Falkirk Council

Everyone in our area must feel included and play a part in helping achieve our vision. There are many people who do not get the chances and opportunities we should all be able to take for granted due to lack of income, poor health or disability. Equally, some people do not know how to access our services or are disadvantaged by virtue of their lack of skills. To address this we must make sure we provide the support necessary to address disadvantage and discrimination.

The men, women and children who live, work, study in or visit the Falkirk Council area are diverse. They are different ages, abilities, races and ethnic backgrounds, have different sexual orientations and with different faiths. While different groups and their experiences overlap, their ideas about themselves and their communities can be different.

The diversity of our communities is one of our area's greatest assets. We must ensure this strength in diversity is harnessed and everyone can play their part in their individual and our collective communities.

Our area, like many others, has communities that require particular attention. This can be due to historic reasons or can be because they are undergoing change. We must focus on the strengths of such areas and work with communities to ensure they flourish along with the rest of our area. We must make sure we have houses people can afford to buy and rent that are of the highest possible standard.

Our citizens continue to access critical services that meet their needs

Our citizens continue to access critical services that meet their needs

This will be demonstrated by:

We will achieve this by:

providing services that promote the interests of vulnerable groups positively promoting equality of opportunity across our services working with vulnerable and isolated older people to ensure they maintain their links with their local communities supporting people who move into our area

working with the community and voluntary sector to ensure the voices of vulnerable groups are heard in service design and provision working with established groups to address issues of discrimination continuing to support older people to live in their own homes and within their own communities providing opportunities for older and younger people to understand each other's lifestyles and points of view

Our housing continues to meet the needs of people who live and may wish to live in our area

Our housing continues to meet the needs of people who live and may wish to live in our area

This will be demonstrated by:

We will achieve this by:

ensuring the provision of an adequate supply of affordable housing for young people and families continuing to upgrade our housing so it meets the Scottish Housing Quality Standard ensuring the private rented sector meets the needs of some of our most vulnerable communities ensuring the viability of our outlying villages and towns meeting the needs of homeless people

participating in the provision of new social housing continuing our investment programme in our housing stock working with private landlords to ensure private tenants have appropriate standards of accommodation that are safe and legal working in partnership to provide new and affordable housing ensuring the provision of a diversity of housing to meet the needs of people with special needs implementing our homelessness strategy developing plans for our villages

Vulnerable children will be protected

Vulnerable children will be protected

This will be demonstrated by:

We will achieve this by:

improving the support and nurturing we provide to looked after children ensuring positive life chances for young people in care ensuring as many young people as possible have access to universal services ensuring children, young people and their families feel that they are being dealt with in a seamless manner providing care for young people within our area

reviewing the Council's approach to corporate parenting reviewing the provision of residential care used by our young people implementing a new multi-agency locality model that will provide continuity of service to young people and their families increasing young people's confidence and self esteem developing services for young people with a disability reducing the potential for our young people to develop harmful lifestyles

Disadvantaged communities will benefit from better services

Disadvantages communities will benefit from better services

This will be demonstrated by:

We will achieve this by:

decreasing the opportunity gap between our communities improving the employment opportunities for people living in our areas of need improving the health and wellbeing of people in our areas of need reducing the stigmatisation of greatest areas of need making our most disadvantaged communities safer

working in partnership to target appropriate services on areas of disadvantage supporting the health service to provide services to our most disadvantaged areas improving the image of areas of needs working with our tenants and residents to improve our housing estates developing housing and community regeneration strategies in identified priority areas ensuring benefits and money advice is readily available to those who may need this service