State of the City speech, 2005
For the second year, Councillor Roger Lawrence, the Leader of the Council, addressed the full meeting of the city council with his 'State of the City' speech.
This page provides an outline of the Leader's speech on 6 July 2005 along with a full version of the text in a downloadable format.
What were the main themes of the speech?
Councillor Lawrence’s speech concentrated on a number of main themes:
- The Council’s work on national level programmes and projects;
- The development of a commissioning approach to service delivery;
- The local challenges and the Council’s initiatives to meet them, including a major restructuring;
- The regional social and economic context and our place in a globalised economy; and
- The commitment to excellence in delivery.
Councillor Lawrence said: "This has been a year of strong performance, but also one of considerable change.
"We can be proud of the way we deliver our local services – we are performing better across a number of areas, including Landlord Services/Housing, education, social services and public health, and I hope next year’s comprehensive performance assessment will reflect this.
"However, as our vision statement tells us, we should also be ready to rise to the challenge of tomorrow – to be tuned in to the wider context, and the major initiatives which will shape our work in the future.
"The challenge for this year, which I put as much to myself as to my fellow Councillors and to Officers in the Council, is that we should concentrate on working for Wolverhampton, but also on placing ourselves in a wider context – local, regional, national, and even international.”
The Council’s work on national level programmes and projects
The Leader drew attention to our status as a pilot authority for Local Area Agreements, which represent a new way of providing services by working in partnership. He also mentioned the implications of the consultation documents from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on the future of local government.
The development of a commissioning approach
The Leader described the progress of the Council towards a commissioning approach, which will help us to better understand the needs of our citizens and work together with other local agencies to meet them.
The local challenges and our initiatives to meet them
The Corporate Plan sets us a clear strategic vision, said Councillor Lawrence, which we are working towards through an organisational restructuring.
The Leader also reported on a number of major local capital projects which have been progressed since the last speech, and on the development of the Arm’s Length Management Organisation (ALMO).
The regional context
Councillor Lawrence pointed out the challenges with face the Black Country, including the need to develop new skills and economic sectors to compete in a globalised economy.
The Leader also mentioned our role in the Black Country Study and the importance of good relations with our regional neighbours.
A commitment to excellence
The Leader spoke of our aspirations for the city of Wolverhampton as “a city in the process of a profound transformation, at the heart of a region reinventing itself”.
He closed by quoting George Bernard Shaw: “Some men see things as they are and say, ‘Why?’ I dream of things that never were and say, ‘Why not?’”
Download the speech in full
To read the speech in full, download the document in the PDF file below:
