State of the city: Mayor’s speech in full

Good evening.

… and thank you so much for taking the time to come to my second annual State of the City Address, kindly hosted by the University of Bristol, here in this Great Hall, in our second-to-none city of Bristol.

Two years!  Yes two years, hundreds of actions, turning promises, hopes and aspirations into realities.

What a 12 months it’s been since I last stood here. It’s been all go:

• Over 3,000 diary appointments ranging from numerous local community engagements to representing Bristol at the United Nations.

• A full restructure of the city council completed within 18 months

• Saving over £35m from the council’s annual operating budget, whilst committing to pay the Living Wage

• Missions to Amsterdam, Beijing, Bordeaux, Brussels, Copenhagen, Hannover, New York and more – for which, incidentally, I make no apologies!

• Outcomes from my four independent Mayoral Commissions

• Sifting over 300 separate ideas from my Ideas Lab

• Becoming a City of Service, one of the first UK pilots for this great volunteering programme which will benefit isolated older people, school children and others

• Making Sunday Special for a second year, attracting over 100,000 visitors in a single weekend and reaching a global audience of half a billion

• Developing our plans for the Learning City

• Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Bristol Bus Boycott – a great story

• International funding and awards for city resilience – and as one of the world’s most liveable cities – as well as securing over £10m public and private funding for our year as European Green Capital

• Even making the shortlist for the World Mayor award – a bolt out of the blue for me but more importantly a profile raiser for the city

It’s been a year of hard graft, long days, short nights, great highlights, and not a few brickbats – but I thrive on it all.

I have made public promises – and I stand by them.

That isn’t to say I’ve always got it right. But leadership is about being bold and willing to try things out. And for the most part I’ve done what I said I’d do, and significant progress has been made.

The real work – and there is so much of it – the real work is done by so many people. And is the better for it.

To those of you who have played a massive part in helping Bristol be all it can be – recognising that we still have a long way to go – a big thank you.

To you; but also to the hundreds and thousands of people I’ve met in person and online in the last year who have given me cause to learn, improve and respond. I listen and learn – but I must also lead.

Inevitably the response has to be what’s right for the city economy and a sustainable future, and tonight I’ll give you my take on that – and more.

European Green Capital

It’s impossible to talk about our future without starting on one topic that will be a thread that weaves through this talk and throughout 2015.

That’s European Green Capital.

In just seven weeks we shall be European Green Capital. It will be packed with events and initiatives right across the city, but the real prize will be the way in which it acts as a springboard towards our sustainable future – both environmentally and economically.

Our year as Green Capital will culminate with our presence at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Paris, known as COP21.

It will aim to create a legally binding and universal agreement on climate, from the nations of the world – and maybe more importantly – from the cities!

What could be more important?

To facilitate this we are planning the first formal meeting of the Global Parliament of Mayors. This will take place jointly in London and Bristol in late October and will hopefully culminate in the city leaders signing a joint declaration on climate change to be presented at COP21 as the ‘Bristol Declaration’.

We owe our Green Capital title to the initiative and dedication of hundreds of ethically driven people and organisations all over the city. You know who you are, and I thank you for it.

Never before have we had such a great opportunity to present Bristol to the rest of the world and to leave a legacy worthy of the title. The best cities are the most generous cities.

The State of the City

Let’s look at where we are now.

Considering the severe limitations within which we have had to work, Bristol is in comparatively good shape.

But I’m acutely aware that, as is the case across the country, not everyone in Bristol is yet feeling the benefit, and some are truly left behind. There’s much more to do, especially for our more disadvantaged communities and citizens.

However credit is due to our business community – from single-person entrepreneurs to major manufacturers and trade bodies, led by Business West and supported by a strong Local Enterprise Partnership.

Shockingly Bristol is the only major English city outside of London to make a positive net contribution to the national economy – and yet given more autonomy, we could do so much more.

And we continue to grow, with our rich variety of businesses succeeding on local, national and global stages.

But growth and prosperity must be sustainable and rooted in fairness – with equal opportunity for all.

I would for example, call on business to help close the gender pay gap, provide more child care and improve female, disabled, and other minority representation in management teams: that these are still unresolved issues in 2014 is totally unacceptable.

Above all; economic, environmental and social sustainability must be at the core of all our actions.

Sustainability

We must remind ourselves throughout 2015 that true sustainability is about so much more than the environment – it is about the creation of a healthy, robust and caring economy that provides:

Opportunities for all – not just the fortunate – and…

…a cleaner, greener, healthier and accessible city – one in which everyone can enjoy the benefits.

