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Tel: 01803 861368 | Email: communications@swdevon.gov.uk |
Council supporting care leavers into employment
29 January 2024
South Hams District Council is offering more support to care leavers with new employment and training opportunities on the horizon.
Recent figures from the Department for Education show that 38% of those who leave care aged 19-21 are not in education, employment, or training compared with 12% of all young people.
For many care leavers, the prospect of getting a job, or even applying for one, can be overwhelming without the support in place.
The Council’s new ‘Care Leavers Employment Policy’ will help remove the barriers care leavers face by offering work placements, a guaranteed interview scheme, the ring-fencing of entry-level apprenticeships, and mentoring to help care leavers adapt to the working environment and secure permanent jobs.
The Council will also work alongside Devon County Council (DCC) and partner organisations to open up further opportunities. This includes signing up to the Care Leaver Covenant which will help the Council provide additional support outside of its statutory duties.
The Council is committed to doing all it can to support care leavers in the local area. In 2023, it introduced a Council Tax discount for young people who have left the care system up to the age of 25, free local leisure passes to support health and wellbeing, and worked with partners to offer support with housing needs. With housing top of the Council’s agenda, ways to increase availability of the right home at the right time is being prioritised – this includes supported housing as well as more general accommodation and will again be working with DCC to find solutions for young people in need.
Plans are also underway to see how the Council can further support its employees who want to foster and adopt children.
Cllr Julian Brazil, Leader of the Council, said: “Everyone deserves the best chance when it comes to securing a job or learning a new skill. Our new employment policy and work with partners such as Devon County Council will make sure that our care leavers, often vulnerable and in need of support, are given those opportunities.
“Our work doesn’t stop here, there is still much to do to support our care leavers. We want to build even stronger relationships with them so that they can have a bright and prosperous future.
“We will continue to support the most vulnerable groups in our communities. They are the ones who need our help the most.”
At the Executive Committee on 25 January, Councillor Nicky Hopwood, with a responsibility for the cost of living, said: “It is great to see all the support we are giving care leavers, particularly for those who may be struggling with the rising cost of living.
“These employment and training opportunities are a superb idea. We want to shout from the roof tops and get the word out so as many care leavers as possible know about the opportunities available to them.
“There are barriers that many care leavers have to overcome, such as the lack of family support. We want to do everything we can to give them the help they need as they enter the world of work."
If you are an employer interested in supporting a care leaver, whether that be through employment, apprenticeships or work experience, please get in touch with the Council by emailing hr@swdevon.gov.uk.
Tel: 01803 861368 | Email: communications@swdevon.gov.uk |
District council supporting the community
Issued: 26 January 2024
South Hams District Council’s Executive has set out the Council’s priorities for the next four years in response to the challenges and opportunities faced by communities across the District.
Today, Thursday 25 January, the Executive considered The Council Plan 2024-2028 and its supporting Year 1 delivery plan. It recommended that Council should adopt both plans and approve the funding needed to deliver them.
The Council Plan includes four key policy areas to tackle the housing challenges, address climate change and biodiversity loss, support the economy and deliver good quality services to our communities.
The plan is funded by an investment of £4.59m. This is made up of £1m of money released from reserves and capital schemes that are no longer needed together with £3.59m from the realignment of core budgets and government grants such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
To complement the housing priorities in The Council Plan, The Executive also approved a specific action plan focused on Housing and Homelessness prevention. The focus for the next twelve months includes working with partners and communities to create good quality, genuinely affordable, energy efficient housing and making the best use of housing that already exists.
Another of the Council’s key priorities is to do all it can to respond to Climate change and Biodiversity loss . It will do this through supporting changes to agricultural practices and decarbonisation of the marine economy. Another key project is to work with the agriculture sector to develop a ‘keep it local’ scheme to promote local produce and reduce food miles.
Working with businesses and partner organisation will also be key to achieving the Council’s ambition to support a thriving and resilient economy. One of the key ways it intends to do this it by working with each of the districts Towns to support the delivery of town plans focused on local priorities.
The community services the Council Delivers is also a key priority. It has pledged in The Council Plan to deliver effective frontline services that address consider the environment and enhance the wellbeing of communities across South Hams.
These four priorities will be underpinned by providing good quality core council services. The Council will do this by working closer with our communities, improving customers access to services, making sure it is financially sustainable and putting the right governance in place.
Cllr Julian Brazil, Leader of South Hams District Council, said: “The proposals approved by the Executive reflect a well-rounded and sensible approach to the challenges of housing, climate change, our economy and community support, confirming our dedication to enhancing the quality of life for all residents.
“As a committee, we have a very practical viewpoint for sustainable growth and a community-focused future. Our ongoing commitment to our Council Plan, together with transparency, accountability, and strategic financial management will undoubtedly propel the District toward our goals.
“We’re showing we’re being proactive and we’re trying to provide our residents with what they have asked us for. That’s what we’re working towards every single day.”
