Issue - meetings

BCP Council’s Corporate Strategy was adopted by Council in November 2019. It sets out the Council’s priorities and the values which underpin the way the council will work as it develops and delivers services.

The council priorities set out in the Corporate Strategy have not changed.

The introduction to the strategy has been refreshed to reflect the change in administration, the vision and the five big projects of the Big Plan.

The journey so far has been updated to reflect the impact and ongoing response to Covid 19. 

The Council’s corporate priorities continue to be supported by delivery plans. These set out the high-level actions which will help the council achieve its priorities.  

Delivery plans are reviewed annually. 

RESOLVED that Cabinet approve the updated Corporate Strategy

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Leader of the Council

Reason

The strategy is part of a golden thread that links personal, team and service performance to the things that matter most to the organisation. It represents the objectives and outcomes that the Council’s performance will be judged against and as such is a vital component of the Council’s performance management framework.

A good corporate strategy is driven by a strong vision and ambitious goals. which are vital for promoting the opportunities an organisation presents for investment and engagement.

It will influence the allocation and distribution of resources ensuring that the organisation commits its limited resources in accordance with its stated priorities.

The Leader of the Council presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

Cabinet was informed that BCP Council’s Corporate Strategy was adopted by Council in November 2019, and that it set out the Council’s priorities and the values which underpin the way the council will work as it develops and delivers services.

In relation to this Cabinet was advised that the council priorities set out in the Corporate Strategy have not changed, and that the introduction to the strategy has been refreshed to reflect the change in administration, the vision and the five big projects of the Big Plan.

In addition, Cabinet was informed that the journey so far has been updated to reflect the impact and ongoing response to Covid 19, and that the Council’s corporate priorities continue to be supported by delivery plans which set out the high-level actions which will help the council achieve its priorities.  

Cabinet was advised that the delivery plans are reviewed annually.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board addressed the Cabinet advising that whilst there were no formal recommendation from the recent meeting of the Board in respect of this item that the Board had highlighted the importance of face to face customer contact and that the report had been generally well received.

RESOLVED that Cabinet approve the updated Corporate Strategy

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Leader of the Council

To consider the Corporate Strategy report scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 9 February 2021:

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise and comment on the report and if required make recommendations or observations as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Drew Mellor, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Transformation.

The Cabinet report for this item is included with the agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

The Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Transformation and Finance introduced the report, a copy of which had been circulated to each member of the Board and which appears as Appendix ‘D’ to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Portfolio Holder and Chief Financial Officer responded to comments and questions from the Board, details included:

·       A Board member commented that it was understood that Christchurch Street Lighting was not currently with a renewable provider as opposed to it being indicated within the report that all electricity would be with a renewable provider. It was suggested that an officer would need to respond to the detail on this issue.

·       The report stated that food waste provision would be unified across the Council by April 2023, it was understood that there was an intention that environment act would bring everything forward by 2023 but there was no funding for this until 2025. The Leader confirmed that it was the ambition to level up and was now a commitment in the strategy. However the confirmation on funding was still awaited by the government.

·       A Councillor asked about the section on dynamic economy which indicated that the future of Winter Gardens would be determined in the future and the impact on the partnership with Morgan Sindel and the associated risks for this. There was an ambition around dynamic places which was now being fully resourced. The funding indicated was the full cost of the winter gardens spent to date. There was a future places scheme in place to look at this and all other sites as well.

·       The report indicated the adoption of Local Plan would be finalised by April 2023 – but the timeline indicated April 2024, the Leader thought it was probably a typo and this would be amended.

·       The report indicated that the Youth Strategy would be finalised by March 2022 but this was not coming to Overview and Scrutiny until April. The Leader noted this and confirmed that April was correct.

·       A Councillor commented that the report indicated that Brighter Futures for the high needs block would be balanced by March 2023 but this hadn’t been indicated previously. The High Needs Block did need to be addressed. There was more capital investment into schools along with the service-based transformation.

·       The Accountable Council section refered to digital tools but at the moment there was a lot of disappointment from residents that there was a lack of traditional engagement and pushing people towards digital tools when this was not a viable option for everyone. There was san ambition to be an entirely digitally enabled authority but there was also significant investment going back into telephony and improving the customer offer on this. A Councillor responded that there was a feeling of mistrust amongst some residents that the digital response to things like the local plan had been made extremely hard for a normal resident to complete, even for someone good with digital communication. The Leader suggested that hubs in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 161