Agenda item

(Chief Executive) To consider the attached report.

D Macnab said the head of Transformation was D Bailey. The Corporate Plan, the Council’s highest level strategic document, which would cover the period 2018 to 2023, was being reviewed and updated. The draft had been shaped from input from the Management Board, Leadership Team and Cabinet. The draft was an attempt this time to be illustrated in a diagrammatic fashion and a headline summary was given in Appendix 1. The purpose was to create a stronger council, fit for purpose and would move forward to give stronger communities. The draft vision, purpose, corporate aims and objectives were grouped under three themes: People, Place and Council. Appendix 2 (read from right to left) showed the strategic drivers, corporate aims and objectives, benefits and performance measures, and the action required for 2018–19 to enable delivery of the first year of the plan. It was anticipated that the Corporate Plan would be adopted by full Council later in the year.

Councillor G Shiell thought it was complicated and not very simple to follow. Councillor S Neville said the diagrammatic flowcharts helped to put the draft in simplistic terms. D Macnab said the Resources and Governance SCs had liked it and it was an attempt to make the plan more accessible.

Councillor J H Whitehouse asked where was the plan on how the Council was going to achieve these aims and objectives. D Macnab said that there would be an accompanying narrative. The business plans and service plans would be on the website so you could see how they were practically delivered.

Councillor A Patel said that regarding stronger communities, the Council would need a caption for mental health. He said he had represented the Council at the District Health Forum and every authority had incorporated key strategies and therefore mental health should be promoted in 1.1.2 (Promote mental and emotional well-being). D Macnab said that within stronger communities, this could be more specific as it was implicit but not drawn out specifically and the word ‘health’ added into ‘mental health’.

Councillor H Brady said there were no strings on the orange boxes in the flowchart, to which S Neville said that was because these were key benefits. D Macnab said the jargon was flexible and responsive to any changes in circumstance. Councillor J Philip said that the operational objectives could be measured.

Councillor J Lea asked about 1.2.1 (Redesign the Council’s sheltered housing accommodation) under Stronger communities, and why the Council had allowed there to be eleven empty rooms at Abbey View in Waltham Abbey. As vacancies had not been advertised, the elderly people that lived there were worried the Council was going to shut the home. D Macnab said the Council had no intention of shutting the home but struggled to let a studio, which was not a popular size. The Council was combining studios into one bedroom flats, which were a more popular choice. Councillor J Lea asked if she could go and have a look. Councillor J Philip advised her to speak to Councillor S Stavrou, the Housing Portfolio Holder, while D Macnab also encouraged a visit to one of the Council’s sheltered housing schemes.