POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE

13 December 2017

 

Strategic Plan 2015-20, 2018-19 Refresh

 

Final Decision-Maker

Council

Lead Director

Chief Executive

Lead Officer and Report Author

Angela Woodhouse, Head of Policy and Communications

Classification

Public

 

Wards affected

All

 

Executive Summary

Policy and Resources Committee agreed that the Strategic Plan would be refreshed for 2018-19. The draft refreshed plan is attached at Appendix A. At a workshop with Group Leaders and the Wider Leadership Team it was identified that the current three priority action areas should remain as priorities for 2018-19.

 

 

This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee:

1.  Approve the refreshed Strategic Plan for consideration by the Service Committees, prior to approval in February before submission to full Council

 

2.  Approve retaining the three prioritised action areas for 2018-19 and the performance reporting arrangements.

 

 

 

 

Timetable

Meeting

Date

Policy and Resources Committee

13 December 2017

Strategic  Planning and Sustainable Transportation Committee

9 January 2018

Communities, Housing and Environment Committee

16 January 2018

Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee

30 January 2018

Policy and Resources Committee

14 February 2018

Council

28 February 2018



Strategic Plan 2015-20, 2018-19 Refresh

 

 

 

1.    INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

1.1     Maidstone Council’s Strategic Plan 2015-20 sets  out the Council’s priorities and the actions that we need to take to achieve these.  Last municipal year the Service Committees had extensive input into the wording of all the action areas within the Strategic Plan. Policy and Resources Committee subsequently agreed at its meeting on 25 July 2017 that the current plan be refreshed to ensure contextual information is up to date and areas of focus in relation to the action areas for 2018-19 are agreed. The plan attached at Appendix A includes updated statistics (where available) and changes to the “we will commit to” sections.

 

1.2     A Resident Survey was conducted over the summer which included postal and online submissions as well as a roadshow in various locations. A summary report of those areas relevant to the strategic plan is provided at Appendix B.



 

 

2.        AVAILABLE OPTIONS

 

2.1     At its meeting on 25 July 2017 Policy and Resources Committee agreed that the Strategic Plan would be refreshed and not re-written. Appendix A shows the refreshed Plan with tracked changes.

 

2.2     Every two years the Council conducts a Resident Survey. The survey carried out over the summer included consultation on our budget and corporate priorities. When asked to prioritise the three priority action areas by importance, the majority of respondents said that priority 2, ‘A clean and safe environment’ was the one most important to them. One in four respondents said that ‘A home for everyone’ was most important and less than one in ten said that ‘Regenerating the town centre’ was most important to them. With regard to spending on the priorities just over half of all respondents said that funding for the priority ‘A home for everyone’ should be maintained and almost one in three said spending should be increased. Over half of all respondents said that funding for ‘A clean and safe environment’ should be increased and 1.5% said funding should be reduced.  Overall, 46.1% of respondents said that funding on ‘Regenerating the town centre’ should be maintained and 26.8% said that it should be reduced. 

 

2.3     Group meetings have been offered briefing session on the results of the residents survey. The results have been given to service managers to inform decision making in their service areas. The Policy and Information Team will meet with managers in December and January to collate the actions that have been taken as a result of the survey. This will be feedback to a member workshop in February and used to inform the communication and engagement strategy refresh.

 

2.4     Policy and Resources Committee at its meeting in July requested that a workshop be held to look at the priorities for 2018-19. The Group Leaders and Leadership Team held a workshop looking at the progress in the three priority areas and agreed that they should remain as priorities for 2018-19. The Committee is asked to consider whether this should be agreed as part of the updated Strategic Plan. The proposed three priority areas for 2018-19 are therefore:

 

§  A home for everyone

 

§  A clean and safe environment

 

§  Regenerating the town centre

 

2.5     The Strategic Plan will go to each Service Committee, as refreshed, for consideration prior to approval by Policy and Resources Committee for submission to full Council in February.

 

2.6     As is evident from the report of the Director of Finance and Business Improvement elsewhere on this agenda the Council faces significant financial challenges over the life of the plan. Despite the financial pressures the Medium Term Financial Strategy remains aligned to and underpins the delivery of the Strategic Plan priorities.

 

2.7     The Committee could amend the strategic plan further prior to it going to the Service Committees, approve the changes or reject them. This Committee has already agreed that it would refresh rather than write a new plan. This is the first step in that process.

 

2.8     The refresh includes:

 

·         Identification of areas of focus for 2018-19; and

·         Refresh of any contextual information in the document such as

Statistics

·         Updates to the “we will” sections under each priority area

 

The foreword will be updated prior to Policy and Resources Approval in February as will the artwork and strategies and plans sections of the plan at Appendix A.

 

 

3.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

 

3.1   Policy and Resources Committee is asked to approve the refreshed Strategic Plan at Appendix A for consideration and further development by the Service Committees. This is in line with the process agreed by the Committee when considering the corporate planning timetable in July.

 

 

 

4.       RISK

4.1  The Strategic Plan sets out our priorities and how they will be delivered, informing the Council’s risk register and risk appetite. The Council has a corporate risk register which will pick up any actions from the Strategic Plan.

 

 

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

 

5.1   Residents were asked to consider our priorities in the Resident Survey carried out in the summer - see Appendix B.

 

 

 

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

 

6.1     The next stage in the process is to consult with the Service Committees prior to reporting to this committee in February.

 

6.2     Policy and Resources Committee will then consider the changes put forward by each Service Committee prior to approving the refreshed plan for submission to Council on 28 February 2018.

 

 

 

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

 

 

Issue

Implications

Sign-off

Impact on Corporate Priorities

The Strategic Plan sets the Council’s priorities

Head of Policy, Communications and Governance

Risk Management

Already covered in the risk section

Head of Policy, Communications and Governance

Financial

The Strategic Plan sets the

Council’s priorities. The

Medium Term Financial

Strategy aligns with the

Strategic Plan and sets out

the priorities in financial

terms.

Section 151 Officer & Finance Team

Staffing

The plan informs service

plans and individual

appraisals

Head of Service

Legal

No legal implications

Legal Team

Privacy and Data Protection

 

No implications

Head of Policy, Communications and Governance

Equalities

The recommendations do not propose a change in service therefore will not require an equalities impact assessment

Head of Policy, Communications and Governance

Crime and Disorder

The Strategic Plan sets out

the high level priorities for

Community Safety

Head of Policy, Communications and Governance

Procurement

No implications

Section 151 Officer

 

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

 

·         Appendix A: Strategic Plan 2015-20, 2018-19 Refresh

·         Appendix B: Resident Survey Summary

 

 

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

None