The Strategic Director – Regeneration and Environment presented the Directorate Plan for 2013/2014, which provided an explanation of the critical key role of the Directorate in the delivery of a number of key strategies and services, which were central to the Council’s successful achievement of its Corporate Plan priorities. In addition, further important day to day activities of the Directorate were included in the Service Plans for each service area and were the responsibility of the Heads of Service.

The local environment and economy were amongst the most important factors in driving the quality of life, health and levels of achievement for Wirral residents and services were focused on ensuring that Wirral was a place where businesses flourished and people had access to jobs. To achieve this, the Directorate was committed to supporting business growth and maintaining and developing improvements to our transport system, which was crucial to a successful and growing economy.

Work with partners was being undertaken in communities to address crime and anti-social behaviour and the Plan outlined the eclectic range of services within the Directorate that increasingly were being carried out in various partnership or collaborative arrangements with other public agencies or volunteer/community groups. There was a clear need to manage demand and public expectation of what the Council was and was not able to do, faced with a period of unprecedented austerity and change. It was therefore crucial that actions and limited resources were channelled to those areas where maximum sustainable benefits could be delivered.

Each of the Heads of Service indicated the Directorates key priority areas that were included in the Plan document and highlighted what was going to be delivered in 2013/2014. The Plan included an analysis of how the Directorate budget delivered the Corporate Plan priorities, together with the Directorate Risk Register and workforce monitor. In response to a comment from a Member regarding risk assessment scoring, the Head of Regeneration proposed to circulate an explanation of the methodology to all Members of the Committee. He assured Members that the risk register was a live document and that updates to it in relation to any risks that escalated would be brought to the attention of the relevant Policy and Performance Committee Members, as they were to the Cabinet.

With regard to the Desired Direction of Travel indicator, the Head of Environment and Regulation accepted comments from Members that it was, in the main, self evident. However, the information was included for clarity, in the light of a number of changes to the way information now had to be measured and reported. In response to a specific enquiry from a Member with regard to issues associated with the use of PDAs in the brown bin collection, officers indicated that although no such concerns had previously come to light, the matter would be investigated and a note would be provided to Members direct.

Resolved – That the report be noted.