To comment on the report to be considered by Cabinet on the 26 November 2015.

The Managing Director and Strategic Director for Children’s Services, Alison Alexander, apologised to Members for the lateness of this report.  It was noted that it had been agreed that this report would go to Overview & Scrutiny Panels so Members could share their views at the meetings or in the next week or so. 

Members were informed that the report proposed a new draft four-year strategic plan for the Royal Borough.  It was noted that the report requested that Cabinet approved the draft plan (included in Appendix A) and allowed it to proceed to Council for consideration on 15 December 2015.  The Managing Director and Strategic Director for Children’s Services explained that the plan had a vision to make the Royal Borough a great place to live, work, play and do business.  The plan had four strategic priorities; Residents First, Value for Money, Delivering Together and Equipping Ourselves for the Future.

In the ensuing discussion the following points were noted:

Ø  Councillor Hilton suggested two things that he felt were important:

·         Needed to find what needed to be achieved.

·         Needed to work out how to achieve / measure success.

It was agreed that some micro and macro measures would be added in each section.

Ø  That a range of indicators were currently monitored by Cabinet on a quarterly basis  and would be monitored annually at a Full Council meeting in order to show what had been delivered and what needed to be budgeted for. 

Ø  That this information would be published to the web and would be included in the Around The Royal Borough newsletter.  It was noted that this information would be distributed as widely as possible. 

Ø  That this was linked to the Councils manifesto commitments.

Ø  That on page 5 of the plan, under Vision it should read ‘RBWM, a great place to live, work, play and do business’.

Ø  It was suggested that black text be used in the yellow Governance box on page 5 of the plan as it would make it easier to read.

Ø  That the wording on page 11 of the plan be tidied up so they were more deliverable (e.g. ‘Residents be encouraged to enjoy healthy lifestyles and be supported into their old age’).

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: The Planning & Housing Overview & Scrutiny Panel unanimously agreed to recommend to Cabinet the following:

i.     Approves the draft Council Strategic Plan 2016-2020 and recommends it proceed to Council for their consideration on 15 December 2015.

ii.    Delegates authority to the Managing Director and Leader of the Council in consultation with the Principal Member for Policy to make alterations to the proposed plan ahead of its submission to Council.

The following comments from the Panel were noted:

•        That distribution of this information would be done as widely as possible (e.g. on the RBWM website, in the ATRB newsletter, send out with the Council Tax document if possible, etc).

•        That road improvements be included in the ‘What will be different for residents in four years time’ section of the plan.

•        That a higher profile be given to regional issues happening outside the Royal Borough (e.g. Heathrow expansion).

As this paper was only received on the night of the meeting it was agreed that additional comments would be emailed to the Managing Director & Strategic Director of Children’s Services and / or the Cabinet Policy Manager, Chris Targowski.