Issue - meetings

The Deputy Executive Leader, Councillor R B Howe to present the draft Corporate Plan 2016/18 for approval.

(The recommendations of the Cabinet will be reported at the meeting and are included in the report of their meeting on 17th March 2016. See Agenda Item 9(a)).

In conjunction with a recommendation of the Cabinet, Minute No. 75 refers, the Deputy Leader, Councillor R B Howe introduced a report by the Corporate Team Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) to which was attached the proposed Corporate Plan for the period 2016-18. 

Members understood that the Corporate Plan contained the Council’s vision, strategic priorities and objectives for the next two years. The Plan also set out what the Council aimed to achieve in addition to the core statutory services.

Councillor Howe reported that the condensed version of the Plan had been welcomed by the Cabinet and drew Members attention to the reduction in the number of Strategic Priorities from four to three.

Councillor T Hayward reported that he was pleased to see the comments raised at the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Communities and Customers) on 1st March 2016 taken into consideration on the A428, but highlighted the concern raised previously in relation to Public Rights of Way, whereby Councillor Howe undertook to take this forward.

The Executive Leader, Councillor J D Ablewhite, moved and was duly seconded by Councillor Howe, whereupon the Council

RESOLVED

(a)  that the Corporate Plan 2016-18 (as attached at Appendix 1 to the report now submitted) be adopted; and

(b)  that the Corporate Team Manager, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, be authorised to make any further minor amendments to the Plan as may be considered necessary.

To receive a report by the Corporate Team Manager on the Corporate Plan for 2016/18.

RECOMMENDS

that the Council adopt the Corporate Plan 2016/18, subject to inclusion of the comments made by the Cabinet, as detailed in the Minutes.

By way of a report from the Corporate Team Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Cabinet considered the Corporate Plan 2016/18.

The Council’s Corporate Plan was reviewed in 2015 when it was agreed that a full refresh would take place in early 2016.  The Plan was a two year document that outlined the Vision, Strategic Priorities and Objectives for Huntingdonshire. The Plan also established what the Council aimed to achieve in addition to the core statutory services.

It was explained to the Cabinet that the review had been timed to coincide with the development of Service Plans and where appropriate, actions or performance indicators in Service Plans for 2016/17 had been included in the Corporate Plan.

The Cabinet was informed that feedback received via the quarterly update reports had been incorporated in the revised Plan and that the objectives, key actions and performance measures were still being finalised.

The condensed version of the Plan was welcomed by the Cabinet as were the reduction in the number of Strategic Priorities from four to three.  However, the Cabinet agreed that the wording within the Plan should be bolder with active titles that provided more clarity about what the Council was trying to deliver and its role for example ‘Ensuring sustainable growth’ rather than ‘Sustainable growth...’ 

The Cabinet agreed that the document should relate to both officers and Members.  The Cabinet also thought the Plan should be more explicit in terms of how it translated to officers and the delivery of services.

In considering the comments from the Overview and Scrutiny Panels, the Chairmen of the Overview and Scrutiny Panels (Finance and Performance) and (Economy and Growth), having been invited to address the Cabinet, the proposed performance measures relating to sickness absence and the impact of long term sickness on the overall average were discussed. The Cabinet agreed that there was value in understanding this and it was noted that this was reported separately to the Employment Panel.  However, for the purposes of the Corporate Plan the Cabinet agreed to retain the current measure, of reducing the days lost per full time employee to 9 days per person, as this was a standard measure used across the public and private sector and it allowed for performance to be compared.  The Cabinet emphasised the importance of addressing and changing the current culture in relation to sickness absence and that Heads of Service must take action to address current sickness levels.

The Cabinet agreed with the Panel that Executive Councillors should take ownership of Corporate Plan and be instrumental in the development of the objectives.  However, the Cabinet stated the importance of the role of the Overview and Scrutiny Panels in also taking ownership of the Corporate Plan and challenging on delivery of corporate objectives. 

The Cabinet commended the Overview and Scrutiny Panels for their in-depth comments and contribution. 

In recommending the Corporate Plan to Council for adoption the Cabinet requested that their comments made should be included.  Subsequently  ...  view the full minutes text for item 92

The Corporate Plan is to be presented to the Panel.

With the aid of a report by the Corporate Team Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Corporate Plan was presented to the Panel. Members were informed that the Corporate Plan is updated every two years. The Plan is strongly linked with the Service Plans and it aims to give Overview and Scrutiny the ability to hold Portfolio Holders to account.

Whilst giving feedback upon the Corporate Plan a Member emphasised that it is important to include open spaces within the Plan as it reinforces the Council’s commitment to open spaces as there had been issues in the past.

The point of ‘reduce incidences of littering’ underneath the Enabling Communities Section had been noted as being difficult to measure by the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Finance and Performance) however the Panel thought the action was important and it should be kept in. In response Members were informed that the issue was whether the action showed a reduction of litter or just a reduction of complaints.

Following a Member’s insistence of including an action of reducing fly posting and graffiti, the Panel were advised that one of the measures included is the National Indicator 195 which measures the reduction of fly posting and graffiti as well as litter.

