There’s no doubt that Barnsley has the potential to become an even more successful and distinctive 21st century market town – and we’re committed to seeing that potential fulfilled. The development, environment and culture of the region are at the core of our work, which is overseen by six main departments:
- Strategic Housing –including housing market renewal, energy efficiency and links to Berneslai Homes (responsible for managing around 20,000 homes on behalf of the council)
- Planning & Transportation –including development and building control, planning policy and transport policy
- Highways, Engineering & Waste Management –including roads maintenance, traffic management, public rights of way, highway design, waste collection, waste disposal and recycling
- Regulatory Services –includes environmental health, trading standards and enforcement activity
- Neighbourhood Services and sports strategy –includes street cleaning, ground maintenance, sports, parks and landscape design
- Economic Regeneration & Culture –including business development and investment, Remaking Barnsley, Work & Skills, Town Centre Management & Markets, arts, heritage, museums and festivals
Projects
Projects include the economic climate, pressure on public and private funding, and lack of consumer confidence. Some could see these issues as hard to overcome. We see them as challenges to be met through strong planning that encourages sustainable developments that don’t compromise on quality. Our work here is varied, and includes:
- Delivering the Barnsley Markets Project
- Developing local skills and creating 600 jobs with a £4.2m government fund
- Housing regeneration and more affordable housing
- Delivering new contracts, for example, waste management
- Improving the environment through carbon management
- Helping to achieve 50% household waste recycling
- New business development
- Increasing visitors to Barnsley
- Raising the profile of our cultural offer and engagement in the arts
- Working in partnership with the business sector to sustain and grow the economic prosperity of the borough
- A commitment to high quality customer services
We co-ordinate all aspects of environmental enforcement and work closely with wide-ranging services, agencies and partners. Here to protect the public, we ensure that the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink and the places we live, work and visit are safe and don’t cause harm to health. In short, we work with businesses to protect the most vulnerable, ensure compliance and support economic growth.
We’ve also been involved in several exciting national projects, developing new ways of working using technology and implementing new work styles to improve people’s work/life balance.
Neighbourhood Services are key to the delivery of the council’s ‘Clean, Green & Safe’ agenda. It provides an integrated and co-ordinated approach to the management, maintenance and development of the borough’s green environment and public open spaces, focusing on delivering local priorities wherever possible.
Our sports strategy team is here to improve the health and wellbeing of Barnsley’s residents, through participation in sport and more active recreation.
In an environment where things are always changing, we make sure that we’re constantly building up the skills of people in each area, and refreshing the way we work to meet each challenge. We also build solid links with other council services and external bodies – and play a large role in the Leeds and Sheffield regions.
Current success
Our plans are certainly ambitious – but we’re more than ready to meet them. How? Because we already have a superb track record to build from:
- Barnsleyhas increased recycling from 3% to 30% since 2001
- 92% of our 19,500 council houses reach the ‘Decent Homes’ standard – with 100% set for 2010
- Barnsley has been prioritised for housing growth for Yorkshire
- The highway network has improved from 62% in need of attention in 2000, to less than 10% in 2008
- Our cultural offer has attracted £5m of external investment in the last 5 years
- Barnsleyhas created contemporary, ecological and sustainable business facilities – leading to almost 1,000 new jobs in 3 years
Our success has come from responding to local and national challenges – and the commitment, knowledge, experience and skills of our people.
Careers
We’ve a diverse mix of opportunities, including professional and operational roles across all our services. This includes full time, part time and casual positions.
Progression
As we’re responsible for such diverse services, you’ll find plenty of scope for career progression. We recognise how important it is to maximise the skills of our people. So, we often encourage collaborative working across other areas of the council, and occasionally secondment opportunities too.
