Last week Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) published its new Corporate Strategy entitled Proud of Ipswich: Championing our community and revitalising our town. This strategy sets out a vision for an Ipswich Borough Council of the future, and how we will make that vision a reality by working with our residents and partners to create a community where people in Ipswich are healthier, in good jobs and living in quality homes.

This will mean working with everyone who has an interest in our town to ensure the success of our people. We will work with partners such as Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Central and the University of Suffolk to make sure the government and investors know that Ipswich is both an attractive place for investment and a city in waiting. We want to be seen as an enabling council.

The council does many different things, and this broad approach will continue, though the council’s highest priorities are:

• A thriving Town Centre: Making Ipswich Town Centre the heart of the community. A place where everyone can feel safe and welcome, and where people can shop, socialise, experience brilliant culture, with access to the services they need.
• Meeting the housing needs of our community: Making sure that everyone in Ipswich has access to quality homes that they can afford to live in. To do this, the town needs more new housing – private housing as well as council housing, homes for rent as well as homes to buy.  The council will build council homes and work to attract good home builders to the area to build for private sale. We’ll continue to lobby the government to build more homes.
• A carbon neutral council: The council will take practical and decisive action on the climate emergency and become a carbon neutral council by 2030.
• Promoting community wellbeing and fairness in Ipswich: The council will work with partners to tackle inequalities, improve people’s health, and make sure that everyone has access to the parks, culture, sport, and local facilities which improve residents’ quality of life.
• A financially sustainable council providing good quality services: Dealing with financial challenges transparently and with the needs of residents guiding decisions, continuing to provide a range of good quality, efficient and reliable services. We will not take risks with the council’s finances.

Public services are facing the twin challenge of unprecedented cuts to funding and increasing demand. Ipswich is no different, with pressures on services and budgets rising every year. The council is determined to make a difference for our community. We have already made decisions which will bring change to the way we do things. Our recent customer access strategy sets out significant improvements to ensure residents help shape the design and delivery of our services.

Poor health, a lack of skills and low incomes are the root causes of many problems in Ipswich. These are the challenges that undermine our residents’ quality of life and lead to increased demand for council services. To deliver a better future for our community, we need to focus more on preventing problems and supporting residents to live better lives. This will mean a significant shift in what we do and where we put our energies.

Over the period of this corporate strategy, we will work towards becoming a council that focuses on preventing the causes of poor health, a lack of skills and low incomes in our community. We will work hard to ensure that our residents enjoy the best quality of life that they can.

Ipswich Borough Council is determined to champion our community and revitalise our town, with the aim of making everyone Proud of Ipswich.