Councillor Pat Hackett introduced a report by the Chief Executive. The Wirral Council Plan 2025 was appended to the report for consideration and it was recommended that it be referred to the Council for consideration at its meeting scheduled for 14 October 2019. 

The Cabinet noted that the Council Plan was:

·  a high-level summary of the outcomes that the Council wanted to achieve by 2025;

·  the key activity and priorities that the Council would deliver this year 2019/20; and

·  the start of the Council’s process for further engagement and consultation with staff, residents and partners on what needed to be done collectively to achieve the Council’s ambitions for the Borough.

The Cabinet also noted that the Council Plan was a key organisational policy document and was, therefore, vital for the Council’s development in the coming years. Therefore, no other options were considered at the meeting.

Councillor Hackett reported that this was the final draft of the Plan and final comments were requested so that any amendments could be made before it was presented to the Council for adoption.  It was a five-year Plan with clear deliverables for this year 2019/20. Adopting the Plan would enable the Council to begin to shape the future partnership plan and the views of partners and stakeholders would be sought over the coming months.

Councillor Hackett also reported that the Plan set out the Council’s ambitions for its residents in the year ahead and beyond.  Those issues that residents contacted Members about on a regular basis were the matters the Council was determined to tackle in order to improve the quality of life for Wirral Council’s constituents. Issues including good working streetlights, ensuring repairs were carried out, safer streets, ensuring that they were kept clean and the roads kept in great condition, waste bins emptied on a regular basis, fly tipping tackled were just some of the things residents expected to happen and quite rightly demanded. 

This Plan would ensure that residents were able to hold the Council to account over the next year and beyond. The Plan was grounded in reality.  It was based on what residents had told Members and it was based on a realistic and achievable goal to improve the quality of life in the Borough.

Within the Plan there where a number of key outcomes e.g.

·  a prosperous and inclusive economy where local people can get good jobs and achieve their aspirations; 

·  a cleaner greener Borough that celebrates, protects and is an improved environment and urgently tackles the environment emergency;

·  a brighter future for young people and families regardless of their background or where they live;

·  safe vibrant communities where people want to live and raise their families; and

·  services which help people live happy healthy independent lives with public services there to support them when they need them.

Councillor Hackett informed that he had recently attended the Council Leadership Conference where he had stressed the importance of putting residents at the heart of everything the Council did and going the extra mile to help solve issues no matter how big or how small. Some Council staff were fantastic and did go to great lengths to help people every day.  This needed to be the norm right across the Council.  The Plan had a route map and there was determination to achieve this. Changing the culture and the way the Council delivered services was at the centre of the Plan and Councillor Hackett asked everyone to get behind it to ensure the Council delivered great services for its residents.

Councillor Chris Jones reported that she had been involved from the start with the Wirral 20/20 Pledges and the Council had increased its partnership working over that time. Previous to that everyone was working in their own little silos.  As a Cabinet Member she had three pledges and she had spent hours working on them and the difference in the way the Council now worked with its health partners and private providers had made a massive difference.  Councillor Jones informed that she would like to see exactly what had been achieved at the end of the 20/20 Plan. It had formed a new basis for the new Plan.  She was glad to see that the public consultation would commence shortly because telling Members what they wanted the Council to do and the Council doing it was really important.

Councillor Janette Williamson thanked the officers for all of the hard work they had done on the Plan.  She was pleased to see an inclusive community based local economy strategy was going to underpin the Council’s Local Plan and the Council’s Community Bank initiative tied in very much with that strategy. The Council had recognised that mainstream economics had let people in the Borough down in the past. The Council was now proactive in promoting more community wealth and this was included in the Plan.

Councillor Anita Leech agreed with Councillor Jones that the 20/20 Plan had provided the Council with a good base on which to work in partnership. Members had been told by local people that they felt as though their voices had not been heard and they still had issues with roads, streetlights etc. She considered that the Plan was a real step change to listen to the people.

RESOLVED:

That the Wirral Council Plan be referred to the Council for consideration at its ordinary meeting scheduled for 14 October 2019.