Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report in relation to the Council’s high level strategy and Corporate Plan for the period 2008-2011:

 

“1.0      Relevant background information

 

1.1        This report sets out the context of the special Strategic Policy & Resources Committee meeting which is scheduled for 13th June.  At this meeting members will be asked to:

 

·         agree the Council’s high level strategy, its corporate plan, for the period 2008-2011;

 

·         note the arrangements which will allow the committee to fulfil its role in ensuring delivery of the corporate plan in line with affordability;

 

·         agree that reports are brought to the Committee in September outlining how the Council will move towards area and thematic working on a more consistent basis and outlining the programme management and accountability arrangements for the main programmes and projects;

 

·         agree a proposed approach to working up detailed project proposals relating to the city investment strategy;

 

·         agree a series of recommendations to put in place an effective asset management strategy which will align the use of Council assets with the Council’s strategy and

 

·         agree the capital programme for 2008/09 and agree a process for development of the programme for 2009/10 onwards.

 

      Reports on each of these items are attached with this cover report.

 

2.0       Corporate Plan – Strategy 2008-11

 

2.1       The document setting out the corporate plan 2008-2011 represents the culmination of 9 months work with the Committee and with Party Groups to set out the Council’s ambitions for the future.  The Plan is based upon extensive internal and external analysis, including our large-scale public consultation exercise and all Party Groups have been briefed on the emerging strategy.

 

2.2       The corporate plan embodies what we stand for.  The messages that flow from the plan are as multi-layered and diverse as the organisation it represents.  The challenge is to express the philosophy of Belfast City Council within the plan in as clear and concise a way as possible.  This means cutting away the detail, shrinking the work of the last 9 months to a few pages of positive messages about what the Council stands for, about the way its Members and officers will behave, of its commitment to the people of Belfast and the city and the action that will reflect this in the year ahead.

 

2.3       The key messages emerging from the corporate plan are:

 

·         Better together – working with others to create a shared vision and delivering together;

 

·         Today’s action, tomorrow’s legacy – city investment that improves quality of life now and in the future;

 

·         Value for Money, minimising the rates burden, freeing up resources for more delivery on the ground;

 

·         Better Services – continuing to enhance the level of service offered to the citizen.

 

      In short; Better together; Better for the Future; Better Value; Better Services.

 

2.4       More information on the key messages can be found at page 3 of the draft Corporate Plan and it is recommended that a workshop be held with Members to explore the communication of the corporate plan in more detail and particularly the key role which Members have to play within this process.

 

3.0       Values and Behaviours

 

3.1       Feedback from the party group briefings underlined the importance of the right values and behaviours in ensuring the delivery of the plan.  Members were strongly of the view that the values and behaviours should relate to employees and Members.  The proposed values are set out at page 7 of the draft Corporate Plan.

 

4.0       Strategic Themes

 

4.1       Throughout the past months Members have set out their priorities for the next three years in the context of a wider analysis of need in the city, the views of the public and the statutory and strategic challenges and opportunities that are likely to impact on the Council over the next three years.  The strategic themes that have emerged are a reflection of the breadth of the ambition that Members have for the city, tempered by the need for financial prudence.  They are an expression of our potential and the corporate plan represents the beginning of our journey towards this potential.  The themes have been reworded in order to give them more consistency and make them easier for people to understand and remember.  The six themes, together with their original wording are set out below:  The detail with respect to each theme is set out over pages 8-18 of the draft Corporate Plan.

 

Strategic theme	Original wording
Better Leadership;	City leadership;
Better opportunities for success across the city;	Regeneration, growth and prosperity;
Better care for the environment – a clean, green city, now and for the future;	Environmental responsibility;
Better support for people and communities;	People and places;
Better services – listening and delivering;	Value for money customer focused services

 

Better value for money – a can-do, accountable, efficient Council.

An organisation fit to lead and serve

 

4.2       Recommendations:  Members are asked to agree the values, key messages and strategic themes set out at Appendix 1.  Members should note that the actions set out within each of the themes are illustrative actions which will be tested against affordability in line with the financial planning cycle which commences in June.  Members should also note that performance indicators will also continue to be refined as action plans relating to each of the themes are developed further.

 

            Members are asked to agree that a workshop is held to allow Members to explore the communication of the corporate plan in more detail and particularly the key role which Members have to play within this process.

 

5.0       Moving from planning to implementation – the frameworks to support delivery

 

5.1       Throughout the briefings it has been stressed that this is not the end of the corporate planning process but the beginning of a continuous cycle over the next three years, where annual business planning and resource planning are informed by the high level strategic direction set by Members.

 

5.2       Figure 1 shows the role of the Strategic Policy & Resources Committee in setting the priorities of the Council, ensuring that the organisation’s key processes are fit for purpose, that resources are effectively allocated and that people are developed and then held accountable for delivery through effective programme and project management.  The diagram shows that the ‘corporate planning’ framework is not one process but the alignment and harmonisation of a number of processes and frameworks.