Members would like the point of ‘prevent homelessness where possible by helping households either remain in their current home or find alternative housing’ within the Enabling Communities Section to include within a reasonable distance from key services as the Panel had concluded that the current location for temporary accommodation for homeless people is too far away from any amenities.

In response to a question relating to graffiti and how the Council are working with the Police. The Panel were informed that the Council would remove offensive graffiti within 24 hours and non-offensive graffiti within 48 hours. The Council are committed to working with Cambridgeshire Constabulary in bringing about prosecutions for graffiti. 

The Panel was informed that the action concerning business rates supporting local businesses underneath the Sustainable Growth Section was not finalised when the report was written. Members thought that using business rates to support local businesses was what the Council should be doing to unlock growth however were not sure on whether this should be supporting new businesses in the area or the growth of existing local businesses.

The Panel thought that accelerate business growth and investment underneath the Sustainable Growth Section was crucial for the Council and should remain in the Corporate Plan.

Members questioned the influence the Council has in regards to the Local Enterprise Partnership however the Panel were informed that the influence comes as a result of the inclusion of the Executive Leader on the LEP board.

A question was raised in regards to the action of ‘HDC to develop our own apprenticeship scheme’ underneath the Sustainable Growth Section and why the Council are not developing an apprenticeship scheme with the regional college. In response Members were informed that it is the aim  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26

The Corporate Plan is to be presented to the Panel.

With the aid of a report by the Corporate Team Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Corporate Plan was presented to the Panel. Members were acquainted with the Corporate Plan and how it links with Service Plans. The Panel noted that Overview and Scrutiny would have the information they require to hold Portfolio Holders to account.

When discussing the vision and strategic priorities and objectives the Panel expressed a preference for the first vision statement of ‘we want to continue to improve the quality of life for the people of Huntingdonshire and work towards sustainable economic growth whilst providing value for money services’. Members noted that the number of priorities has been cut from four to three.

The Panel agreed that there should be some preamble however not too wordy as Members felt that the document should remain a clean strategic document.

Under Enabling Communities section Members were concerned that the discrepancies between the market towns and villages would mean that the objective of ‘ensuring that our streets and open spaces are clean and safe’ would be difficult to achieve.

Concerns were raised that the action point within the Enabling Communities section of ‘reduce incidences of littering’ would be difficult to measure.

Following a question on what the Council were doing in regards to the objective of ‘support community development and enabling the voluntary and community sector organisations to develop, and working with communities to build resilience’ within the Enabling Communities section the Panel was informed that the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Communities and Customers) have a Working Group investigating the issue.

Members questioned whether the objective of ‘supporting economic growth in rural areas’ within the Sustainable Growth section was achievable as rural areas suffer from slow broadband and they are competing with the enterprise zones.

The Panel did not believe the action within the Sustainable Growth section of ‘continue to work with partners and influence the Local Enterprise Partnership’s Strategy, to secure resource to facilitate delivery and mitigate the impact of new housing and to drive economic growth’ was realistic as Members believe that the Local Enterprise Partnership can’t be influenced.

In reference to the action of ‘facilitate delivery of new housing on the large strategic site at Wyton’ underneath the Sustainable Growth section a Member wanted to emphasise the requirement for infrastructure in particular road infrastructure. Members were also keen to include Molesworth underneath the same action point.

The Panel noted that the action of ‘Zero Based Budgeting (ZBB) Phase 2 is undertaken to identify further service savings’ under the section of Efficient and Effective Council meant that the next process of ZBB would take place within the lifetime of the Corporate Plan.

Under the Efficient and Effective Council section the action of ‘collecting money that is saved?’ was noted as particularly confusing however Members were advised that this was an error and the action should have read ‘collecting money that is owed’.

Concerns were raised regarding the measurement of ‘accelerate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25

The Corporate Plan is to be presented to the Panel.

With the aid of a report by the Corporate Team Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Corporate Director (Delivery) presented the Corporate Plan to the Panel. The Panel was informed that the Corporate Plan follows the expiry of the old Corporate Plan and the Plan aims to set out what the Council would like to achieve under the three corporate priorities.

A Member raised the point underneath the Enabling Communities section that there is no reference to Public Rights of Way. In response it was noted that the last point in section 1b states that the work programme includes providing accessible leisure, green spaces, countryside and culture opportunities which covers Public Rights of Way however following further discussion it was agreed to look at expanding the point to include Public Rights of Way.

Members would like the inclusion of the A1 and A428 improvement schemes within the Sustainable Growth section however the Panel was informed that those schemes would not be included as they would not be at the delivery stage within the lifetime of the Corporate Plan.

The Panel thought that underneath the Enabling Communities section Disabled Facilities Grants (DFG) should be included but noted that DFGs is a moveable fund. Members were informed that it would be looked into.

A Member requested that licences should be monitored under the Corporate Plan as the Council issue a high volume of licences and each licence is linked to business growth. The Panel noted that any measure would be an end to end measure from receipt to approval to ensure licences would be dealt with in a timely manner.

A query was raised within the section of Efficient and Effective Council and the point ‘collecting money that is saved?’ as Members are not sure what it means and why there is a question mark.

The Panel were advised that quarterly reporting of the Corporate Panel would be done through the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Finance and Performance).