Source: City of Stoke-on-Trent
At the start of our centenary year, Stoke-on-Trent is today taking a fresh vision for the city’s growth and prosperity to the heart of Government.
The prospectus document – called Future 100 – is based around five missions and sets out a bold set of actions that, together, aim to transform the city’s economy and unlock prosperity and opportunity for decades to come.
A delegation – made up of the city’s MPs, the council leader, and representatives from the business and voluntary sectors – will deliver the document to 10 Downing Street today.
The prospectus, which has the subtitle “Shaping Our City: Growth for All”, has been drawn up by a city coalition including prominent politicians, business leaders, academics, and figures from the health and voluntary sectors. It is supported by Stoke-on-Trent’s three MPs as well as the city council.
It celebrates Stoke-on-Trent’s history as a hive of innovation and industry, its enviable position at the heart of the UK’s transport network, and its strengths in key growth sectors – including createch and advanced manufacturing.
But it also acknowledges the barriers to growth caused by historic Government underinvestment, national industrial decline in the 1980s and 1990s, and more than a decade of austerity cuts.
This creates a Stoke-on-Trent “paradox”: the fact the city’s economic growth has outstripped the national average over recent years, but deeply-rooted economic and social problems mean too many communities lack opportunity and are not able to reap the expected benefits of this headline growth.
The City Prospectus offers radical solutions – aligning itself with national Government priorities and offering the city as a test bed and pioneer for new ways of delivering local services.
Its five missions come with a series of bold actions that will be taken locally, as well as specific targets by which progress will be measured.
The prospectus is pitched as a partnership offer with Government – making clear that targeted interventions and investment will be needed to fully realise Stoke-on-Trent’s potential.
A foreword to the document – co-signed by Councillor Ashworth and the city’s MPs – says: “Stoke-on-Trent already has a dynamic, diverse and highly-integrated economy; a rich cultural heritage; and an indomitable sense of community spirit.
“The city is a strategic hub, connecting labour, goods and services across the region and the UK. With Government support and investment, we can overcome current challenges to create a city that is prosperous, inclusive and sustainable, delivering economic and social benefits locally and nationally for decades to come.
“We invite the Government to partner with us to unlock this city region’s full potential, transform our citizens’ lives and unleash a new era of creativity and innovation.”
The five missions listed in the City Prospectus are:
- Securing economic growth
- Delivering clean energy, sustainable transport and an improved local environment
- Regenerating the city
- Removing barriers to opportunity
- Improving the health and wellbeing of the population
The economic targets include achieving a local economy worth £9 billion a year by 2030, with 5,000 more people in employment and a 10 per cent increase in the value of locally-contracted supplies.
Environmental targets include tripling the amount of locally-generated renewable energy and increasing bus passenger journeys by a third in the next five years.
The city aims to have completed or be building 5,000 new homes, redeveloped 150 hectares of brownfield land and seen five heritage buildings removed from the “at risk” register.
The attainment gap will have been closed with the national average, with a 2.5 percentage point increase in the number of working-age residents with Level 3 or higher qualifications.
The city is also targeting a five percentage point drop in the proportion of children living in poverty, and a two-year boost to healthy life expectancy.
The Prospectus invites the Government to support the city’s work through specific, targeted interventions linked to the local missions and targets. That includes investment in critical growth enablers like transport infrastructure, heritage restoration and the city’s highly-successful Family Matters programme, which has driven down the number of children in care.
It suggests the Government could make Stoke-on-Trent a national incubator for public service reform based on higher educational attainment, and a national test best for a new model of educational inclusion aimed at enabling more children to learn in mainstream schools.
And it calls for innovations to unlock development, such as a revolving land fund to reclaim brownfield sites and help to kickstart council-house building.
Jane Ashworth, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “Stoke-on-Trent is already a nationally important engine of innovation and growth.
“But well-known obstacles have held back this growth. Austerity and chronic underinvestment in vital infrastructure have constrained our economy and mean opportunity has been unevenly spread.
“For too many of the people who live here, the headline growth in the city’s economy has felt like little more than a number of a spreadsheet.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create something better.
“The City Prospectus is a radical yet achievable plan to tackle our economic, social and environmental challenges at the same time; to transform the way we deliver services; and to make Stoke-on-Trent not just an engine of growth, but one which provides high quality homes, jobs, skills and opportunities for people across North Staffordshire and beyond.”
Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, said: ‘To deliver for our city and our country, we need a clear plan from Government and we need to be able to turn that into local actions.
“Labour’s missions focus on economic growth, city regeneration, removing barriers to opportunity and improving health and well-being. These are exactly the same priorities I want to see delivered in Stoke-on-Trent, so forging a new partnership with Government is the best way to ensure we all succeed.
“The Future 100 prospectus sets a series of ambitious targets and outlines what Stoke-on-Trent can contribute. But it also sets out the additional help and resources that the city will need to achieve those goals.”
Allison Gardner, MP for Stoke-on-Trent South, said: “Our city, shaped by its rich industrial history, has always been a place of hard work and innovation.
“The same spirit that built our city can lead it into a new chapter, driving the country forward once again.
“Stoke-on-Trent stands strong and proud, despite having been let down previously by the central Government. With the support of this Labour Government, our potential is limitless.”
David Williams, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, said: “The Future 100 prospectus represents a bold and ambitious vision for Stoke-on-Trent’s next century, rooted in our city’s rich history of creativity, resilience, and innovation.
“For too long our city has not received the investment we deserve. We were hit hard by austerity and post-industrial decline stifled economic growth.
“The Future 100 prospectus represents a turning point, ensuring real investment in our transport infrastructure, beloved community assets, business growth and in improving opportunity for all.
“This is a moment for real transformation for our city, one where we seize the opportunity to build a thriving, sustainable, and inclusive future for all. With targeted investment and strategic action, we can unlock Stoke-on-Trent’s full potential, creating lasting economic and social benefits that will shape generations to come.
“I am grateful for the council’s leadership on creating this bold vision for our city, and I look forward to working with the Government, the council and other partners to turn the vision into a reality.”
