Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

Community Engagement Strategy

Stockton Council's Community Engagement Strategy sets out the relationship between Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and the communities in which we work in partnership to:

• Plan and deliver our services
• Identify and share in the successes
• Have confidence that we are tackling local issues, based on priorities set locally
• Make sure that we are identifying and setting in place agreed plans which go to the heart of individual neighbourhoods and communities and will improve the quality of people's lives.

The fact that we are a borough of contrasts is well documented. We have areas with high unemployment, economic and social problems sharing the borough with areas of relative affluence and stability.

The Council must have the ability to relate to and understand all communities; to identify and respond to their problems and their values; to strengthen them and to enable them to drive the future from within the community using the support; guidance and expertise Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and its partners offer.

Above all we, as The Council, must aim to make this borough a place where people are safe, healthy and happy. We want residents to wake up each morning and feel comfortable in the knowledge that they are living in a borough in which The Council is trying its very best working in partnership with other public services, the private & voluntary sectors and the community to improve their lives in every possible way.

We want to encourage all members of the community to take an active role in improving their own lives and those of their loved ones and neighbours and it is the role and responsibility of Stockton Council to help and support those communities who are willing to take up the challenge of working with The Council on planning; developing and delivering a better future.

Stockton-Council is rightly proud of its achievements.

As our resident population has grown so has our ability to deliver first class services and in recent years our successful approach has been recognised with a number of our services awarded Beacon Status (now the Local Innovation Award), and the Council as a whole achieving the Government standard in Customer Service Excellence.

Our positive engagement with communities has continuously been recognised and acknowledged through external and independent scrutiny and inspection.

Key to our success is our ability to understand and respond to the needs and wishes of our  residents and to do that The Council needs passionate committed members and staff who are respected and valued for their commitment and dedication to improving the lives of our communities.

We recognise that communities are not static, they change, grow and develop and as one of the key public service organisations working across Stockton-on-Tees Borough we are continuously looking at how we work with, help and support our local communities.

'Communities' is a term that does not always best reflect the complexity of how our local communities are made up. For example there are communities based around where people live, where they work, where they socialise and also communities who share similar interests, circumstances or backgrounds. We want to be in a position where everyone who chooses to can clearly see the ways in which they can engage with Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council.

We aim to use this Community Engagement Strategy as the vehicle to set out how we intend to achieve our ambitions. It is written in a way that tries to ensure that whoever picks it up finds it interesting and easy to read and, having read it, can clearly understand and support the direction we have taken.