Leader’s Corner: Investing today for a brighter future

This has been a big week for local government across the region as Southampton, Portsmouth, Isle of Wight, and Hampshire councils agreed to submit a joint expression of interest to be included on the Government’s priority programme for devolution.

For our region, this programme will create a Mayoral Combined Authority covering the geography of the four councils, with Mayoral elections taking place in May 2026. The Mayor would lead a Cabinet of the Leaders of each local authority with decisions only being implemented if the majority of the Cabinet agree. The combined authority would give more decision-making powers and funding to locally elected representatives who understand what our area needs.

Individual councils will still continue to deliver the same services but will be able to work more effectively together on big infrastructure and transport projects, planning and housebuilding initiatives, and skills and employment programmes. Moving decision making and funding away from central government into the hands of local people is something I have been pushing for since I took office and I have no doubt that this will help us deliver opportunities for economic growth, achieving net zero, and reducing inequality across the city.

If the Government accept us onto the priority programme, a public consultation will take place giving you the opportunity to have your say. Running alongside but separate to this, are the Government’s plans for local government reorganisation. This will see the creation of large unitary authorities covering areas of around half a million people, and end the current system of county, district and borough councils.

At the moment we do not have a clear idea of what this will look like, but I will be exploring the best possible solutions with the leaders of our neighbouring councils. This is the biggest change to local government in a long time, and we should not underestimate the challenges that lie ahead. However, I am optimistic that these changes will help address some of the inherent problems faced by the local government sector, and help ensure local residents and businesses receive the services they need and deserve.

Happy New Year to all of you from all of us here at Southampton City Council. I hope the Christmas season brought you joy, peace, and the opportunity to recharge with loved ones.

As we enter 2025, I'm filled with optimism for what we can achieve together for our city. The festive season always brings a bit of a whirlwind, and I know many of you will be busy settling back into the routine of the new year.

As we enjoy the last few days of the season, I wanted to encourage us all to think about how we can make a positive impact on our environment. Christmas often generates a surge of waste, including discarded electronics, plastic toys, batteries and of course, glass. Let's be honest, it can feel overwhelming! But even small changes can make a big difference. From recycling correctly, to Second Hand September and supporting local charity shops, I’m a big believer in giving old or unwanted items a new life.

• Are you having a new year’s wardrobe clear out? I’m always shocked to hear how many perfectly good items of clothing end up at our waste and recycling facilities each year after being thrown away in household bins. Please consider selling or donating unwanted clothes instead of throwing them away. Remember, we have recycling banks conveniently located across the city – let your clothes find a good home!
• Too many toys? If Santa brought your children more than fits in their toybox, let's find them new homes. Consider selling or donating old toys to make room for the new ones!
• Christmas tree disposal: If you're subscribed to our Garden Waste collection service, you can simply leave your real Christmas tree out for collection on your next scheduled day. Just remember to cut larger trees into smaller pieces for safety.
• Donate unwanted gifts and electronics: Have you received gifts you won't use? Let's share the joy! Consider donating them to local charities or community groups. And those old electronics? They can often be given a second life with the right person.
• Recycle old electronics: Let's help keep valuable materials out of landfills. Recycle broken or outdated electronics instead of throwing them away. Many retailers offer to take back old electrical items, even if you didn't buy the replacement from them. Find out where you can recycle your electrical items. Cables and small electricals can be recycled at our main libraries. These libraries are Bitterne Library, Central Library, Lordshill Library, Portswood Library, Shirley Library and Woolston Library.
• Stay glassy, Southampton! Glass is endlessly recyclable, so let's keep those bottles and jars out of the general waste. Simply place them in your glass collection container, or take them to your nearest recycling point. I believe that by working together and being mindful, we can create a more sustainable and environmentally friendly Southampton.

Let's make 2025 a year where we all do our part to protect our beautiful city.

Southampton truly is a city of opportunity with enormous potential and this week I am excited to announce that the council and Southampton Football Club have signed up to a partnership to work together to regenerate the Itchen Riverside and St Mary’s Waterfront district into a vibrant, year-round premier sports, leisure, and entertainment destination. Together we will enhance the area’s potential while promoting sustainability, social value, and accessibility. 

Southampton FC is a key partner in the Southampton Renaissance Board which, working with the council and other leading organisations in the city, is focused on growth, strategic skills, sustainable development and investment. Working together, the Board is developing future regenerative plans for the city based on three key drivers: being a world-leading maritime city, creating a destination city, and a city that is driven by innovation and sustainability. Our agreement with Saints underpins the second of these goals: creating a destination city.

