Meeting documents

            Meeting: Cabinet (County Hall, Durham - Committee Room 2 - 19/02/2009 10:00:00 AM)

                  Item: A4 Interim Sustainable Community Strategy

         

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Report of Lorraine O’Donnell, Assistant Chief Executive Cabinet Portfolio Holder: Councillor Simon Henig, Leader of the Council/Councillor Clive Robson, Deputy Leader of the Council

Purpose of the Report

1. To present the County Durham Interim Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) to Cabinet and outline the next steps in finalising the SCS.

Background
2. Consultation on the draft document began in July and continued until 30 September.

3. For members of the public, a summary and consultation questions appeared in Countywide, the County Council’s magazine, with the option to access the full document via the website or to receive a copy if required.

4. Within the Council the draft was discussed at Corporate Management Team and a special Overview and Scrutiny meeting was convened to receive the views of Elected Members.

Responding to consultation issues

5. Many supportive comments were received and consultees in general agreed that the priorities within the document were the right ones to improve quality of life in County Durham. However a number of responses indicated that the SCS as a whole and the Vision in particular did not set out a particularly distinctive or aspirational view of the County’s long-term future. Issues that were referenced, were the need to build on the County’s assets such as high quality of life, heritage and culture and the natural environment. It was felt that the County’s role within the region needed to be better defined and that future spatial development priorities needed to be set out, to show how these will contribute to delivery of the Strategy. A number of respondents felt that environment and sustainability should be specifically included in the Vision statement to balance the social and economic aspects. The lack of specifics in terms of targets, measures and delivery plans, especially for long term outcomes, was also a recurring theme. There were concerns that a more formal sustainability appraisal should have been carried out, but as the draft focuses on broad outcomes rather than development and delivery priorities, the current light touch approach is felt to be fit for purpose at this stage.

6. There were a number of suggestions that it would be better if the current proposed version was presented as an interim SCS, pending development of a more robust version. It should be noted that the Local Government Review transitional regulations allow until 2011 for the development of a new SCS for authorities like Durham.

7. In considering these issues at the County Durham Partnership, it was agreed to finalise and publish the current version as an interim SCS, and to signal the intent to carry out a review over the next year to strengthen the Strategy, focusing on the specific concerns highlighted above. This would enable a period of development well in advance of the production of the next Local Area Agreement and would have the following advantages:

· Allow time for visioning/scenario planning work with partners, Area Action Partnerships and elected members, so that there is a clear, shared view in relation to aspiration and distinctiveness
· Allow spatial priorities from the emerging Local Development Framework to inform developments and be set out within the SCS in line with best practice
· Allow input from Local Strategic Partnerships' ‘handover’ community strategies and from the Area Action Partnerships emerging plans
· Allow the strategy to reflect issues from the first Comprehensive Area Assessment of County Durham in 2009
· Ensure that the outcomes for the new LAA can flow from the longer term priorities expressed in the SCS
· Allow targets, measures, delivery plans and progress to be reported more fully
· Enable a more formal level of sustainability appraisal and impact assessment to be carried out, than is feasible for the current strategy.

8. In terms of responding to these and other consultation comments in finalising the current version, a schedule of main points and how they have been addressed is set out at Appendix 2.

9. Many consultees provided wording improvements or examples of achievements or relevant initiatives to strengthen sections of the Strategy and these have been incorporated into the redraft as far as is practicable. The revised SCS is appended to this report.

Next Steps

10. The SCS was endorsed by the Partnership Board on 26 January and will go to County Council for endorsement on February 27th. Arrangements will now be made for the production and distribution of a fully designed version as an interim SCS which will provide the foundation on which to build the vision of the new council.

Recommendation
11. Cabinet is requested to note the above arrangements for the interim Sustainable Community Strategy and to refer the Strategy to full Council for endorsement on the basis outlined above. The process of review, refinement and consultation will begin immediately following vesting day.

Contact: Ann Armstrong Tel: 0191 383 3910

Appendix 1: Implications

Local Government Reorganisation
(Does the decision impact upon a future Unitary Council?)
The document will stand as the Sustainable Community Strategy for the Unitary Council and its partners.

Finance
The Strategy, together with the Local Area Agreement, as the delivery plan of the SCS, informs both short term and long term priority and budget setting for the Authority.

Staffing
None directly from this report.

Equality and Diversity
An initial Impact Assessment has been carried out in respect of the Strategy’s outcomes Organisations representing different communities of interest will be consulted and invited to engage in the further development and delivery of the SCS and the LAA.

Accommodation
Not applicable

Crime and disorder
Community Safety is one of the Strategy’s themes, addressing priority issues that have been identified through analysis of a wide range of evidence.

Sustainability
The SCS is seen as key to the delivery of sustainable development and sustainability is a guiding principle for the Strategy and its delivery. Sustainability appraisal has been carried out and is ongoing.

Human rights
Many aspects of the Strategy support Human Rights in setting out to tackle issues such as poverty, homelessness, sub standard homes and inequities in health.

Localities and Rurality
The Strategy recognises the differential needs of geographic communities, and through applying the principle of gap narrowing to the delivery of outcomes will ensure that needs are tackled fairly. Rural proofing principles will ensure that the specific characteristics of rural areas do not disadvantage those communities from achieving the same improvements in quality of life as those in urban areas.

Young people
Young people’s needs and aspirations have informed the development of the Strategy and are relevant within every theme. Through the principles of gap narrowing and the delivery of equal and inclusive services young people’s needs will be considered and acted upon.

Consultation
The development of the Strategy has been informed by a wide range consultation and engagement with communities, organisations and partnerships. Consultation on the draft document has provided further opportunities for the public and key partners to give views on the priorities selected.

Health
Health is one of the Strategy’s themes, addressing priority issues that have been identified through analysis of a wide range of evidence.

Appendix 2

Issue	Response
Links to Local Development Framework 1.Concern that there is insufficient reference to the important links between the SCS and the Local Development Framework (LDF) and that the SCS is not robust enough to support the development of an appropriate Core Strategy for the new Council, given the absence of spatial information.	1. Strengthened references to LDF as a key delivery mechanism for the SCS and incorporated information about the County’s spatial planning framework from the RSS and the draft Economic Strategy. Planning input to the Delivery and Improvement Group (DIG) should ensure there is synergy between thematic and spatial planning for delivery of the SCS and a review in 1 years time will enable better links with the LDF for the new Council.
Principles 2. Need to be more clearly explained and better defined in some cases - sustainability, place shaping and gap narrowing. Also used more consistently throughout the document.	2 Appropriate amendments made to text, e.g. incorporating sustainable development principles, showing that gap narrowing is between Co. Durham and the rest of England, not just within Co. Durham and using the government definition of place shaping - ‘creating thriving. sustainable communities with high quality, good value services that meet people’s needs and preferences.’
How we selected our priorities 3. Requests for more detail on the process of identifying the outcomes. 4. Concern the District Community Strategies and planning documents have not informed the process. 5. Concern that appropriate Sustainability Appraisal had not been carried out or had not been made available with the draft SCS.	3. Provide more information on data sources and a comment as to how more detailed information can be obtained for those interested. 4. Clarified in describing the process. 5. Clarified details of the ongoing sustainability appraisal process. Publication of a summary SA document with the final Strategy. Carefully consider the approach to SA when carrying out the review of the SCS.
International, European, National and Regional Context 6. Focuses on economic context - needs to consider social and environmental issues also. 7. Not clear how the context has influenced the SCS	6,7. Broadened contextual information and made stronger links to the Vision, goals and outcomes.
Place and people 8. Some gaps identified, e.g. environmental character/issues, community safety, communities of interest.	8. Broadened this section.
Economic wellbeing 9. Should be more about the interrelationship with the wider market, City Regions etc.	9. Amended text in line with draft Economic Strategy
Achieve 10. Need to recognise that Government plans to raise compulsory participation in learning to age 18 by 2015 will impact on this section.	10. Amended text.
Place theme 11. Specific comments and suggested amendments on the wording and content especially in relation to spatial planning issues and links.	11. This section redeveloped in consultation with the Environment and Sustainability Partnership and with the input of members of the LGR Interim Planning Team.
Health and wellbeing 12. Health and Wellbeing Partnership suggested a reworked version incorporating outcomes of the JSNA.	12. Revised outcomes table incorporated.
Safe theme 13 County Community Safety Board and the Police Authority wish to include a new strategic priority in relation to counter terrorism	13. Additional outcome incorporated.
Enjoy theme 14. Suggested additional goal of ‘developing a sense of pride in our heritage and encouraging people to look forward to the future’ 15. Aspirations in relation to the 2012 Olympics should be referenced.	14. Additional goal and linked outcomes developed in consultation with Adult and Community Services. 15. Appropriate text included.
Positive contribution 16. Would like to see more about communities of interest and how greater integration/cohesion will be achieved.	16. Issue reflected more strongly.
Consultation process 17. Concern that communities have not been engaged in developing the priorities.	17. The Strategy has already been developed from a great deal of existing evidence and knowledge of community priorities drawn from District Community Strategies, public surveys and consultation exercises. Consultation focused on confirming that the Strategy accurately reflects public concerns rather than being a new bottom up development process.

Presentation issues 18. More use of graphs, maps, etc. 19. Need a version, which is accessible to the public. 20. Venn diagrams not best way to show crosscutting links.	18,19,20.Information more graphically presented. A separate summary version to be produced for the public. Venn diagrams replaced by list of linked issues.
Outcomes of Equality Impact Assessment 21. Issues around colour contrast, readability of diagrams, use of language. 22. Suggest engaging with organisations representing communities of interest, in respect of impact assessment of emerging delivery plans.	21.Will address these concerns in the design of the revised strategy and make a simple summary version available. 22. Develop links between communities of interest and the DIG.

County Durham Interim Sustainable Community Strategy
Contents

	Page
Foreword	1
Executive Summary	2
Introduction	4
Vision and themes	8
Developing the SCS and LAA: how we have selected our priorities	13
County Durham: Place and People	15
The Outcomes Framework	17
Themes
A thriving economy	20
Everyone achieves to their potential	27
A high quality and sustainable environment	30
All residents lead long and healthy lives	35
Everyone is safe and feels safe	40
People enjoy life	44
Everyone can make a positive contribution	49
Performance management	52
Supplementary Information
County Durham Partnership	53
The Local Area Agreement	55
Appendices
County Durham’s 2008-2011 Local Area Agreement	56
Sustainability Appraisal Report	61
Related strategies and plans	81

Foreword

People who live, work and spend their leisure time in County Durham share a passion for the County’s heritage and its strong and positive character. And they also share a renewed confidence in its future with an energy and commitment to work together to achieve greater success and a better quality of life for our communities.

The County Durham Partnership sets out in this first Sustainable Communities Strategy a long term vision for the County - building on its strong foundations and setting out ambitious but achievable goals and priorities that must be tackled if we are to build a better future for our citizens. It sets the direction and provides the blueprint to deliver long lasting social, economic and environmental outcomes. These outcomes must be in balance, so that we don’t make life better for some at the expense of others. Partners are committed to working in a more integrated way so that we achieve a strong, healthy and just society that promotes inclusivity and embraces diversity.

The Strategy is the key, long term, overarching plan which guides and shapes the work of partners and is a framework for action that can be delivered with, and for, the whole community. Those organisations that provide our key public services are challenged to improve quality, accessibility and reach of these services so that they meet the current and future needs of our communities. The Strategy calls on businesses, and those that support them, to drive a more dynamic and diverse economy - sharing the wealth this creates to reduce poverty and raise aspirations. And we rely on a vibrant voluntary and community sector to be the glue that connects our vision to people in places where they live.

The Partnership is committed to helping the residents of County Durham lead long, healthy and fulfilling lives. We need everyone to work with us on the priorities set out in this Strategy; aligning your resources to deliver the outcomes; taking individual and collective responsibility and ownership for action; sharing what achieves success and supporting others to build capacity and improve performance. We need your help to make this vision a reality.

Susan Johnson
Chair of the County Durham Partnership

Executive Summary

The County Durham Partnership has produced this Interim Sustainable Community Strategy to set out our shared long term vision and priorities for a better future for County Durham and its communities.

Our vision for the long term future of County Durham is:

To bring about this vision the Partnership has identified a number of long term goals that we believe we need to focus our efforts upon if we are to create thriving, sustainable communities with high quality, good value services that meet people’s needs and preferences. In choosing these we have used evidence from a wide variety of sources such as statistical data, research findings, views from Government and community consultation and survey results. We have grouped our goals into seven key themes.

Our themes and goals are set out below:

A thriving economy
· A modern, dynamic and diverse economy
· An enterprising and entrepreneurial society
· Improved employability and skills of our workforce
· A reduction in poverty
· Improved economic competitiveness of our major towns

Everyone achieves to their potential
· Improved attainment in education and work for people of all ages
· More young people are involved in employment, education or training
· Increased levels of adult education and skills

A high quality and sustainable environment
· A high quality clean, green, attractive and accessible environment
· A high quality local built and historic environment that meets the needs of communities
· Provision of sustainable residential accommodation across all tenures, meeting identified needs, in particular those of vulnerable groups
· Enhanced choice and access to sustainable and integrated transport networks
· A reduced impact on climate change

All residents lead long and healthy lives

Everyone is safe and feel safe

People enjoy life

· Culture, leisure and sporting opportunities meet the needs and aspirations of the community
· People have a sense of pride in our culture and heritage and high aspirations for the future

Everyone can make a positive contribution

· A vibrant and sustainable voluntary and community sector
· Strong, cohesive communities

Partners will develop detailed delivery plans, based on evidence of the kind of actions that are proven to bring about change, addressing underlying causes of issues, rather than symptoms and working closely with service users and residents, in agreeing what needs to be done and making it happen.

