Purpose of this document

This plan outlines our ambition to ‘Build a Better Merton Together’ and what we will do over the next three years to achieve this. It is based on extensive engagement with residents, voluntary groups and businesses and details key council priorities, actions and how we will measure our progress. The council plan also sets out principles and values that describe how we will work to achieve our ambition, particularly the importance of developing and maintaining partnerships to achieve common goals. It describes a new relationship between the council and our residents, where we will work with communities to identify what needs to change and work together to improve their neighbourhoods. The council plan will inform all strategic delivery plans and will explain how we will turn priorities into delivery on the ground so that residents will see and feel the difference.

Building a Better Merton Together

‘Building a Better Merton Together’ is our council plan for 2023-26. It sets out our ambition for rebuilding pride in Merton over the next three years and explains what we will be doing to achieve this over the coming years.

We want people to feel proud to live, work and visit Merton – rebuilding a sense of pride from the ground up through cleaner streets, more affordable housing, improved town centres and opportunities to be involved in this great sporting borough.

These three strategic objectives will guide our actions as a borough:

• Nurturing civic pride
• Building a sustainable future 
• Creating a borough of sport

Our plan for each strategic objective is outlined in more detail below in terms of what you can expect in the coming year and what difference you will see. We have identified the major initiatives for each objective and the role of the council and partners in delivering these. The work of all Cabinet Members will feed into delivery, spanning all parts of the council and our work with partners.

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How we will measure progress

We will closely monitor delivery over the course of each year and review progress through an Annual Review. As part of this review, we will measure our progress against key indicators for each strategic objective. An annual State of the Borough report will provide a snapshot of our position as a borough in key areas and allow us to see how we are progressing on our big priorities. A redesigned Corporate Performance Framework will align with these objectives to make sure that our services are supporting delivery of our priorities.

More about the borough and our community ambition

1. Nurturing civic pride

Civic pride is about the relationship that people and communities have with a place – not only their physical surroundings but also their feelings of identity and belonging. By nurturing civic pride, we want people to be proud of their local area, feel more connected to their community, and get more involved in making Merton a great place to live, work and visit. That means getting the basics right so that all residents across the borough can benefit from cleaner streets, vibrant high streets, good schools, and safe neighbourhoods. It is also about everyone taking pride in their borough, which means becoming a fairer, more equal and inclusive place.

What you can expect from us over the next four years

• We will put residents at the heart of everything we do, and be responsive and resident-centric in our approach to customer service, communication and engagement
• Residents, businesses and visitors will enjoy clean, safe and welcoming places across the borough
• Existing businesses will be supported, and new businesses, talent and investment will be  attracted to the borough
• More residents will be able to access secure and well-paid employment in a local economy that is fairer and more inclusive
• Town centres will attract more footfall, events and investment, becoming better places to visit, do business and live
• Merton is a thriving place for voluntary and community organisations where giving back is valued and encouraged
• Fantastic educational provision and support gives children the best start and equips residents of all ages with the skills and qualifications to succeed
• Residents across Merton will be supported through the cost-of-living emergency
• We will continue to embrace diversity across the borough

Nurturing civic pride: Major initiatives

2. Building a sustainable future

Working towards a greener, more sustainable, and resilient future for the borough means better housing, action on climate change, and support for the health and wellbeing of our communities. Accelerating the supply of affordable and sustainable homes is a top priority for the council. Alongside this priority, we will push for better standards in private and social housing and work with Integrated Care partners to make sure that local health provision meets the needs of communities across Merton.

What you can expect from us over the next four years

• New developments deliver more affordable housing and exhibit design excellence
• A borough where residents can live in good-quality housing
• Our environment and parks will be protected, restored and well managed
• Merton Council will aim to reach net zero by 2030
• Increased take-up of alternative and sustainable modes of transport
• Improved air quality across the borough
• Equal access to local health services in Merton

Building a sustainable future: Major initiatives

3. Creating a borough of sport

As the home of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, AFC Wimbledon, the oldest cricket club in the world, and a rugby club that was one of the founding members of the RFU, our borough has a great sporting heritage on which to build. Today, we have an array of parks, tennis courts, sports pitches, leisure centres and a wealth of grassroots clubs and sporting organisations.

We are perfectly placed to establish Merton as a borough of sport and promote healthy, active lives for all our residents. Increasing participation in sport and exercise not only supports better health and wellbeing but can also bring wider social benefits such as greater connectedness and engage young people. By supporting residents of all ages to be active and incorporate more movement into their lives, we can help people to lead more healthier lives and become more independent, particularly those who are older or disabled.

