To agree proposals for the Council’s Corporate Plan 2020-24 for recommendation to Council. The council’s constitution requires cabinet to make recommendations to council in respect of budget and policy framework; the Corporate Plan forms part of this framework.

The leader of the council introduced the report and invited the assistant director people and performance to set out the approach that had been taken to producing the new corporate plan. Cabinet members noted that:

·         Workshops had been held to understand the ambitions for the new plan and to pull together the various strands;

·         Three key areas had been identified – environment, community and economy – along with common themes across these areas of sustainability, connectivity and wellbeing;

·         A one page plan had been development and then tested through public and stakeholder events including parish councils, the business sector and specific public groups;

·         The plan had been amended to reflect the feedback received and then a second phase of consultation was undertaken which included budget proposals;

·         The same five priority areas had been highlighted in the face to face and online consultation, although in a slightly different order;

·         All three scrutiny committees had considered the draft plan and all the recommendations had been included in the latest version.

 

The leader thanked the assistant director and all officers who had worked on the draft plan. He noted that the design work had been done in house and included photographs taken by students from the Herefordshire College of Arts. He also thanked the scrutiny committees for their input which he felt had resulted in an improved plan.

 

In commending the draft plan to cabinet, the leader stated that this was a county plan designed to deliver for the people of the county not for the council itself. He believed in community and that the council must work with communities to understand their needs and involve them in its work. He believed in the prosperity of socially responsible businesses and improved connectivity between the council and business. It was for the cabinet to behave in the ways set out in the plan by working in partnership, using resources wisely, respecting each other and listening to each other.

 

While it was recognised that many strands of the plan were interwoven, cabinet members were invited to highlight key activities and projects within their portfolio areas. These included:

 

Finance and Corporate Services

·         Improving connectivity, sustainability and wellbeing of the county;

·         Responding to climate change;

·         Delivering more affordable housing;

·         More balanced investment in sustainable development

 

Housing, regulatory services and community safety

·         Delivering housing for Herefordshire that recognised the challenges for residents in finding a suitable and genuinely affordable home;

·         Roll out of the talk community programme;

 

Commissioning, Procurement and Assets

·         Developing the way in which the council deals with waste collection and disposal taking account of changing legislation, the needs of residents and the environment;

·         Supporting cultural services in adding social value, for example through contact with vulnerable members of society and developing tourism opportunities;

·         Developing community wealth building, keeping money in the local economy as far as possible and making it easy for local businesses to enter supply chains;

·         Working with communities to see where they can take on council assets if they can run them better;

·         Working with anchor organisations to establish a core set of values.

 

Infrastructure and transport

·         Increased emphasis on protecting the environment and tackling climate change, building the climate emergency declared under the previous administration;

·         Completing the transport review to consider options to relieve congestion in the shorter and medium term;

·         Encouraging young people to come and to stay in Herefordshire;

·         Developing the tourism industry within the county

 

Children and Families

·         Continuing to support improvement in outcomes in primary schools and improving Key Stage 4 results;

·         Continuing to invest in and develop school buildings;

·         Continued investment in supporting care provision, building on the achievement of the previous plan;

·         Developing an edge of care offer liked to whole family support;

·         Delivering high quality children’s social care, working with the new Children and Young People safeguarding partnership.

 

Environment, Economy and Skills

·         Tackling the impact of climate change on businesses and aiming for zero carbon working with a coalition of partners;

·         Continuing to support the Hereford Enterprise Zone while also investing in Ross Enterprise Park and the other market towns;

·         Renewing support for tourism by rolling out a countywide business improvement district with the active participation of private enterprise and support from town councils.

 

Health and Adult Wellbeing

·         A changing approach to social care with family, friends and communities adding to the support for individuals;

·         Taking a proactive approach to digital connectivity and making use of tech enabled solutions;

·         Working alongside NHS partners, including integration of services where this made sense.

 

The chairman of the general scrutiny committee noted that the committee had reviewed the draft plan on two occasions. He thanked the members of the committee for their work and noted that all recommendations had been listened to. He urged the cabinet to support communities rather than seek to build new ones. 

 

Group leaders were invited to express the views of their group. Points raised included:

·         Support for endeavours to increase the amount of affordable housing but concern regarding the cost of borrowing to deliver council owned housing and whether this would give the best rate of return for the investment;

·         Many businesses would link connectivity to measures to reduce congestion;

·         Action on fuel poverty was welcomed;

·         Anything that helped communities in Herefordshire to thrive would be welcomed;

·         Consideration of fixes for congestion in the city on a short term basis could deliver improvements;

·         The public would want to see delivery of projects.

 

In concluding the debate the following amendments were proposed:

 

The addition of the following wording to reflect support for farming communities: “We are proud of our rich rural heritage and will work in partnership with our farming community and land managers to promote sustainable stewardship of the County’s farmland, soils and woods.” (Proposed by cabinet member environment, economy and skills, seconded by cabinet member infrastructure and transport.)

 

The addition of reference to the public rights of way, bridges and street lights maintained by the council alongside 2000 miles of road. (Proposed by cabinet member infrastructure and transport, seconded by cabinet member environment, economy and skills.)

 

The addition of images to break up the text of the introduction by the leader of the council and the background information on the county. (Proposed by cabinet member commissioning, procurement and assets)

 

Typographical corrections throughout the document to ensure consistency such as referring to the County Plan. (Proposed by cabinet member health and adult wellbeing).

 

It was agreed that:

 

(a)  The draft corporate plan 2020-24, as set out at appendix A, be recommended to Council;

 

(b)  Authority be delegated to the Assistant Director People and Performance, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to make any amendments necessary arising from the discussions at Cabinet, prior to consideration by council specifically:

              i.        An additional sentence to be inserted committing the council to working with the farming community to promote sustainable stewardship of the County’s farmland, soils and woods;

 

            ii.        Reference to maintenance of public rights of way, bridges and street lighting to be inserted alongside maintenance of roads;

 

           iii.        Additional photographs to be inserted to break up the large blocks of text in the introduction from the leader of the council and the background information on the county;

 

           iv.        Typographical corrections to ensure consistency through the document.