Introduction

This is our new Sustainable Community Strategy, which sets out our shared long-term priorities, the outcomes we want to achieve by working in partnership over the next 15 years and how we will deliver those outcomes. It will contribute to the delivery of national and regional priorities and targets as well as to the priorities partners and communities believe are important to County Durham. The development of the new strategy is closely linked to the development of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) for 2008 -11, based on delivering a set number of improvement targets. The LAA for 2008 - 11 is the delivery plan for the most pressing priorities emerging from the Sustainable Community Strategy. The Strategy will also inform the development of spatial plans for County Durham, which will be vital to delivering the physical foundations to achieve our aspirations.

LGA: Planning at the heart of local government

In 2004 the County Durham Strategic Partnership produced the first Community Strategy for County Durham, the Strategic Vision, a long-term plan to improve economic, environmental and social wellbeing through the concerted and co-ordinated efforts of local communities, councils, statutory and voluntary agencies and local businesses. In the four years since the original strategy was developed partners have achieved some of its goals, and the time is now right to review and update the strategy.

Some of our achievements
The Strategic Vision set out a number of themes and challenges for partners to tackle. The following section briefly sets out some of our key achievements in the first five years of the strategy’s life.
· NETPark (the North East Technology Park) in Sedgefield has attracted over £35 million of investment including a national prototyping operation in the field of plastic electronics , a University Research Institute and a business incubator facility
· Physical improvements and partnership investment in Durham City, Seaham, Bishop Auckland, Spennymoor and Barnard Castle are making these venues more accessible and attractive to investors and consumers
· An Enterprise Advocate now works with young people across the county to raise awareness and aspirations about business opportunities and Business Link NorthEast has set up its regional headquarters in Seaham providing a vital core for business development and support
· Two national initiatives, Building Schools for the Future and the Primary Capital Programme, are being implemented, aimed at rebuilding, remodelling or refurbishing our schools to create 21st century learning environments. At the same time, all four Further Education colleges in the County have been or are being rebuilt to provide world class learning environments for young people, adults and employers.
· New learning programmes, particularly the commitment to vocational qualifications are helping to transform young people’s attitude to learning and over the past 5 years there has been a 50% reduction in the number of 16-18 year olds not engaged in employment, education or training.
· There have been significant increases in the skills of the workforce, measured through Level 2,(60% to 69%) Level 3(41% to 46%) and Level 4(23% to 27%) from 2003 to 2007.
· Life expectancy in the county is rising and the inequalities gap with the rest of the country is beginning to narrow in terms of male life expectancy though there is still a challenge around female life expectancy as rates are improving faster elsewhere
· A Partnership Board for Older Adults has been established, enabling older people to work with a range partners to develop the ‘Living well in later life’ strategy, which will deliver improved services to support older people’s choices
· School food meets the national food based and nutritional standards
· The County Durham Local Involvement Network (LINk) has been established to strengthen local people’s engagement in health and social care
· Total crime statistics show a fall of 1.4% from 2003/04 to 2007/09 with County Durham having the 7th lowest number of recorded crimes in the country
· The Durham City Nightsafe Initiative is helping to manage the city’s night-time economy so that problems are effectively dealt with and the streets are safer at night · Waste minimisation and education campaigns have helped local people reduce the amount of household waste they generate by around 60kg per person
· New Park and Ride sites for Durham City have helped reduce city centre congestion, with over 800,000 passenger journeys in 2007
· Major transport network improvements include the A167 Chilton Bypass and the A688 West Auckland Bypass. A new road, linking Wheatley Hill to Bowburn, is now open and will improve east-west linkages within the county
· The Urban and Rural Renaissance Initiative has successfully enhanced the local environment in towns and villages across the county

This new community strategy focuses very strongly on developing ‘sustainable’ communities, where people will want to live and work, now and in the future. In developing the strategy, partners have taken account of a wide range of information and evidence, considering the needs of the whole community and identifying the priorities and actions which we believe will address those needs in ways that are sensitive to the environment and contribute to a good quality of life, offering equality of opportunity and good services for all.

The strategy is underpinned by a number of important principles, which have also guided our decision-making.

Our principles are:

place shaping
...everything we do should contribute to our vision of the kind of place we want County Durham to be, a place with thriving, sustainable communities with high quality, good value services that meet people’s needs and preferences
gap narrowing
...we want to reduce inequalities between different parts of the county and different sections of the community, as well as between County Durham and the rest of the region and the country.

equal and inclusive
...working to ensure that all individuals and communities are equally valued and treated fairly with services that are accessible and relevant to their needs

sustainability
...we want everything we do to have long lasting benefits for ourselves and future generations and to ensure that we don’t improve some issues or localities at the expense of others; And in delivering the Strategy partners are committed to working in ways that respect environmental limits, contribute to a strong, healthy and just society, achieve a sustainable economy and promote inclusive, accountable decision making that uses sound science responsibly.

aspirations
...we recognise that in achieving our vision we should aim to excel in certain fields, setting challenging but realistic goals, so that County Durham is known for its outstanding successes

In order to respond effectively to the changing context of partnership working, The County Durham Strategic Partnership has itself carried out a thorough review of its structure, governance and ways of working and has been renamed the County Durham Partnership.

Our Vision and Themes

Our vision for the long-term future of County Durham is:

Our vision aims to bring about balanced environmental, economic and social improvements within thriving, sustainable communities.

There are some important themes within our vision. We want County Durham to be a place where people are healthy and safe, able to enjoy their lives and achieve their potential, whilst making a positive contribution to their community and enjoying the opportunities that strong economic growth will bring. We recognise that people’s physical place (both where they live and the wider environment) makes an important contribution to their quality of life as do feelings of safety and wellbeing, so the strategy also focuses on things like decent, affordable housing, a clean and green environment and accessible transport. We also recognise our global responsibilities in the contribution we plan to make towards tackling and alleviating the effects of climate change.

Within each theme we have agreed one or more long term goals to give focus and direction to our work.

Our themes goals and outcomes are set out below

Theme: A thriving economy
Goal: A modern, dynamic and diverse econony
1. Strengthen the competitiveness and productivity of businesses
2. Increase the total stock of businesses
3.Increase numbers of tourists and overnight stays
Goal: An enterprising and entrepreneurial society
4. Increase entrepreneurial activity
5. Increase numbers of people self-employed
Goal: Improved employability and skills of the workforce
6. Improve the skills of the workforce and reduce worklessness
Goal: A reduction in poverty
7. Increase median earnings to contribute to a reduction in child poverty
Goal: Improved economic competitiveness of our major towns
8. Develop and sustain vibrant and attractive town centres
9. Address areas of market failure

Theme: Everyone achieves to their potential
Goal: Improved attainment in education and work for people of all ages
10. Improve educational attainment for all young people
11. High quality and accessible learning establishments
12. All our schools and learning establishments perform well
Goal: More young people are involved in employment, education or training
13. Support and encourage 16-18 year olds to participate in learning
14. Increase the number of employment opportunities with planned training
15. Expand the range of courses accessible to young people
Goal: Increased levels of adult education and skills
16. Support more adults to achieve a Level 3 qualification or higher
17. More opportunities for adults to participate in learning, further education and training

Theme: A high quality and sustainable environment
Goal: A high quality clean, green, attractive and accessible environment
18. Improved public satisfaction with environmental and street cleanliness
19. Develop and sustain healthy ecosystems
20. Make the County’s countryside accessible to all
21. Conserve and enhance the County’s landscape, biodiversity and geodiversity 22. Enhance the centres of our towns and villages
23. Regulate built development to ensure high quality, sustainable design with access to essential services for sustainable communities
24. Conserve and enhance the historic environment 25. Meet the Government’s decent homes standard
26. A wide choice of affordable homes
27. Reduced levels of homelessness 28. A high quality and efficient highway infrastructure
29. Provide and promote accessible, sustainable and safe transport
Goal: A reduced impact on climate change
30. Conservation of natural resources
31. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
32. Adapt to the impacts of climate change

Theme and Goal: All residents lead long and healthy lives
33. Reduce death rates
34. Increase opportunities for communities to live healthily
35. Lower rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer
36. Lower smoking rates
37. Reduce harm caused by alcohol and drugs
38. Reduce levels of obesity
39. Increase breastfeeding rates
40. Improve oral health
41. Improve mental health and wellbeing
42. Lower rates of under 18 conception
43. Ensure high quality support, care and rehabilitation services are available for older people
44. Ensure that we support and protect vulnerable people

Theme and Goal: Everyone is safe and feels safe
45. Improve public reassurance
46. Reduce the number of violent crimes
47. Protect our communities from terrorism
48. Reduce harm caused by alcohol
49 Tackle domestic abuse
50. Reduce re-offending
51. Ensure we have safer roads

Theme: People enjoy life 52. More residents engage in leisure activities
53. More residents engage in culture
54. More residents engage in sporting opportunities 55. More residents value, enjoy and make positive use of the County’s historic environment and heritage
56. Arts, heritage and cultural activities and developments are fully used in creating sustainable communities

Theme: Everyone can make a positive contribution
Goal: A vibrant and sustainable voluntary and community sector
57. Develop sustainable support for the voluntary and community sector
Goal: Strong, cohesive communities
58. Positive attitudes and behaviours in relation to diversity
59. Individuals are able to make a positive contribution to their local community

International, European, National and Regional Context

This strategy sets the direction for County Durham’s future and will help to establish its place and contribution within the region, as well as nationally and globally. In delivering the Strategy there will be a strong focus on narrowing the gaps that exist between County Durham and the regional and national picture in terms of key issues, for example economic performance, health outcomes and educational attainment.

Our vision for a strong economy and a high achieving community fits with the European Union’s economic development agenda and its focus on a competitive and dynamic knowledge based economy. Nationally, investment in innovation, enterprise, skills and technology is seen as essential for Britain to meet the challenges of competing in the 21st century global economy. The ‘Sub-national review of economic development and regeneration’ produced in 2007, recognises this and proposes a number of reforms to give local councils and their partners more flexibility in promoting growth and bringing about the transformation of deprived areas.

The review also recognises that cities and towns are often the engines for growth and that economic markets operate across local authority boundaries and will include the emerging city regions. The partnership will need to work with other areas to take advantage of opportunities, developing targets through Multi Area Agreements. These bring key players together at regional and sub regional level to tackle important cross boundary issues in partnership.

Through its commitment to sustainable development, in line with the Integrated Regional Framework, the strategy will impact positively on communities and environments both here and in the rest of the world with action on climate change, the most notable example of this.

County Durham’s natural environment is one of its greatest assets and this Strategy’s commitment to conserve and enhance that environment will depend heavily on effective cross boundary working through the work of the North Pennines AONB Partnership, regional, integrated coastal zone management and the development of the regional green infrastructure network.

County Durham people are rightly proud of the County’s distinctive heritage and culture and the strategy includes plans to maintain and improve the historic environment in line with national Circular advice set out in PPG15 on Planning and the Historic Environment and restated in Power of Place, the English Heritage led review of the state of the historic environment. Through our Enjoy theme we recognise the important contribution culture and sport can make to regeneration and the development of sustainable communities where local pride and aspirations can be nurtured. This links to the national living places programme whereby a coalition of cultural agencies and two Government Departments have agreed to work together to promote this key role and to encourage the development of a Regional Cultural Strategy for each of the English regions, including the North East.

One of County Durham’s biggest challenges is the health inequalities that exist within the County and between County Durham and the rest of the region and England. In 2008, the area’s first ever health and wellbeing strategy was launched , setting out a vision of a North East with the fairest and best health and wellbeing, recognised for its outstanding and sustainable quality of life. This Strategy for County Durham sets out a strong contribution to this ambitious vision, not only in the Health and Wellbeing theme but through its economic, social and environmental goals, which, if achieved will have a postive impact on health outcomes.

Another regional strategy which is important in setting the context for future developments which will deliver the Sustainable Commuity Strategy, is the Regional Spatial Strategy(RSS), which was published in July 2008. The RSS sets out a spatial vision for the North East, which is strongly reflected in the vision and goals of this Strategy. The RSS looks forward to 2021 and sees the North East with a stronger economy, a healthier and more participative workforce,better quality housing and living environments, a reduction in greenhouse gases and improved energy efficiency and a modern, effective and reliable transport network. It sits alongside the Regional Economic Strategy(RES) which sets out proposals to deliver greater and sustainable prosperity to the North East up to 2016. The RES complements the Regional Cultural Strategy and refers to the important role of cultural activity within the region in relation to economic inclusion and access to learning. This is reflected in the Enjoy theme of the SCS, and crosscuts many other aspect of the Strategy.

Our approach to community safety links strongly to the 2008-11 National Community Safety Plan, while key outcomes relate to other specific national strategies, for example our public reassurance outcome and actions link to the 2006 Respect Action Plan. Other relevant plans are listed in the appendices to this document.

