Agenda item

A copy of the Cabinet report to which this matter relates will be circulated to Commission members when it becomes available on 24 April 2014.

The Deputy Leader, Mr. J. B. Rhodes CC, has been invited to attend for this item.

The Commission considered a supplementary joint report of the Chief Executive and Director of Corporate Resources to the Cabinet concerning the County Council’s Strategic Plan 2014-18 and the Transformation Programme. A copy of the report is filed with these minutes.

The Chairman explained that, as the Strategic Plan would was a key part of the Council’s Policy Framework, it would be subject to approval by the Full County Council at its meeting scheduled for 21 May. Accordingly, it was necessary to consider the Plan separate to the Transformation Programme.

The Chief Executive reported that the Strategic Plan aligned with the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) and would be the key means through which the Council would be directing its resources in future to achieve the priorities it had set. In view of its alignment with the MTFS, there were no specific resource implications attached to the Plan, though the implementation of it would be dependent on securing funding from a number of external sources. There were therefore risks attached to the successful delivery of the Plan. The Plan was part of a suite of strategic documents, including the Transformation Programme and a new “Communities Strategy”, which was expected to be published for consultation in July.

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting the Cabinet Lead Member for Corporate Resources and Transformation, Mr. J. B. Rhodes CC. Mr. Rhodes explained that the Plan would govern the ongoing work of the Council in a significantly challenging financial landscape.

Arising from the comments of members, the following points were noted:

·                As the Plan was high level, it did not contain detailed actions which would be carried out to achieve all the targets set. These were often set out in more detailed existing supporting plans, such as the Local Transport Implementation Plan, or would be included in plans still in development which would support delivery and transformation;
 

·                It was felt that it would be helpful to set out the current performance level of the Council, where available, alongside the targets set out in the Plan, though it was noted that some of the measures were new and specific baselines were therefore not yet available. It was intended to build further information into performance reports when 2013/14 data was available in early Autumn 2014;

·                Performance against the targets would be closely monitored over the next three to four years and reported to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees and to the County Council in the Annual Performance Report; 

·                Targets had been developed as a result of analysis of comparable data at other local authorities and statistical trends both locally and nationally. The Council aimed broadly to be in the top quartile on the priorities set, though it was noted that some of the targets set out in the Plan would be challenging to achieve. In a few of the lower performing areas, the target was to make significant progress but it was noted that this would not be sufficient for top quartile performance at this stage;

·                It was noted that the Council’s movement toward the “Digital Delivery” of its services would need to have regard to those members of the community without access to the internet. The importance of good quality telephony services was therefore stressed;

·                It was noted that reference on page 18 to ensuring that “90% plus of Leicestershire premises” had access to super-fast broadband should be amended to “92%” as specified in the table further down the page. Further plans were progressing to stretch this coverage further and the Chief Executive undertook to consider how this would be reflected in the Plan;
 

·                It was noted that the reference on page 37 to the Leicestershire Cultural Environment largely referred to libraries and museums but that there were other important cultural elements to Leicestershire. One example was given of the Council’s work with the Leicester-shire Music Education Hub to provide music tuition at Leicestershire Schools. It was acknowledged that this and other cultural services contributed to culture in the County and people’s general happiness and wellbeing;

·                The cross-party Elected Member Transformation Board had initially been looking at the challenges facing the Council, though it was now more focused around developing solutions to the commitments made in the MTFS. It was hoped that the opposition groups would continue to take the opportunity to play an active role in the Board and feel able to submit their ideas;

·                The detail of the Better Care Fund Plan delivery and proposals to better integrate health and social care were still being developed through a new Integration Executive. It was hoped that some of this work could contribute towards taking pressure off the NHS by taking low priority patients away from accident and emergency services and into GP surgeries and other community services.

RESOLVED:

That the comments made on the Leicestershire County Council Strategic Plan as outlined above be submitted to the Cabinet for consideration at its meeting on 6 May and to the Full County Council for consideration at its meeting on 21 May.