Agenda item

Consideration of Recommendations from the Review of the Draft Framework of the Corporate Plan

An extraordinary meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee was held on 9th October to review the existing Draft Framework of the Corporate Plan, a number of possible recommendations were put forward to be considered by the Committee. The purpose of this item is to consider the proposals and formalise recommendations to Cabinet.

Minutes:

The Chairman introduced the item and informed Members that the Committee was required to formalise recommendations raised at the additional O&S meeting, held on 9th October, to review the Draft Framework of the Corporate Plan. It was agreed that the recommendations would be taken en bloc once agreed.

 

Questions and Discussion

 

In reference to the first recommendation, Cllr J Toye stated that mobile libraries should be included when distributing hard copies of the Corporate Plan across the district. The HECD suggested that the distribution should be as broad as possible, taking into account areas that bordered the district, such as Aylsham and Wroxham. It was agreed, following a question from Cllr N Housden, that the distribution must also include all Parish and Town Councils.

 

On the second recommendation, the Chairman expressed disappointment that the residents’ survey used to inform the key themes of the Corporate Plan had not yet been shared with Members of the Committee. It was suggested that these concerns could be added to the recommendation, alongside a request to share the survey with Committee Members as soon as possible. Cllr L Shires stated that the Corporate Plan’s key themes echoed concerns that had been raised by the public when canvassing. Members discussed the distribution of the survey, and it was agreed that the request for further distribution and return metrics would remain, despite suggestions that further data may not be shared.

 

Recommendation three, to consider the renaming of the affordable housing theme was discussed, and concerns were raised that the proposed ‘local homes for local people’ could affect property values. The Chairman replied that the suggestion had to be seen in context as a generic title, that reflected the Council’s desire to build homes for local residents, which in itself was not a policy that would affect property values.

 

Members agreed that the content of the fourth recommendation was satisfactory.

 

On recommendation five, it was suggested that reference to specific areas should be changed to specific barriers faced when doing business in North Norfolk.

 

Members agreed that the content of the sixth recommendation was satisfactory.

 

On recommendation seven, to suggest that the customer focus theme be renamed, Cllr H Blathwayt suggested that the term customer could be patronising to individuals receiving fines or rejected applications. Cllr L Shires stated that customer focus suggested a quality of service that the Council should aspire to. It was agreed that the recommendation would remain open for Cabinet’s consideration.

 

Cllr N Lloyd (PH for Environment) referred to the eighth recommendation, and stated that several suggestions had been made to place greater emphasis on coastal issues within the environment theme. He informed Members that he would look to amend the theme title to reflect this.

 

Members agreed that the ninth recommendations should remain unchanged.

 

On recommendation ten, Cllr V Gay stated that whilst the Corporate Plan was still in its early stages, success descriptors had been considered and would likely be included in the final version of the Corporate Plan.

 

The recommendations were proposed by Cllr P Heinrich and seconded by Cllr G Mancini-Boyle, to be taken en bloc.

 

RESOLVED

 

To make the following recommendations to Cabinet:

 

1.  To share with Overview & Scrutiny Committee Members as soon as possible, the residents’ survey used to inform the Corporate Plan, together with relevant distribution and return metrics. The Committee agreed that Cabinet should be notified of their concerns that the survey had not been shared in time for the drafting of the recommendations below and thus wasn’t available to support validation of the 6 themes.

 

2.  That two copies of the final version of the Corporate Plan be placed in all public libraries (including mobile libraries) across the district and a copy sent to every parish clerk, to provide accessibility for members of the public without internet access.

 

3.  That consideration be given to renaming the ‘Affordable Housing’ theme ‘Local Homes for Local People’, as this has broader application.

 

4.  That consideration be given to including a reference to the ‘sustainability’ of existing businesses, both in the heading and underlying content of the ‘Boosting Business Growth’ theme of the Corporate Plan. The revised title of “Boosting Business Sustainability and Growth” was supported.

 

5.  That consideration be given to identifying the specific barriers faced when doing business in North Norfolk within the Business theme of the Corporate Plan.

 

6.  To share a summary of the feedback from the environmental consultation undertaken at the Greenbuild event held in September.

 

7.  To give consideration to renaming the ‘Customer Focus’ theme to encompass everyone who used the Council’s services. The options discussed included: People Focus, Resident Focus, Service User Focus, etc, but ‘Customer Focus’ gained most support.

 

8.  To consider adding an additional descriptor to the Environment theme title - such as “Protecting the Environment”; the Cabinet Member had advised ‘Climate Change, Coast and Environment’ could be an option.

 

9.  To remove the high level challenge statements from future documents, as they had now served their purpose.

 

10.  To consider developing progress/success descriptors for each theme alongside performance monitoring and management targets/indicators as part of the delivery and action work stage.

 

Supporting documents: