Issue - meetings

Mrs Angela Woodhouse, the Head of Policy, Communications and Governance, presented her report setting out proposals in relation to the corporate planning process; in particular, refreshing the Council’s Strategic Plan or creating a new one to run concurrently with the Medium Term Financial Strategy for 2019-2024. 

Mrs Woodhouse explained that the proposal was to create a new Strategic Plan going beyond the deadline of the current Plan to ensure that the Council had in place an up to date corporate vision to inform the refresh of the Local Plan and other documents and strategies.  The proposed corporate planning timetable was set out in the report and included details of how the Strategic Plan would be developed through the Council’s formal governance structure whilst maximising Member engagement and involvement through the use of workshops, the Member sounding board for communications and engagement and the Leaders’ Forum.

In response to questions, Mrs Woodhouse confirmed that:

·  The reference to the year 2010 in the last line of paragraph 1.2 of the report should be amended to read 2020.

·  The Leaders’ Forum, comprising the Leaders of each Political Group represented on the Council, was not a decision making body; it was a sounding board like those set up for communications and engagement and office accommodation.  It was for the Policy and Resources Committee to decide whether to retain and refresh the current Strategic Plan or to create a new one.

It was proposed and seconded that the corporate planning timetable for the creation of a new Strategic Plan to run concurrently with the Medium Term Financial Strategy from 2019-2024 be adopted subject to the removal of both references to the Leaders’ Forum and that if Officers need to take further soundings from Members this should be through sounding boards that are politically balanced.  When put to the vote, this motion was lost with five Members voting in favour and 10 against.

RESOLVED:  That the corporate planning timetable for the creation of a new Strategic Plan to run concurrently with the Medium Term Financial Strategy from 2019-2024, as set out in paragraph 2.5 of the report of the Head of Policy, Communications and Governance, be adopted.

Voting:   11 – For  4 – Against  0 – Abstentions