Agenda item

NOTICE OF MOTIONS

In accordance with Standing Orders, the following motions have been received for consideration:

 

(1)      Celebrating the Success of Stevenage Works in Delivering Social Value and Opportunity

 

To be moved by Councillor Loraine Rossati

 

This Council notes that:

 

·  The creation of Stevenage Works in 2019 as a strategic partnership between Stevenage Borough Council, North Hertfordshire College, and Hertfordshire Job Centre Plus is delivering social value through inward investment, regeneration, and development projects across Stevenage.

·  Stevenage Works has provided a single point of contact for employers and the community, streamlining access to jobs, apprenticeships, training, and work experience.

·  Over 550 local people have attended training courses; more than 180 have achieved Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) cards; over 40 apprenticeships and 30+ employment outcomes have been delivered in the past year alone.

·  Over £50,000 has been donated by Stevenage Works partners to support local community projects and good causes.

·  The innovative use of Section 106 obligations to ensure developers and contractors contribute meaningfully to local employment and skills development is benefitting local people.

 

This Council further notes the Secretary of State’s recently published priorities for Skills England (2025–26), dated 2 June, 2025, which emphasise the importance of understanding future skills needs, simplifying access to training, and co-creating solutions with local partners. Stevenage Works is already delivering on these national priorities by providing a single point of contact for employers and residents, aligning training with local labour market needs, and working in partnership with education providers and developers to deliver apprenticeships, work placements, and employment outcomes. As such, Stevenage Works stands as a model of how local authorities can lead in delivering the Government’s skills agenda and ensuring that inward investment translates into real opportunity for local people.

 

This Council believes that:

 

·       Stevenage Works is a model of best practice in how local authorities can work with partners to ensure that regeneration and investment deliver real, lasting benefits for residents.

·       This initiative has played a vital role in ensuring that Stevenage people are equipped with the skills and opportunities to thrive in a changing economy.

·       The planned expansion into the health and social care sector demonstrates the adaptability and forward-thinking nature of the programme.

 

This Council resolves to:

 

  1. Celebrate the success of Stevenage Works and commend all partners involved for their commitment to social value and community benefit.
  2. Promote Stevenage Works as a model of excellence in local government-led economic development and skills partnerships.
  3. Support the continued development and expansion of Stevenage Works, including the upcoming pilot in the health and social care sector.
  4. Ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Education, the Rt Hon. Bridget Phillipson, to highlight Stevenage Works as an example of effective local delivery of social value and invite her to visit Stevenage to see how we are delivering the Government’s skills agenda.

 

(2)  Trialling highways changes to Lytton Way

 

To be moved by the Liberal Democrat Group

 

This Council welcomes the exciting opportunities that the Stevenage Station Gateway offers by bringing the town closer together and ensuring more accessible travel between key business and shopping destinations across the Town.

 

Given the significant and permanent changes proposed to the layout of Lytton Way as part of the Station Gateway, this Council agrees to work constructively with the County Council, as the highways authority, to investigate the possibility of implementing a trial of a suitable timeframe, to mirror the proposed highways changes to Lytton Way in a non-permanent way, so that the impact of travel disruption can be fully analysed including any traffic displacement that takes place before a more permanent solution is implemented which will be difficult and expensive to reverse.