 

Figure 1 Strategic Planning and Implementation Framework

 

 

5.3       Over the last two years the focus has been on creating effective frameworks for the strategic management of people, finances, assets and information that will make the Council better able to deliver on its ambitions.  This work has culminated in recent months with the agreement by the Committee of a series of frameworks, including:

 

•     Strategic Human Resources Management Framework

•     Strategic Financial Management Framework

•     Governance & Assurance Framework

•     Asset Management Framework

•     Performance Management Framework

•     ICT framework

 

5.4       Figure 1 shows how these frameworks combine to ensure that planning within the organisation becomes effectively aligned to the allocation of resources.  Further information on how the corporate planning process will be taken forward with Members as we move into the delivery and performance management phases will be presented at the meeting. Members will see the first operation of the process with the start of the financial planning cycle in June and a report on this issue is being prepared for the Committee’s meeting on 20th June.

 

5.5       Through the corporate planning work, it has become clear that the strategic direction of the organisation has changed from one where the Council could deliver its priorities through functional service delivery to one where the Council needs to organise itself more effectively to work on a thematic basis, to address issues such as safety and health improvement and on an area basis.  This will mean planning and allocating resources in new ways and has consequences in terms of how Members hold officers to account for delivery.  For these reasons, papers will be brought to the SP&R Committee in September setting out the accountability framework for delivery of the programmes within the corporate plan and the approach to taking forward thematic and area-based planning and delivery.

 

5.6       Recommendation:  Members are asked to note the ways in which the Committee will be supported in ensuring delivery of the strategy for 2008-2011.

 

6.0       City Investment, Capital and Assets

 

6.1       Key to the delivery of the Council’s strategy for the next few years is the effective development and implementation of the City Investment Strategy and Capital Programme.  Party Group briefings on the City Investment Strategy and Capital Programme have taken place.   Following on from these briefings, reports relating to these programmes and the asset management strategy needed to underpin them are included as part of the agenda. In this way the future management and strategic allocation of capital and assets can be considered in line with the goals for the city set by Members within the corporate plan.

 

7.0       City Investment Strategy

 

7.1       The City Investment Strategy paper sets out the decisions that have already been taken in terms of criteria, the potential projects for consideration, issues with respect to the funding strategy and the current financial situation.

 

7.2       The paper recommends that Members agree to the further development of detailed project proposals within the context of the City Investment Strategy with regular feedback to Committee on this basis for Members consideration and approval.

 

8.0       Asset Management Strategy)

 

8.1       The item relating to the Asset Management Strategy sets out the need for the Council to develop a strategy that allows it to maximise the benefits of its assets to the city and outlines some preliminary work that has been carried out to look at the short, medium and longer term options for some of the Council’s assets.  The report stresses that this Schedule of Assets has been prepared in advance of the development of an overarching asset strategy and all assets included in the schedule will need to have further detailed investigation and appraisal before any final decisions can be taken.  Members will continue to be brought information on individual assets as necessary as opportunities and issues arise.

 

8.2       The paper makes a number of recommendations including the engagement of consultants to help in the development of the process, the cost of which has been provided for within current budgets, and the setting up of an Asset Management Group to be chaired by the Director of Improvement which will look at the development of the asset strategy and will also discuss ongoing asset issues, including those relating to acquisitions and disposals.

 

9.0       Capital Programme

 

9.1       The report on the capital programme sets out the status of the projects within the programme for 2008/09 and the level of financial commitment this represents.  The report then sets out the process for agreeing the programme from 2009 onwards, linked to affordability and delivery limits.

 

9.2       Members are asked to agree that committed projects proceed as outlined in the appendix to the report and that all other projects are put through the Gates process with a view to their rationalisation and prioritisation on the basis of need, affordability and deliverability.

 

10.0     Recommendations

 

            Members are asked to:

 

a)   agree the key messages, values and strategic themes set out in the draft Corporate Plan;

 

b)   note the arrangements to support the delivery of the corporate plan;

 

c)   Consider the reports on the rest of the agenda and agree the recommendations contained therein.”

 

            The Chief Executive reviewed the work which had been undertaken in order to develop the Corporate Plan for the period 2008-2011.  He highlighted the key messages and strategic themes which had emerged for inclusion in the Plan, the planning framework and the role of the Committee in its effective implementation.  He explained how the new strategic themes would be incorporated within the Council’s Value Creation Map and the challenges which the Council would face in delivering the Plan.

 

            In conclusion, the Chief Executive stated that the agreement of the Committee to the strategic themes which would be included within the Corporate Plan represented the first step in the process and the Committee would now be required to lead the implementation of the Plan and oversee the accountability arrangements.  In future, planning in the organisation would occur within the context of the objectives which were set out in the Plan and in line with the Council’s financial planning cycle and overall affordability limits.  Work would be commissioned so that further reports on accountability, the governance of major projects and the alignment of policy and performance within resources could be brought to the Committee in the autumn.  If the Committee were minded to approve the draft Corporate Plan it would be subject to an equality screening process, with a report thereon being submitted to the Committee in due course.  The plan would form the framework for services planning and budgeting for 2009/2010.

 

            In response to a number of questions, the Chief Executive stated that, following approval of the Corporate Plan, annual reports would be developed and the Plan evaluated in the context of the performance management framework.  With regard to activities for teenagers and facilities for young children, he stated that the Council was undertaking currently a substantial piece of work in this regard and a report in the matter would be submitted to the appropriate Committee in due course.

 

            After further discussion, the Committee agreed the key messages, values and strategic themes as set out in the draft Corporate Plan and noted the arrangements which would be put in place to support the delivery of the Plan.