Agenda item

(a)       That the Committee informs the Cabinet that it supports the structure, format and content of the ‘public’ version of the Council (Improvement) Plan for 2017-23 which will be submitted to Council for approval in due course; and

(b)       That, where Members expressed concerns, these will be considered by the officers.

Councillor Aaron Shotton introduced the draft Council Plan 2017-23 which had been reviewed and refreshed to reflect the Council’s key priorities for the five year term of the new administration.  It was a statutory duty for the Council to adopt the Plan (which replaced the former Improvement Plan) and its importance in identifying priorities and objectives, particularly during times of austerity, was recognised.

In correcting the purpose of the report shown on the agenda, the Chief Executive sought comments to feedback to Cabinet so that each Overview & Scrutiny committee could consider their respective areas.  Responses would be reported back to this Committee and Cabinet in September 2017 to help inform the final Plan prior to seeking Council approval.  The previous themes had been consolidated into six priorities for delivery over the next five years, with particular focus on the first year.

The Corporate Business and Communications Executive Officer said that the general structure of the former plan had been retained but that national policy issues may affect the delivery of some outcomes.  The table within the Plan indicated the desired impact of each priority and sub-priority which linked to the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and commitment to the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.  The management of risks was also set out for each section.  Details on target performance and milestones would be shared in the second part ‘How we measure achievement’ document to be shared at a later stage.

Councillor Billy Mullin spoke about the Council’s record on performance as recognised by the Wales Audit Office, and the intention to build on those achievements.

Councillor Richard Jones welcomed the ongoing improvements in the structure of the Plan.  His concerns were on the content which he said lacked details on how the priorities would be measured for their achievement.  He reflected on previous Plans which he felt had focussed on the Deeside area and sought assurance that spend on current priorities would be spread equitably across the county.

The Chief Executive said that some issues were county-wide but gave examples of others specifically targeted according to areas of need or dependent on funding.  Such geographical-based schemes and their benefits to wider areas would be referenced in the second part of the document.

Councillor Aaron Shotton explained that reference to Deeside had been due to regional and national focus on the economic importance of the growth of the Deeside Enterprise Zone from which the whole of Flintshire would benefit.  He also referred to the extension of the Council house building programme to other parts of the county.

Whilst Councillor Jones acknowledged Deeside as the employment centre of the county with benefits to wider areas, he felt it was important that other communities should receive equal funding, particularly to regenerate town centres.

The importance of tourism was highlighted by Councillor Vicky Perfect to help boost the local economy.

Councillor Arnold Woolley suggested alternatives to the word ‘impact’ which had been repetitively used in the Plan.  He raised queries on the link between social housing and the Single Access Route to Housing (SARTH) and the need to define poverty to target support appropriately.  He suggested other priority areas such as the safeguarding of young people against drug abuse; education training to meet required skills; tackling environmental crime such as dog fouling; and private sector rented housing.

In response, Councillor Aaron Shotton said that more specific reference could be made to tourism which had been recognised under the ‘Green Council’ priority.  He said there were clear benchmarks on poverty and that a balanced view was needed on priority areas as opposed to the Council’s daily business.  The background to some of the topics suggested formed part of the Welsh Government framework, including other issues such as reviewing Council Tax policy on Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMO).  Whilst this stage of the document set out the aims of priorities, the second part on measuring achievement would include the level of detail sought by Members.

The Chief Executive explained that the priorities were based on long-term impacts with supporting strategies which would be considered in the follow-up document by each Overview & Scrutiny committee.  Many of the other priority areas suggested were society issues on which the Council could only have a degree of influence.

Whilst supporting the aims of the priorities, Councillor Patrick Heesom felt unable to support the Plan in its current form as it did not demonstrate a mechanism for achieving outcomes.

The Corporate Business and Communications Executive Officer reiterated that the second part of the document would feature measures and milestones on which progress would be scrutinised, however the draft Plan did include details on how achievement would be measured.

In response to Councillor Heesom’s concerns on the need for more clarity, the Chief Executive reminded Members that the draft Plan built upon the previous Improvement Plan where long-established mechanisms, supported by strategies, had helped to drive performance.

Councillor Paul Johnson said that the document should include reference to Brexit as a potentially significant risk to outcomes on the local economy over the next five years.  The Chief Executive suggested that elements on the local economy in the Plan could be strengthened and he spoke about regional discussions currently taking place.

Following a query by Councillor Holgate on Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP), it was acknowledged that this should be included in the glossary along with any other abbreviations.  Members emphasised the need for the document to be meaningful and suggested that links be used to help explain phrases.

Councillor David Wisinger suggested consultation with Public Health Wales on planning applications for attic bedsit conversions to prevent overcrowding and would take this up with Planning.  He agreed with the point made about reviewing Council Tax in HMOs.

Councillor Woolley said that the front of the document should refer to work on the priorities being ‘in conjunction with statutory or essential partners’.  The Chief Executive said that this could be clarified in addition to the handshake symbol.

Councillor Jones reiterated his concerns on the content of the current document and was unable to support the full recommendation on that basis.

The Chief Executive confirmed that Members’ comments on the content of the draft Plan would be considered by Cabinet.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Committee informs the Cabinet that it supports the structure, format and content of the ‘public’ version of the Council (Improvement) Plan for 2017-23 which will be submitted to Council for approval in due course; and

(b)       That, where Members expressed concerns, these will be considered by the officers.