These were at the heart of the thinking behind my Mayoral Commissions that I announced this time last year – independently chaired bodies which have made recommendations for city wide improvement in the fields of Education and Skills, Housing, Sport and – absolutely fundamentally – in Fairness. They joined the hugely energetic Bristol Women’s standing Commission.

Over the next year I will be implementing many of their recommendations whilst also, as one of the inaugural Rockefeller World Resilient Cities, be putting a focus on resilience and an ability to react to circumstances.

Our challenge is making our growth and prosperity sustainable over the long term and, absolutely vitally, not leaving large sections of the community behind.

In our relatively affluent city, those with less are relatively poorer than they would be in the less well-off northern cities, and we have an absolute duty to address that to the best of our ability.

We believe in leading by example.

Over the past year the City Council has made huge strides.

Widespread constitutional change has streamlined decision making, especially on partnership boards which address Health and Wellbeing, Learning and Skills, and the optimum use of public property.

We have radically restructured, saving money whilst protecting front line services as far as is possible. We continue our journey of change as our City Hall offices empty this week for an 18-month refurbishment; a vital step towards reducing our city-wide administration costs – creating savings worth over £50m by April 2017.

As we approach the second year of my three-year financial strategy, we have shown that by taking the necessary tough decisions, imposed on us by central government, we are on course to make the savings and changes we need to enable us to deliver services in the face of continuing austerity measures.

It can be done, but it cannot mean doing what we always did, in the way we always did, at the cost of investing in the city’s long term success.

Let me share some current examples of this investment.

Filwood Green Business Park

In the South of the city, where we see our greatest demand for new and better quality jobs, the £12m Filwood Green Business Park will open in the Spring.

It’s a great example of sustainability meeting prosperity.

This flagship environmental development will be the most environmentally friendly in the South West and one of the top-rated in the country.

It will support 350 jobs and create opportunities for smaller local firms and people looking to start new businesses.

It will act as a catalyst for wider regeneration: 150 new homes and a public park courtesy of the Homes and Communities Agency, with the potential for over 1,000 new homes in neighbouring Hengrove over the coming years.

This has been a long-term labour of love for many involved – years of dedication and determination.

I’m grateful to all who have served on the Knowle West Project Board. You should take pride in what has been achieved.

Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone

The Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone around Temple Meads is proving to be one of the UK’s most successful.  

• Over 800 jobs have so far been created in some 70 businesses in the Zone.

• Over £160 million has already been spent or committed key projects.

• Engine Shed, Bristol & Exeter House and Temple Studios are full – forming a creative and digital hub for some 40 businesses, including Hab Housing, Kevin McCloud’s innovative housing company.

• Over £20 million has been committed to transport and infrastructure projects, with much more to come including regeneration of the station as we prepare for faster London trains in 2017.

• Work will start on phase 3 of Paintworks, this month, including space for 400 jobs.

2 Glass Wharf, the city’s most substantial speculative office development in a decade is on target to be fully occupied when it opens in early 2015, supporting around 1,000 jobs.

Such has been its success that the developers are already planning another 100,000 square feet with the potential to support another 1,000 jobs.

Transport and congestion

These are great examples of economic success. They give us confidence and the determination to press on.

But some things take longer.

…. Traffic congestion costs our economy up to half a billion a year. It pollutes the air we breathe. And it takes far too many to an early grave, with air quality being a much bigger killer than those more visible deaths caused by traffic accidents.

Well over 50,000 commuter cars are driven into the centre of our city each day – and if left uninhibited that number would grow by another 25,000 by 2030, bringing the city to a grinding halt.

And what’s more, 9 out of 10 of them are driver only!!

Hardly smart – hardly sustainable is it?

Congestion is a problem. Doing nothing is simply not an option.

Some of the measures we are taking to tackle congestion are controversial. But the combined effect of Residents’ Parking, 20mph zones and MetroBus; when added to local rail and cycling improvements plus conveniences like wifi and smart ticketing on local buses, will make a very positive difference. All schemes have been adapted to local conditions in our beautifully complex city…and more changes will come.

We’re investing over £400m in transport improvements in the city region – and I want to see much more.

I am determined to see this through. We are looking to 2020 and 2050 goals in line with the UN Climate Summit declarations which I took part in a few weeks ago.

If we want to have a truly sustainable economy and to feel the benefits of our Green Capital status, then long-term thinking must be a priority.

This applies to the world of transport, but also much more broadly to the way we develop the city, provide local services, educate our kids and make sure people have better opportunities for work, travel and play.