To find out more information on each of the reports discussed during Executive, go to: www.southhams.gov.uk/executive
The meeting can be viewed in full on South Hams District Council’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@SouthHamsCouncil
Tel: 01803 861368 | Email: communications@swdevon.gov.uk |
Council agrees package of financial support
Issued: 25 January 2024
An aid package full of financial proposals aimed to help South Hams’ residents and businesses has been approved by South Hams District Council’s Executive.
Following the meeting today, Thursday, 25 January, proposals will now be progressed to the Full Council in February for consideration.
The Council continues to help vulnerable residents who need support, through their Council Tax Reduction Scheme (CTRS). Following a public consultation held in November last year, which asked residents what their thoughts were on changes to the current scheme. The Executive listened carefully to public opinion and voted in response to make several changes to further support beginning from 1 April 2024. These are in addition to those already in place, which continue for the coming year.
The new measures included:
This is valuable to self-employed workers in the District, because normally the Minimum Income Floor suggests that these workers are earning a certain level of profit, linked to the national minimum wage, even if they didn’t earn that amount. By removing this, self-employed workers will receive more financial support.
By ignoring 100% of the limited capability for work element of Universal Credit, we will be able to support more residents who are only able to work a certain amount of hours due to health conditions and disabilities.
Retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses are also set to benefit from rate relief after the Executive agreed a policy to help traders through the cost-of-living crisis. The national funding was announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Budget. The new scheme for 2024/2025 will provide eligible, occupied retail hospitality and leisure properties with 75% relief up to £110,000 per business. It is expected that 395 businesses will benefit from the rate relief.
The empty homes premiums are there to encourage empty properties to be brought back into use. It is hoped this will help to ease the pressure on the housing crisis within the district and provide more homes for residents. Money raised from the income gained by South Hams District Council will be used to address local district challenges and aims, linked to corporate priorities.
The Executive voted to approve the following:
Cllr Julian Brazil, Leader of South Hams District Council, said: “We are working to address the economic problems our district is faced with due to the cost of living crisis and we are making headway. As always with difficult situations, there is more ground to cover but we’re positive about the changes we’re making.
“We’ve decided on a funding approach, which we feel is best suited to help the residents and businesses and deliver the Council’s key priorities for our communities. Our ambition is to channel as much energy, support and funding into projects that have the community at the heart where we work together to meet those aims, then we’ll be successful.”
To find out more information on each of the reports discussed during Executive, go to: www.southhams.gov.uk/executive
The meeting can be viewed in full on South Hams District Council’s YouTube channel www.youtube.com/@SouthHamsCouncil
Tel: 01803 861368 | Email: communications@swdevon.gov.uk |
Temporary Changes to Dartmouth’s Ferry Services
22 January 2024
Those in Dartmouth looking to travel across the River Dart by car are being asked to plan ahead as there will only be a single car ferry service in operation from Monday 29 January.
Due to unexpected, but essential maintenance work, the Dartmouth Lower Ferry will need to continue to run a single ferry service until Monday 12 February 2024.
Unfortunately, during this time, the Dartmouth Higher Ferry also enters its own maintenance period and they will not be running their usual service.
This means there will be one car ferry crossing the River Dart during this period.
South Hams District Council’s Executive Member for Community Services; Operations and Leisure, Cllr Victor Abbott, said: “We know this is going to be a busy time to travel across the Dart and we urge you to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time for your journey.
“Every year we do essential maintenance on both of our vessels, Tom Casey and Tom Avis as they are over 30 years old. It is very important that we continue to maintain them for the safety of our passengers. That is always, and will always be our top priority, as well as providing an efficient service to all who use the Lower Ferry.
“On our recent inspection, it was found that some essential work needed to happen. Although we are aware this will cause some disruption for our customers, we are relieved to have found the issue early before it became a major problem for the future.
“Be assured that we will do all we can to make journeys as smooth as possible, including extra staff working on our ferry and help to control traffic during peak times.
“This will be a very busy time for our friendly team, please be kind and respectful to them while using our service.”
For more information on the ferry, please visit:
Tel: 01803 861368 | Email: communications@swdevon.gov.uk |
New community composting scheme in Marldon
12 January 2024
A new community composting scheme in Marldon has launched, thanks to funding from South Hams District Council.
The Council is supporting the Marldon Community Composting Group to the tune of £9,000, to help with set up costs, that will cover equipment costs and other set up expenses.
Where needed the Council can also provide a resource from its grounds maintenance team to assist with the ‘turning and shredding’ of the green waste.
The group has gone through the application process, providing all the necessary documentation to secure the money, with support from Sustainable South Hams (SusSH), one of the Council’s close partners in the realm of fighting climate change locally.
Cllr Jacqi Hodgson, Executive Member for Community Composting, said: “We are delighted to be able to support the Marldon Community Composting Group in their endeavour to launch this new scheme.
“Schemes like this are a win-win. They offer communities the chance to recycle green waste in a way that is easy to access and take locally produced compost home for their gardens. It also brings people together, promotes the sharing of vital skills and helps reduce our carbon footprint.”
Jane Nichols, CEO of Sustainable South Hams, said: “Projects like this tie in directly to the key aim of SusSH – to support and inspire sustainability projects in the South Hams and wider Devon.
