Swale’s Playbook for Place
George Evans-Jones, Programme Manager, and Anushka Naidu, Programme Executive at Breaking Barriers Innovations have conducted a Playbook for Place on behalf of Swale Borough Council and their partners. This concludes with a focus on equitable access to skills, competencies & opportunities for residents.
Positioned off the east coast of Kent, the borough of Swale of one of huge disparity. A journey of just 12 miles from the north to the south of the borough results in a loss of life expectancy of nearly a decade (8.3 years). The most affluent wards have close to 50% of its residents living in ‘very good health’; the least affluent have that cut to 34%. Economically, it is a similar picture, with those in the least affluent areas of the borough almost as likely to be economically inactive as they are active. Students on the island face challenging circumstances as education outcomes are worst than both the county and the country’s average which subsequently contributes to difficulties around recruitment and retention in key sectors such as health, care, and education. The borough – or specifically the Isle of Sheppey – has acute challenges around transport, digital access, and housing to deal with, too.
Yet, despite this, the borough is an area of outstanding beauty offering a high-potential tourist economy aligned with national priorities to improve rural and coastal communities. The Sittingbourne Science Park, based in the borough, is home to some of the world’s most innovative science and technology companies represents another area of opportunity to align with Kent’s Medical School. Anticipated regeneration and development and the logistics sector, headed up by Sheerness Ports, make up a comprehensive list of opportunities for the borough.
This report is the culmination of months of user engagement across Swale. A special thank you to Swale Borough Council, who commissioned this piece of work and whose support has been essential. Kent County Council, Health Education England, and NHS England Inequalities team have been similarly supportive. It considers what it’s key challenges and opportunities are, but it doesn’t seek to re-invent the wheel, rather understand, align, and maximise the opportunities the bough has. In doing so, it identifies the Dominant Strategy which can be seen in the link to the slide deck.
To find out more about this report or our wider work, please contact george.evans-jones@bbi.uk.com.
George is a programme manager specialist at Breaking Barriers Innovations, working with a number of partners in local authorities and the NHS across the country on ‘playbook programmes’, needs assessments and service evaluations, and community engagement.
Anushka is the Programme Executive at BBI, working on various ‘Playbook Programmes’ including in Swale and West Yorkshire and supporting with care-led programmes such as CareTech and Bridging the Care Gap.
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