And, vitally, help people lead healthy lives and contribute to society as active citizens.

Improving lives

Some people live shorter, poorer and sometimes extremely troubled lives. They need help to access jobs and contribute to the city’s economy.

We are helping.

Our Troubled Families programme has worked successfully with 1,355 families since April 2012 – achieving much.

A 50% reduction in poor school attendance and;

Almost a third decrease in rent arrears;

More people in employment, education or training.

I am proud that Bristol is seen as a national leading light, offering advice and guidance to many other local authorities. In the next five years we will work with another 4,000 families.

Meanwhile we are supporting a Golden Key Lottery bid led by the mental health charity Second Step, focussing on those people in the city with the most chaotic lives.  We will try new ways to engage them with services and be flexible about what we offer.

There is much more I could say about improving lives; particularly about our work on health, our plan to deliver better care and our support for those brave young Bristol women fighting Female Genital Mutilation – FGM – and for Bristol Aging Better. But, as this is the Festival of Economics, I shall resist and stay on that topic.

The housing challenge

A major social issue inextricably linked to our economy is housing. To create a sustainable economy we need to get the balance right. People need a decent, affordable roof over their heads, and if that roof is close to job opportunities, so much the better.

Average house prices have risen by about £40,000 since 2006. This, along with lack of mortgage availability, has caused households to meet their needs by renting privately. In turn this has forced rent levels up, out of reach of those on low incomes or supported by benefit.

The number of homelessness applications we deal with has gone up sharply for many reasons, from house prices to welfare reform to personal crises. 

Affordable and social home building has been far too low for too long, yet each year several hundred new households join our housing list, which now stands at 13,500 households.

Stalled housing developments with planning permission are preventing hundreds of affordable homes being built.

But plans, assisted by my Homes Commission and Affordable Housing Strategy, are now in place to dramatically increase numbers in coming years.

Work is underway to deliver around 2,500 new affordable homes by April 2018.

Earlier in the autumn we mounted a HomeIessness Summit bringing together private, charitable and statutory sectors to work out what more can be done. This year I have dedicated my Mayor’s charitable Fund to homelessness, and aim to raise at least £50,000 by April 2015.

However, the population pressure does not go away and there is much more to do – assisted by the 10 recommendations of my mayoral commission on affordable homes.

Education and skills

Another vital commission was that of Education and Skills, as we look to create the next generation of workers and entrepreneurs on our route to ensuring sustainable prosperity.

This year we have established a Learning City Partnership bringing together key figures from all tiers of education, local government and business, ensuring we have a meaningful and joined-up plan taking children from nursery age right up to the time when they enter the job market and beyond as adults.

This level of cooperative working is new, bold and ambitious.

We are already providing new primary school places – nearly 2,000 during 2014 – that is a total of around 18,000 in the 5 years up to 2016 – to meet current and future demand.

Achievement in our schools is on the up – our secondary school performance is at last above the national average and we were one of only six areas in England to improve in 2014.  

Developing our home-grown talent is vital, ensuring that young people have the skills, aptitudes and knowledge needed to build our sustainable economy.

In this spirit, as part of the extensive European Green Capital programme, we will be engaging as much as possible with our young people.

During 2015 we will launch a new National Schools programme, to help instil good ethical environmental values. This will run over three years and be a major Green Capital legacy that feeds into the national curriculum.

The Key Stage Two programme will be based on this ‘Bristol curriculum’.

The content of the curriculum will be informed by environmental organisations, led by a seconded Bristol school teacher and supported by a working group of teachers drawn from across the city.

It’s new. It’s exciting. It will be entered into with a generous and inclusive spirit and I take pride that this is happening in Bristol.

Libraries for the future

In this same spirit, tomorrow we shall start a major city-wide conversation about the future of our libraries, treasured traditional institutions which are fundamental in developing language, literacy, skills and community cohesion.

This is not a closed consultation but an open conversation.

We need to look at how we can reach more people with a better service in a time of limited resources.

It will be the first stage of a city-wide effort to collect ideas and suggestions on how to develop an improved flexible, modern space for communities to learn and socialise in – one that serves the vast majority of citizens, not just 10% or so.

We want to get back to fundamentals – what are libraries for and how can they meet our needs in the 21st century?

I am confident that working together we shall find solutions.

I said last year “We cannot do what we always did – or we’ll just get an impoverished version of what we always got.”

I believed it then. I believe it now. So let’s look ahead with optimism.

