To provide the board with the findings of its working group tasked with reviewing a draft of the Herefordshire Council Plan and its accompanying delivery plan.

[Papers to follow]

The Chair introduced the report, which detailed the findings of the working group that had been set up by the board in order to track the Council Plan and contribute to its development.

The Chair invited comments from the board members in relation to the report. The principal points of discussion are summarised below:

1.     The board raised concerns about the language used regarding the Council’s commitment to the declared climate and ecological emergency and queried whether the commitment to tackling climate change was less robust than that of the ecological crisis in the rivers.

·       The Cabinet Member Environment gave an assurance that the Council was fully and equally committed to addressing climate change/net zero and ecological issues impacting local rivers, but noted that these were serious challenges and warned against using language that overpromised. It was stated that these were issues that would require effort and endeavour and this was conveyed in the choice of language used in the plan.

2.     The board welcomed the three themes of ‘people, place and growth’ that ran through the plan, but raised concerns about the use of the word ‘ensure’ being used in circumstances where pledges, commitments and promises could not necessarily be ensured.

·       The Leader of the Council acknowledged these concerns and noted that certain choices were down to partnerships and individuals to make. The Leader suggested that an alternative word such as enable could be used instead of ensure.

·       The Leader suggested that the content of the plan could be adjusted to make it clear that the council would ensure that opportunities were there for people to take, but that ensuring people took those opportunities was a matter of choice for each individual.

3.     The board suggested that the item would have been more productive if it had been used to focus on which findings from the working group had been incorporated into the Council Plan that was due to go to Cabinet on Thursday 16 May 2024, rather than being asked just to note the findings of the working group.

4.     The board raised concerns that the Delivery Plan was unbalanced and was ‘Hereford rather than Herefordshire’ focused.

5.     The Chair noted that the Delivery Plan was coming to Cabinet on 27 June 2024 and that it would be useful to be able to take a look at it again.

·       The Leader of the Council noted that the board’s working group had focused on the Council Plan and had only had limited time to view the Delivery Plan. However, some board members had been able to add tracked changes to the Delivery Plan, these had been implemented to allow for the creation of a new draft of the Delivery Plan. The Leader hoped to bring the new draft of the Delivery Plan to a Political Group Consultation, which would allow members to see that the deliverables had been tightened up in a clear and concise way.

·       The Leader suggested that, if possible, the Delivery Plan could be put before  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69