Foreword from Kevin Bentley
I have lived and worked in Essex most of my life and it’s a privilege and an honour to lead this great county council, but most of all it’s a tremendous responsibility.
My aim is for Essex to be the best local authority in the country – not by the standards of others, but by the standards of the people, the businesses, and the communities it is our duty to support and serve.
We have come through the most extraordinary 18 months. We have been tested to the limits, but time and again our public services, businesses, voluntary organisations and our communities have risen to the challenge – we have seen just what we are capable of achieving if collectively we work together to support one another. I am determined that in Essex we harness that spirit of collective endeavour to build an even better future. The task is huge, but we shouldn’t be daunted by its scale. We are Essex, and we will build back better.
We will:
- renew our economy, because prosperity is the best pathway to a good life. And we will support our businesses as they seek to recover the ground lost by the hard stop placed on them by the pandemic and create the jobs that underpin our wellbeing
- seek equality so that opportunity is more fairly distributed across Essex – we want all our residents to be able to maximise their potential
- be as ambitious for the people of Essex as the people of Essex are for themselves and their families. Because there is no excellence without ambition. There is no landing on the moon, without first reaching for the stars
Alongside these themes – Renewal, Equality, Ambition – that run through everything we do, we are focused on 4 areas where outcomes really matter for the quality of life of our residents.
They are:
- the economy
- the environment
- children and families
- promoting health, care and wellbeing for all the parts of our population who need our support
And in focusing on these areas, we are mindful that alongside addressing today’s challenges, we also need to begin to tackle tomorrow’s.
To do that we are setting out twenty commitments that we believe, taken together, will make Essex a stronger county, not just for ourselves, but also for our children and their children. Today we make our first down payment on that future – a future we will build together, a future in which everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.