Work has also been undertaken to develop a city-wide brand that the council and its partners are rolling out to highlight our collaborative initiatives and joint campaigns. This will help the city present a unified story and speak with one voice about Southampton, the city’s ambitions, achievements and potential, and to raise Southampton’s profile and reputation regionally, nationally and internationally. 

We are also asking people and businesses about their priorities and vision for Southampton through the City Survey which will help to guide the council and its partners as we all work together to improve the economic, social and environmental prospects of the city and attract investors, businesses and employers, as well as meeting the needs of the people who live and work in Southampton.

Small Business Saturday, a nationwide initiative to support local businesses, is tomorrow, Saturday 7 December. I encourage residents to embrace the spirit of the day and shop local; not just tomorrow, but throughout the year. I believe that every time you walk into a local shop, or use local services, you're helping to create jobs, support local families, and keep our city vibrant. You're also helping to preserve the unique character of our neighbourhoods and districts. Our independent businesses are the heart and soul of Southampton, and they deserve our support.

The Southampton Pound is a Southampton City Council initiative to support local businesses and kept within Southampton’s local economy. By shopping locally, you can help your neighbours and make a positive impact on the city. Small Business Saturday is a perfect opportunity to do this. It takes each one of us to contribute to the prosperity and wellbeing of our local communities.

The council’s Loves Local campaign encourages residents to shop local, whether that’s with our local independent businesses or just in-person in the wide variety of shops we have in Southampton. There is lots happening across Southampton over the coming weeks, so please check what is happening in your local area:

Carlton Place Market takes place on Saturday 14 December and is the perfect place to discover new products, support local entrepreneurs and experience the heart of our community.

Looking for festive treats? Shop around some of the wonderful independent shops on your local high street for unique gifts, decorations and of course, food.

If you are able this year, you could buy a gift from a local business for a local child. We are looking for new unwrapped toys and gift donations for children and young people from birth through to eighteen years of age for our Christmas Toy Appeal. The presents will go to children across Southampton who are supported by Southampton’s Children’s Services, as well as a number of families experiencing severe financial difficulties. Find local drop off points across Southampton and gift ideas.

So, this Small Business Saturday (and beyond!), let's pledge to support our local high streets here in Southampton. When we support our local businesses, we're not just helping them; we're helping ourselves. A thriving local economy means a better quality of life for us all.

I was delighted to hear the recent news of the Government’s £1 billion investment into bus services in England. The new way in which the funding has been allocated has given Southampton a big boost, with a total allocation of £4.6 million compared to just under £650k per year in previous years. 

We are very proud of the partnerships we have built with Bluestar, First Solent, Xelabus and Hampshire County Council, who are delivering consistent passenger growth, and this year we are on track for over 21 million journeys which will be well above pre-pandemic levels. 

Working together, we have invested in new facilities at Southampton Central Station, with greatly appreciated support from South Western Railway, and Albion Place, as well as new bus priority traffic lights, new bus lanes, timetable enhancements and bus fare offers, such as the £1 evening fare and seasonal 5 for £5 group fare. Bluestar and First Solent have also been investing in their fleets with new Euro VI and new electric buses. 

Southampton is a growing city, and quite simply a good bus network is the most efficient way to enable large numbers of people to get around. We have been working hard with our partners on enhancing and improving our bus services so that as more people choose to live, work, study in and visit our city, they have excellent options for how they wish to travel. 

This newly announced funding will help us continue to make bus travel more affordable, more reliable and with quicker journey times, enabling more people to choose to travel by bus and thereby reducing congestion on our roads, and I hope that is something we can all get on board with.  

On Monday 25 November, we marked White Ribbon Day, which aims to raise awareness about male violence against women through 16 days of action.

The theme for this year is #ItStartsWithMen. It is really important that we address the attitudes and behaviours that contribute to a fear of violence for women in their daily lives.

In a 2021 survey, 70% of women in the UK said they have experienced sexual harassment in public and latest figures from the Crime Survey of England and Wales reports that around one in four women have experienced domestic abuse since the age of 16.

As a council, we are continuing to work with our partners through our Safer City Partnership to make our communities safer for women.

