Midlothian Council produces its annual plan

The Single Midlothian Plan 2021/22 was discussed at a meeting of Midlothian Council on Tuesday, June 29.

It had already been approved by the Midlothian Community Planning Partnership, which brings together the council, other public, voluntary and private sector bodies and local communities to provide a shared approach to improving people’s lives.

Community planning has a statutory purpose, setting how public bodies must work together with the local community to plan for and provide services in the council area, all with a view to reducing inequalities.

The new Midlothian Single Plan has four key priorities - to reduce the gap in learning outcomes; to reduce the gap in health outcomes; to reduce the gap in economic circumstances; and to reduce carbon emissions in the area to net zero by 2030. It also sets out ways in which local services will work in partnership to achieve these, and includes targets and ways of checking progress.

Key themes include ‘getting it right for every child’ (for example by improving educational attainment, employability and young people’s health and wellbeing); sustainable growth (such as supporting the regeneration of town centres, providing more affordable housing, and taking environmental actions); improving opportunities for local people (including supporting people out of poverty and reducing health inequalities); community safety, and adult health and social care.

“Although Covid-19 has impacted on our ability to carry out full consultation sessions on the plan, we did manage to hold virtual consultations over two half day sessions in December and January,” explained Councillor Jim Muirhead (Lab), Chair of the Midlothian Community Planning Board.

“Working with our community planning partners, our key aim is to focus on the things that matter most to local people. The new plan reflects the impact of the pandemic and, as such, appropriate targets have been agreed to help tackle inequalities and improve the quality of life for those in the greatest need.”

You can find the latest version of the Plan at www.midlothian.gov.uk/news.