Councillors have agreed the authority’s five priorities for the coming five years.

Known as the Corporate Plan for 2017-2022 – ‘Working Together for the Future of Denbighshire’, the document outlines five key priorities:

Everyone is supported to live in homes that meet their needs

• Support the development of 1000 more homes in Denbighshire.
• This will include 170 new council properties; 
• 260 affordable homes provided by private developers and registered social landlords; extra care housing; additional specialist housing to support people with disabilities and low level support needs;
• Support young people to access suitable homes they can afford and
• Bring 500 empty properties back into use and perform among the best in Wales. 

Communities are connected and have access to services and goods locally, online or through good transport links

• Better enable people to travel to work, education and services.
• Invest in roads and bridges to maintain a viable, sustainable infrastructure.
• Make superfast broadband and mobile networks available to everyone.
• Ensure Council information and services will be accessible online where possible. Opportunities to work with partners will also be explored. 
• Target those most likely to be digitally excluded so they have the skills and means to use digital services.
• Improve infrastructure to make it easier to stage events.

The Council works with people and communities to build independence and resilience

• Support people to plan and shape their communities.
• Provide easily accessible information that supports people’s independence and resilience.
• Ensure people are involved in shaping and improving services.
• Act to reduce Domestic Abuse
• Ensure all carers in Denbighshire are well supported.
• Ensure adults and older people who need health and social care in Denbighshire will experience a seamless service.

The environment is attractive and protected, supporting well-being and economic prosperity 

• Reduce carbon emissions from Council assets by at least 15% by 2022.
• Improve the energy efficiency of Council houses.
• Increase renewable energy provision across the county.
• Reduce the number of properties at risk of flooding in Denbighshire.
• Increase the biodiversity quality of important habitats and species across the county.
• Raise the profile of the county as a location to visit, in order to capitalise on Denbighshire’s economic potential.

Younger people want to live and work here and have the skills to do so.

• See that every child achieving the expected standard at the end of primary school (Level 4, Key Stage 2) will achieve 5 GCSEs A*-C (Level 2, Key Stage 4), including English or Welsh (1^st language) and maths, by the end of secondary school.
• Continue to modernise schools via the 21^st Century Schools programme.
• Help young people to develop practical ‘life skills’ and behaviours that contribute to good health and well-being.
• Deliver support for parents to give our children the best start.
• Provide young people with effective career advice and mentoring.
• Offer young people the opportunity to develop skills for life and work through meaningful work experience
• Develop greater employment opportunities for younger people.

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Cabinet Lead Member with responsibility for the Corporate Plan,  said: “Over the lifetime of the previous Corporate Plan we delivered over £200m of investment in improving our schools, leisure and library facilities, roads and flood defences. We achieved this while maintaining our position as one of the highest performing councils in Wales and protecting front-line services from the cuts to local authority budgets.

“The overall ambition of this latest Plan is to ensure that Denbighshire is a place where residents and businesses are well connected and resilient; where young people have opportunities for affordable housing and acquire skills and jobs to lead successful and fulfilling lives and where we all enjoy an attractive and protected environment. Similar to the last plan, this Corporate Plan contains specific actions that will be delivered over five years but, perhaps even more importantly, these actions are designed to have an impact beyond the next five years with future generations in mind.

“We recognise that the council must work closely with our partners and wider community and that is why the priorities in this Corporate Plan have been directly derived from our County Conversation exercise and consultation with partners.

“Denbighshire strongly believes in developing a single public service culture, informed by strongly active communities. We will, therefore, actively look at regional and sub-regional solutions and establish a permanent ‘Citizens Panel’ which will play a key role in both monitoring and helping to steer the implementation of the plan”.

You can find more information on our website.