I joined our Chief Executive, Andrew Travers outside the Civic Centre on Monday to raise a flag for White Ribbon Day. This flag will proudly fly outside the building for the next fortnight. This is to highlight to our residents and visitors that the council is committed to ending male violence against women.

Please consider making the White Ribbon Promise to never commit, excuse or remain silent about men’s violence against women. You can find out more on the White Ribbon website.

15 November 2024 – City Survey

On Monday, the council launched the City Survey which provides an opportunity for residents, businesses, and visitors to share their experience and views of the city, council services and their vision for Southampton. The survey provides the opportunity to hear from people about what's important to them and to better understand how we are doing as a council and a city. We want to understand what it is like to live, work, study, or visit Southampton. We also want to understand what kind of city you want Southampton to be in the future, building on the city’s strengths. Responses from this survey will help shape the development of a new city-wide plan setting out key missions for the city over the next decade.

In the City Survey, we're asking questions about health and well-being, the environment, transport, and public services, all of which you value in Southampton. How do you think we can improve them and what are your views about them? We're really interested to hear that. We want to ensure that we get as much feedback as possible to help understand how we can make Southampton a better place to live, work, study and visit.

This City Survey isn't just about the council, it also gives people the chance to have their say about what they love about Southampton, what they would change and what kind of place do they want our great city of Southampton to be in the next 10 years?

Your voice matters, now is your chance to have your say. To take part, please visit City Survey.

This weekend our city will come together to mark Remembrance. The Remembrance service and parade will take place on Sunday 10 November and military contingents, veterans and the City of Southampton (Albion) Band will leave Guildhall Square at 10.35am and head towards the Cenotaph in Watts Park. The annual Remembrance Service will begin shortly before 11am at the Cenotaph. I hope to see many of you on Sunday.

Find out more about Remembrance in Southampton on the Visit Southampton website.

As Southampton remembers this week, we pay tribute to those that lost their lives in conflict, as well as to those who were, and still are today, affected by the impact of war. I also personally take time to reflect on the invaluable role Southampton played in our country’s war efforts, from being home to the Spitfire, to having a port that hundreds and thousands of soldiers sailed from. It is so important that we continue to commemorate and remember the sacrifices made by so many for our freedoms today. It is also worth remembering the significance of the monument that was built to commemorate those that died. Southampton’s Cenotaph by architect Sir Edward Lutyens was the first of his memorials to be completed in permanent form and thought to be the prototype for the Whitehall Cenotaph and the others that he designed across the UK. This Grade 1 listed monument, which means it is considered of 'exceptional interest' by Historic England, was unveiled 104 years ago on 6 November 1920.

It’s also a time to give thanks to the many people who helped rebuild our resilient city to the bustling place it is today. It is that sense of solidarity and collectivism that makes Southampton so great.

Southampton will always remember; I will always remember.

Earlier this week the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, unveiled her first Budget to Parliament. The Budget confirmed funding which will help provide a huge boost to people in Southampton, from fixing potholes to building new homes.

It was announced that the National Living Wage will increase to £12.21 per hour with the minimum wage for 18-20 year olds increasing to £10 per hour. This is fantastic news for our young workers and ensures that all employees are paid a fair wage.

I’m really pleased that the Household Support Fund has been extended. This fund provides help to those who are struggling with the cost of living and in Southampton it’ll mean more money for free school meals and supermarket vouchers as well as helping residents with housing costs. Ensuring children get the best start in life is a real priority in Southampton.

I’m delighted that the budget included money for Family Hubs – we have seven in Southampton - as well as funding free breakfast clubs in thousands of primary schools across the country. We’ll be working to ensure Southampton makes the most of this opportunity.

Additional funding was also announced for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), homelessness, work and employment projects, and building new affordable homes, all of which will help improve the lives of young people in Southampton. As a council, we will be working really hard to ensure that we can maximise every opportunity that could benefit our residents and businesses in the city.

Over the past week, you may have seen the news about our latest transformation and budget update. We are now halfway through this financial year and are forecasting an overall underspend of £13.2 million against our budget, including £7.3 million of transformation savings. This underspend helps us reduce the borrowing costs, of around £40 million which was needed to balance our budget this year.

Making savings alone is not enough to ensure we can still provide everyday services, following the significant drop in funding to local authorities over the past years. We have been looking at ways in which we can transform the way we work to meet this challenge.

