focus on

• being a well-run council, connected to our communities, committed to excellence and ready for the future
• involving residents in the decisions that affect them, supporting our diverse communities in recovering from the impact of Covid and taking visible action to fight poverty and inequality
• attracting sustainable jobs and more investment to Sheffield by being a confident, outward looking city that is recognised regionally and nationally.

Councillor Terry Fox, Leader of Sheffield City Council, said:

“I keep saying it, we are hugely ambitious for this city, and with this plan we’re putting Sheffield first. Sheffield is in my opinion the best place to live, with the best people, but we know there’s a lot of work needed to address health, education, employment and opportunity inequality across the city.

“The last year and half has been tough, and has presented us with a whole load of new challenges, but it has also presented us with great opportunity, to do things differently and to get it right.

“Our one-year plan not only focuses on the needs of our people, communities, economy and environment, but it also focuses on our strengths on the things that make Sheffield, Sheffield, the things that will help us to make this plan a success. The four key areas are actually all interlinked and as we work through each element, we’ll see the dots joining up and things starting to improve.

“It’s so important to me and the Council that local people are involved and at the heart of every decision and action, and through increased engagement and our Local Area Committees we will make sure that happens.

“The year ahead is crucial in our recovery from the pandemic and in building the foundations for the bright future we are striving towards.”

Kate Josephs, Chief Executive at Sheffield City Council, said:

“Sheffield is a city of opportunity, a place where you can be who you want to be, a home to all. But we recognise that inequality affects many people at many levels across the city, the pandemic has widened that gap and we have a lot of work to do to address it.

“Our One Year Plan will help us support our communities to live healthy, happy lives in neighbourhoods that they are proud of, and where they feel valued, included and respected. Where all children and young people have the best start in life and can go on to achieve their full potential.

“And thriving communities leads to thriving economy. We’re working hard not just to support our people, but to support our businesses in both local and central areas, to attract new investment and visitors so that our highs streets are once again full of life and opportunity.

“Running through everything we do, whether it’s for our communities or our economy, we must consider our environment because we are facing a crisis and now is the time to act and make a difference.

“This plan is our commitment to change, to a new start for Sheffield, and across the authority we pledge to do the very best we can for the city and everyone who calls it home.”

As well as immediate actions for the year ahead, the Plan starts to lay the foundations for long term change so that Sheffield can flourish as a modern city that is socially and environmentally just with great opportunities and wellbeing for everyone.

To establish these new foundations, work will start straight away on a number of areas that will be instrumental in the city’s future.

This includes the immediate start of developing a 3-5 year Corporate Plan for the Council, listening to the city in order to create a longer term plan; talking with communities through LACs to understand how people coped through the pandemic, what might come next and how to maintain the right support; refreshing the Housing Strategy to address Sheffield’s the long term housing needs; talking with communities to develop a climate focused approach to improving Sheffield’s environment and bio-diversity and reducing our waste.

The One Year Plan was agreed formally yesterday at the Council’s Cooperative Executive meeting. Read more about the detailed plans and ambitions.