Agenda item

The covering report on the draft Corporate Strategy 2023-2027 is attached, the draft Corporate Strategy will be available for the Panel to see from Wednesday 5^th July, when the Cabinet agenda is published.

The Chair invited Councillor Dave Wood, Cabinet Member for Council Priorities and Delivery, to introduce the item. Councillor Wood explained that the Corporate Strategy sets out what the administration hopes to achieve and its priorities over the next 4 years. The Chief Executive, Will Godfrey added that it is important for him to have this operational framework so he and officers can translate the political priorities into delivery over the next 4 years.

Panel members raised the following points and asked the following questions:

Councillor Hodge asked if another priority could be added regarding the cost of living to give a clear message to residents that the Council will support them. Councillor Simon agreed that the Council need to think about the impact of policies.

The Cabinet Member stated that cost of living issues are a permanent feature in the lives of many residents – inequality is generational. The officer added that ‘prevention’ is important and building on things that are already in place. He explained that the community wellbeing hub has had nearly 2,000 referrals addressing cost of living issues. He also stated that building on the success of the Welfare Support Team is important. The Panel were reassured that cost of living issues will be embedded and are addressed in the priorities such as ‘prevention’ which is crucial in tackling inequality.

Councillor Saini asked what the mechanisms for people to ‘have their say’. The Cabinet Member explained that there are area forums, consultations, parish liaison meetings and other mechanisms for people to engage. He added that we can also engage with the public in new ways and with different community groups and geographical groups which can give people their say on the priorities in their area.

Councillor Saini asked what strategies are in place regarding the delivery of services. The Cabinet Member explained that there are 3-year service and delivery plans that are monitored by a range of methods.

Councillor MacFie stated that big strides had been made in listening but not all forums are well attended. He suggested that we could do something different and more popular such as events where people can vote/interact. After listening, the concerns must be addressed. The Cabinet Member agreed that the interactive approach was a good form of public engagement.

Councillor Treby asked how the priority of ‘good jobs’ will be met. The officer pointed to the economic strategy with regard to the emphasis on good jobs with high skills.

Councillor Hodge commended the officers on the Corporate Strategy. She asked about pages 7-8 (bracketed information on social and economic foundation) and what this adds as a public facing document. The officer explained that this set out the framework (purpose, values, policy, principles) so that our staff understand the purpose. It was suggested that the Panel may wish to look at delivery programmes and mechanisms in their ongoing workplan. It was further explained that Section 5 sets out why those words are used and also explained the ‘decision wheel’ which can be used to test if decisions fit the strategy.

Councillor Moss stated that the Corporate Strategy is looking internally at what the Council can do but we must also be mindful of the effect of external events such as Covid, the cost-of-living crisis etc. External horizon scanning is important. Also there will potentially be a new government during this administration which we will work alongside. The Cabinet Member agreed with the point on unforeseen events, he stated that the Council had responded to Covid, industrial action, economic shock and inflation. He explained that the Councillor and officer team is adaptable. The Chief Executive added that Covid had been a big test and this Council dealt with it better than many others. He explained that the Corporate Strategy sets the framework for activity, and it is very important to get this agreed at an early stage to align resources to delivery.

Councillor Moss raised the issue of inflation and its effect, he asked what inflation model we use. The Chief Finance officer agreed that inflation had not gone down and levers in the budget needed to be adjusted. He explained that there had been accurate modelling in the last budgets. He added that different scenarios (red/green) are modelled.

The Chair thanked that Cabinet Member and officers and explained that the Panel’s comments would be fed into the Cabinet consideration of the Corporate Strategy at it’s meeting on 13^th July 2023.