I am the chair of the Suffolk Public Sector Leaders Group (SPSL).  The first non-Tory to hold the post.

This board is to provide a venue for leaders from councils, police and health to have strategic debate on key issues, resolve strategic differences and promote wider joint working across Suffolk.

We met last week in Bury St Edmunds to discuss some of the wider issues that affect the county. The meeting was livestreamed and you can find it on YouTube, though I don’t think it will be a ratings winner!

We did cover Housing Related Support, which I wrote about in last week’s column. We also covered a range of topics which are of interest across the county.

We had a Safer Streets update. SPSL approved £150,000 for the latest round of this project, and the Home Office provided the rest.  The focus is on reducing crime, Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) and Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

In Ipswich, there will be a focus on youth outreach. Detached support workers will identify and engage those that cause ASB. Changing behaviour and attitude whilst minimising ASB is the aim, along with raising awareness of the impact on victims and communities.

There will also be work on illegal dumping or flytipping, as well as more CCTV deployments. There is a great depth of collaboration across the teams involved with this wide-reaching project.

I was amused to hear the Tory Police and Crime Commissioner say the Home Office had been “shambolic” because of prevarication and flip-flopping. I was pleased to say that the Home Office was now under new management and will not be shambolic in the future!

SPSL approved £150,000 for the Police to recruit a Fraud Protect and Prevent Officer to work with Suffolk County Council (SCC) Trading Standards.  I was surprised that as much as 40% of national crime is linked to fraud.

The work will include prevention and talking to high-risk individuals. The aging population of Suffolk is more vulnerable to scammers, who typically prey on the old and vulnerable.

Suffolk residents will benefit from this new post, focused upon fraud prevention and delivering protect awareness within local and business communities.

The final item was about tourism and the visitor economy.  This will benefit visitors as well as residents, as they are often visitors too.

The proposal is that Suffolk enters a Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) with Norfolk.
LVEPS have been created nationally as a way of channelling funds into areas to improve the visitor experience.

 There is a need to have the right scale and geography to be effective, and a joint LVEP between Suffolk and Norfolk is deemed the best size and scale.

Going forward, only LVEPs will be able to bid for national funding and be involved in national strategies. It’s important that we can tap into this funding.  The visitor economy is worth £1.2 Billion and 40,000 jobs to Suffolk.

There is surely potential to grow this. SPSL agreed £110,000 per year for five years with a review after three years, giving us a voice on the LVEP board for improving the visitor offer for Suffolk and Norfolk.

The first workshop of the new partnership between Suffolk and Norfolk has already taken place, with Suffolk as an equal partner.

An important initiative for growing the Suffolk economy and making Suffolk a more attractive place to live and visit.

I hope that gives you a flavour of the wider Suffolk picture.  Suffolk is a great place to live. We are making it even better.