Agenda item

Report of the Leader

The Leader introduced the report on the development of the corporate strategy action plan 2014-15 which was circulated to all Members with the agenda. He explained that Council were being asked to approve the action plan which had been produced in parallel with the budget process. There had been consultation with overview and scrutiny and partnerships and the senior leadership team had verified that the plan was achievable within the current level of resources.  Overall he felt the action plan represented a positive programme for Cheltenham and urged Members to support the action plan.

Members were invited to ask questions on the detail in the report and the Leader clarified a number of points in the following responses:

• the setting of milestones, baselines and targets was an evolutionary process which had started in 2010 when the five-year strategy was first drawn up. Some measures may need to change due to changes in external factors.
• The action plan distinguished between community targets and targets specific to Cheltenham Borough Council where the council had more control over their achievement.
• COM14 – He considered the management of the 2014 District and European Elections was a significant piece of work and therefore it was appropriate that it was included in the action plan.
• VFM12 -  He reminded Members that Council had agreed a major sum in the budget to support the investment in the ICT infrastructure.
• Referring to risk CR33 - if the council does not keep the momentum or the JCS going he acknowledged the point made by a Member that there could be other risks if the council did agree the JCS and these should be considered when reviewing the corporate risk register.
• He noted that Members of O&S were pleased to see that their recommendations on dog fouling and street cleaning had been accommodated in the plan.
• theCabinet Member Housing and Safety confirmed that the proposed improvement actions relating to people having access to decent and affordable housing would be picked up by the appropriate commissioning review working group.
• The Cabinet Member Leisure and Culture explained that the baseline target for attendances on Sport/Play programmes had remained at 10,000 as that was the maximum capacity that could be accommodated.  There also needed to be a balance in setting targets for subsidised activities versus commercial viability..
   

Members went on to debate the action plan. Some Members felt it was a difficult document for residents to read and understand all the linkages. Other Members questioned some of the terminology used and suggested the document should be written in more plain English, the drafting of the document improved and milestones made more specific.

A Member reminded Council that the document had been to the March meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and challenged why these points had not been made at that stage. He felt that all Members had a duty to engage in the democratic process in bringing this document to Council.

A Member suggested that Council should look at the overall picture and reflect on some of the achievements represented in the strategy such as the development at North Place, the Brewery and Albion Street which had previously being stalling as projects for many years. 

A Member congratulated the manager of the Town Hall for their achievements in improving ticket sales. The Museum, Arts and Tourism Manager was also to be congratulated for their achievements regarding footfall at the Wilson.

In responding to the debate the Leader emphasised there was no such thing as a perfect document and rejected some of the criticisms made. In formulating the plan the Cabinet had tried to simplify the amount of information it contained and the measures selected. For next year’s plan, he encouraged Members to ask for more detail on any aspect of the plan at any time but ideally before the Council meeting where it was coming for final approval.

Upon a vote it was

Resolved that the 2014-2015 corporate strategy action plan be approved and used as the basis for monitoring the council's performance over the next 12 months

Voting: For 23, Against 4 with 1 abstention.