Creating a vision for Camden’s future: Commission meets to discuss Council’s priorities for 2018-2023
A new ‘Camden Commission’ met for the first time on Monday (20 February 2017), with a mission to ensure Camden remains a great place for everyone in the future.
Made up of a group of councillors and expert advisers, the Camden Commission will carry out research and have conversations with Camden residents and partners to better understand the challenges facing the borough and how to tackle them.
This evidence will help inform the council’s next set of priorities for 2018-2023, building on the success of the Camden Plan which was launched in 2012.
The Commission will examine areas including the reshaping of public services, community cohesion and maintaining a mixed and inclusive Camden.
The Commission will meet regularly over the next five months and will put residents’ views at the heart of the process. Ways for people to get involved include:
- Submitting written evidence to the Commission to consider
- Making suggestions and contributing to the debate online
- Meetings, community workshops and focus groups to explore topic areas.
- Our community researchers will be out and about in the borough gathering insight and taking the debate on the road.
“We want to give everyone in Camden a chance to have their say. It’s by having frank conversations with a broad range of Camden residents, community groups, businesses and partners that we’ll gather the evidence needed to set our new priorities, which will help us meet the challenges Camden faces and to improve residents’ lives.
“The Camden Plan has helped us to make important strides to tackle inequality, promote fairness and to maintain the borough’s rich diversity. But we’re not going to stand still - the political, economic and social landscape has changed since 2012, and by 2018/19 government cuts mean that the Council’s like for like funding will have been more than halved compared to 2010 levels.
“We want to build on our achievements and the Camden Commission will help set that direction, making sure everyone in Camden has the chance to be heard.”
The Commission will report its findings in July 2017. More information about how people can get involved and have their say is available on our website, or you can email [email protected].
Membership of the Commission
The Commission is chaired by Councillor Sarah Hayward, Leader of Camden Council, and is comprised of seven other councillors. These are:
- Councillor Danny Beales, Chair of Housing Scrutiny Committee
- Councillor Georgia Gould, Cabinet Member for Young People, Adults and Health
- Councillor Abdul Hai, Cabinet Member for Customers, Communities and Culture
- Councillor Claire-Louise Leyland, Leader of the Conservative Group
- Councillor Angela Mason, Cabinet Member for Children
- Councillor Phil Rosenberg, West Hampstead ward
- Councillor Sue Vincent, Holborn and Covent Garden ward
The commission will also work with three expert advisers who have expertise in key policy areas, experience of the public sector and the financial challenge it faces, and can provide long-term prospective on economy and society and how it may change. These are:
- Jessica Allen, Deputy Director of the Institute of Health Equity
- Henry Kippin, Executive Director of Collaborate CIC
- Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at King’s College