Meeting the energy challenge

First, let’s look at how we are addressing our energy challenges – a source of pain and anxiety for so many.

During our year as Green Capital we will become one of the first UK cities to establish our own energy company, aimed at saving energy and providing greener, cleaner energy, allowing people to choose a more environmentally friendly and local alternative to that offered by the mighty Big 6.

We aim that Bristol Energy should be up and running during 2015.

It will be complemented by a vast range of energy efficiency schemes, of which many are already underway in the city.

Just last month I launched Warm Up Bristol with energy minister Amber Rudd – worth £60m to the city and offering a range of discounted energy efficiency measures – to thousands of homes around the city.

Our wide reaching work makes Bristol a UK pioneer in our approach to energy efficiency, and will help keep money in local pockets….

The Arena

Useful – because you just might want to spend the money saved to see a show.

Yes. The Arena.

Long talked about, long hoped for, long anticipated, never built.

Last year, I made much of my ambition to deliver this key plank of our local economy and culture, which will bring millions of pounds of economic benefit to Bristol and should stimulate up to 1000, medium and long term jobs.

Well tonight, I can reveal that on 2nd December – in just 3 weeks – Cabinet will approve the selection of the preferred operator for the 12,000 capacity venue.

The interest from bidders in this project has been highly competitive.

Without giving away too much, I can assure you that the selected operator will bring great experience and everything I’ve seen so far suggests this is a sound deal for the city. It gives me further confidence of a firm footing on which to move forward.

Now that it’s becoming more real, we need to think about what form it will take.

So with the help of the Royal Institute of British Architects, we have shortlisted five multi-disciplinary design teams from a superb international long list of 31 for the final stage of the design competition.

We will select the winning design team in the Spring, but tonight I can reveal the 5 finalists.

The shortlisted teams of great architects and engineers are – in alphabetical order:

1. Grimshaw – Architects of the Eden Centre

2. Idom Ingeneria y Consultoria – designers of the Bilbao Arena

3. Populous – Architects of the London Olympics Stadium

4. White Arkitekter – designers of the Kulturvåven in Umea Sweden

5. Wilkinson Eyre – Architects of the Liverpool Arena

Congratulations to all of them.

We are on our way to a truly exciting development.

And speaking of ‘exciting developments’…

Devolution

…who can have missed the issue of devolution in the news recently?

Many of you know I have been pretty vocal in my frustration with the restriction placed on local authorities by this country’s overbearingly centralised system of governance.

In September I moderated the first planning session for a Global Parliament of Mayors in Amsterdam.

This was supported by some of the greatest city leaders.

The central idea is simple: real devolution and informed policy-making, best lie with engaged city leaders.

And following the Scottish referendum, the Government is showing some serious commitment.

Greater Manchester got its act together across 10 authorities and has been promised a metro mayor and more powers – a tribute to the success of city mayoral governance, of course, and to the real benefits of working together. Greater Birmingham and others have been quick to follow, and I have been in conversation with government ministers over the weekend.

In the Autumn Statement we are expecting further announcements on combined authorities. It would be a major missed opportunity if any of England’s major city regions weren’t now preparing solid partnerships to claim devolved powers.

The scale of the opportunity before us is huge.

Much more control of local decisions.

The ability to make real progress without having to jump through hundreds of Whitehall hoops.

Transport Infrastructure

Skills.

Homes.

and Strategic Planning.

All at our fingertips.

Worried about congestion in Bristol due to major housing developments in Filton? How much better it would be if planning crossed borders.

Want that train line to Portishead? More say over where you have new stations? Done.

The ability to use skills funding to create more training and job opportunities in South Bristol and deprived areas? Not a problem.

Control over integrated public transport services on a similar basis to Transport for London, with full smart ticketing across the board? Can do.

I’m talking tonight about the real interests of local people. Not of politicians. Not of parties, but of people.

If devolution to Combined Authorities – that is the sharing of services – is in the interest of the people in this region – and it is – then we must go there.

Let me be absolutely clear. We cannot afford to miss out.

We must, must, make a proper local commitment that crosses party lines and artificial boundaries.

We owe it to the people living in this – the finest city region in the UK.

To my counterparts across the West of England: I know you have people’s best interests at heart, we must seize this chance – before the window of opportunity closes.

Let’s embrace it – let’s create a Great Western economic powerhouse.

Let’s exploit these precious few months of pre-election democracy – to make local lives better.

Let’s work in concert to free us to prosper – together – you know it makes sense!

… and to all of you – Thank you.