Telford and Wrekin population predicted to grow to 200,000 by 2034

A report to councillors forecasts that 200,000 will be living in Telford and Wrekin by 2034. This came after 2021 Census figures showed a population of 185,600, an 11.4 per cent increase in the 11 years prior.

It was reported that the population increase is being supported by over 1,000 net new builds each year.

“The borough is a place of contrasts,” said the local safeguarding children board annual report for 2021/22.

“Some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in England are a stone’s throw from some of England’s least deprived.

“The impact of deprivation can be seen in health inequalities that exist in the borough.”

The report was written by council officers last winter and has been put before Telford & Wrekin Council’s children and young people’s scrutiny committee who met this week.

“A central focus of this year’s work has been on making sure we drive the statutory learning reviews we are required to undertake,” the report says.

“These provide a real opportunity to ensure that we learn the lessons when there have been serious incidents of harm to vulnerable children and adults. To enhance this work, we have introduced a new independent quality audit to ensure that these reviews are as effective as they can be.”

During the 2021/22 period there was an increased demand on the partnership’s multi-agency safeguarding hub Family Connect with 12,300 contacts – up from 11,000 in the previous year.

There were 447 safeguarding concerns raised during the same time, with 97 progressing to a Section 42 Enquiry – a decrease on those reported in 2020/21.

Structural changes have seen the creation of separate safeguarding boards to look at children, adults and the partnership executive. The boards are independently chaired to ‘enhance independent challenge’ and scrutiny.

“These new arrangements replaced a single quarterly meeting that considered both adult and children safeguarding matters,” the report added.

“A review found that this single meeting did not provide adequate time to drive forward these two most important areas of work, and that the partnership arrangements needed to evolve to create the necessary capacity.”

The Safeguarding Children Board is helped by the voice of children in the Children Safeguarding Board network – 42 boards in primary and secondary schools run by children in Telford and Wrekin.

In addition a new Adult at Risk Service was launched last year which works with adults who do not meet the threshold for statutory adult safeguarding or funded adult social care.

The service help adults with difficulties managing on a day-to-day basis, at risk of eviction/homelessness or criminal exploitation and people who have issues with finances.

Moving forward the report suggests having audits which work on themes that test the multi-agency safeguarding arrangements where there are ‘pressures and challenges’ in the system.

The report adds that a ‘key goal’ of the Domestic Abuse Local Partnership is to develop and implement a new strategy based on changes introduced in the Domestic Abuse Act 2020.