Lewes corporate plan

For the last four years the council has embraced a community wealth building approach to its work. This is about ensuring that local people and the local economy are placed at the centre of how the council operates, and how we work with our partners.

We will continue to work with key local anchor institutions including our county council, local businesses, including our farming community, police and NHS partners to change procurement practices to focus on local providers where possible. We aim to provide more local employment through all of our activities. We will support the development of social enterprises and identify where additional social value can be achieved in local communities.

Key areas:

We will:

• Support our local economies, including the rural economy, by procuring from local suppliers, and encouraging other local partners to do the same.
• Work with suppliers to maximise what additional social value benefits can be gained when contracts are delivered for the council, in line with the council's Social Value Charter, and develop a sustainability and social value procurement framework.
• Complete the Pathfinder Pilot regeneration projects in Newhaven, funded with support from central government where a community wealth approach is central.
• Increase local employment opportunities by actively recruiting locally through a range of media (including social media), and by committing ourselves and encouraging our partners to paying the real living wage where possible.
• Embed circular economy principles to enable reuse of materials and sustainable management of resources throughout the council's work.
• Use our land and assets, and partners' public land and assets, to benefit the local community and businesses.
• Support the local voluntary and community sector to help ensure its ongoing strength and vitality, using our revolving loans scheme to enable community led groups to further develop and flourish.
• Develop green and renewable job training opportunities for local people by working with education and training partners. The new Local Plan will provide a vehicle to promote training and employment opportunities in local labour agreements, when agreeing to new commercial developments.
• Support and enable plural ownership through worker and consumer cooperatives and social enterprises, looking to achieve joint council and social enterprise ownership where appropriate.
• Enable local social enterprises to develop and thrive, supported by our Lewes District Start-up Programme
• Find ways to enable more of the district's money to stay within the district, directly benefiting residents and local companies.
• Work to reduce deprivation in the district through our regeneration activities, in partnership with other anchor institutions.
• Encourage local town and parish councils to work actively with us to further develop a community wealth building approach across the area.
• Encourage a thriving visitor economy, based on our natural, cultural and heritage assets, which supports and nurtures our local economy and environment through collaborative initiatives and events.
• Invest in children's and families' positive experience of the outdoors, with attractive activity spaces, seats, including picnic tables and fun play equipment.
• Work to reduce vandalism and antisocial behaviour in our public conveniences, whilst providing more fully accessible Changing Places and finding ways to reduce the environmental impact of our toilets.
• Promote community wellbeing by supporting active enjoyment of our countryside and environment as well as valuing and promoting our local sporting and leisure activities and facilities.
• Lobby for improved rail and bus networks to support the local economy (eg Lewes to Uckfield rail link), as a sustainable alternative to further road development.
• We will work with East Sussex College Group, Charleston and others, to ensure training opportunities match local skills requirements, in order to enhance local employment opportunities.
• Supporting our NHS partners to improve delivery through new local health hubs.

4 year goals:

• Improvement in Thriving Places Index score
• Increase in proportion of procurement spend going to local companies
• Increase in social value achieved through council contracts
• Better cared for and more accessible public spaces
• More local job opportunities in low carbon and sustainable industries