A lot has happened over the summer. Andy Burnham’s new government has been setting out its stall and I have been very pleased, although not surprised, with his approach as Prime Minister and they way he is leading this Labour Government. We’ve also seen Bev Craig’s decisive election win- which saw her become our new Mayor of Greater Manchester. Bev has made a phenomenal start to her tenure- including supporting a £5m boost to roads and pavements in Trafford.
Locally there’s been further progress with our improvements to Longford Park, a celebration of our social history in Bowdon with another blue plaque unveiling, and further development of our cultural clusters- including an original production I got to see at Gorse Hill Studios. We’ve seen some fantastic exam results– a recognition of the efforts of local students, our schools and our brilliant teachers. We’ve also celebrated the achievements of people who have attended our local job clubs. And we continue to take our duty around public protection and environmental enforcement very seriously.
We’ve also continued with our regeneration updates- with Old Trafford Regeneration continuing to receive attention and Altrincham Town Centre continuing to attract new businesses. And in Partington construction work is now underway which will transform the leisure centre.
We’ve also received the outcomes from two very important external inspections. The Care Quality Commission published a report on our Adult Social Care services following their visit towards the end of last year. The overall rating is that we Require Improvement, however the report recognised many strengths within the service and our overall score was six points off a ‘Good’ rating. You can read the council’s response here, where you will see that I accept the findings, recognise the journey we need to continue, but also appreciate the positive change that has been taking place and the strengths recognised by the CQC. There have been further improvements since the CQC visit took place and we continue with our Improving Lives Everyday programme.
The outcome of the second inspection is one that had taken up much of my time over the summer. Ofsted undertook an inspection of our Children’s Services, and although findings identify areas of strong practice, the report tells us that in some important areas our children, young people and families have not been provided with the standard of service they have a right to expect. For that, and on behalf of the council, I am sorry. It is an apology I repeated at a recent Children’s Scrutiny meeting and a meeting of the Council. I fully accept Ofsted’s findings and the urgency with which we, as an organisation need to address them. As an organisation we also need to make progress with the Department for Education’s Families First reforms. We welcomed an Expert Adviser to Trafford last month and I have met with him a couple of times. He is currently undertaking a diagnostic exercise, the findings of which will help support the improvements we need to deliver.
With September well underway, I’ve attended plenty of meetings and events this week. The focus of much of my Tuesday and Wednesday was on the CyanLines initiative- including a first-year celebration and a walk followed by a meeting of the CyanLines board, of which I am a member. There’s a real excitement around this project- and an exciting vision developing around accessible green and blue walking routes across Greater Manchester.
Earlier in the week I joined the audience for a discussion between the Rabbi and the Imam, based on their podcast. It’s a privilege to know Rabbi Dovid Lewis and Imam Nasser Kurdy and hear them bring their podcast to life and learn more about their friendship.
I’ve also had a good catch-up meeting with Gorse Hill Studios and attended the first governors meeting at Victoria Park Junior School of the new school year.
Finally on Friday it was a real pleasure to say a few words of celebration as we marked Jo Cherrett’s 25th anniversary at Trafford Leisure. It was a surprise event and the look on Jo’s face as she entered the venue was a picture! There was also a lot to celebrate- including the transformation of Move Urmston and Move Altrincham, the excitement around the redevelopment of Partington’s Leisure Centre, and the innovative approach Trafford Leisure, under Jo’s leadership, has taken to addressing the climate- including partnership work with Deep Green.
I then ended my day at the Garrick Theatre in Altrincham where I had been invited to see their production of Come From Away, based on the true story of several flights, carrying thousands of people, being diverted to Gander in Newfoundland on 11th September 2001. It was a commemorative performance and I was not previously familiar with the musical so was not sure what it expect. It was brilliant, with a fantastic cast and supporting band shining a light on the friendship extended to strangers on that traumatic day and aftermath 25 years ago.