Nationally, this strategy has been influenced by the Government’s ‘place shaping’ agenda which seeks to create thriving, vibrant, sustainable communities with high quality, good value services that meet the needs and preferences of local people. The priorities and outcomes selected for the strategy are those which we believe will help to create the right conditions for this to happen, but we will need to engage and work closely with our communities to deliver them in ways that can really make a difference.

Developing the Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement: How we selected our priorities

The Partnership has worked with a wide range of people and reviewed a great deal of information and evidence in order to agree the priorities and outcomes for the both the new Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement.

The overall aim has been to present robust evidence from a wide variety of sources including, statistical data, research findings, views from Government and survey results; and through a repeated process of debate and discussion reach a consensus on a framework of outcomes, which partners believe will bring about long-term change.

Some of the key sources of evidence the Partnership examined are listed below:
· The eight existing Community Strategies and local planning documents
· Floor targets interactive www.fti.communities.gov.uk
· Best Value User Survey 2006/07
· Local Area Agreement 2006
· Countywide Strategic Assessment (Community Safety)
· Area based assessments (Community Safety)
· Children and Young People’s Survey 2007
· Department for Work and Pensions benefit claimant data
· LAA Baseline Survey 2007
· Defra CO2 emissions data
· Joint Strategic Needs Assessment 2008

As far as possible, partners considered evidence, not just on the countywide picture, but from Districts, Wards and Super Output Areas. This helped to highlight where partners will need to focus additional effort to tackle inequalities which exist between different geographic areas within County Durham. Evidence also shows that some communities of interest have poorer outcomes and therefore a worse quality of life than the general population and work to narrow these gaps is also of high priority.
At first, a great number of outcomes were included and a number of methods were used to prioritise these. This involved testing each suggested outcome in terms of its impact on the other outcomes being considered, its impact on sustainability, its impact on equality and diversity and also the amount of consensus emerging about the importance of the issue. By fitting together all of these pieces of information, partners were more easily able to recognise the most likely combination of outcomes which would create the right picture for the future of County Durham.

Throughout the development of the SCS and the Local Area Agreement, the County Council’s Sustainability Section together with the Sustainability and Environment Partnership has provided sustainability appraisal (SA)services, leading to a series of assessments, reviews and dialogues to deliver an iterative, fit for purpose SA, which has informed and will continue to inform the work of the partnership to ensure that sustainability objectives are supported. Defra has recently praised the strength of this approach. (October 2008). A summary SA report is included in the appendices to this document.

Evidence from community consultation and surveys has played a key role in informing the choice of outcomes. However this evidence sometimes shows that the actions agencies and partners take, even if successful in achieving targets that have been set, do not always meet the needs of individuals and communities. A good example of this is that fear of crime continues to be a major concern for local people, even though in general the county is one of the safest places in the UK to live. Therefore some of the outcomes and actions in the strategy will be about working with people to better understand what would really make a difference to them in their area so that agencies and communities can develop the right kind of services together.

More information about the process and evidence used in developing the SCS can be found in the Local Area Agreement, which can be accessed on the Partnership’s website or by contacting the Partnership’s Support Team, who can also provide more details of the ongoing sustainability appraisal process. Contact details can be found at the end of this document.

County Durham: Place and People
County Durham extends from the North Sea heritage coast in the east to the high moors of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the west, two areas of nationally important landscape. it includes some of the most attractive and varied countryside in northern England, and a diverse range of wildlife and habitats. It is a large geographic area covering 223,000 hectares (862 square miles) and is bordered by the major conurbations of Tyne and Wear to the north and Tees Valley to the south. Most of the County is rural in nature, with settlement patterns centred on 12 major towns and over 300 other small towns and villages, many of them former colliery villages. The City of Durham is the County’s most significant centre, with a population of 41,000, and its Cathedral and Castle are recognised as one of the country’s few World Heritage Sites. Recent research has shown that 79% of residents live within a three mile radius of one of the County’s 12 major towns.

The County has a population of just under 500,000 and there are approximately 210,000 households. The population has been declining over the past 30 years (by around 5% over that period) but the latest DCC population projections forecast that the population will show a slight increase of 2% over next twenty years. The County’s age profile, like most areas, is set to change dramatically. The number of young people is predicted to drop 8% by 2021after which it is expected to once again begin increasing due to the recent inflation in the County’s birth rate. There will also be a dramatic increase in the 85+ age group which is projected to rise 80% by 2021, steadily increasing further thereafter; many of these people will require social care support putting further strain on service provision within the County. It is estimated that around 12% of the working age population meet the Disability Discrimination Act definition of disability, while, according to the 2001 Census, around 24% of the total population had a long term limiting illness - a health problem or disability which limits daily activities or work.

The economic history of the County, its agricultural heritage and the development of coal mining in particular, have shaped and defined the cultural tradition of the County and its many communities. The County’s people have a strong sense of identity with the County and with their town/village, and there is a distinctive local culture and sense of community, particularly in the smaller settlements. Due to the settlement patterns in the County there are many communities that experience problems of remoteness and this highlights the importance of effective communication and transportation systems.

Black and minority ethnic people represent around 1% of the population with the three largest groups being Irish, Indian and Chinese. This percentage has increased over recent years, particularly taking account of migrant workers from Eastern European countries, such as Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Currently the total is estimated to be around 2% of the population although evidence is beginning to show that some of these workers are returning to their own countries as economic situations become more favorable. There is also a significant population of Gypsies and Travellers who are settled or migrant and, as with some of the newer migrant workers, mapping accurate numbers is an important task for many organisations in the County.

Many parts of the County have high levels of deprivation. Around one third of the population live in areas which are judged amongst the 20% most deprived nationally. The high levels of deprivation are mainly concentrated in East Durham, North West Durham and around the Bishop Auckland, Crook and Willington area in South West Durham. Tackling the inequalities that exist between these areas of multiple deprivation and the rest of the County is a challenge and a key focus for our partnership working.

Further context relating, specifically to each theme can be found within the relevant sections of the Strategy.

The Outcomes Framework

The partnership has identified seven key themes, that run through not only this strategy but also our Local Area Agreement. Each of these themes has one or more high level outcomes or goals - the key things that we are aiming for in order to bring about our Vision. The Partnership recognises that many of these goals will require concerted action over a lengthy period of time. These goals are supported by contributory outcomes, the shorter term achievements which are needed if we are to reach our goals, and the specific actions, the things we will do which will bring about improvements. Delivery plans, such as the Local Area Agreement will initially focus on the first three years of the Strategy’s life, but will need to be updated and reviewed to make sure we stay on target to reach our goals and deliver our Vision. We know that many of the outcomes we have chosen, if we are successful in delivering them, will have an effect on the achievement of other outcomes and will contribute positively to more than one theme and to the overall achievement of our vision.

For example, improvements to health and wellbeing will impact positively on a person’s ability to enjoy and achieve, and may lead to economic benefits for people whose health problems have been a barrier to opportunity. Looking for outcomes that give the broadest range of impacts, has been a key factor in helping partners choose these particular priorities for our Sustainable Community Strategy.

Detailed delivery plans will be developed by partners, based on evidence of the kind of interventions that will bring about the change that is needed, addressing causes rather than symptoms and strongly engaging with service users and the wider community, in agreeing what needs to be done.

It is through the delivery of the strategy that the principle of ‘gap narrowing’ will be focused to improve outcomes and services to meet the needs of those geographical communities and vulnerable groups who suffer the effects of deprivation most. Where an area is suffering from a cycle of decline driven by a range of factors, then successful regeneration will depend on tackling all of the issues in a joined up way and at the right spatial level, for example improving the quality of the local environment can often best be dealt with at neighbourhood level, whereas economic interventions may need to be targeted more broadly. Area based approaches will need to go hand in hand with interventions that address peoples’ personal circumstances and characteristics which are even more significant in determining life chances.

The county's rural environment provides both opportunities and challenges for the residents of the area. Containing a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and other first class assets, the environment provides a place for recreation, education and employment, all critical to the wellbeing of residents. However, the essentially rural nature of County Durham also poses additional challenges in ensuring fair access to health and social care, education and training, employment, banking, shops, cultural facilities and effective policing. Developments to support tourism and leisure can bring benefits, but also potential negative impacts on the environment and the lives of residents. National and local evidence shows that communities and individuals living in rural areas often suffer from limited access to basic services and can be inherently disadvantaged by the way in which publicly funded services are delivered.

Understanding and evidencing access to services in rural areas is a challenge recognised in national, regional and local public policy. In acknowledgement of this, the Partnership appreciates that addressing access to services and high quality communications, particularly in the remote rural west of the county, needs to be an integral part of its ‘gap narrowing’ approach to delivering the Sustainable Community Strategy. Each partner needs to take responsibility for actively rural proofing their delivery plans. This will not only apply to issues related to transport, though this will be important, but by looking, for example, at the way targets and measures are set and how funding is deployed, as well as by encouraging increased local determination of service development and design. Whilst this process will primarily help to ensure that rural residents are not disadvantaged by their location, it will also encourage greater understanding of the rural environment and its value in promoting the wellbeing of our community. Partners will be supported to ‘rural proof’ their delivery plans, share good practice and develop innovative ways of improving service delivery.

In the field of health and social care, partners have worked to bring together all the information that is available about the needs of local people. This Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) was completed in September 2008 and the findings have informed the Health and Wellbeing theme of this Strategy and will continue to inform planning and delivery in this and other themes, which contribute to health and social care outcomes. The duty to carry out a Statutory Economic Assessment will also provide more intelligence to support our work.

Over the coming years we will also need to work closely with those responsible for developing spatial plans for the county as these will help deliver our priorities, particularly in relation to land use and development. Key planning objectives for the Local Development Framework Core Strategy will need to be in harmony with SCS priorities and will play a central role in the task of place shaping. Spatial planning will be particularly important in the delivery of the following priorities and actions within the Strategy:
· ensuring the availability of land, at the right time and in the right place for housing
· planning for social, physical and green infrastructure development
· providing land for business
· responding to workforce needs in terms of supply of affordable housing and opportunities to access employment opportunities
· bringing in private funds through incentivising, promoting and co-ordinating investment
· safeguarding our environmental assets, through protecting and enhancing designated sites, landscapes, habitats and providing a positive framework for environmental enhancement.

And we will continue to assess the sustainability of our plans as they develop to make sure that what we do contributes to sustainable development, is balanced and integrated and has no major negative impact on any other part of our overall strategy and delivery planning.

Theme: A thriving economy

Our long-term goals:

· A modern, dynamic and diverse economy
· Improved employability and workforce skills
· An enterprising and entrepreneurial society
· A reduction in poverty
· Improved economic competitiveness of our major towns

The development of a strong economy is a key driver in our vision for the future. The gap in economic performance between County Durham and the regional/national economies is widening. The long-term decline of traditional industries has created a negative economic, social and environmental legacy in parts of the county and globalisation pressures have impacted on the sustainability of some of the inward investment which replaced those jobs.

County Durham cannot be sheltered from the effects of the global economic downturn. The rising cost of living, rising unemployment and low confidence have resulted in reduced consumer and business spending which is severely affecting the whole of the local economy. A large proportion of our residents are employed in construction and manufacturing - some of the worst hit sectors in terms of the economic downturn and reduced purchasing power.

In recent years the County has generally recorded a lower unemployment rate than the North East region as a whole, but with the onset of the current recession this picture is changing rapidly. Unemployment has risen nationally but in Durham it is rising at a much faster pace than the rest of the North East and the UK average. Gross Value Added (GVA) measures the contribution to the economy of each individual producer, industry or sector in the United Kingdom. GVA data for County Durham is showing a stubbornly declining trend and is accounting for less of the regional total. There is a consensus that areas that were suffering before the economic downturn will be affected harder and for longer.

Whilst there are undoubtedly difficult times ahead, building and maintaining business and consumer confidence will be a key factor in reducing the length and depth of the economic impact on County Durham.

Our Gross Value Added (GVA) per capita - an important measure of economic output - is amongst the lowest in the UK. Working to close this gap, whilst making sure that local people are well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that emerge, will impact on virtually every aspect of quality of life in the county. Economic wellbeing is fundamental in creating the right conditions for people and places to thrive.

ONS Sub-Regional GVA accounts

But, although the challenge is a significant one, we are making good progress in a number of key areas, for example:

· educational attainment levels (5 A*-C at GCSE) are improving;
· there are increasing numbers of adults in the labour force qualified to Level 2 or above, and able to compete for and obtain employment;
· business survival rates, at both one and three years, now exceed the national average.

And we have some world class economic assets upon which to build - including Durham City, the University of Durham and NETPark, a key science and technology development, which has further growth potential. There are ambitious plans for County Durham such as, the 2020 Vision for Durham City, the development of film studios at Seaham and the creation of a renewable energy village at Eastgate.

In the field of tourism and culture there are outstanding resources which can be taken to a higher level; the City of Durham including the World Heritage site, Beamish Museum and the tourism potential represented by our natural and historic environment.

Support for heritage and culture is not only important from an economic point of view but is also seen as key to the delivery of our Enjoy, Achieve and Physical Place themes, by raising aspirations, supporting learning, and enhancing the quality of the environment.

