Agenda item

Report of the Interim Chief Executive attached.

Council considered a report of the Interim Chief Executive that sought approval of the revision of the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2019-23. The report detailed a revision of the Corporate Priorities which have been redefined as Outcomes. Each Outcome has between three and four priorities which defined how the Council’s Outcomes would be achieved.

The new revised Outcomes are as follows:

·         Excellent, Investment, Financial Sustainability

·         Health, Wellbeing and Safety

·         Place, Homes and Environment; and

·         Our People and Communities.

In summary, the changes made included an update vision for the Council, the inclusion of 13 new activities, along with 32 existing ones having been reviewed and refocused. The revised plan has a greater emphasis on the environment and climate change, tackling health inequalities and engagement with communities and development of active democracy and participation.

The Leader gave thanks to their Liberal Democrat colleagues who held a shared vision for the Council and also commended the bio-diversity work being undertaken by Councillors Bretherton and Campbell which had been incorporated as a new project in the revised Plan.

The Leader commented that the Council was committed to being open and transparent, continuing to develop the digital strategy and changing lifestyles by tacking the air quality issues of the borough. The Council also aimed to be carbon neutral by 2030. The review of the Neighbourhood Forums was about residents shaping their communities and they were looking forward to working with partners across the Borough, sharing skills and resources.

The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Margaret Smith commented that she was happy to see that a lot of projects that had been identified by the previous administration had remained in the revised Plan and welcomed the biodiversity work that was being undertaken by her colleagues.

Councillor Caroline Moon requested that the wording “bring back to life our parks” was amended to say “continue to be developed”, as this would send out the wrong message to staff. The Leader agreed to this being amended throughout the report.

Although queried by Councillor Alan Ogilvie, the Leader reiterated that there was a commitment by the Council, that the Borough would be carbon neutral by 2030, not just the Council.

Councillor Karen Walton reiterated that the residents of Farrington East, West and Lostock Hall had not been consulted on the recent Neighbourhood Forum changes and that there were concerns as to how funds would be spent in their areas. The Leader responded by saying that a number of residents and parish councillors had come forward to support the new arrangements but that the review on community engagement had not yet reached it conclusion so there was still time to get involved.

In response to a question regarding the proposals for a Youth Council, the Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, Social Justice and Wealth Building declined to comment further until the review on Community Involvement was complete.

In response to questions around the planting of 110,000 trees across the Borough, the Cabinet Member for the Environment explained that a list of all the sites identified, along with the suppliers was available for information.

Councillor Matthew Tomlinson, Cabinet Member for Finance, Property and Assets summed up by thanking staff for their hard work in updating the Corporate Plan in line with the Cabinet wishes. The new Plan reflected the promises that had been made by the Group in their Election manifesto and they were looking forward to its delivery.

It was moved by Councillor Paul Foster, seconded by Councillor Matthew Tomlinson and

RESOLVED (Unanimously):

That Council approves the Corporate Plan for 2019-23 attached at Appendix 1 of the report.