Agenda item

The Board received a report on the development of the refreshed Corporate Plan 2022-27. 

The Leader of the Council introduced the report, highlighting that the four key themes of Open for Business, Children and Families, the Environment and Health and Wellbeing remained the same as the previous plan.  Each section of the Plan had been updated and One Worcestershire was embedded throughout the document.

During the discussion, the following main points were made:

·         The Leader advised that although there had been no formal consultation, the Cabinet Members and Directors had reviewed the current priorities. Further discussions would take place with District Councils and there would also be some resident roadshows in the community to discuss the Plan after publication.

·         The Council was working with the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (WLEP) to increase the focus on higher skilled and better paid jobs in Worcestershire to increase Gross Value Added (GVA).

·         There would be a continued focus on key industrial developments in Worcestershire eg the Shrub Hill Quarter which had been identified as a possibility for large scale growth.

·         A Member questioned whether there had been any risk analysis on the delivery of the key areas in light of the replacement of the European Fund and the delegation of UK Shared Prosperity Fund to District Councils. The Leader explained that this was a challenge, as resources would reduce and it would be important to work with District Councils to support businesses. In addition, the Open for Business Fund could also provide support.

·         The refreshed Plan had been written following discussion with the Council’s Senior Leadership Team, Cabinet Members, Officers in Business Support, Research and Intelligence and other relevant partners.

·         Minor tweaks could be made to the Plan, however material changes would not be appropriate at this stage of its development.

·         The reference to One Worcestershire was about how all partners worked together to deliver a shared ‘Vison’.

·         Although child and adolescent mental health wasn’t specified as an individual priority, it was incumbent in the Health and Wellbeing priority vision and objectives.

·         A Member questioned how the voice of the children and families had been included in the development of Plan. The Leader confirmed that there would be opportunities through service delivery for this to happen.

·         In response to the request for clarification that the measure relating to ‘Our Children’s Services rated Good by Ofsted’ related to all Children’s Services, the Leader confirmed that the measure was written with the four yearly Ofsted Inspection of Children’s Social Care Services in mind. However, given the importance of all Children’s Services being rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted, further thought would be given to expanding the measure.

·         In response to the suggestion that the Children and Families measure stating that at least four out of five schools should be rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted should be a more ambitious target as 4 out of 5 schools were already rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. The Leader acknowledged the sentiment of the point made but explained that schools would need to continue to drive improvement to maintain these grades.

·         Given that the Corporate Plan was a strategic document, it had been decided that reference to various Government papers would not be included as the Plan would quickly become out of date.

·         It was agreed that consideration would be given to including a number against the measure relating to the ‘% of children getting their first preference school’.

·         It was suggested that the Plan should be ambitious and give a target date for Worcestershire becoming a 2 Tier school system – the Leader confirmed that there wasn’t a target date for this to happen.

·         The WLEP were working on promoting the skills shortage in the employment market in Worcestershire with schools and colleges etc.

·         One of the themes in the Resilience Transport Network of the Plan was that “Worcestershire aspires to deliver better local bus routes with ultra-low and zero emission buses in the County…..A Member asked whether an extra measure relating to community transport provision could be included in the Plan.  The Leader confirmed that he didn’t have the jurisdiction to change the agreed measures, that was a matter for Council.

·         Part of the investment in technology to enable people to live healthily and independently in their own homes included a Pilot of 5G and the associated healthcare benefits.

·         The Leader confirmed that there would be a continued investment in public rights of way, walking and cycling routes to help support people’s physical and mental health.

·         Although it would have been good to have seen a separate priority for Adult Social Care rather than it being included as part of Health and Wellbeing priority, the focus on independent living was welcomed.

·         The Leader agreed to consider adding a separate reference in the Plan about the quality of life issues relating to crime and disorder matters such as reduction of hate crime, reduction of dependence on drugs and alcohol and support for victims and perpetrators of crime.

·         A Member suggested that the measures relating to Health and Wellbeing should include qualitative measures as well as quantitive measures.

·         It was suggested that ‘How we will judge progress:’ (page 17 of the Agenda Report) should be replaced with ‘How we will measure this:’. This would provide consistency throughout the Report.

·         It was questioned how seeking to adopt new ways of working including co-location and shared service to embrace a joined up approach to service delivery fitted with the Council’s Organisational Re-design. In response, it was confirmed that the Council was looking at the best ways to work, optimise working in partnership and the best way to share the physical space.

·         With regard to the One Public Estate, there was access to a small amount of funding for some analysis of the collective estate.  In due course, as plans developed they would be shared through the democratic process.

·         The measures in the Plan would be monitored via a twice yearly report on achievement of targets against Plan which would include Scrutiny.

·         The Leader confirmed that all councillors would be involved in the roadshows which would take place in the community (there would be at least one roadshow per district area).

·         Consideration would be given to introducing an incentivised staff suggestion scheme for commercial/cost saving ideas.

The main points from the discussion would be included in the Agenda Report of 19 May meeting of Council.

The Board agreed to invite the Leader and Chief Executive to provide an annual update on the Corporate Plan (including risk analysis and delivery plans).