To create a sustainable economic future for County Durham we will require a step change in our ability to work in partnership within the County and beyond its borders. The County has a strong role in connecting the region, particularly the Tyne and Wear and Tees Valley City Regions. In some parts of the County there are overlapping labour and housing markets and other links, while other parts have much weaker connections to these areas.

County Durham can make a significant contribution to the growth of the City Regions and the region as a whole - by providing skilled labour, improving access to our research/knowledge base and by helping to attract talented people through our quality of place offer. In turn, economic growth in the City Regions will deliver benefits to some parts of the County, but where connections are less strong there could be detrimental effects. It will be important to strike the right balance between promoting economic growth within County Durham and maximising the benefits of our connections to the City Regions.

The County Durham Economic Strategy has set out a spatial framework for planning future development, based on five distinctive areas of the County: Durham City and the A1(M) corridor; the East Durham A19 corridor; the Bishop Auckland to Darlington Corridor; North West Durham and Rural West Durham. These have been identified on the basis of labour markets, housing markets and shared socio-economic characteristics. Each area has a different balance of opportunity and need. Investment Plans will be developed for each of these areas, setting out a long term vision, demonstrate how regeneration and housing renewal programmes will be aligned and how investment requirements will be addressed.
Insert map of key locations from CDEP
The framework will also allow the County’s 14 major centres to enhance linkages, co-ordinate regeneration strategies and further develop their own distinctiveness, building on recent and ongoing regeneration initiatives such as the Coalfields Housing Programme, the South and East Durham New Growth Point Programme, the Market Towns Initiative and the Community Economic Development Initiative.

Issues we are tackling:

· The county needs to move to a higher productivity and knowledge based economy if the gap in economic performance is to be closed
· County Durham’s natural environment and resources are important for economic growth, they can be harnessed to help tackle the challenge of climate change and as a means of creating new economic opportunities and diversifying the economy
· We have a low number of businesses and business start up rates, in relation to our population, compared to the national average
· We have lower than average participation in the labour market, with high levels of incapacity benefit and other forms of economic activity
· Worklessness impacts on physical and mental wellbeing and consequently a lack of aspiration has developed within some communities
· There is a high proportion of low paid jobs, contributing to low average earnings and adding to the cycle of poverty and deprivation

ONS: Annual survey of jobs and earnings

· The county has significant levels of deprivation, with around one third of the population living in areas which are judged amongst the 20% most deprived nationally
· County Durham has a low-skilled workforce in comparison to the rest of the region and the rest of England.. There are at least 50,000 adults lacking in basic literacy or numeracy skills and without any formal qualifications. And although the proportion of adults with a Level 1 qualification is only marginally below the Great Britain average, the gap in attainment widens dramatically at Levels 2 to 4

A modern, dynamic and diverse economy	Strengthen the competitiveness and productivity of our businesses - especially the manufacturing sector which forms a large proportion of the economy	Support the provision of a countywide, demand led business support service, which provides a quality of service which matches the best in the country and enables businesses to use knowledge to enhance their products and production processes.
	Increase the total stock of businesses	Build on our success in sustaining survival rates for new and established firms by achieving a step change in our business birth and growth rates.
	Increase numbers of tourists and overnight stays	Support the delivery of quality tourism products across the county
An enterprising and entrepreneurial society	Increase entrepreneurial activity	Encourage the development of new businesses through the actions contained within the County Durham Enterprise Strategy
	Increase numbers of people self-employed	Encourage and support individuals and groups to set up in business, focusing particularly on underrepresented groups, including young people and women and on opportunities within the social economy
Improved employability and skills of our workforce	Improve the skills of the workforce and reduce worklessness	Ensure that more people are qualified to levels that will help them obtain better paid jobs
A reduction in poverty	Increase median earnings and consequently contribute to a reduction in the number of children in poverty	Improve the opportunities for those on out of work benefits to move into training and employment
Improved economic competitiveness of our major towns	Develop and sustain vibrant and attractive town centres	Further develop and deliver regeneration masterplans which link our population centres with the enhancement and appropriate use of natural assets in and around the County.
	Address areas of market failure so that goods and services are allocated efficiently.	Maximise the effectiveness of mainstream funds, addressing areas of the economy where market failure exists to support sustainable improvements

Theme: Everyone achieves to their potential
10. Improve educational attainment for all young people
11. High quality and accessible learning establishments
12. All our schools and learning establishments perform well
13. Support and encourage 16-18 year olds to participate in learning
14. Increase the number of employment opportunities with planned training
15. Expand the range of courses accessible to young people
16. Support more adults to achieve a Level 3 qualification or higher
17. More opportunities for adults to participate in learning, further education and training

Theme: A high quality and sustainable environment
18. Improved public satisfaction with environmental and street cleanliness
21. Conserve and enhance the County’s landscape, biodiversity and geodiversity
22. Enhance the centres of our towns and villages
23. Regulate built development to ensure high quality, sustainable design with access to essential services for sustainable communities
24. Conserve and enhance the historic environment
25. Meet the Government’s decent homes standard
26. A wide choice of affordable homes
27. Reduced levels of homelessness
29. Provide and promote accessible, sustainable and safe transport
30. Conservation of natural resources
31. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
32. Adapt to the impacts of climate change

Theme and Goal: All residents lead long and healthy lives
34. Increase opportunities for commuities to live healthily
35. Lower rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer
36. Lower smoking rates
37. Reduce harm caused by alcohol and drugs
41. Improve mental health and wellbeing
42. Lower rates of under 18 conception

Theme and Goal: Everyone is safe and feels safe
45. Improve public reassurance
48. Reduce harm caused by alcohol
49 Tackle domestic abuse
50. Reduce re-offending

Theme: People enjoy life
52. More residents engage in leisure activities
53. More residents engage in culture
54. More residents engage in sporting opportunities
55. More residents value, enjoy and make positive use of the County’s historic environment and heritage
56. Arts, heritage and cultural activities and developments are fully used in creating sustainable communities

Theme: Everyone can make a positive contribution
57. Develop sustainable support for the voluntary and community sector
58. Positive attitudes and behaviours in relation to diversity
59. Individuals are able to make a positive contribution to their local community

Theme: Everyone achieves to their potential

Our long term goals:

· Improved attainment in education and work
· More young people are involved in employment, education or training
· Increased levels of adult education and skills
While attainment levels are improving, the county still faces problems of low aspirations and underachievement and there are significant gaps between the attainment levels achieved in different geographic areas of the county and between vulnerable groups and others. An all-encompassing response is needed to tackle the wide range of factors, such as poverty, parental attitudes to learning, the quality of the learning environment and a perceived lack of employment opportunities, that impact on this situation. The development of a culture of achievement and aspiration must occur side by side with economic growth so that local people can contribute to and benefit from new business and employment opportunities.

Issues we are tackling:

· There is a mixed picture of attainment levels across the county, with some above and some below the national average
· Improvements at countywide level mask lower levels of attainment within certain geographic areas and for certain groups of children and young people
· Despite recent improvements the percentage of 16-18 year olds not participating in education, employment or training remains high. Government plans to raise compulsory participation in learning to age 18 by 2015, will clearly have an impact, but positive interventions will still be needed in the short to medium term
· Low skills levels in the adult working population can prevent individuals from achieving their full potential
· Many of our secondary school buildings are outdated and do not always provide the best environment for learning
· Vocational and personal development options and improved links to employers are important in broadening the appeal and relevance of learning for our young people
· Access to broadband and up to date IT facilities are vital tools in helping communities to access learning opportunities

More detail on the evidence supporting our choice of priorities can be found within the Local Area Agreement which sets out our most pressing priorities and some key targets. A summary can be found in the appendices to this document. Other related strategies and plans are also listed in the appendices.

* National Diploma courses are being developed to cover a wide range of subjects which are mainly work-related.

Outcomes from other themes which also contribute to this theme
Theme: A thriving economy
1. Strengthen the competitiveness and productivity of businesses
2. Increase the total stock of businesses
6. Improve the skills of the workforce and reduce worklessness
7. Increase median earnings to contribute to a reduction in child poverty

Theme: A high quality and sustainable environment
23. Regulate built development to ensure high quality, sustainable design with access to essential services for sustainable communities
24. Conserve and enhance the historic environment
25. Meet the Government’s decent homes standard
26. A wide choice of affordable homes
27. Reduced levels of homelessness
29. Provide and promote accessible, sustainable and safe transport

Theme and Goal: All residents lead long and healthy lives
34. Increase opportunities for commuities to live healthily
37. Reduce harm caused by alcohol and drugs
38. Reduce levels of obesity
39. Increase breastfeeding rates
41. Improve mental health and wellbeing
42. Lower rates of under 18 conception

Theme and Goal: Everyone is safe and feels safe
45. Improve public reassurance
48. Reduce harm caused by alcohol
49 Tackle domestic abuse
50. Reduce re-offending

Theme: People enjoy life
52. More residents engage in leisure activities
53. More residents engage in culture
54. More residents engage in sporting opportunities
55. More residents value, enjoy and make positive use of the County’s historic environment and heritage
56. Arts, heritage and cultural activities and developments are fully used in creating sustainable communities

Theme: Everyone can make a positive contribution
57. Develop sustainable support for the voluntary and community sector
58. Positive attitudes and behaviours in relation to diversity
59. Individuals are able to make a positive contribution to their local community

Theme: A high quality and sustainable environment.

Our long term goals:

· A high quality clean, green, attractive and accessible environment
· A high quality local built and historic environment that meets the needs of communities
· Provision of sustainable residential accommodation across all tenures, meeting identified needs, in particular those of vulnerable groups
· Enhanced choice and access to sustainable and integrated transport networks
· A reduced impact on climate change

This theme groups a range of outcomes that relate to the physical environment, both global and local. Investment in the quality of the physical conditions that surround communities has a very significant impact on feelings of happiness, security, wellbeing and pride and can be cost effective, reducing the costs of tackling environmental nuisance and anti social behaviour. Clean streets, attractive towns and villages, decent affordable housing, good transport facilities and minimised impacts from climate change all contribute to people’s satisfaction with their area as a good place to live. Actions to address, mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change are needed, not just to safeguard our own communities, but to contribute to national and global targets. Robust, deliverable spatial planning policies will be particularly vital to delivering these outcomes, ensuring the availability of land for housing and employment, orchestrating infrastructure development, minimising flood risk, developing sustainable waste management, safeguarding the area’s environmental assets and providing the framework for environmental enhancement.

Issues we are tackling
· Measures to tackle greenhouse gas emissions are needed to impact on climate change but will bring additional environmental benefits such as reduced air pollution and more efficient use of natural resources
· At the same time we need action to adapt and address the risks posed by a changing climate
· The county’s rural nature and low levels of car ownership, particularly in deprived areas, makes accessible public transport a high priority
· Increased car use impacts heavily on carbon dioxide emissions, the quality of the environment and health issues
· Fuel poverty affects the most vulnerable people in County Durham, with consequent effects on health and economic wellbeing as people are forced to spend a higher proportion of their household income to maintain a level of warmth consistent with health and wellbeing
· There is a shortfall in the availability of decent, affordable housing suitable to the needs of a growing population with diverse needs
Number of housing association and local authority properties across County Durham meeting decency standards
Source: Housing Association Information from Housing Corporation RSR 2007, local authority information from HSSA return 07/08

· Community surveys show that local people see clean streets as a high priority in making their area a good place to live
· An attractive built environment supports and encourages the development and success of businesses and is important to people’s feelings of wellbeing
· Tourism investment and marketing plans will capitalise on the potential of the County’s distinctive heritage and world class environmental assets.
· Spatial planning through the Local Development Framework will help to ensure that we have a sustainable network of modern waste management facilities, reducing reliance on landfill and that sufficient minerals are available for development, without major detriment to people’s living conditions and the wider environment
· It is vital to maintain and enhance the green infrastructure - the network of open space, woodlands, wildlife habitat, parks and other natural areas, which sustain clean air, water, and natural resources and enrich our quality of life.

Long term goals	What we need to achieve to reach this goal	Some things we will do
A high quality clean, green, attractive and accessible environment	Improved public satisfaction with environmental and street cleanliness	Reduce levels of graffiti, litter, detritus and fly-posting
	Develop and sustain healthy ecosystems *	Actively manage and improve designated and local wildlife sites Support sustainable land management
	Make the county’s countryside accessible to all	Maintain and promote countryside routes Maintain and promote the green infrastructure
	Conserve and enhance the county’s landscape, biodiversity and geodiversity	Implement proposals in the County’s Landscape Strategy and Biodiversity Action Plan.
A high quality local built and historic environment that meets the needs of communities	Enhance the centres of our towns and villages	Continue to develop the Urban and Rural Renaissance Initiative
	Regulate built development to ensure high quality, sustainable design with access to essential services for sustainable communities	- - Seek a higher level of standards through the national code for sustainable homes and the use of the BREEAM standards. - Identify areas for growth, improvement and conservation - Plan for sustainable development
	Conserve and enhance the historic environment	Develop policies and plans to deliver preservation and enhancement, where needs are identified.

