Where we are now, and where we want to be
Where we are now
Investing in modern social care services has been a major priority for the Council over the past several years. As part of our improvement journey, children’s services have been transformed and are now providing good quality services and improved outcomes for children. At the same time,
we have focussed on reforming adult social care, strengthening our focus on supporting older people and adults with learning disabilities to have more control over their lives. This has involved working closely with our health partners.
Strong partnership working has also been central in our response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has enabled us to take quick action to protect our residents and to support our most vulnerable children and their families. This has included setting up testing sites, contacting local people to support them to self-isolate when necessary, establishing a befriending service for those experiencing loneliness, and ensuring that our most vulnerable children and young people were in school and being supported to keep them safe.
During this time, the Council has also stepped up to support the most disadvantaged members of our community, which has meant funding free school meal vouchers, during the school holidays, providing uniforms for families who needed them, and running activities for children and young people. Working with partners we provided food parcels during 2020/21. We also formed the rough sleeper initiative team to provide support to the homeless community.
It is proposed over £92.3 million will be invested in housing growth by 2025-26, delivering approximately 668 new homes.
The Council has a range of CCTV assets to promote community safety across the borough however as many of the assets are old, capital investment has been prioritised with £420,000 to bring these up to date.
Noise nuisance has been an increasing issue during the pandemic with more people required to stay at home and large scale events having an impact on a number of residents.
Developing seamless domestic abuse services is underway, to ensure that support offered to victims across partners is easy to access and works to address offenders.
Where we want to be
We want people to lead happy and healthy lives. Focussing on preventing problems from arising in the first place and intervening early will not only lead to better outcomes for our residents, but is also vital to ensure a sustainable future for our services. A preventative approach will therefore underpin everything we do – whether that’s promoting positive health and wellbeing, empowering social care users to lead independent and fulfilling lives or preventing people from reaching the point of financial crisis. This will involve drawing on people’s strengths, thinking about what matters to them and the life they want to lead, rather than focussing only on their problems and challenges.
In the issues and challenges that do arise, tackling inequalities across our communities will be central to our approach, in order to improve outcomes for all. According to the Index of Multiple Deprivation, the gap between Rotherham and the national average is widening, but there are also significant inequalities within the borough itself. As part of our commitment to address inequality, we will provide support to our communities at a level that is proportionate to the degree of need – taking a universal approach where appropriate whilst also providing targeted support to those who most need it.
The Council wants a modern and efficient CCTV system with wider coverage, increased feelings of safety and more capacity to catch and prosecute offenders.
Where residents suffer noise nuisance, the Council wants to ensure that they have access to the right service, including out of hours response, and that enforcement actions are taken where required.
We want a single pathway for domestic abuse victims which provides joined-up services to protect victims and their families alongside changing behaviour or bringing offenders to justice.