Issue - meetings

(a)       That  Part 2 of the Council Plan – on performance milestones and measures for the year be supported, subject to the clarification of details;

(b)       That an all member workshop on Social Values be held in due course; and

(c)        That contact be made with  Lee Waters, AM,  the Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport  to inform him of the Council’s work on social value when the strategy was ready.

The Chief Executive introduced a report to present Part 2 of the Council Plan.  This was to share performance milestones and measures for the year and invite feedback for Cabinet which would consider the document the following week.  He provided background information and context.  Part 1 of the Council Plan had set out the Council’s intent, and Part 2 sets out the performance measures, targets and milestones against which achievement would be measured and evaluated.

The Corporate Business and Communications Executive Officer advised on the detail in the report.  The achievements to be attained during 2019/20 were clearly described in Part 1 of the Council Plan.  Part 2 ensured that those achievements could be monitored for progress and tracking.  The two types of measures used were qualitative milestones, when plans or strategies were projected to be attained, and quantitative, numerical measures for targets to be met.  Part 2 of the Council Plan identified the classification of all numerical measures.  Milestones or measures had been set to monitor progress against each activity or plan.  Risks to be managed and mitigated throughout the year were being worked through and would be covered in the first monitoring report.  The Corporate Business and Communications Executive advised that later in the year, comparison data with other authorities in Wales would be provided to compare our position.

Councillor Patrick Heesom referred to the Finance and Business Planning Cycle report which had been submitted to the meeting of the Committee on 17 January 2019, and said the measures had been well indicated in terms of portfolio.  He said he supported the report but commented on the need for the Council Plan to be more focussed and prioritised.  He referred to the Ambitious Council and said there were shortfalls in the way the Council was making progress with that part of the Plan.  He expressed concerns on how the highways infrastructure was managed.

In response to the comments made by Councillor Heesom on the transport network, Councillor Carolyn Thomas advised that the Authority was working with the Welsh Government (WG) and Transport for Wales.  Councillor Heesom had been invited to attend a meeting to discuss his concerns with the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) and herself. 

The Chief Executive acknowledged the concerns raised by Councillor Heesom around the limited role of the Council in economic development but emphasised that the Council Plan could only include those services which were a Council function.  He continued that everything that was in the Plan was given equal priority and it was our collective responsibility to deliver the milestones and measures. 

Councillor Paul Johnson referred to the Council Plan (Part 2) 2019/20, which was appended to the report, and  asked what were the aims and objectives of the social value framework.  He commented that the social value framework could mean many things to different people.  He said this was an important part of the Council Plan and asked that the work  on social value be brought back for consideration and development to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22