Provision of sustainable residential accommodation across all tenures, meeting identified needs, in particular those of vulnerable groups	Meet the Government’s decent homes standard	Reduce the number of non decent council homes
	A wide choice of affordable homes	Improve the type, supply and affordability of all homes - Tackle fuel poverty
	Reduced levels of homelessness	Reduce the number of people living in temporary accommodation Ensure people have access to timely and appropriate housing advice and options.
Enhanced choice and access to sustainable and integrated transport networks	A high quality and efficient highway infrastructure	Maintain, enhance and further develop the existing network to a high standard Pilot a scheme to work with communities to address the issue of unadopted highways.
	Provide and promote accessible, sustainable and safe transport	- Improve access to services and facilities by public and community transport, walking and cycling - Implement detailed plans contained within the second Local Transport Plan
A reduced impact on climate change	Conservation of natural resources	Reduce the amount of all types of waste and increase re-use, recycling and composting Work to exceed the regional target for renewable energy Develop sustainable waste management facilities Ensure that new development is sustainable in its use of resources and its impacts
	Reduced greenhouse gas emissions	- Reduce greenhouse gas emissions from households, public buildings, businesses and transport - Develop and support low carbon businesses
	Adapt to the impacts of climate change	- Reduce risk of flooding and coastal erosion - Develop resilience to extreme and unexpected weather events

More detail on the evidence supporting our choice of priorities can be found within the Local Area Agreement which sets out our most pressing priorities and some key targets. A summary can be found in the appendices to this document.Other related strategies and plans are also listed in the appendices.

Theme: A thriving economy
1. Strengthen the competitiveness and productivity of businesses
2. Increase the total stock of businesses
4. Increase entrepreneurial activity
5. Increase numbers of people self-employed
6. Improve the skills of the workforce and reduce worklessness
8. Develop and sustain vibrant and attractive town centres
9. Address areas of market failure

Theme: Everyone achieves to their potential
10. Improve educational attainment for all young people
17. More opportunities for adults to participate in learning, further education and training

Theme and Goal: All residents lead long and healthy lives
36. Lower smoking rates
44. Ensure that we support and protect vulnerable people

Theme and Goal: Everyone is safe and feels safe
45. Improve public reassurance
48. Reduce harm caused by alcohol
51. Ensure we have safer roads

Theme: People enjoy life
55. More residents value, enjoy and make positive use of the County’s historic environment and heritage
56. Arts, heritage and cultural activities and developments are fully used in creating sustainable communities

Theme: Everyone can make a positive contribution
57. Develop sustainable support for the voluntary and community sector
58. Positive attitudes and behaviours in relation to diversity
59. Individuals are able to make a positive contribution to their local community

Theme: All residents lead long and healthy lives.

Our long term goal: All residents lead long and healthy lives

“Good health is a fundamental resource for social and economic development”(European Health Report, World Health Organisation, 2005)

Enabling all residents to enjoy long and healthy lives requires a constant focus on reducing the health inequalities, which exist both within County Durham and between County Durham and England as a whole. The overall health of the population is poor compared with the national picture and inequalities in health across the county remain persistent and pervasive. Although trends in male and female life expectancy at birth are upwards, there are unacceptable gaps in life expectancy between County Durham and England as a whole. Life expectancy for boys born in County Durham between 2003-05 is 75.6 years, 1.3 years less than the national average. Life expectancy for girls born in County Durham between 2003-05 is 79.4years, 1.7 years less than the national average.Through improved physical and mental health and wellbeing many more residents will be able to reach their full potential and enjoy a full and active life. Good health will support improved attainment in education and work for people of all ages and will be a cornerstone of a modern, dynamic and diverse economy, which will in turn support improvements in the health of the population.

Issues we are tackling:
· Narrowing the gap requires a step change in our approach to coronary heart disease and cancer. Without this new approach, life expectancy gaps between County Durham and England and within the County will remain.
· Smoking is the biggest single contributionto the shorter life expectancy in County Durham and efforts to reduce rates must continue to be a focus for all partners.
· Alcohol and drug misuse impacts upon crime, domestic violence, anti-social behaviour and individual health. Dangerous drinking, both chronic and binge drinking, is significantly higher than the national average in County Durham.Levels of obesity in adults and children are amongst the highestin the country and concerted efforts are required across agencies to prevent this situation worsening.
· Under 18 conceptions are higher than the national average and it is well evidenced that this can impact on an individual’s access to opportunities and overall health and wellbeing and can be a factor in child poverty
· Mental health problems are a significant barrier to employment, training and volunteering for those affected, yet these positive activities are known to promote mental wellbeing
· As numbers of older people in the population of the county increase, there will be a growing demand for different types of care, support and rehabilitation services
· Independent living in suitable accommodation with appropriate support is essential if vulnerable people are to feel safe and included in society
· We are working with communities to find out how we can be more effective in helping people to be healthy and well

Our long term goal	What we need to achieve to reach this goal	Some things we will do
All residents enjoy long and healthy lives	Reduce death rates	Tackle the major determinants of poor health by engaging partner organisations and delivering effective evidence based interventions.
	Increase opportunities for communities to live healthily	Enhanced community development and community engagement which support communities to provide opportunities to live well and ensures that services are shaped to meet community needs.
	Lower rates of cardio vascular disease and cancer	Prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer through improving diet, reducing alcohol consumption, reducing smoking and increasing exercise levels. Ensure early treatment though screening and awareness raising of symptoms. Ensure high quality treatment for all.
	Lower smoking rates	Help more people to stop smoking. Stop more young people from starting smoking. Focus on wider elements of tobacco control.
	Reduce harm caused by alcohol and drugs	Take a multi agency approach to ensure that alcohol misuse is prevented and people drink within safe limits. Make effective treatment available to all who would benefit from this intervention. Make effective treatment available to all drug users.
	Reduce levels of obesity	Increase the numbers of people eating healthily. Increase the numbers of people participating in exercise.
	Increase breast feeding rates	Increase the numbers of women who start breast feeding. Increasing support to women to enable them to continue breastfeeding longer.
	Improve oral health	Improve accessibility of dental services. Increase the numbers of people eating healthily.
	Improve mental health and wellbeing	Reduce alcohol misuse. Increase the number of people who eat healthily. Increase the levels of physical activity. Improve access to employment, training and volunteering opportunities. Focus on early intervention. Focus on promotion of positive mental health.
	Lower rates of under 18 conception	Provide age appropriate sex and relationships education. Provide easy access to contraception. Support young parents.
	Ensure high quality support, care and rehabilitation services are available for older people	Assess and meet the support, care and rehabilitation needs of older people with high quality services.
	Ensure that we support and protect vulnerable people	Work with vulnerable people to enable them to enjoy a full life within their local communities. Provide housing related support through the Supporting People programme.

The Local Tobacco Alliance is working to reduce the prevalence of smoking by implementing the six strands of tobacco control:

· Tobacco regulation
· Reduced promotion and availability
· Smuggled and counterfeit tobacco
· Media and educational campaigns
· Effective stop smoking services
· Reduced exposure to second hand smoke

Theme: A thriving economy
5. Increase numbers of people self-employed
6. Improve the skills of the workforce and reduce worklessness
7. Increase median earnings to contribute to a reduction in child poverty
8. Develop and sustain vibrant and attractive town centres
9. Address areas of market failure

Theme: Everyone achieves to their potential
10. Improve educational attainment for all young people
13. Support and encourage 16-18 year olds to participate in learning
14. Increase the number of employment opportunities with planned training
15. Expand the range of courses accessible to young people
16. Support more adults to achieve a Level 3 qualification or higher
17. More opportunities for adults to participate in learning, further education and training

Theme: A high quality and sustainable environment
18. Improved public satisfaction with environmental and street cleanliness
19. Develop and sustain healthy ecosystems
20. Make the County’s countryside accessible to all
21. Conserve and enhance the County’s landscape, biodiversity and geodiversity
22. Enhance the centres of our towns and villages
23. Regulate built development to ensure high quality, sustainable design with access to essential services for sustainable communities
24. Conserve and enhance the historic environment
25. Meet the Government’s decent homes standard
26. A wide choice of affordable homes
27. Reduced levels of homelessness
29. Provide and promote accessible, sustainable and safe transport
31. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
32. Adapt to the impacts of climate change

Theme and Goal: Everyone is safe and feels safe
45. Improve public reassurance
46. Reduce the number of violent crimes
47. Protect our communities from terrorism
48. Reduce harm caused by alcohol
49 Tackle domestic abuse
50. Reduce re-offending
51. Ensure we have safer roads

Theme: People enjoy life
52. More residents engage in leisure activities
53. More residents engage in culture
54. More residents engage in sporting opportunities
55. More residents value, enjoy and make positive use of the County’s historic environment and heritage
56. Arts, heritage and cultural activities and developments are fully used in creating sustainable communities

Theme: Everyone can make a positive contribution
57. Develop sustainable support for the voluntary and community sector
58. Positive attitudes and behaviours in relation to diversity
59. Individuals are able to make a positive contribution to their local community
Theme: Everyone is safe and feels safe
Our long term goal: Everyone is safe and feels safe

Crime in County Durham has been steadily decreasing and there is a strong track record of working in partnership to prevent and reduce crime and provide public reassurance. However, evidence shows that crime, and in particular anti-social behaviour, is a major concern for local people, though there is statistical evidence that levels have fallen by about 14% between 2006/07 and 2007/08 and latest quarterly survey results (September 2008) showed that 89.6% of respondents said that they felt safe in their neighbourhood.Partners need to consolidate their efforts to address public concerns as well as focusing on some specific issues which impact on personal and public safety, such as domestic abuse and persistent and prolific offenders. Misuse of alcohol and drugs also impacts negatively on the quality of life for County Durham communities and is a key issue for partners to tackle, as success would contribute to the achievement of many of our desired outcomes. (This is also a key issue in the Health and Wellbeing theme)

Crime and fear of crime can also impact negatively on economic growth. Areas that are perceived as safe are more attractive to businesses and their customers. People also need to feel safe when they are travelling to access services, leisure facilities, or learning opportunities.
Issues we are tackling:

· Evidence shows violent crime to be a priority and this is linked to alcohol abuse and the night-time economy in some town centres
· Domestic abuse is a serious issue with 3545 incidents reported to the police from April to October 2007. 1 in 6 wounding offences are directly attributable to domestic abuse
· Nationally it is estimated that 10% of offenders are responsible for 50% of all crime committed. Across the county, partners are tackling the issue of these persistent and prolific offenders, with a particular focus on the links with drug and alcohol abuse
· Numbers of young people getting into trouble with the police for the first time are continuing to rise, with consequent effects on further offending and anti-social behaviour as well negative impacts on future attainment, employment and overall wellbeing for the young people concerned
· People locally are very concerned about anti-social behaviour and it is the most common reason for calling the police
· County Durham has a significant number of fatal and serious road casualties, especially amongst young people
· Providing public reassurance by tackling issues such as criminal damage, fly tipping and incidents of deliberate fires which impact on quality of life

Long term goals	What we need to achieve to reach this goal	Some things we will do
Everyone is safe and feels safe	Improve public reassurance in relation to crime and anti-social behaviour	- Address people’s concerns about anti-social behaviour, parental control of children, drunk or rowdy behaviour and drug misuse in their area - Support behaviour within communities that treats all individuals with dignity and respect - Increase young people’s participation in positive activities - Reduce the number of first time entrants to the criminal justice system - Reduce criminal damage offences - The Council and police will deal effectively with local concerns about anti-social behaviour and crime
	Reduce the number of violent crimes	- Reduce assaults with injury - Reduce serious violent crime
	Protect our communities from terrorism	- Build community resilience to violent extremism
	Reduce harm caused by alcohol	- Reduce alcohol-related admissions to hospital - Reduce assaults with injury
	Tackle domestic abuse	- Increase the number of Domestic Abuse Reduction Schemes across the county for high risk victims
	Reduce re-offending	- Reduce re-offending of adults under probation supervision - Reduce re-offending by young offenders - Reduce re-offending by prolific and priority offenders - Increase the number of drug users in effective treatment - Increase engagement of young offenders in suitable education, training and employment - Increase access to suitable accommodation for young offenders
	Ensure we have safer roads	Reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured in traffic accidents

More detail on the evidence supporting our choice of priorities can be found within the Local Area Agreement which sets out our most pressing priorities and some key targets. A summarycan be found in the appendices to this document. Other lated strategies and plans are also listed in the appendices.

Theme: A thriving economy
1. Strengthen the competitiveness and productivity of businesses
2. Increase the total stock of businesses
4. Increase entrepreneurial activity
5. Increase numbers of people self-employed
6. Improve the skills of the workforce and reduce worklessness
7. Increase median earnings to contribute to a reduction in child poverty
8. Develop and sustain vibrant and attractive town centres
9. Address areas of market failure

Theme: Everyone achieves to their potential
10. Improve educational attainment for all young people
13. Support and encourage 16-18 year olds to participate in learning
14. Increase the number of employment opportunities with planned training
15. Expand the range of courses accessible to young people
16. Support more adults to achieve a Level 3 qualification or higher
17. More opportunities for adults to participate in learning, further education and training

Theme: A high quality and sustainable environment
18. Improved public satisfaction with environmental and street cleanliness
22. Enhance the centres of our towns and villages
25. Meet the Government’s decent homes standard
26. A wide choice of affordable homes
27. Reduced levels of homelessness
29. Provide and promote accessible, sustainable and safe transport

Theme and Goal: All residents lead long and healthy lives
37. Reduce harm caused by alcohol and drugs
41. Improve mental health and wellbeing
44. Ensure that we support and protect vulnerable people

Theme: People enjoy life
52. More residents engage in leisure activities
53. More residents engage in culture
54. More residents engage in sporting opportunities
55. More residents value, enjoy and make positive use of the County’s historic environment and heritage
56. Arts, heritage and cultural activities and developments are fully used in creating sustainable communities

Theme: Everyone can make a positive contribution
57. Develop sustainable support for the voluntary and community sector
58. Positive attitudes and behaviours in relation to diversity
59. Individuals are able to make a positive contribution to their local community
Theme: People enjoy life.

