Ipswich

Introduction

Ipswich is located in the heart of East Anglia. It is the regional centre for business, shopping, sport and entertainment, and home to IP-City, a community of people from the business, education and supporting sectors all working towards a common vision. IP-City is home to a range of international businesses, established small and medium sized businesses and ambitious local start-ups across the hi-tech sector.

Ipswich is proud of its 800-year Royal Charter and its long maritime tradition and also possesses a magnificent heritage and fine parks. At a ceremony on 13 March 2007, Ipswich was named as the cleanest town in the UK. The borough council spends more than £250,000 each year cleaning the streets of Ipswich with the aim of keeping the town spotless through its street care services.

On 20 March 2006, the former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott presented Beacon Council Awards to 18 local authorities in our region across 7 different themes. Ipswich BC was awarded Beacon status for waste and recycling.

Recent Visits

None of note

Demographics for Ipswich

Mid-2006 Population Estimates

Children and Learners

• Approximately £30m was allocated to school building projects annually between 2004 and 2006. Projects include £1.2m for new sporting facilities at Chantry High School, £1.5m to amalgamate Chantry Infant & Junior Schools, £2.5m for a new sixth form centre at Kesgrave High School and £1.8m to double Cedarwood Primary School’s capacity from 210 to 420 places.

Health and Well Being

• Scheduled to open in 2007, the Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust is developing the £26m Garrett Anderson Centre, creating a new critical care suite, planned treatment centre and an Accident and Emergency department.
• Three state of the art robotic arms are part of a major development programme for pharmacy services at The Ipswich Hospital. The automated dispensing service is one aspect of the £1.79m programme which also includes building a new pharmacy manufacturing unit. This building work to create the new unit and redesign pharmacy services began in January 2005.

Crime

• Ipswich has been named as one of 40 priority Respect Action Areas in England, for being a Council who has a strong record in tackling anti-social behaviour. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is also backing the scheme with £6m of funding in 2007/08 for parenting classes in the 40 areas.
• The Southern Area Basic Command Unit (BCU) in Suffolk which covers Ipswich received a BCU allocation of £150,000 in 2006/07. Part of this funding has been allocated to finance targeted police operations against prolific offenders. Other allocations have been made to the mediation service and Roadkill project tackling young people involved in vehicle crime.
• The Suffolk Local Area Agreement includes a range of outcomes to create a safer and stronger community. Ipswich CDRP has been allocated £177,000 from the Safer Stronger Communities strand of the LAA.
• The Ipswich Community Safety Team work in partnership with Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk Police, Primary Care Trust, Probation Service and the Suffolk Drug and Alcohol Action Team to achieve their targets.
• Three Safer Neighbourhood Teams have been established in Ipswich based in the south east, south west and central areas. The north west and north east Ipswich teams will be established by 2008. Each area has police officers and community support officers specifically for that area.

Transport

• £7.5m of Local Transport Plan Funding has been allocated for integrated transport in Suffolk for 2006/7 and £16m for maintenance
• Local transport funding has been spent on completing Ipswich’s cycle network through Bourne and Gippeswyk parks.
• Local transport funding of nearly £30m was approved for the South Lowestoft Relief Road scheme.

Social Inclusion and Regeneration

• Over £8.5m of General Sure Start Grant was allocated to Suffolk Local Authority for 2004-06 for activities that will lead to better outcomes for children and families, including the creation of childcare places and the development of children centres in disadvantaged areas.
• £1.47m was allocated to support the two Sure Start local programmes in Ipswich in 2005/6, with an additional £2.2m for capital projects. The programmes will offer new services and reshape existing initiatives promoting the physical, intellectual, and social development of children under 4 years.
• Over £1.4m has been allocated to Suffolk Children’s Fund & On-Track for 2005/6 to identify 5-13 year olds at risk of social exclusion and develop services to support them.  A total of £4.3m has been allocated to the Fund for the period 2005-08
• From April 2005, £4,800 has been awarded to two Community Champions Fund projects. The fund was set up by the former DfES to help support and develop the work of local people, in helping to change their communities.

European Funding

• Nearly £160,000  has been allocated to support Business Suffolk through The Prince’s Trust to help young people start their own business
• £192,000 has been awarded through Business Link Suffolk to provide a range of enhanced support services to pre-start and start-up businesses in all sections of the community.
• £740,000 has been allocated to Global Grant Provision, across the county, with a strong focus on Ipswich. Global Grants provide 100% grant funding packages of up to £10,000, to small organisations that are unable to access mainstream funding, to deliver projects aimed at getting socially excluded groups into employment.