Meeting documents

To receive a presentation at the meeting from the Director (LD) on the

"Places and Futures" aspects of the Corporate Plan and on monitoring

progress relating thereto.

The Policy and Governance Manager and the Policy and Governance Officer attended the meeting and provided the Committee with a detailed power point presentation on the monitoring of the Corporate Plan.

As a background to the presentation, the Committee was reminded that the Council’s Corporate Plan "Better Borough, Brighter Futures" had been approved in September, 2020 following a wide scale consultation exercise.  The plan included a wide range of actions and projects, including "what success looks like?"

Reference was made to the "Golden Thread" principles within the organisation, which was woven into the Performance Management Framework of the Council and aligned to the aspirations contained in the Corporate Plan

An important role of both this Committee and the Lives and Homes Overview and Scrutiny Committee was to monitor and scrutinise those aspects of the Corporate Plan that fell under their respective remits.

The presentation highlighted the following key points, with particular focus on the "Lives and Homes" aspects:-

·         four strands (Better Lives; Better Homes; Better Places; Brighter Futures); Better Council; an efficient, effective and financially sustainable Council;

·         the Council’s performance management framework;

·         what was measured, and why?;

·         reporting cycle;

·         how it all linked together with examples?

·         Lives and Homes focus;

·         Better Lives – service areas

·         Better Lives – happy, healthy active people;

·         Better Lives – thriving and engaged communities;

·         Better Lives – a Borough where we all feel safe;

·         Examples of measures – better lives;

·         Policies and Strategies;

·         Projects and Initiatives;

·         Better Homes – service areas;

·         Role of Overview and Scrutiny.

Following the presentation, the Policy and Governance Manager and the Policy and Governance Officer invited and responded to the Committee’s questions and comments thereon.

One Member asked where upgrades to the A64 would fit into the Plan. Officers indicated that it related to connectivity and lobbying however its direct provision was within the purview of North Yorkshire County Council. Other Members added that connectivity should also focus within and between the towns and villages and consider all forms of transport. The Chair enquired further and asked to what extent Scarborough Borough Council had liaised with North Yorkshire County Council on transport links. The Economic Development Project Manager responded that the working relationship had grown through Town Deal work and other grant schemes. He cited ongoing examples of their involvement and alluded to exciting opportunities that lie ahead.

Another Member enquired into how changeable the Corporate Plan (CP) was in responding to community values, and how community satisfaction of the CP would be fed back and implemented into the way the plan functions. In response, the Officer explained the objectives of the CP were informed by public consultation and that going forward, performance and public opinion would be reviewed via regular surveys. In addition, officers had studied local area surveys that go back to the year 2000 and concluded that the top 5 priorities of the public have shuffled in rank but remained the same. An Annual Improvement Plan i.e. the Annual Report would also review the actions the Council takes in achieving its objectives.

A question from a Member probed what was meant by ‘deep cleaning’ of the northern villages to which the Officer would enquire with the service and provide a response post-meeting.

The Chair enquired into the progress to date of issues such as dog fouling and street cleansing and how monitoring was carried out. The Officer explained that in addition to the Local Area Surveys that measured satisfaction, they also measured the amount of enforcement cases and prosecutions that occur. She clarified that these surveys targeted a sample of 6000 residents and that progress would be revealed after the next survey was agreed and carried out. A Member raised a question on the difficulty of making complaints and the frequency with which residents received feedback, to which the Officer pointed towards an online form available on the Council Website, nonetheless she agreed to share this point with IT.

RESOLVED: that:-

(1)  that the Policy and Governance Manager and the Policy and Governance Officer be thanked for their detailed and informative presentation on the Council’s Corporate Plan;

(2)  that a detailed progress report monitoring the performance of the Corporate Plan (Places and Futures aspects) be submitted to the Committee for consideration at its 22^nd December, 2021 meeting.