Agenda item

(Chief Executive) to consider the attached report.

The Head of Transformation, Mr Bailey introduced the report on the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2018-2023. This would become the authority’s key strategic planning document linking the key external drivers influencing the Council services, with a set of corporate aims and objectives, grouped under three corporate ambitions. This report would be going to all the Select Committees for information.

A Corporate Specification for each year (previously called the Key Action Plan) details how the Corporate Plan was being delivered through operational objectives, with these in turn linked to annual Service business plans.

The success of the new Corporate Plan would be assessed through the achievement of a set of benefits, focussed on what the Council achieves for customers. These benefits in turn were evidenced through a set of performance measures. A new format for reporting the Council’s performance was also proposed.

Management Board, Leadership Team and Cabinet Members were involved in developing the draft Corporate Plan 2018-2023. The content of the Plan – including drivers, objectives and benefits – were the subject of consultation with customers, businesses, partners and staff. The views of Councillors were also sought through the four Select Committees as well as the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The views of the Cabinet were gained through a report to the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee. Feedback from local councils was taken through a report to the Local Councils’ Liaison Committee (LCLC).

To minimise expenditure associated with its production, the new Corporate Plan will only be available as an electronic download via the Council’s website or for customers to view as a hard copy at the Council’s Civic Offices.

An annual Corporate Specification detailed how the Corporate Plan would be delivered through a set of operational objectives for that year. The Council had a number of Key Action Plans, so to avoid confusion the yearly action plan for the Corporate Plan would in future be referred to as the Corporate Specification. This name denoted that it specifies the operational objectives for a given year, which in turn are responded to through annual Service Business Plans.

The report presented various ways to show the performance measures and benefits including a benefits map on A3 paper, although feedback on this particular ‘map’ indicated that it was too busy and difficult to read. A simpler ‘map’ on A4 was also included which updated the way it used to be displayed and this was likely to be the way it would develop.

Councillor Beales said that she preferred this new design as it was easier to understand. Councillor Knight agreed saying she preferred the traffic light system. 

Councillor Baldwin commented that the aims and objectives were fairly abstract and therefore would be hard to represent and measure. Mr Bailey noted that these were just examples and were for illustrative purposes only. As for being abstract the proper plans would contain fewer objectives. The indicators would continue to be developed and would change over time and be refined over the next five years.

Councillor Sunger said that the traffic lights made sense and they could see where they were going. The other ‘map’ had too many cross over connection lines and was not very clear. Mr Bailey agreed that the simpler traffic light examples were easier to understand and noted that their layout could still be influenced by members before it went to the Finance and Performance Cabinet Committee in June 2018.

Concern was raised that colour printing would be expensive but it was noted the each indicator (Red, Amber, and Green) was displayed as different shapes and could thus be read in black and white as well as colour.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee reviewed and commented on the proposed benefits and performance indicator set for 2018-2023 and on the Council’s proposed format for reporting the performance of the indicator set and the progress of the Corporate Plan 2018-2023.