“It is another sign of the close working relationship between the Council and SusSH, a relationship we hope will continue to flourish.”
The ties between the Council and Sustainable South Hams are strong, following the Council’s financial support for the group, and the formation of the Climate Change and Biodiversity Advisory Group, which is using specialist and expert knowledge to support the Council and wider community’s climate ambitions.
The Council is encouraging SusSH to support other composting projects in our communities, so that groups can share knowledge and potentially resources where needed.
Tel: 01803 861368 | Email: communications@swdevon.gov.uk |
District Council makes it easier for residents to understand its finances
8 January 2024
South Hams District Council has created a short summary of its 2022/23 accounts, so you can see how the authority spent public funds.
This is a new idea which has been brought in this year by the Council’s Audit and Governance Committee.
You can view the summary online here, which offers a straightforward breakdown of how money was spent to deliver Council services.
The Council is in a good financial position. There was a small surplus of £57,000 (0.5%) generated against a net budget of £10.464m for the 2022/23 financial year.
The Council faced additional costs and a shortfall of income of £1.92m during 2022/23. Many of these costs were a result of the current economic climate with high inflation and the cost-of-living crisis.
There was also the exceptional one-off cost of £1.5m for bringing the Council’s waste and recycling service back in-house in October 2022. The £1.5m was funded from reserves. There has been a huge improvement in performance for the waste and recycling service since it was brought in-house. The Council has also now completed the roll out of its full collection service, including collections for food waste across the South Hams, meaning all residents are now recycling the same materials.
The extra costs and shortfall in planning income of £0.35m were offset by the Council generating additional investment income. This income of £1.02m took advantage of high interest rates and came from the careful planning and management of the Council’s cash funds. The Council also received more income from its car parks and the Dartmouth Lower Ferry, along with income from its business units.
Despite all these additional costs and pressures caused by the wider economic situation, the authority has finished the year in a strong financial position.
The Council’s full accounts show all of the precise details. The accounts are currently unaudited and the Council’s external auditors, Grant Thornton, are now in the process of completing the audit of the accounts.
Cllr Lee Bonham, chair of the Council’s Audit and Governance Committee, said: “As a Council we want to be transparent, so having complex information on our finances be summarised in this way makes how we spend your money easy to understand and clear.
“This is the first time that the Council has has provided this information in this way. We want to make it easier for people to understand the way we operate and how we are spending public funds.
“We’re working hard to overcome many of the problems facing the district, including the housing crisis, the cost-of-living crisis, and the climate change and biodiversity emergency.
“To have worked on such a broad series of challenges, to have brought the waste service back in-house and found ourselves in the strong financial position we’re in is a great credit to our Councillors and our staff.”
Cllr Alison Nix, the committee’s vice-chair, added: “So much was achieved in 2022/23. The Council has worked incredibly hard to serve the people of the South Hams, so to end the fiscal year in a good financial position means the future is looking positive for the district.
“It’s good that we can present our accounts in a more easily read format, and shows how the Council responds to the feedback we get from you, our residents.”
To read the summary on the Council's Accounts page, click here.
Action on climate change in Devon and dates for the diary |
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Changes to Dartmouth Lower Ferry service
18 December 2023
Despite best laid plans to trial a two-float service for the entire festive period, Dartmouth Lower Ferry will now unfortunately have to reduce to one float for the last few days over New Year. This will happen from Thursday 28 December and continue for five weeks.
This is due to the Higher Ferry’s own maintenance period needing to be juggled with the essential maintenance of the Lower Ferry’s Tom Casey float. Both Higher and Lower ferries work together to ensure there is enough capacity to support communities crossing the River Dart at all times.
The Christmas double running as promised does continue at all other times.
Dartmouth Lower Ferry’s two-float service will begin again on Monday 5 February 2024.
The reduction in service also means the Lower Ferry can fully support Maritime Coastguard safety inspections. These essential inspections on each of the tugs and floats make sure they are first and foremost safe and fit for all passengers, but also that the annual passenger certificate continues.
The new single and double ferry timetable will be as follows, so please make a note:
Double ferry running
Monday 11 December – Wednesday 27 December
Single ferry running
Thursday 28 December to Sunday 4 February
Double ferry running
Monday 5 February onwards
South Hams District Council’s Executive Member for Community Services; Operations and Leisure, Cllr Victor Abbott, said: “While we are disappointed to not be able to complete the trial for the New Year part of the festive period, we’re pleased that we can continue to offer double running still over the important Christmas and Boxing Day when family and friends are more likely to gather. Our team will be working as quickly as possible over the New Year to make sure your celebrations are not slowed down by the single running ferry.
"This essential maintenance will mean we can continue to offer a smooth-running service in the new year, as well as support with the demand when the Higher Ferry enters its own maintenance period.”
Local Dartmouth District Ward councillors, Cllrs Jonathan Hawkins, Ben Cooper and Ged Yardy, all agree: “We are very lucky to have such a hard-working team that always make sure that our ferry service runs efficiently and professionally in all weathers, and we thank them for their dedication and support.”
For more information on the ferry, please visit:
www.southhams.gov.uk/dartmouth-lower-ferry
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