Council leader presents Staffordshire’s year in numbers

More than 2,200 babies have been born in the county so far this year and more than 300 people have been helped to bring their business ideas to life too through a council support scheme.

Staffordshire County Council’s leader Alan White looked back on the year with a series of facts and figures at the final cabinet meeting of 2024. 

He said: “There is a huge amount to be celebrated and thankful for in our wonderful county.

“Heading towards Christmas and the New Year is a natural time for reflection. For us, it’s also the time when we’re setting the council’s budget.

“As we’ve been working this through, there’s no denying that local government faces many challenges in the future, but I’ve also been reminded of just how much the county council has accomplished in 2024.

“We know that good roads are vital to a thriving economy as well as helping people connect with family and friends, so earlier this year we invested an extra £8 million into fixing more roads. 

"As a result, we’ve filled over 24,000 potholes, completed 21 major structural schemes and surface dressed 762 roads covering more than 1.7million square metres.

“Elsewhere in our communities, we’ve seen over a million visits to our 42 libraries in the past six months, many of which are run alongside our excellent community partners People have made over one and a half million visits to our 14 Household Waste Recycling Centres, recycling 36,000 tonnes of waste.

“This year we’ve launched 11 Family Hubs, saw children take part in 50,000 activity sessions as part of our holiday activity and food clubs over the summer and have seen 9 in 10 parents get a first choice school place for their children. 

"The brand-new Staffordshire History Centre opened in November, seeing over 1,200 visitors in the first three weeks, and we’ve begun consultation on how some of the £18m we’ve committed to protect and enhance Staffordshire’s green spaces should be spent.”

Councillor White also looked ahead to 2025 at Wednesday’s meeting. 

The coming year will see all the county council’s seats up for election in May.

Councillor White said: “We are facing some big challenges in the future, especially with the rising costs of services and increasing numbers of people needing social care support. 

"But as a well-run council, we continue to invest in our county. Not all councils are in this position.

“I’d like to take this opportunity, as this is the last cabinet meeting of the year, to thank all of our officers, volunteers and partners for their continued dedication and hard work and wish you all a very happy Christmas.”