A NEW five-year blueprint has been endorsed by Worcestershire County Council's Conservative leadership - despite criticism it does not mention homelessness.

The Tory cabinet today voted to back its new dossier for years 2017-2022 aimed at securing better-paid jobs, easing congestion, improving people's health and attracting investment.

During the debate:

- Councillor Ken Pollock, a cabinet member, said Worcestershire's intermittent phone signals are not good enough and revealed how a meeting is taking place involving MP Harriett Baldwin and the four main network operators tomorrow

- Leader Councillor Simon Geraghty said issues with congestion could be helped by more tinkering with traffic lights and extra investment into "pinch points"

- Councillor Lucy Hodgson, who also sits on the cabinet, said fresh efforts to recruit more volunteers would be crucial

- The plan, called 'Shaping Worcestershire's Future', came under fire from the opposition Labour group due to it not mentioning rough sleepers

Councillor Peter McDonald, opposition Labour group leader, said: "Why is there no targets, no aspirations on the number of people sleeping rough, what is this council doing about that?

"There is no mention of that in this report."

But Councillor Geraghty told him the dossier was "a high level" plan which would not be duplicating the work done by the likes of district councils and police.

He said: "What we've deliberately tried not to do with this document is duplicate other people's work, that's why it doesn't mention crime and disorder, for example, because that's something the police work on.

"On homelessness, we'd want to work with our colleagues on the district councils on that."

During the debate all nine cabinet members spoke about the plan, including Councillor Marcus Hart, who looks after highways.

"This plan does not encompass all the work we do, it has to be high-level and broad-brush," he said.

"It's about using our financial envelope to invest the money we have in what matters to people."

The deputy leader, Councillor Anthony Blagg, said people had seen the document and asked him what it does not mention more services.

"This is basically a broad vision, a thrust of where we are going - people have said to me 'why isn't X, Y or Z in there'," he said.

"The answer is, the council does an awful lot of things, since I became deputy leader an awful lot more than I realised."

The 16-page plan includes more than 20 specific targets based upon creating 25,000 more jobs and 21,500 new homes by 2025, as well as catching up on pay levels with the likes of Warwickshire and Gloucestershire.

Health, the environment and children and families are also key themes alongside business investment, continuing from the old plan known as ‘Future Fit' which is expiring in 2017.

The new one will be voted on by full council in November.