Our adapt | grow | thrive transformation programme which launched in July will help us close the budget gap, this involves looking at the way we work across the whole council. We know other councils are managing to deliver their services at lower costs, and have been looking at what we can learn from them to provide you with good value, quality services.

This week, we published our Cabinet papers which show that this programme is starting to deliver results. We have identified almost £50 million of potential savings so far across the next five years and nearly £30 million of these savings have been included for the 2025/26 financial year.

However, reducing costs does mean that we will also reduce the number of people we employ. We estimate that we will have to make 67 to 99 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) redundancies over the next two years to deliver the savings we have identified so far. Losing valued colleagues is never easy, but those at risk of redundancy will be able to access redeployment opportunities where available and will be supported during the process.

While we are making good progress on planning and delivering change across the council, we recognise that the work needs to continue at pace and challenging choices need to be made to help us adapt to new ways of working.

We are determined to deliver the savings we need to deliver you value for money services, alongside this we are putting in place economic strategies that will benefit the residents and businesses of Southampton. There is a lot still to do, but I am confident that we are on the right track to make the council financially sustainable and able to deliver the ambitions we have to create a city of opportunity for everyone.

In the last few days Southampton’s Children’s Mayor, Freya Orendecki, welcomed Paddington Bear to the city. Many of us have a soft spot for this lovable, accident-prone bear who makes us laugh and cry, and can make us think about how we treat others. We can thank the Brown family, one of the most famous foster families in children’s literature for giving him a home and embracing him as their own. Paddington Bear is a wonderful children’s story, and the message of caring for someone in need is very relevant in real life.

Last weekend, we honoured our own foster carers at a Foster Carers’ Ball. The event, sponsored by Seatech Commercial Diving Services Limited, was a fantastic opportunity for our very own ‘local heroes’ to network and celebrate long service achievements. One of our newest MPs, Darren Paffey, joined the celebrations and remarked how our foster carers help to ‘break down barriers to opportunity’ for so many vulnerable children and young people. Councillor Alex Winning addressed the 200+ audience, thanking them for their care, compassion and true dedication to the City’s most vulnerable children. This week we launched ‘Everything’ the new fostering film together with an appeal to ask more people to join our community of foster carers.

As a city, we continually aim to become more child friendly. How we talk with, for and about our children and young people, especially those who are more vulnerable, is something we are actively working to change. And it starts with listening. We have worked with young people across the city to plan an event focused on their voices. Partners from education, health and the Police attended a safeguarding event hosted by the Southampton Safeguarding Children’s Partnership. The event, entitled ‘Let Our Voices Be Heard’, challenged the language we use, the agencies we connect with, and why our children and young people’s voices are so important in everything we do to protect and keep them safe.

In recent weeks, we launched the new Family Safeguarding approach to help keep families together when this is in their best interests. This included the planting of an apple tree at Itchen College. This tree symbolizes our commitment to our children and young people. It was planted with young people, was dedicated by our Children’s Mayor and will serve as a lasting reminder for decades to come.

Our team's lead Ranger collaborated with our Landscaping and Play Operations Manager and Sovereign Homes (SGN) to lead a successful bid with Veolia for nearly £75k to revamp the multi-use games area at Aldermoor Rec. The refurbishment includes new fencing, two goal ends, fresh court markings, and a small outdoor gym. Through a consultation process with residents in Lordshill, we gathered feedback on their preferences which have been incorporated into the project. We are delighted to bring these improvements to the community with the support of the funding early next year.

Near Bitterne Station, on Steuart Road the council will be delivering a major refurbishment this side of Christmas. We will install a new junior multi-unit, new toddler multi-unit, cradle and flat seat swing seats fitted to a double bay swing set, multi child Seesaw, springer and two spinners. In Hinkler Green, you will be excited to see new, similar kit also being installed this side of Christmas, making the parks so much better for all to enjoy!

If you live in or around Lordshill, I imagine you know a child or have a child at Fairisle Junior School, back in 2021, we asked the children what they liked playing on (as well as asking parents in newsletters) and have used those results to create play space on the mound soon. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for a whole host of fun play equipment including a double tower multi-play unit complete with spider's web and slide!

Lastly, in my own neighbourhood of Swaythling on Octavia Road, we presented our proposed play park enhancements to the residents, who were thrilled with the plans. As a result, we will be introducing a variety of new play equipment in the area before the year's end.

I hope that you and your little ones have the opportunity to make use of and enjoy these wonderful spaces across the city.