Agenda item

To consider the content of the Council Plan, including an update on the leisure intervention work, and to determine whether to make any recommendations on this subject.

(Report and presentation to follow)

Officers gave a presentation which highlighted the salient points within the Council Plan.  This included:

·                The development of the Council Plan including using Member insight and customer demand data.

·                Directors take forward development of their strategic purposes.

·                Workshops and discussions with Portfolio Holders and key officers to draft actions.

·                Officers had facilitated critical review of the draft actions before presentation at a Portfolio Holders’ Briefing.

·                The structure of the Plan; including the Council’s recent achievements, finance section and strategic purposes and a section on how the authority works.

·                Details of the next steps including presentation to the Executive Committee and Council, formal launch of the Plan with staff and the public.

·                Work with Directors, Heads of Service and key officers to develop an implementation plan for the actions arising from it.

·                Producing summaries for the public and internal use, including a timeline for the annual review process.

Following the presentation Members raised a number of issues and discussed in detail how the Plan would be implemented and the actions and funding would be monitored to enable them to be carried out.  In particular questions were raised in respect of funding from partners, particularly Worcestershire County Council, and whether discussions had been held with partners about the council’s preferred strategic aims prior to completing the plan.   Furthermore Members questioned whether some of the content was purely aspirational and would need further work to ensure it was implemented. 

Officers explained that the Council Plan was taking a strategic view and the next piece of work, which concentrated on implementation of the actions within the Plan, would need to be carried out quickly to ensure this happened.  Members were reminded that it was a four year plan and therefore it would take time to deliver the actions.  Questions were raised about how the monitoring would be organised, with reference being made to arrangements at Worcestershire County Council which provided information about how the authority was judged on its plans.  The Committee was advised that the actions aligned to the plan would be monitored annually by the Senior Management and Corporate Management Teams.

It was also commented that there was little information for residents in respect of finances and that it would be helpful to include costs and funds which needed to be raised to give an understanding of how the Council delivered its services.  Officers advised that whilst there was a section within the Plan in respect of finances resource implications against each specific project would be included in the Action Plan.  It was acknowledged that this would highlight particular areas which the Council subsidised.

Members were unanimous in the decision that it would be useful for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to receive biannual update reports on the progress of implementation of actions and negotiations with partners, to ensure that the Council Plan was achievable whilst still being able to produce a balanced budget.

Officers provided an update in respect of the Leisure Intervention work which had been carried out, which linked in to the Council Plan and the Council’s strategic purpose; provide good things for me to do, see and visit.  Officers had identified how the facilities could best meet the needs of the customer, which had included the extension of the dance studio to ensure current users were retained and to build on the membership base, an additional spin studio had been created to meet customer need and current fitness trends.  The team had also worked in partnership with schools and other stakeholders to provide sports development activities to improve the health and wellbeing of residents and purchased additional fitness equipment to ensure a quality provision was available to its members.

Members were informed that there had also been an increased focus on cost recovery to ensure that any areas within the Leisure Service that were subsidised by the Council were reviewed with the aim of reducing the level of funding required whilst protecting those members of the community who were more vulnerable.  Officers had analysed every activity to calculate the percentage of costs that were recovered and the recent fees and charges proposals aimed to reduce the gap between the cost of the service and the income it generated.

Officers had proposed further interventions be undertaken over the next 12 months to ensure that the services provided were as efficient as possible.  It was also proposed that during this time a report be developed for Members to consider, detailing the available options in relation to an alternative model of delivery, which would include the service being delivered within a trust arrangement.  Officers highlighted that this could be framed in a number of different ways, dependent upon requirements and level of savings.  Information in respect of anticipated savings would be included within the Medium Term Financial Plan, together with costs for support in delivering such a business case.  It was anticipated that a report would be presented to the Executive Committee and Council by August 2017.

Following this update, Members discussed a number of areas in more detail, including:

·                An expectation that the Committee would receive a written report in respect of the transformational work which had been carried out. 

·                It was highlighted that the Committee had delayed consideration of its Leisure Services report in anticipation of receiving that transformation report.

·                Timescales and implication of following the leisure trust route.

RESOLVED that

1)        the Overview and Scrutiny Committee receive twice yearly updates in respect of the Council Plan;

2)        the Overview and Scrutiny Board receive a written report in respect of the transformational and intervention work carried out within Leisure and Cultural Services.

3)        the draft Council Plan be noted.