Issue - decisions

ORDERED that the Executive:

1.     Approve that Directorate Service Plans for 2026/7 explicitly set out the key evidence of need relevant to the Directorate’s responsibilities, including reference to the Indices of Multiple Deprivation.

2.     Approve that Directors identify and record specific commitments within their Directorate Service Plans which demonstrated how their activity would contribute to reducing inequality and addressing deprivation in Middlesbrough.

3.     Approve that Directorate commitments arising from this work would be drawn together into a single, consolidated report and brought back to Executive, setting out the Council’s collective and intentional approach to responding to deprivation and areas of greatest need.

4.     Approve that alongside the development of the Council’s consolidated position, a structured process would be established to engage key partners — including those involved in the Town Strategy and wider system leadership arrangements to:

•         set out their planned contributions to addressing the inequalities identified through the Indices of Multiple Deprivation; and

•         align these contributions with the Council’s own commitments in order to support a coordinated, place-based response.

AGREED that Executive

Note that a separate report setting out the Council’s formal response to the Overview and Scrutiny Board Short Review on Poverty would be brought to Executive in September 2026.