What you can expect from us over the next four years:

• National recognition of Merton’s sporting heritage
• All 4- to 16-year-olds and over 65s will have access to weekly sporting and wellbeing activities
• More residents take part in sport and physical activities
• Investment in sporting infrastructure and promoting healthy activities

Creating a borough of sport: Major Initiatives

Our principles and values

Our principles and values will guide how we work across the council and the borough to build a better Merton together. We are committed to delivering the best for our communities and putting the needs of residents at the heart of everything we do.

You can expect us to be:

• Responsive to the needs of our residents
• Embedded in our local communities
• Innovative in our approach to tackling the challenges we face as a borough
• Striving to deliver excellent services for all

We are working on a new People and Culture Plan will set out our values as an organisation and how we will support our workforce so that they can work to their best:

• My Health and Wellbeing - We will support the health and wellbeing of our workforce by expanding employee benefits, new health and wellbeing training and increasing staff engagement and communication.
• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion - We will embed equality and inclusion in our culture through new training priorities, external relationships with partners, and listening to the needs of our staff.
• Smarter Working - We will enable more flexible and agile working practices through smart working and remote-working technologies
• Leadership and Management – We will improve leadership and management at all levels of the council with new training, more development opportunities for upcoming and existing leaders, and collaboration between leaders to help deliver our priorities.

Next steps

Delivering the ambition in this plan will require collaborative working, not only with our residents and businesses but also with a range of partners at local and regional level. This section sets out how we will work together with residents, community groups and partners to achieve our goals.

How we will engage residents

Residents have told us they want to be involved in decisions that affect the things that matter most to them, such as their high streets, parks and local services. They want to maintain and build on the community spirit that saw us through the pandemic where thousands of residents, businesses and local organisations helped support some of our most vulnerable residents. We want to harness this collaborative spirit to work with residents, businesses and local organisations and build a better Merton together.

Our new Community Engagement strategy will change our approach to engaging with residents and enable us to engage more directly. We will be expanding the use of new and existing digital channels to engage with residents on a regular basis and seek their views on a range of topics. We will also bring in new ways for residents to talk with us and each other, including an annual Question Time for the Leader and Cabinet in each town centre and more support for community groups that hold consultations with residents.

How we will work collaboratively with communities

We have co-designed a methodology with our partners to improve how we work with our local communities and use local, council and partner assets and resources. This work was undertaken with Collaborate CIC, one of the leaders in the field of collaboratively designed public services and produced ‘Working Better with Communities’ framework. This model takes what we learned from how we worked differently with partners during the pandemic, feedback from community groups and best practice from Merton and elsewhere to offer a guide to how we can work differently with communities.

The commissioning of our new multi-million-pound Civic Pride Fund: Supporting the Voluntary and Community Sector has provided a valuable opportunity to this put this framework into practice. The fund invests in social infrastructure at a neighbourhood level and supports our voluntary groups.

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How we will work in partnership

We cannot deliver this plan on our own. We will work with a range of partners to find common purpose and combine our efforts. This means working with the Mayor of London on structural issues like transport and regeneration where the interests of London as a whole and Merton as a borough intersect.

We will be an active member of the South London Partnership so that we can achieve better outcomes for Merton’s residents and businesses where activity is best coordinated at a sub-regional level such as economic growth and training.

We will continue to build on our successful track record of working through the Merton Partnership. The Merton Partnership brings together community leaders, business leaders and leaders from public services such as the council, NHS, police, fire brigade and educational settings.

How we will pay for it

‘Building a Better Merton Together’ will inform how we allocate our resources to deliver our priorities while balancing our duty to keep our finances on a sustainable footing. Local governments face a difficult financial situation with high inflation, rising costs and a worsening national economic context. Reductions in funding from central government will result in some tough decisions at local level but we will prioritise those who are most vulnerable and focus our delivery on what matters most to residents.

The Business Plan 2023-26 sets out the resources and financial details behind this plan and gives further context on how we will fund our strategic priorities through our Medium-Term Financial Strategy. Developing a new investment strategy, we will explore new avenues for external investment while working with our partners to maximise the funds at our disposal.

Other key strategies and plans

This council plan is our overarching strategic plan. However, the council has more key strategies and plans that will guide how we deliver specific priorities, including how we are governed and our finances. The main strategies and plans are:

• Business Plan
• Community Plan
• Equality and Community Cohesion Strategy
• Housing Strategy
• Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy
• Health and Wellbeing Strategy
• Local Plan
• Children and Young People’s Plan
• Climate Change Strategy

These strategies and plans are available to view online here.

These strategies are informed by Merton Data, a council-run website that acts as a directory for a wide range of data in Merton. This includes population profiles, health and wellbeing statistics, house prices, employment statistics and more. It holds data for the whole borough, as well as for the individual wards, and can generate data profiles for each.

You can find Merton Data here.