Agenda item
Strategic Priorities 2018/19
Minutes:
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Councillor Phil Davies, Leader of Wirral Council, said:
“Wirral residents expect good services; they expect their streets to be clean, their communities to be safe and their roads to be in good condition. They expect the vulnerable to be safe and protected, and for the economy to grow – creating the opportunities they need to secure good, well-paid jobs.
We will deliver on all of those expectations. Committing to delivering these priorities is about setting out our stall, it is about being clear with Wirral residents about what we will deliver and what they can expect from us.
We will also make sure we keep people informed on our progress, encourage residents to get involved in their local communities and shaping local services, and work with all of our partners to make sure we continue to deliver on our 20 Pledges.” |
Councillor Phil Davies introduced his report which set out the strategic priorities for the Council in 2018/19. Progress against these priorities would be monitored and reported back on a regular basis throughout the year. The aim was to deliver outcomes against the 20 Pledges in the Wirral Plan.
Councillor Davies reported that following last month’s local elections, the people of Wirral once again had chosen a Labour administration to run the Council, but they had also told Members what mattered most to them and what they wanted them to deliver. Members had listened and were taking action. This report reaffirmed the importance of delivering the 20 Pledges in the Wirral Plan, agreed unanimously by the Council in 2015. It also focussed on the following five strategic priorities to which particular emphasis would be given during 2018/19:
· Getting the Basics Right
· Jobs and Growth
· Children’s Services
· Local Plan and Housing
· Leisure and Culture Review
Against a continued back drop of austerity, the Cabinet knew it would be facing savings in excess of £45 million in 2019/20. In addition, the following year would see the removal of the Revenue Support Grant in its entirety. This would require the Council to make substantial changes to the way in which services were delivered and to continue to identify opportunities to generate additional income. For the immediate twelve months, and to begin to prepare for the huge change to local government financing in 2020/21, a number of changes had been made to Cabinet Portfolios. These had been announced at Annual Council Part 2 on Tuesday, 15 May 2018, and had included a new Cabinet role focused on tackling law and order issues, a major concern for many residents.
Councillor Phil Davies then invited Cabinet Members to comment on what was proposed in the report. They did so in turn by making reference to the Government’s continuing austerity measures, the challenging financial circumstances the Council found itself in, the need to bring in funding and by endorsing the five priorities that had been developed following conversations with communities, market research and the financial imperatives the Council was working within. They focused on issues that were most important to local people, sought to find imaginative and efficient new ways of providing and commissioning services and expressed their ambitions for the people of Wirral.
RESOLVED: That the Cabinet:
(1) re-affirms its support for The Wirral Plan and endorses the following Strategic Priorities for 2018/19:
· Getting the Basics Right
· Jobs and Growth
· Children’s Services
· Local Plan and Housing
· Leisure and Culture Review
and
(2) instructs relevant senior officers to work with their Cabinet leads to develop the detailed plans required to deliver on the Strategic Priorities, with a further report provided for the Cabinet’s consideration as soon as possible.
Supporting documents:
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