Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendation.

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management introduced the Improvement Plan 2013/14 for submission to County Council for adoption.

Improvement Objectives and an accompanying Improvement Plan was first adopted by the Council in 2011 and those objectives were known as the ten primary priorities supported by a structure of secondary priorities.  Those priorities were subsequently re-endorsed by Cabinet and the Council in October 2012 with three additions; social enterprise, apprenticeships and entrepreneurships, and community events.

The Chief Executive explained that the Improvement Priorities of the previous Council had been thoroughly reviewed and challenged to streamline and reset them, to be clear over impacts and how performance would be measured.  The Improvement Plan would be presented to County Council on 25 June 2013 for adoption, which was a statutory requirement.

The Improvement Plan was the best strategic plan that the Council had produced to date and had taken into account comments in recent reports from the Wales Audit Office and also from the latest Estyn monitoring report.

The Improvement Plan had been constructed primarily as a web-based document which allowed easy navigation to specific content.  Also, the ease of updating the Plan would ensure that any revisions in-year, be they as a result of national policy change or local scrutiny, could be implemented to ensure the most current version was available and the opportunity to hyperlink associated documents also kept the Plan current and ‘live’.  Although the document was web-based, paper copies could be provided if requested, for example, at Flintshire Connects locations.

The Chief Executive welcomed any feedback on the Improvement Plan prior to it being considered by County Council on 25 June.

The Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance praised the Improvement Plan, including the involvement of the Cabinet Members in determining the priorities which were aligned to the challenges being faced by the Council.  Examples of those challenges were the provision of affordable housing, achieving the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS), regeneration and welfare reform.  He particularly welcomed the additional priority of apprenticeships and entrepreneurships.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment praised the work of the officers involved in the production of the document which was clear and easy to read. 

The Cabinet Member for Public Protection, Waste and Recycling also welcomed the document and echoed the comments of the Leader on the addition of the priority on apprenticeships and entrepreneurships. 

RESOLVED:

That the Improvement Plan 2013/14 be approved and submitted to County Council for adoption.