Nick Bye: Torbay can be a home for hope

It was good to meet up with fellow Baton of Hope baton bearers in Torbay Road, Paignton on Sunday July 13th.

It was great to see the town buzzing in the summer sun but perhaps poignant to reflect behind the facade of seaside jollity Torbay endures one of the highest suicide rates in the UK. It is therefore absolutely appropriate we have been chosen as the only place in the South West to host the 2025 Baton of Hope Tour.

This tour will start in Blackpool which is another seaside place & outlier in terms of suicide rates, coming to Torbay on Tuesday September 30th.

Sad to write I have known far too many people of all ages who have ended their own lives & aware of many more, including young people who have taken this same path with devastating consequences for families & friends left behind.

The Baton of Hope is the UK's largest suicide prevention initiative. It's like the Olympic Torch but it celebrates mental wellbeing & honours those lost to suicide. I regard it as an honour indeed to have been chosen as a baton bearer.

At the gathering we heard from some of our local Samaritans who are there for people to talk to when they reach the point of despair. We should all be grateful for the service they provide at all hours of the day & night.

The following day there was a Cabinet meeting in the Town Hall & although I wouldn't expect the four hundred plus page agenda & reports "pack" to be essential bedtime reading (some of it might send you off to sleep) it's quite surprising so few people come along to observe these occasions when important decisions are made.

There are also little nuggets buried deep in the reports & it was a surprise to me to read in the "Torbay's Market Position Statement 2025-29" which outlines the likely demand for adult social care services in the years ahead, Torbay is second only to Blackpool (Blackpool again!) in terms of "Clients receiving long term support during the year as a per cent of the adult population aged 18 and over (2023/24) for all English unitary authorities".

There's a bar chart showing 70 approximately councils all listed in a row with broadly speaking the poorer places at one end & the more affluent at the other. Bracknell Forest, Windsor & Maidenhead, Reading, Buckinghamshire et al only have to support about half the percentage of their population in this way compared to Blackpool, Torbay, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, very much the poor relations.

In a nutshell Torbay is a small unitary council with the oldest & poorest population in the South West with pockets of deprivation amongst the worst in the UK. As Lead Member for Children's Services I am fully aware we have had more children in care in the recent past than anywhere else in the UK other than (guess where?!) Blackpool. 

With a great deal of support now in place through our Family Hubs & other early intervention initiatives, all of which come at a cost, we have reduced our numbers of children in care from a peak of circa 360/370 a few years ago to about 280/290 now. But these are still much higher numbers than for many other generally more prosperous places.

All this makes me wonder about the long term viability of Torbay as a unitary council. The lion's share of our budget goes on adults & children's social care services. It's not a good starting point to have the poorest & oldest population with demographic change only likely to add to the demand for services for older people in particular.

Even though I am just about the only person in the Town Hall to (publicly) say it, I really do believe it's something of a missed opportunity for Torbay Council to promote the status quo as our favoured option in terms of local government reorganisation. When I speak with people "out & about" I believe there are plenty who can appreciate the advantages of being part of a much larger council which would have the advantage of serving a larger population with a different demographic.

Finally, the highlight of the week for me was a visit to the YMCA in Exeter accompanied by good hearted Councillors Anna Tolchard & John Fellows to see for ourselves their well established projects to support young people who are at risk of homelessness.

As you may know they are leading on a similar & much needed scheme for Torbay to be based at four properties, already purchased in Paignton.

I was fortunate indeed in my twenties to live close to Paignton Harbour in my own flat, so why not provide accommodation in the same location for these youngsters who will be given full support to turn their lives around?

The first property will come on stream in the Autumn & I am sure it will be a great success.