Agenda item

Corporate and Business Planning

Minutes:

A report by the Chief Executive informed that it was imperative that the Council had a robust approach to business planning to ensure that decisions relating to the vision, priorities and resource allocation were based on a robust evidence base and analysis of community needs.

 

The report set out an approach for developing a three year Corporate Plan and the timetable for doing so to ensure that consultation was embedded into the business planning arrangements which informed the future priorities and to enable the priorities identified in the Corporate Plan to be delivered by a sustainable budget over the three year period.

 

Councillor J Green informed that he was of the view that the Council should consider asking the public, particularly through the Area Forums, if the consultation was meaningful.  He proposed that Area Forums be invited to let the Council know what they thought about the Council’s consultation exercises and if they worked for them.

 

Councillor I Lewis reminded the Cabinet that there had been concerns raised the previous summer by the Local Strategic Partnership that the Council was failing to consult appropriately with the voluntary community sector and that it had been side lined.  The Council had not complied with the compact that it had signed.

 

The Acting Chief Executive/Director of Finance informed that the issues with the voluntary community sector would not recur if the Council followed the process set out in the report.  He told the Cabinet that consultation was an integral part of the business planning process.

 

Councillor L Rennie referred to the recent consultation on Library Strategy and that there had been very few young people at the Consultation Forum which she had attended.  She considered that the Council needed to find ways to make contact with young people and perhaps social media was the answer.

 

Councillor S Clarke informed that the Council did have Youth Forums that should be included in consultation exercises but it appeared that they had been by passed.

 

Councillor D Mitchell reported that Eastham Library had more children involved in the reading programme than ever before.  He told the Cabinet that young people were our future and they should be engaged.

 

Councillor J Green informed that the Council did have a Twitter account but it still needed to do some work around social media. 

 

The process that would deliver an updated Corporate Plan was focused and the outcomes would be evidence based.  A key element was how the Corporate Plan would be delivered through effective performance management.  There was a desire to better link finance with performance framework.  The Corporate Plan was an important document and Councillor J Green thanked those who had contributed to its production.

 

RESOLVED: That

 

(1)  the approach and timetable for developing a three year Corporate Plan for 2013/14 - 2015/16 as set out in this report be agreed and specifically the programme of engagement and consultation and the arrangements to align the Corporate Plan and financial planning;

 

(2)  the report be referred to the Improvement Board for approval; and

 

(3)  a further report be presented to the Cabinet on how the performance management arrangements will ensure the successful delivery of the 2013/14 – 2015/16 Corporate Plan.

Supporting documents: