Agenda item

Report of the Leader

The Leader introduced the draft corporate strategy which had been endorsed by Cabinet at their meeting on 8 March and was now coming to Council for their approval. The strategy was ambitious but achievable and set out a clear vision for Cheltenham under four high-level outcomes. The strategy highlighted areas where plans were to be achieved through working in partnership. The strategy had been developed in parallel with the budget and consideration was also given as to whether there was adequate resource to undertake what was identified in the strategy. He wished to thank both officers and Members for their input including the Overview and Scrutiny committee which had considered the report at its last meeting and whose suggestions had been incorporated into the draft strategy.

The Leader highlighted the following:

·         It was hoped that the JCS would be completed this year.

·         The 3 year business plan for the Cheltenham Development Task Force

·         The council was also driving the economic development and tourism strategy.

·         New tranche of affordable housing.

·         The Pittville Play area project was a positive enhancement of the town.

·         The development of the cemetery and crematorium

·         The planned review of recycling services

The Leader emphasised that this could not be achieved without the positive hard work of officers.

A Member suggested that second homes were having a real impact on communities by causing an inbalance between housing need and supply and that domestic violence should be a strand in all strategies for safer communities.

The  Leader thought the comments regarding domestic violence were entirely appropriate and the council was awaiting the outcome of two homicide reviews in the town and there may be learning points arising which needed to be incorporated in council policies and strategies. The council had attempted to address the issue of second homes through higher council tax and the bigger picture would be addressed as part of the JCS.

A Member referred to ‘Econ 4’ on page 11 which stated that the council would support the delivery of the Taskforce Business Plan. He asked where was the business plan that the Council were being asked to support as a copy was not attached to the strategy document. He understood that earlier this year, the Cabinet had signed off the task Force funding for another three years and he assumed they had received the business plan prior to this decision. He asked for clarification on the current version as he had only been able to find one that runs 2013 to 2015, with no dates into 2016.

He also sought clarification on the proposed role of the Taskforce?   According to the latest Memorandum of Understanding and Councillor McKinlay at the last Council meeting on 25th February, the role of the Task Force was  purely advisory and CBC had no say or influence in what it does despite paying well over 95% of its costs. He questioned why an advisory body appeared to have a delivery role in the strategy with the MD as Project manager, alongside the officers of the council. He questioned whether it was constitutional for Members to vote to have delivery of this important piece of strategy mandated to a group that cannot be influenced by, and is not accountable to the Council in any way?

The Leader responded that the business plan had been tabled as part of the Cabinet Agenda and therefore should be available as a public document. The Cabinet Member Development and Safety gave his assurance that he would ensure officers supplied the Member with the latest version. He added that it was true that the CDTF was not in control of the council but it did not take any decisions and was purely an advisory body. It looked at issues and gave feedback to Council when decisions were needed as part of the democratic process. Referring to Econ 4 in the corporate strategy, he explained that the public realm upgrades were the only part that the council was entirely accountable for.

Another Member repeated the comments he had made at the overview and scrutiny committee. Whilst welcoming the inclusion of the review of recycling and HMOs he thought air quality was also an important issue where it was important that the council worked closely with the county council as the highways authority. The member also urged the council to develop a more long-term vision for the next 5,10 or even 20 years and engage the public in the process.

The Leader advised that he would be looking for improvements in air-quality issues through the implementation of the Local Transport Plan. He would be happy to consider a wider public consultation in the development of a more longer-term vision in a similar format that had been done for the budget in previous years.

RESOLVED THAT (with one abstention)

The draft corporate strategy 2016-17 be approved and to be used as a basis for monitoring the council’s performance over the next 12 months.