The Bexley Plan presents the outcomes we want to see for our borough, our residents and our organisation. It is a continuation of our work over many years that will set Bexley up to be even better in future.

The Plan runs from 2022 to 2026. Since it has been published in December 2022, we have made a lot of progress against the Action Plan. We are proud to say that, in just over a year, we have already completed 34% of the planned Actions, and another 43% are progressing at a good pace, and will be completed ahead of their deadlines. The remaining 24% of our Actions need to be accelerated and further supported in the coming year. The Action Plan has been updated and amended to help us with this.

We are extremely pleased with the progress that has already been made. Some of our key achievements include:

Children’s Social Care:

• We have seen an 11% reduction in referrals to Children’s Social Services this year
• We have established our Fostering Together support programme, creating networks of support between children and carers in communities throughout the borough
• We have established Bexley SHiFT, working with children and young people to break destructive cycles of crime and associated behaviour through therapeutic relationships with the children
• 92.7% of our schools achieved a Good or Outstanding Ofsted rating
• We have expanded our school offer for young people with Special Educational Needs, through the expansion of Shenstone Specialist School, and a new specialist provision at Parkway School

Adult Social Care:

• We delivered our ‘home first’ approach’, which has given more people the chance to continue their lives at home following a hospital stay
• We launched the Community Directory with the Bexley Voluntary Service Council (BVSC) to make community support more easily accessible to all our residents
• We launched the ‘Your Life, Your Choice Bexley’ care finder app, providing a wide range of help and support services across Bexley. Residents can find providers who will be matched to support their needs, arrange their care budget, and directly contact providers through the app, improving residents’ independence and personalisation in their care arrangements
• We secured government funding for the Community Diagnostic Centre at Queen Mary’s in Sidcup
• The free Bexley Stop Smoking Service helped 224 people successfully quit smoking
• We launched a new comprehensive weight management programme to support approximately 3,000 residents per year

Place Services:

• We adopted the Local Plan to prepare for sustainable developments within the borough
• We opened the Sidcup Storyteller, a new venue with a three-screen cinema, bar, coffee shop, live performance space, and community hub, as well as the home of Sidcup Library
• We won over £98,000 to support energy saving initiatives at Erith Leisure Centre
• We won over £200,000 to invest in our park tennis venues across the borough
• We negotiated a new contract to increase our recycling and reduce our landfill, saving £0.5 million a year for the Council and reducing our carbon footprint
• We won an award for Public Sector Campaign of the Year in recognition of our promotion of food waste reduction apps like Relondon, Kitche and Olio
• Lesnes Abbey Woods was given a Green Flag Award
• We have cut missed bin collections by half, and reduced fly-tipping by almost one-third
• We have collaborated with local housing associations to open many new flats and properties
• We supported over 560 residents into jobs
• We supported many residents in difficult positions avoid homelessness, reducing the number of residents in temporary and emergency accommodation – we are the only London borough where this is reducing

Finance and Corporate Services:

• We published our Climate Change Action Plan, and we are working to reduce our carbon footprint and energy costs across our building
• We campaigned hard against the expansion of ULEZ into Bexley, and although we were unsuccessful, the pressure we put on TfL resulted in a better deal for residents with the expansion of the Scrappage Scheme into Bexley, making more residents eligible for financial support
• We published our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, helping everyone in the borough to reach their full potential and benefit from everything Bexley has to offer
• We published our Customer Experience Strategy to improve an enhance the relationship between residents and the Council
• We published our People Strategy, refreshing the HR department at the Council to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and output of our workforce
• We have distributed £3 million in the Household Support Fund, and supported over 1,200 children during the holidays on the Funded Holiday Activities and Food programme.