Our long term goals:
· Culture, leisure and sporting opportunities meet and build the needs and aspirations of the community

· Work to develop a sense of pride in our culture and heritage and to encourage aspirations for the future

A sense of achievement comes not only from success in learning and at work. Participation in the arts, culture, leisure and sport provides opportunities for personal and social development, which in turn supports learning and feelings of self worth and inclusion, as well as being enjoyable for those taking part.

These experiences can improve quality of life for communities and if used as part of measures to improve access to learning and employment, they will greatly improve their effectiveness. They can also encourage individual and community aspirations and build on the sense of pride, that many residents already feel, in belonging, both to the local neighbourhood and the County.

Leisure, cultural and sporting activities also make a huge contribution to health and wellbeing.

Issues we are tackling:

· Local research consistently reveals that both young people and adults feel that there should be more places to go and things to do for young people
· Children and young people need access to high quality sport, culture and play opportunities if they are to achieve their full potential, both in learning and in personal and social development
· Our heritage is important to communities, and learning about and preserving local history and culture promotes understanding, harmony and respect between generations as well as between different social, ethnic and cultural communities
· As well as known impacts on literacy and learning, an effective public library service is increasingly recognised as playing a key role in health improvement, through provision of information to support health and lifestyle choices
· Cultural regeneration and activity can bring economic benefits to an area, enhancing its attractiveness to businesses and their customers
· Involvement in sports, cultural and leisure experiences can increase individuals’ skills and confidence, supporting first steps to learning for those who have experienced barriers in accessing traditional education
· Preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games in London offer inspiration and opportunities to encourage participation at all levels.
Partners are delivering a wide range of successful opportunities for young people to access cultural, sports and leisure opportunities to support learning, help them develop their talents and enjoy the benefits of participation. For instance:

• The Cultural Hubs Durham pilot, linking young people, through their schools, into cultural ‘treasures’ of the region such as the BALTIC centre for Contemporary Art, the Beamish Museum and Dance City enabling them to experience and create diverse aspects of the arts, culture and heritage

• Increased take up of extra curricular sport

• An Arts Strategy for children and young people in public care

Long term goals	What we need to achieve to reach this goal	Some things we will do
Culture, leisure and sporting opportunities meet the needs and aspirations of the community	More residents engage in leisure activities	Ensure that residents have access to a range of activities that meet their needs and build on their aspirations
	More residents engage in culture	Develop high quality cultural facilities and activities that are relevant and accessible to the diverse needs of different groups
	More residents engage in sporting opportunities	Ensure that residents have access to a range of activities that meet their needs and build on their aspirations
People have a sense of pride in our culture and heritage and high aspirations for the future	More residents value, enjoy and make positive use of the County’s historic environment and heritage	Encourage volunteering in relation to heritage conservation Encourage visits to local heritage sites, especially for disadvantaged groups
	Arts, heritage and cultural activities and developments are fully used in creating sustainable communities.	Support and further develop programmes which broaden participation and contribute to learning, self belief and aspirations, community pride and cohesion. Encourage heritage conservation and cultural development within regeneration activities

Related strategies and plans are set out in the appendices to this document.
Theme: A thriving economy
1. Strengthen the competitiveness and productivity of businesses
2. Increase the total stock of businesses
4. Increase entrepreneurial activity
5. Increase numbers of people self-employed
6. Improve the skills of the workforce and reduce worklessness
7. Increase median earnings to contribute to a reduction in child poverty
8. Develop and sustain vibrant and attractive town centres
9. Address areas of market failure

Theme: Everyone achieves to their potential
10. Improve educational attainment for all young people
11. High quality and accessible learning establishments
13. Support and encourage 16-18 year olds to participate in learning
14. Increase the number of employment opportunities with planned training
15. Expand the range of courses accessible to young people
16. Support more adults to achieve a Level 3 qualification or higher
17. More opportunities for adults to participate in learning, further education and training

Theme: A high quality and sustainable environment
18. Improved public satisfaction with environmental and street cleanliness
20. Make the County’s countryside accessible to all
21. Conserve and enhance the County’s landscape, biodiversity and geodiversity
22. Enhance the centres of our towns and villages
23. Regulate built development to ensure high quality, sustainable design with access to essential services for sustainable communities
24. Conserve and enhance the historic environment
25. Meet the Government’s decent homes standard
26. A wide choice of affordable homes
27. Reduced levels of homelessness
29. Provide and promote accessible, sustainable and safe transport
31. Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
32. Adapt to the impacts of climate change

Theme and Goal: All residents lead long and healthy lives
34. Increase opportunities for communities to live healthily
35. Lower rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer
37. Reduce harm caused by alcohol and drugs
38. Reduce levels of obesity
41. Improve mental health and wellbeing
43. Ensure high quality support, care and rehabilitation services are available for older people
44. Ensure that we support and protect vulnerable people

Theme and Goal: Everyone is safe and feels safe
45. Improve public reassurance
46. Reduce the number of violent crimes
47. Protect our communities from terrorism
48. Reduce harm caused by alcohol
49 Tackle domestic abuse
50. Reduce re-offending
51. Ensure we have safer roads

Theme: Everyone can make a positive contribution
57. Develop sustainable support for the voluntary and community sector
58. Positive attitudes and behaviours in relation to diversity
59. Individuals are able to make a positive contribution to their local community Theme: Everyone can make a positive contribution

Our long term goals:

· A vibrant and sustainable Voluntary and Community Sector
· Strong, cohesive communities

Partners in County Durham have long recognised that the development of strong, sustainable communities cannot take place if residents are not given the opportunity to participate in decision-making and make a positive contribution to improving the place where they live (County Durham Strategic Vision, February 2004). The voluntary and community sector (VCS) has an essential role to play in bringing community voices into partnership and agency working, building social capital in communities and delivering accessible services. The Partnership has agreed to develop a VCS Infrastructure Investment Plan as a formal framework showing the sector’s role in delivering outcomes as well as its wider role and functions.

Issues we are tackling:

· Concerns from people and communities about lack of respect and consideration between individuals and groups
· In an increasingly diverse county it will be important to create the right conditions for inclusion, participation and community spirit to flourish
· Better services can only be created with the involvement of local people, who must be able to influence decisions that affect them
· Opportunities for young people to participate and feel part of their communities, can enhance their learning and personal development and make them more able to avoid risk taking behaviour
· A strong voluntary and community sector is important in helping to bring about improved outcomes, especially for the most vulnerable members of our community
· High levels of volunteering are a sign of, and contribute to strong, active communities

Long term goals	What we need to achieve to reach this goal	Some things we will do
A vibrant and sustainable Voluntary and Community Sector	Develop sustainable support for the voluntary and community sector	Invest in the infrastructure organisations that support voluntary and community groups and involve them in planning and delivering local services
Strong, cohesive communities	Positive attitudes and behaviours in relation to diversity	Encourage respect and harmony within and between communities through, for example: · Awareness raising · Planning events and activities to build positive relationships and celebrate diversity · Take positive action to promote equality and tackle discrimination Work to create a better balance in the workforce in relation to underrepresented groups Tackle barriers to educational attainment and access to appropriate housing, services and opportunites that exist for some groups.
	Individuals are able to make a positive contribution to their local community	- Provide opportunities for all sections of the community to be involved in decisions that affect them - Promote and support volunteering for all age groups. - Provide opportunities for young people to be involved in their communities and to have their voices listened to

More detail on the evidence supporting our choice of priorities can be found within the Local Area Agreement which sets out our most pressing priorities and some key targets. A summary can be found in the appendices to this document. Other related strategies and plans also detailed in the appendices.

Theme: A thriving economy
1. Strengthen the competitiveness and productivity of businesses
2. Increase the total stock of businesses
4. Increase entrepreneurial activity
5. Increase numbers of people self-employed
6. Improve the skills of the workforce and reduce worklessness
7. Increase median earnings to contribute to a reduction in child poverty

Theme: Everyone achieves to their potential
10. Improve educational attainment for all young people
11. High quality and accessible learning establishments
12. All our schools and learning establishments perform well
13. Support and encourage 16-18 year olds to participate in learning
14. Increase the number of employment opportunities with planned training
15. Expand the range of courses accessible to young people
16. Support more adults to achieve a Level 3 qualification or higher
17. More opportunities for adults to participate in learning, further education and training

Theme: A high quality and sustainable environment
18. Improved public satisfaction with environmental and street cleanliness
19. Develop and sustain healthy ecosystems
20. Make the County’s countryside accessible to all
21. Conserve and enhance the County’s landscape, biodiversity and geodiversity
22. Enhance the centres of our towns and villages
23. Regulate built development to ensure high quality, sustainable design with access to essential services for sustainable communities
24. Conserve and enhance the historic environment
25. Meet the Government’s decent homes standard
26. A wide choice of affordable homes
27. Reduced levels of homelessness
29. Provide and promote accessible, sustainable and safe transport

Theme and Goal: All residents lead long and healthy lives
34. Increase opportunities for commuities to live healthily
35. Lower rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer
37. Reduce harm caused by alcohol and drugs
38. Reduce levels of obesity
41. Improve mental health and wellbeing
42. Lower rates of under 18 conception
43. Ensure high quality support, care and rehabilitation services are available for older people
44. Ensure that we support and protect vulnerable people

Theme and Goal: Everyone is safe and feels safe
45. Improve public reassurance
46. Reduce the number of violent crimes
48. Reduce harm caused by alcohol
49 Tackle domestic abuse
50. Reduce re-offending

Theme: People enjoy life
52. More residents engage in leisure activities
53. More residents engage in culture
54. More residents engage in sporting opportunities
55. More residents value, enjoy and make positive use of the County’s historic environment and heritage
56. Arts, heritage and cultural activities and developments are fully used in creating sustainable communities

Performance Management

With the development of a new Unitary Council for County Durham, the opportunity arises to develop a shared performance management framework for both the achievement of the strategic and contributory outcomes and the actions and targets set out in delivery plans.

This will include qualitative assessment and evaluation to ensure that activities are contributing to the outcomes they were intended to support.

The partnership is accountable to local people for the delivery of the strategy.

Performance will be regularly reported to members of the public and widerstakeholders as well as to the County Durham Partnership Board members. The Partnership has also established a Delivery and Improvement Group, which will support and challenge partners. The Group’s remit is to ensure that delivery plans are in place and cross-cutting issues are addressed and to break down obstacles which prevent significant improvements. It will help partners to identify innovative ways to achieve more and new ways of using resources.
Local councillors will scrutinise the performance of the partnership against the outcomes and targets it has set in this strategy and the Local Area Agreement.

The Comprehensive Area Assessment(CAA), which is being introduced in 2009, will provide an independent and external evaluation of whether the council and its partners are achieving outcomes that are really making a difference to local people.

We have agreed to review and further develop this interim Strategy in a year’s time, giving us the opportunity to revisit our vision, aspirations and goals in the light of:
· The changing local and national context
· The emergence of new strategies in key areas such as housing and economic development
· Emerging spatial developments as work on the Local Development Framework goes forward
· Input from LSPs’ ‘handover’ community strategies and from plans developed by the new Area Action Partnerships
· Issues from the first CAA of County Durham in 2009
· Progress on delivery plans and the results of sustainability appraisal and impact assessments

County Durham Partnership

The County Durham Partnership is the countywide Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).

The partnership was formed in 2007 following the merger between the County Durham Strategic Partnership and the County Durham Local Area Agreement Board.

It brings together key organisations from the public, private sectors and voluntary and community sectors - All aiming to improve the quality of life for people in County Durham.

Members of the partnership include:

The partnership is responsible for setting the vision and priorities for County Durham, through this Sustainable Community Strategy, and ensuring that all partners, including local communities, agree and support them.

The partnership is also responsible for developing and driving the effective delivery of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) - the three year delivery plan, which captures the most pressing priorities emerging from this Sustainable Community Strategy.

County Durham Partnership is the ‘partnership of partnerships’ in the county; co-ordinating and linking together other partnerships. In the county there are five lead thematic partnerships that take responsibility for the goals and targets in the SCS and LAA.

The Local Area Agreement

The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 placed a statutory requirement on local authorities to develop a Local Area Agreement and a ‘duty to co-operate’ on named partners.

The new arrangements are based on a stronger role for local authorities to:
· lead their communities
· shape their areas, and
· innovate and respond to local needs with other local service providers

The LAA forms the delivery plan for the most pressing issues identified in this Sustainable Community Strategy.

In June 2008 County Durham’s 2008-2011 LAA was agreed between the County Durham Partnership and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government.

The LAA is a rolling agreement with government. Every three years we will renegotiate our most pressing priorities to ensure that we are making progress towards achieving our long-term goals and ultimately, our vision for County Durham.

County Durham’s 2008-11 LAA is available to download at www.durhamlaa.org.uk.

The LAA priorities and their three year targets are detailed in Appendix 1 of this document.

County Durham’s 2008-2011
Local Area Agreement

The following pages contain County Durham’s most pressing priorities for the next three years.

These are the indicators chosen by partners to be included in County Durham’s 2008-11 Local Area Agreement and agreed with central government. They will form the basis of partnership working in the county and contribute to the achievement of our long-term vision and the goals set out in this strategy.

Further information including the three year targets, the lead thematic partnership and partner organisation(s) responsible for each indicator, is also included.

You can view the full 2008-11 Local Area Agreement, including the reasons why these indicators have been chosen as priorities for County Durham, at www.durhamlaa.org.uk.

County Durham’s Interim Sustainable Community Strategy 2008-2023 75

DCC Sustainability Section

November 2008
Introduction

The Local Government White paper, ‘Strong and prosperous Communities’, October 2006, accompanied by its statutory guidance July 2008, requires that “sustainability should be at the heart of the LSP’s Sustainable Community Strategy”.

Local authorities and their partners, through the Sustainable Community Strategy and the local Area Agreement, can play a pivotal role in delivering integrated economic, social and environmental benefits at the strategic and the local community level.

In County Durham the eight local authorities are working to create a new, unitary council under the LGR process, working to the Vision of “a prosperous, safe and sustainable future for County Durham”.

Sustainability must, therefore, be a core, guiding principle throughout the County Durham Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement. For this reason, the County Council’s Sustainability Section, supported by the County Durham Sustainability and Environment Partnership, has been commissioned to provide Sustainability Appraisal services throughout the development of these key strategic documents.

Sustainability Appraisal is a formal requirement under the European Union Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive, transposed into UK law under the Town and Country Planning Act 2006. This is concerned with appraising social, economic and environmental effects of a plan or programme and the extent to which implementation of that plan or programme will support or conflict with sustainability objectives.

This Report continues the series of assessments, reviews and dialogues designed to deliver an iterative, fit for purpose Sustainability Appraisal process.

Background

Sustainability has been built into the development of both the Sustainable Community Strategy and the Local Area Agreement from the outset, and this recently led to praise from Defra (October 2008) for the strength of County Durham’s approach.

A County Durham Sustainability Appraisal Framework (attached as Appendix 2) was developed for application to both the Local Development Framework and the Sustainable Community Strategy. This was developed in consultation with stakeholders and in accordance with the North East Integrated Regional Framework. This assures compliance with the Local Government White Paper and the framework is being further developed to produce an assessment methodology that can be applied to all new policies and strategies of the new unitary authority.

A full Sustainable Development Baseline has also been developed to collate economic, social and environmental data on County Durham. This has been used to assess likely impacts. A copy of this baseline can be supplied if required.

In addition to the framework and baseline, regular consultation forums are held with stakeholders. A focused partnership meeting was held to agree the initial objectives and outcomes that inform the SCS and the LAA and this in turn was used to influence the selection of indicators for the LAA. This was a highly positive process that has resulted in sustainability issues being central to the LAA and therefore to the emerging Community Strategy.

In April 2008 an initial Sustainability Appraisal was undertaken of the ‘Framework for the Sustainable Community Strategy,’ using the above tools. A copy of this assessment is attached as Annex 1.

A further fit for purpose Sustainability Appraisal has been undertaken for the latest iteration of the SCS, involving consultation with the County Durham Sustainability and Environment Partnership Board (including statutory consultees) and expert forums and application of the tools listed above. This appraisal has raised the following issues.

Key issues

Many of the issues raised by the latest appraisal are the same ones that were raised in the previous report (see Appendix 2).

There is particular concern regarding the Vision, which completely omits environment or any overarching reference to sustainability and therefore fails to be a sustainable community strategy.

A revised Vision is suggested, incorporating minimal alterations so as to build in sustainability. This would be:
We would also very strongly recommend including the five ‘Guiding Principles’ and the four ‘Shared Priorities for Action’ that are set out in the UK Sustainable Development Strategy, ‘Securing the Future’, 2005. These should form the core of the Sustainable Community Strategy.

For reference, the five Principles are:
· Living within Environmental Limits
· Ensuring a Strong, Healthy and Just Society
· Achieving a Sustainable Economy
· Promoting Good Governance
· Using Sound Science Responsibly

The four Priorities for Action are:
· Sustainable Consumption and Production
· Climate change and Energy
· Natural Resource Protection and Environmental Enhancement
· Sustainable Communities There is also a general need to increase the emphasis on climate change within the document, and to highlight the urgent action needed by each of the thematic partnerships both to adapt to unavoidable climate change and to reduce further carbon emissions. Wording can be provided for each relevant section if required.

There are also a large number of specific comments related to different parts of the document. These will be supplied separately, on request. It is noted, however, that a full review of the SCS will be undertaken in one year and that there will be a much greater opportunity to build sustainability in at that point.

Summary

There has been on-going involvement of sustainability in terms of the objectives, indicators and outcomes of the Local Area Agreement and of the emerging Sustainable Community Strategy and we welcome the opportunity to continue this approach.

At this stage we note the forthcoming full review of the SCS in a year’s time and would hope to be able to provide a full Sustainability Appraisal and dialogue throughout that process.

In the meantime we would strongly emphasise the importance of including the UK Sustainability Principles and Priorities, especially with reference to climate change, which cross-cuts all seven themes of the SCS. We would also stress the importance of building sustainability more obviously into the Vision, in order to ensure that the final strategy can be a Sustainable Community Strategy.
Introduction
From the outset there has been a strong commitment to building sustainability into the heart of County Durham’s Sustainable Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement. For this reason, Durham County Council’s (DCC) Sustainability Section, supported by the County Durham Sustainability and Environment Partnership, have been integrally involved in the selection of priorities and indicators.
The desire to ensure that the Sustainable Community Strategy process achieves the most sustainable outcomes possible has led to an innovative Sustainability Appraisal process being adopted. Instead of undertaking a standard, one-off Sustainability Appraisal in the form of a review of the completed draft document, County Durham has developed an iterative, fit for purpose appraisal process. This is in the form of a series of reviews and an on-going dialogue throughout the process, ensuring that sustainability is a major consideration throughout.
This iterative Sustainability Appraisal process combines several forms of assessment. These are; a Sustainability Appraisal Framework; the observations of the County Durham Sustainability and Environment Partnership; the findings of an extensive baseline assessment; and the expert input of the DCC Sustainability Section. These views combine to inform a holistic appraisal process which has already been successfully applied to the Sustainability Appraisal of Local Development Frameworks in the County.
The comments below therefore form the first of a series of sustainability commentaries, to which the developing Sustainable Community Strategy can respond, and builds on appraisals already undertaken for the selection of Local Area Agreement indicators.
Sustainability Commentary
General query; will there be a summary Sustainability Appraisal Report that can go out with the Strategy document for public consultation?
Introduction
(p. 2) The Strategy is described as considering the needs of the whole community, being sensitive to the environment, quality of life, etc. To retain the balance of social, economic and environmental issues it is recommended that offering best value for money be included in this list.
(p. 3) ‘sustainability’: while this bullet point includes consideration of future generations it does not refer to any potential impacts of the Strategy on communities and environments in the rest of the world (a crucial element of sustainability).

Vision and themes
(p. 3) The statement of Vision relates to economic growth and to community but does not take into consideration any environmental issues. This is a significant weakness in the Vision as it stands.
The subsequent paragraph refers to a cleaner, greener environment designed to contribute to peoples’ feelings of safety and well-being, but it does not take into account longer term issues, especially those relating to environmental quality that will be essential for future quality of life for all. The most significant of these issues is tackling climate change, which is in the top 5 indicators selected by the County Durham Partnership. It is therefore recommended that a reference be made here to tackling climate change.
In addition, the vision lacks any mention of the term ‘sustainability’. All government guidance suggest that sustainable development should be at the heart of emerging Sustainable Community Strategies and hence should be present within the vision that sets the long term future for the County.
Outcomes framework
(p. 6) A valuable tool in Sustainability Appraisal is the assessment of how different outcomes of a strategy might impact on each other. We strongly support the proposed diagram that will show how strategic and contributory outcomes impact on each other. This work can be augmented by application of the Sustainability Appraisal Framework if required.
Health and well-being
(p. 7) General comment - although population health is poor it should be noted that health services in the County are of a high quality by national comparison.
Specific comment - there is no mention of the need to increase the number of people walking and cycling, both for journeys to school, work, etc and for leisure and enjoyment. This is an important element of physical activity, which can be cross referenced to transport, enjoyment and climate change issues.
Final bullet point (p. 7)- working with communities is a positive step, but the aim should be to ‘ensure people are healthy and well’ rather than ‘making people feel they are healthy and well’.
Missing from ‘Issues we are tackling’; - Wider consultation on health and social care provision is lacking. Wider engagement can ensure the public has a basic understanding of the causes of ill health and how to prevent it.
Safe
General comment: Community engagement is lacking in this theme. Campaigns and individual awareness con promote personal safety and furthermore promote help for domestic abuse, alcoholism, fear of crime, etc.
Fear of crime is promoted through a lack of enforcement of environmental crimes. Plans to reduce the litter, fly tipping and graffiti could help against this and instil a sense of community.
Possible missing issue - Promotion of ‘Designing out Crime’ when considering built development proposals.
Enjoy
(p. 11) A missing issue is the value of the County’s unique countryside and wildlife. The countryside offers opportunities for physical exercise (walking, cycling, etc) for leisure and for culture and heritage. Enjoying wildlife (bird watching etc) is a popular activity in County Durham.
Economic well-being
(p. 13 final bullet point) Issues to be tackled should include sustainable tourism.
(p.14) It is important to emphasise that the new businesses to be encouraged should be energy efficient and sustainable or ‘low carbon’.
Possible missing issue - Regeneration could be added as an issue here. It can boost the image of the County to prospective investors thereby attracting new companies. Regeneration would encourage inward investment in local markets, resulting in a contribution to sustainable living by encouraging employment for residents.
Achieve
General comment: whilst this theme implies it has regard to education, it could be valuable to augment the term ‘learning’ to include education within it.
‘Learning and work’ implies addressing lifelong learning and encouraging the improvement of the skills base through training at work, all of which are a positive way forward for this theme, but this is lacking from the ‘Issues we are tackling section’.
Although the need to increase the educational attainment for all young people has been mentioned, the access to education for disadvantaged groups or those that are in rural locations has not been discussed. The link between these should be explored and the need to increase the number of school leavers that go onto higher education.
Again, community participation should feature in this theme.
Positive contribution
The SA believes that this is a very important feature and agrees that it requires its own theme. However, an element of community engagement should feature within every theme of the Sustainable Community Strategy. It would therefore be recommended that Positive Contribution be moved to become the first theme of the document and that each issue within it in turn represents a theme from within the wider document. Community involvement is fundamental to ensuring a sustainable community and should be present at every level.
Physical Place
1st Paragraph- the last sentence should read ‘to address the impacts of and mitigate against the effects of climate change….’
General comment- The physical place theme aims to cover a considerable amount of long term goals which are not always covered within the ‘issues we are tackling’ section. For example, sustainable transport is mentioned in the long term goal but there is no detailed mention of how this is to be achieved. There is no mention of how to remove barriers of access to local services, especially in rural areas through improvement in the transport infrastructure.
In the long term goals there is no mention of how to address the impacts of climate change i.e. flooding. County Durham’s Interim Sustainable Community Strategy 2008-2023 89 89

