The meeting began with a moment of silence in memory of Councillor Chris Turley. Cabinet received and noted reports on the Vision 2032 annual review, the council's journey to becoming Carbon Zero by 2030, and progress on the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy and Action Plan. They also agreed to delegate authority to the Monitoring Officer to consider nominations to outside bodies in consultation with Councillor Zona Hannington.

Vision 2032

Councillor Lee Carter presented the annual review of the ten-year borough plan Vision 2032, and highlighted some key achievements of the council in the last twelve months:

• Being the first council in the West Midlands to be judged outstanding in successive inspections by Ofsted for Children’s Services;
• Leveraging £70m investment to further develop Oakengates, Wellington Town Centres and Station Quarter;
• Investing over £65m to support further growth initiatives to bring new job opportunities to the Borough;
• Launching 6 new bus routes to carry over 300,000 passengers to provide better access to work, school and leisure facilities; and
• 30% decrease in anti-social behaviour through further investment into the Council’s Safer & Stronger Communities programme.

Councillor Tim Nelson, Leader of the Conservative Group, asked officers to consider the inclusion of other significant partners in the vision, such as secondary education providers, highlighting that secondary education was fundamental for providing the foundations needed for life skills for young people in the Borough.

Councillor Bill Tomlinson, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, asked that officers consider the financial implications of the vision, due to the current economic climate.

Telford & Wrekin becoming Carbon Neutral

Councillor Carolyn Healy presented a report that provided an update on the progress the council has made over the last 12 months to meet its target of becoming Carbon Zero by 2030.

The report highlighted several actions the council is taking to reduce carbon emissions. It noted that the council is continuing its investment into housing schemes such as NuPlace, to provide properties that are more affordable to heat, tackling fuel poverty and health impacts of living in cold and damp conditions.

It also noted that there were several actions the council was seeking to address as a result of factors outside of its control, stating that Electrical grid connections remained a huge constraint on the expansion of renewable energy generation and the Council was working with partners to continue to lobby Central Government and the National Grid to overcome barriers for delivery.

Councillor Nelson commended the work the council had done in response to the mitigation of carbon emissions. He was pleased to see further improvements had been made to cycle routes and transport networks and asked officers to continue to assess these routes. He also raised concerns around electrical grid connections and the ability to accept and transmit electricity.

Councillor Tomlinson welcomed the report and noted the importance of lobbying as a local authority to strengthen planning standards for new homes and suggested that buildings are retrofitted with insulation.

Progress on the Council's Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy and Action Plan

Councillor Raj Mehta presented a report that provided an update on the progress made on the four-year Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Strategy and Action Plan.

The report noted that since its implementation in July 2022, the EDI Strategy and Action Plan had delivered a range of actions, including the continuation of employee-led groups, delivery of face-to-face EDI training sessions for Elected Members, the launch of an inclusive recruitment champion scheme, and the creation of a communications dashboard.

The report recognised that a lot had been achieved in the previous 12 months, but that there was still a lot to deliver longer term, and stated that The Council would shortly be launching phase two of its diversity calendar, delivering further EDI training as part of the internal Leadership Development Programme and launching a new volunteer scheme to help support Armed Forces veterans and their families. Awareness raising events would also be taking place for Black History Month in October, Disability History Month in November and Holocaust Memorial Day in January. Progress on these actions would continue to be monitored throughout the year.

Representation on Outside Bodies

Councillor Hannington presented a report that sought delegated authority to the Monitoring Officer to consider nominations for outside bodies in consultation with her.

Councillor Nelson asked the Cabinet to consider cross-party nominations for appointments to the LGA General Assembly.