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 the Scrutiny Management Board again in some fashion before it went to cabinet on 27 June.

6.     The board reiterated its frustration at not knowing which findings on the Council Plan from the working group had been implemented in the final version. It was noted that the papers for the Council Plan were in the public domain, but not in the board meeting agenda papers, which left the Board in a ‘quandary’.

·       The Cabinet Member Finance and Corporate Services assured the board that wide consultation had taken place during the development of the plan and that members of the board’s working group would be able to see many of its finding incorporated into the document. Regarding the discussion around focus and resources directed at Hereford and Herefordshire, it was stated by the Cabinet Member Finance and Corporate Services that this was an ongoing debate.

7.     The board raised concerns around potential accessibility issues when reading the plan on certain devices.

·       The Cabinet Member Finance and Corporate Services assured the board that the plan would be optimised for multiple devices.

8.     The board considered and discussed whether to set up a working group to look at the Delivery Plan before it went to Cabinet and if an extraordinary meeting of the board should be held so that formal recommendations based on the working group’s findings could potentially be sent to Cabinet.

9.     The |Board was presented with a set of recommendations for the Council and Delivery Plans based on findings from the board’s working group.

Following debate and discussion, the board unanimously agreed the following recommendations:

Resolved that:

a.     The board agree the report and;

b.    The board make any recommendation for delivery of;

i.               the draft Herefordshire Council Plan;

ii.              the draft Herefordshire Council Plan delivery plan; and

iii.            future iterations of the draft Herefordshire Council Plan delivery plan.

c.     The Deliver Plan comes back to a working group of the Scrutiny Management Board before it goes to Cabinet on 27 June 2024

That Herefordshire Council notes the following recommendations for Council and Delivery Plans:

d.    If the ambition of the County Plan is to be scaled back to focus on the work only of the Council itself, that a broader and longer term County Strategy/Plan be developed with input from partners and stakeholders to guide action and investment.

e.     The County Plan recognise the increasing importance of partners and partnership working to the operation of the council.

f.      The Council Plan should be aligned in resource terms with the Medium Term Financial Strategy

g.    The County and Delivery Plans should be clear in showing how council resources and effort is spread fairly across city, market town and rural communities.

h.    Council ‘Transformation’ is a means to an end, not an end in itself. It should be explained primarily in terms of its beneficial impact on residents and communities.

i.      The Delivery Plan should contain real, tangible in-year deliverables which progress and support the stated objectives

j.      Deliverables should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) and should relate to tangible items that are deliverable within that financial year

k.     The Delivery Plan should follow the structure and sequencing of the Council Plan to make it straightforward to follow

l.      Plain language should be adopted throughout to ensure the documents are accessible to and understandable by all

m.   The importance of tackling river pollution should be more evident

n.    The importance of improving life for children and families should be more evident

Herefordshire Council notes the following recommendations for future planning cycles:

o.    The Council Plan should be aligned in resource terms with the Medium Term Financial Strategy

p.    The Delivery Plan for the following year should be drafted alongside the development of the budget for that financial year

q.    Deliverables should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely) and should relate to tangible items that are deliverable within that financial year.