Headline Objective	Criteria / Sub-objective	Indicators	Source
Environment
1. Encourage energy efficiency and reduce the causes or adverse impacts of climate change	o Will it minimise energy consumption in buildings, plants or transport? o Will it contribute to the development / wider use or renewable energy sources? o Will it discourage car and lorry traffic or encourage use of more sustainable transport modes? o Will it contribute to carbon absorption through tree-planting / increasing woodland cover? o Will it minimise the risk of flooding? o Will it minimise greenhouse gas emissions?	Extent of floodplains Domestic energy consumption Local authority energy consumption Energy from renewables Atmospheric emissions Method of travel to school / work	Environment Agency DTI ODPM RESTATS National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory DTI / Census 2001
2. To protect and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity	o Will it protect sensitive areas from inappropriate noise and/or light pollution? o Will it contribute to appropriate protection and planting of trees, woodland and forestry? o Will it protect or enhance wildlife / geological sites designated at the international or national level (e.g. National Nature Reserves, SSSIs)? o Will it protect or enhance wildlife / geological sites designated at the local level (e.g. Local Nature Reserves)? o Will it protect, conserve or enhance UK and Durham Biodiversity Action Plan priority habitats or species? o Will it protect or enhance other areas of local importance for flora or fauna? o Will it prevent fragmentation and increase connectivity of habitats and semi-natural landscapes? o Will it improve understanding of and / or accessibility to local biodiversity / geodiversity resources?	Area of woodland cover / area of ancient woodland under sustainable management Extent and condition of internationally & nationally designated nature conservation / geological sites Extent and condition of locally designated nature conservation / geological sites Progress towards meeting Durham Biodiversity Action Plan targets	DCC GIS system English Nature / Audit Commission Number / area of LNRs and SNCIs from Local Planning Authority (Condition not currently measured. Need local survey / monitoring system) Not currently measured. Need local survey / monitoring system
3. To protect and enhance the quality and character of landscape/ townscape	o Will it protect, conserve and enhance local landscape character and quality? o Will it protect and enhance designated protected landscape areas (i.e. AONB, AHLV)? o Will it contribute to the conservation, creation or restoration of identified priority landscape types? o Will it protect green belt?	Assessment of actual landscape change against Landscape Strategy objectives Number and area of protected landscape designations changed due to development (AONBs and AHLVs)	DCC Landscape Section (Not currently measured) Local Planning Authority
4. To protect and improve the quality of surface & groundwaters	o Will it maintain or improve surface & groundwater quality or the physical integrity of aquifers? o Will it have a positive or negative effect on the potential of stormwater flooding? o Will it keep water consumption within local carrying capacity limits? o Will it have protect or improve the quality of coastal waters?	Water bodies at risk of failing the UK Water Framework Directive Percentage of river length assessed as good biological & chemical quality Number of water pollution incidents per annum (including those caused by storm water flooding) Bathing water quality Number of developments that include flood mitigation or SUDS	Environment Agency Audit Commission Environment Agency DEFRA Local Planning Authority
5. To encourage the development of appropriate brownfield sites and reduce greenfield development	o Will it increase the percentage of homes built on previously developed land? o Will it increase the percentage of retail or other developments built on brownfield sites? o Will it encourage use of brownfield sites over greenfield?	Percentage of new homes built on previously developed land	Audit Commission
6. To reduce the amount of waste and manage consumption of natural resources prudently	o Will it encourage re-use and recycling and energy recovery from waste? o Will it reduce waste from construction? o Will it reduce the use of/ demand for virgin resources (especially non-renewable resources)?	Household waste collected per head Percentage of household waste recycled, used to recover heat, power, and other energy sources & landfilled Number of housing developments incorporating waste minimisation measures (e.g. composting, recycling, grey water) Use/ availability of secondary minerals compared to virgin minerals	Audit Commission Audit Commission Local Planning Authority Regional Aggregates Working Party
7. Provide a clean local environment, physically enhance and regenerate the built environment	o Will it protect or improve the quality of public areas / discourage fly tipping and reduce litter? o Will it protect and improve local air quality? o Will it contribute to air quality levels which may pose a threat to human health or the environment? o Will it protect soil and land from contamination? o Will it minimise public nuisance? o Will it encourage the development of brownfield sites? o Will it help regeneration? o Will it ensure that all new developments reflect the distinctive character and appearance of the local area, through design, the use of materials, layout and landscaping? o Will it protect and enhance the vitality and viability of the district’s town centres and main village centres?	Percentage of people satisfied with the cleanliness standard in their area Atmospheric emissions Percentage of new homes built on previously developed land Number of Air Quality Management Areas	Audit Commission National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory Audit Commission Local Planning Authority
8. To protect and enhance the cultural heritage & historic environment	o Will it protect, conserve and enhance the character, appearance or setting of the following ۰ scheduled ancient monuments; ۰ important archaeological features; ۰ listed buildings; ۰ historic parks and gardens; and ۰ conservation areas o Will it ensure the identification and appropriate protection of archaeological features in areas of potential development?	Number of the following (and their settings) lost or damaged by development; ۰ Scheduled ancient monuments ۰ Other nationally important archaeological sites ۰ Historic parks and gardens ۰ Listed buildings ۰ Conservation areas	Durham County Council
Social
9. To provide everybody with the opportunity to live in a decent and affordable home	o Will it ensure that the requirement for affordable housing is met? o Will it decrease the number of unfit and vacant properties? o Will it reduce the number of homeless? o Will it ensure that a mix of housing type is available in the district? o Will it ensure a balance of tenure?	Affordable dwellings completed as a % of all new housing completions Dwellings judged to be unfit to occupy Number of homeless Ratio of average household income to average house price Determine housing requirements	Audit Commission Neighbourhood Statistics DCLG Audit Commission Housing Need Assessment
10. Improve community safety and reduce the fear of crime	o Will it enhance a sense of safety and security? o Will it help deter / prevent crime?	Level of crime (burglaries, vehicle & domestic violence) Fear of crime Number of Community Safety initiatives funded though Section 106 agreements	Home Office - Crime Statistics / District Crime & Disorder Strategy Audit Commission Community Safety Strategy
11. Enhance the sense of community	o Will it encourage the wider community, including young people, involvement in design and implementation of projects and services? o Will it promote and encourage integrated communities offering opportunities to all (young, old, mixed races)? o Will it recognise priority concerns and aspiration of the community and support community development? o Will it support or enhance the volunteer sector	% of residents who think that for their local area, over the past three years, that community activities have got better of stayed the same Election turnout Community participation Local residents priorities for improvement in their local area	Audit Commission Audit Commission Home Office Audit Commission
12. To improve education, training and life-long learning, and maintain a healthy labour market	o Will it increase the quantity or quality of education, training and life-long learning opportunities? o Will it address the skills gap and enable skills to progression? o Will it raise awareness and understanding of sustainability issues? o Will it create a culture in which people will want to learn, will have the opportunity to learn, and enjoy learning?	Attainment of 5+ GCSE A* - C Percentage of working age population with NVQ1+ and NVQ4+ Key Stage 2 & 3 attainment Percentage of adults with poor literacy and numeracy	DfES Nomis - Local Area Labour Force Survey DfES Basic Skills Agency
13. Promote healthy lifestyles, reduce health inequalities and tackle social inequalities	o Will it contribute to promotion of healthier lifestyles and healthy leisure opportunities? o Will it help reduce health inequalities? o Will it improve access to healthcare? o Will it reduce social inequalities?	IMD health deprivation index Length / usage of local cycle network Level of participation in physical activity Mortality rates by cancer & circulatory diseases Health Commission Performance Ratings Locations of PCT services Access to sport facilities Life expectancy Teenage conceptions	IMD data / GONE DCC LTP Team Sports England conducting a survey in 2006 Floor Targets Health Commission PCT Audit Commission Floor Targets Floor Targets
14. Provide access to jobs, facilities, goods, services and amenities	o Will it help to reduce the need to use private transport (e.g. by ensuring local needs are met locally or by promoting use of accessibility planning)? o Will it protect / increase the range of shops, services, amenities and employment opportunities in town and village centres? o Will it promote / widen opportunities for ‘greener’ modes of travel (walking, cycling public or shared transport)? o Will it promote new developments to be linked to public and sustainable transport networks? o Will it help disadvantaged groups (e.g. low income households, disabled or elderly people) access jobs, services and facilities more easily?	Percentage of residents satisfied with the local bus service overall Percentage of residents satisfied with the provision of public transport information Percentage of residents who think that for their local area, over the past three years, that public transport has got better or stayed the same Average distance travelled to fixed place of work Percentage of public transport users in households: with car or van Percentage of the population that are within 20 minutes travel time (urban - walking; rural - driving) of a range of 3 different sports facility types, at least one of which has achieved a quality mark (%)	Audit Commission Audit Commission Audit Commission National Statistics Audit Commission Audit Commission
15. To protect and improve the amenity of local communities	o Will it minimise public nuisance (from noise, dust, odours etc)? o Will it avoid development in designated green belt areas? o Will it help improve any of the County’s priority settlements for urban / rural renaissance? o Will it reduce the area of derelict, contaminated, degraded and vacant land while retaining biodiversity value? o Will it reduce or manage flooding or the potential for flood damage? o Will it reduce traffic levels in local communities - especially heavy freight vehicles? o	Area of undeveloped greenbelt Number / area of developments permitted in Greenbelt area Number of developments which contribute to urban / rural renaissance programmes Number / area of developments on derelict, degraded or vacant land which has no biodiversity value Number of developments rejected on the basis of local amenity issues, including contribution to traffic levels Number of complaints about public nuisance matters associated with development (noise, dust, odours, traffic etc). Road traffic accidents in local town / village centres Road traffic levels in local town / village centres Amount of derelict / degraded / vacant land (and amount with biodiversity value)	LPA Durham County Council
Economic
16. To reduce deprivation and poverty	o Will it help those on lower incomes? o Will it help provide better access to jobs? o Will it contribute towards local regeneration initiatives, or benefit areas suffering from economic deprivation? o Will the proposal create, diversify or strengthen employment or other opportunities?	Social and economic deprivation on the IMD Gross weekly pay - all full time workers Average household income Unemployment figures Incapacity Benefit (IB) and Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) Claim Rates	IMD Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Audit Commission / Joseph Rowntree Foundation Durham County Council DWP and Neighbourhood Statistics
17. To develop a sustainable and diverse economy, which supports high employment levels	o Will it promote business expansion / development? o Will it help create new employment opportunities? o Will it protect existing employment levels and incomes? o Will it promote help reduce traffic levels and road congestion? o Will it encourage the use of local labour, goods and services?	Change in VAT registration and deregistration One and three year survival rates of VAT registered businesses Employment by sector taken Land available for employment use - long term and short term Levels of traffic congestion	NOMIS DTI Census 2001 DCC data DCC LPT Team
18. To develop and promote the image of County Durham	o Will it improve and/or promote the area as a destination for short and long-term visitors, for residents and investors?	Number of visitors / levels of tourism to: o the district o attractions Level of inward investment	County Durham Tourism Strategy to 2010

Related Strategies and Plans
Overarching and crosscutting County Durham Local Area Agreement 2008-11
Local planning and minerals and waste planning documents.
Living well in later life (Older People’s Strategy)
Children and Young People’s Plan

A thriving Economy County Durham Enterprise Strategy
County Durham Tourism Strategy
Area Tourism Management Action Plan
Regional Economic Strategy
Regional Spatial Strategy
North East Tourism Strategy
North East Regional Implementation Plan
Regional Employability Framework

Everyone Achieves to their potential Youth Justice Plan
Local Authority operational plans for education, children’s social services, asset management and other functions
Probation Area Annual Plan
Learning and Skills Council plans
Connexions Partnership plans
NEETs Strategy

A high quality and sustainable environment
County Durham Environment Strategy
County Durham Landscape Strategy and Character Assessment
County Durham Built Environment Strategy
County Durham Municipal Waste Management Strategy
County Durham Climate Change Action Plan
County Durham Energy Action Plan (buildings)
County Durham Rights of Way Improvement Plan
County Durham Housing Strategy
North East England Housing Strategy
Building in Sustainability, A Guide to Sustainable Construction and Development in the North East
Draft Creating Excellent Buildings Strategy
Draft Carbon Management Plan
Sense and Sustainability County LA21 Partnership Strategy
Urban and Rural Renaissance Strategy and Action Plan
Local Transport Plan
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan
Heritage Coast Management Plan
Biodiversity Action Plan
Planning Waste and Minerals Local Development Framework
Sustainable Communities North East Toolkit
Durham County Environment Awards
South West Durham Heritage Corridor Management Plan
Magnesian Limestone Plateau Management Plan
North Pennines Geodiversity Audit and Action Plan
South and East Durham Growth Points Programme
Durham City World Heritage Site Masterplan
Strategic Housing Market Assessment
Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment
(Affordable Warmth) Fuel Poverty and Home Energy Efficiency Strategy

All residents lead long and healthy lives
Our Health, Our Care, Our Say
Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
Better Health, Fairer Health
Alcohol Action Plans
County Durham Physical Activity Strategy
County Durham and Darlington Obesity Strategies
Tobacco Control Action Plan
The Annual Report of the Director of Public Health
Durham County Council Health Improvement Plan
Teenage Pregnancy Strategy
Cancer Reform Strategy
Supporting People Strategy
Everyone is safe and feels safe
County Durham Community Safety Assessment 2008
National Community Safety Plan 2008-11
Respect Action Plan 2006
Violent Crime Action Plan 2008 -11: Saving Lives. Reducing Harm. Protecting the Public
Contest Strategy
Countering International Terrorism: The United Kingdom’s Strategy 2006
Safe. Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy 2007
National Domestic Violence Delivery Plan 2005-08
Prevent Strategy 2008
Domestic Abuse Strategy
Youth Justice Plan
People Enjoy life
Framework for the Future 2003 (Public Library Service)
McMaster Review - Supporting excellence in the arts 2007
Revised Regional Cultural Strategy 2005
County Durham Cultural Strategy 2002 (a new strategy will be prepared in 2009)
North East England Tourism Strategy 2005-10
North East England Festivals and Events Strategy 2007
County Durham Events Strategy 2006
Children, Young People and the Arts: North East Regional Strategy 2005
Multi Agency Looked After Partnership Arts Strategy 2007
A Passion For Excellence: an improvement strategy for culture and sport Local Government Association, 2008
Grow Sustain Excel: Sport England Strategy 2008-11, June 2008
North East England’s Regional Plan for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, 2007.

Everyone can make a Positive Contribution “A Shape of things to come” (Report and action plan on the VCS infrastructure in County Durham) by Rob McMillan for OneVoice Network, 2008
One Voice Network Infrastructure Development Plan, 2008

To view tables and Graphs, please refer to PDF attachment or Hard Copies Located in the Record Office or Corporate Services.

Attachments

 Sustainable Community Strategy.pdf