Nottinghamshire County Council and the region’s official place marketing organisation, Marketing Nottingham and Nottinghamshire (MNN) have struck a landmark deal for the visitor economy division of MNN - Visit Nottinghamshire- to promote the County’s tourism offer.

The 18-month deal sees Visit Nottinghamshire promoting the county’s tourism hospitality and events offer. The council has also officially backed Visit Nottinghamshire’s ambition to gain Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP) accreditation from Visit England, the application for which was made this week.

Concessionary passholders in Nottinghamshire will be able to continue to use their passes on the tram in 2024/25.

Following a consultation held to gather views on whether changes should be made to the scheme, Nottinghamshire County Council has confirmed that no changes will be made for the year ahead.

3,872 people responded to the consultation, with 92% of respondents stating that no changes should be made to the scheme, which currently offers free travel on the tram to disabled, elderly and companion passholders between 9:30am and 11pm on weekdays.

Nine new road maintenance schemes have been announced which will see an extra £4m spent on improving some of the county’s busiest roads.

The announcement, made at the County Council’s Full Council meeting, will see the nine roads receive resurfacing or structural patching treatments to repair damaged surfaces.

The final decision on these proposals will be taken in mid-March when the 2024/25 Highways Capital Programme report is approved. It is envisaged that works will begin in early summer of 2024. The £4m is on top of the £29m of investment already planned for 24/25 to improve the county’s roads.

Two senior county councillors are to write a joint letter to NHS England asking for Nottinghamshire to be allowed to bid for more funding to expand mental health support in schools.

Councillor Jonathan Wheeler, Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, and Councillor Scott Carlton, Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Health, want more financial support to boost the countywide coverage of mental health support teams (MHST).  

They acknowledge that the current levels of funding have had a positive impact in schools where there is MHST provision – but believe more financial support is needed to meet a growing demand for the programme.

As part of LGBT+ Fostering and Adoption Week, Sarah and Elizabeth, who adopted with Adoption East Midlands, have shared their experience of adoption as a same-sex couple, calling it “the best thing we ever did”.

The couple praised the “the whole process and support” they received from Adoption East Midlands.

LGBT+ Adoption & Fostering Week is a campaign led by New Family Social seeking to dispel myths around eligibility and promote support for LGBT+ people considering these routes to parenting and caring. This year’s theme is ‘Different Together’, which relates to both people from LGBT+ and global majority communities. Nottinghamshire County Council and Adoption East Midlands welcome LGBT+ individuals and couples from any ethnic background.

A Nottinghamshire special school will be expanding and opening its doors to more pupils, as part of a recent decision to increase the school’s place provision.

In an exciting development, an extra 35 places are being created at St Giles Special School in Retford, increasing its capacity from 170 to 205 pupil places.

The proposal, which has recently been out to local consultation, is part of Nottinghamshire County Council’s SEND place planning work to provide more special school places to support children and young people, providing the right support, in the right place, at the right time.

On Friday 1 March thousands of Nottinghamshire parents and carers discovered the outcome of their child’s secondary school applications for places starting in autumn 2024.

The vast majority, more than 98%, of the 9,446 on-time applications for September 2024 admissions in Nottinghamshire will receive a place at one of their preferred schools, increasing from last year.

Despite the large volume of applications, more than 91% of children are being offered their parents’ first preference, with just under 6% offered their second preference, meaning nearly 97% have been offered either their first or second preference, also increasing from last year.

Children and young people from Nottingham and Nottinghamshire participated in two mental health events during Children’s Mental Health Week, 5-11 February, which showcased local talent and encouraged young people to use their voices.

The NottAlone Live events welcomed hundreds of local young people who took part in workshops, watched performances by talented local artists, and connected with mental health and wellbeing service providers.