Policy, Economy, Investment and Public Health

Performance, Investment & Delivery

The Property, Investment & Delivery function develops the Council’s ambitious capital programme (over £1.5 billion in the next five years) and builds new capital infrastructure across Essex. This includes delivering new assets such as schools and roads, as well as serving and maintaining the Council’s £1.7 billion estate. This estate covers around 350 buildings – from libraries to County Hall – and roughly 1,500 sites ranging from residential care to country parks and schools. The function includes Essex Housing which seeks to redevelop public sector land and provide sustainable homes for residents, including independent living accommodation for vulnerable adults.

The function also delivers consultancy advice across the UK – Place Services – which covers historic, natural and built environmental services.

Sustainable Growth

Sustainable Growth supports the strategic role the council plays in building a brighter future for Essex where businesses can thrive, and residents are able to access opportunities. Here, our high-calibre professionals are working closely with local businesses, residents, and our public sector partners to create a greener, fairer and more productive economy.

There’s a diverse range of teams in Sustainable Growth. They include:

• Localities and Place Renewal
• Economic Infrastructure
• Housing & Garden Communities
• Business Growth and Inward Investment
• Sector Development  and Innovation, including Green Growth
• Business Support and Engagement
• Skills and Employability
• Adult Community Learning
• Visit Essex, Inward Investment and International Trade
• Transport For Growth
• School Organisation & Place Planning
• County Planning
• Digital Connectivity
• Homelessness Prevention
• Refugee Resettlement

We come together to achieve a series of ambitious goals, which include:

• Delivering sustainable growth across the county, with a focus on regeneration in our highest priority places
• Shaping skills provision and supporting all Essex residents to access high quality employment opportunities
• Driving the industry sectors of both now and tomorrow, enabling businesses to diversify, innovate and grow
• Creating and marketing the conditions for growth that will unlock new inward investment into the county and support our local businesses, town centres and high streets
• Unlocking new communities through high quality planning, housing and the physical and digital infrastructure that makes Essex a great place to live
• Supporting the transition to a net zero carbon economy by 2030, including green skills programmes for residents, retrofitting our estates and developing proposals for innovative green energy hubs and manufacturing facilities

Wellbeing, Public Health & Communities

At Essex County Council the Wellbeing, Public Health and Communities function brings together a range of services that contribute to the delivery of the Council’s statutory and wider responsibilities regarding improving public health outcomes, protecting our most vulnerable and reducing health inequalities, namely Trading Standards, the Gypsy and Traveller Service, Active Essex and the Strengthening Communities team.  We also work across directorates within ECC, with a range of external partners including public sector, voluntary sector, and private businesses, to commission and directly deliver services to meet the needs of the local population.

Specialist Public Health Service

Health Promotion / Health Improvement. Improving health behaviours over the life course as well as improving the wider determinants of health. This includes:

• Drug & alcohol interventions
• Health & justice services
• Housing-related support
• Sexual health services
• NHS Health Checks
• Smoking cessation support
• 0-19 nursing services

Health Protection – The control of infectious diseases, managing health emergency responses and environmental health hazards.

Healthcare Public Health – Ensuring services are high quality,  evidence-informed and value-based.  Addressing issues of effectiveness, efficiency and equity.

Trading Standards

Supporting legitimate business activity by providing advice and support, encouraging economic development and prosperity. This includes:

• Animal health & welfare
• Disease control prevention
• Food safety & standards
• Ports & Borders
• Product & consumer safety
• Age restricted products
• Doorstep crime and fraud
• Safety at sports grounds
• Business advice

Gypsy & Traveller Service

Co-ordination of outreach programme with other agencies to improve Gypsy, Roma & Traveller outcomes.

• Management of unauthorised encampments
• Management of 12 ECC owned traveller sites

Active Essex

Focusing on increasing people’s participation in, and enjoyment of, physical activity.

• Designated Active Partnership for Greater Essex by Sport England
• Leads on the delivery of a 10 year strategy “Fit for the Future”

Strengthening Communities Service

Lead and develop key strategies to deliver self-sustaining strong communities to support Essex residents to enjoy long and healthy lives and fulfil their potential.

• Create conditions to enable communities to respond to societal challenges
• Commission the development of community infrastructure

Policy

Policy provides expert strategy, communication, performance and insight advice to enable the organisation to achieve its key strategic outcomes.

Policy also helps the organisation to determine its key objectives, supports the development of the evidence to underpin our strategic and operational focus – including performance information –  and is responsible for communicating both internally and externally with our key audiences to support the fulfilment of our objectives.

This service also leads our equalities and levelling up work and is responsible for our strategic relationships with partners. To perform our role well, we need high energy, creative and thoughtful people who are proud of what they do and the difference they can make to the lives of the people and businesses of Essex.

Policy supports the Chief Executive, the Council’s Cabinet and the whole organisation in the overarching strategic direction and leadership of the County Council.

Policy:

• works closely with the political leadership at ECC to set policy direction.
• ensures systems are established for the effective translation of policy into action.
• leads on performance and evaluation for the whole Council and generates insights –to underpin effective decision making and to ensure the Council is evidence led and learning orientated.
• supports system-wide engagement, including with the city, district and borough councils, Essex Police, Essex Universities, Essex County Fire and Rescue Service, and NHS, as well as a variety of voluntary and community organisations.
• is responsible for the corporate management of key Board meetings required to run the business, including managing the forward plan and actions arising from the meetings.