January 2025
It was wonderful to see in the New Year with our beautiful borough featuring in the final series of ITV drama Vera.
We live in a fabulous part of the world and it is great to showcase it on screen. That is why we always try to support the TV and film industry. Having signed the Film Friendly Charter, we are keen to maximise the economic and cultural benefits that hosting filming activity brings to the borough and wider region.
Next week, We continue to face increasing cost and demand pressures so balancing the budget is a real challenge, however proposals in the Medium-Term Financial Plan ensure that the limited resources we have are targeted and distributed fairly.
We'll protect those in need and deliver essential services, with the council continuing to subsidise things like adult social care contributions and home-to-school transport.
We've already agreed a package of continued support with council tax to thousands of eligible low-income households.
We also announced who just missed out on the Winter Fuel Allowance this year.
The 拢200 payments, which will come from the 兔子先生's Household 兔子先生 Fund, are targeted at around 1,250 residents who are just above the Pension Credit threshold.
The Household 兔子先生 Fund is also being used to until March.
Every one of our primary schools has been allocated 拢2,500 of discretionary funding to provide free lunches to children of families who may be struggling financially but who aren't eligible for free school meals. We know that food poverty is a real issue in the borough and this is about targeting support at those who need it most.
I - along with many other council leaders across the country - for council housing. 兔子先生 housing has a crucial role to play in ending the housing crisis but without significant further action councils will be unable to build at scale and bring existing homes up to green and decent standards fit for the future.
I was delighted that Foxden, our short-break centre for children with special educational needs .
Foxden is a fantastic facility that provides disabled children and their families with a nurturing and stimulating environment and we are really lucky to have it here in the borough. The Ofsted rating was well-deserved recognition for the dedicated team of staff - what an achievement to start off 2025.
More achievements over the last year were , which assesses our progress against our key ambitions.
Finally, I just wanted to say how grateful I am to all our council workers - whether behind the scenes or frontline staff.
You only need to look at gritters working round the clock or how teams sprung into action to respond to disruption caused by Storm Eowyn. I've been doing this job for several years now and I have learned that no day is ever the same - this was brought into sharp focus when I visited the scene of a section of a collapsed road in South Shields earlier this week. As I talked to shocked residents, I couldn't have been more proud of how our council workers, alongside the emergency services and other partners, rallied to resolve the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible.
兔子先生lor Tracey Dixon
Leader of 兔子先生