Agenda item

Joint Report of the Chief Executive, Director of Transformation and Business Services, Director of Legal and Democratic Services, Director of People and Culture and Director of Finance and Public Value, attached.

RESOLVED

(a) that the commitment to, and support for, the “Best Place” Strategic Plan

2021 – 2025 is reaffirmed;

(b) that a Report on progress to date with the Strategic Plan 2021-2025 be

prepared for consideration by the Council at its meeting on 7 September

2023;

(c) that the six areas of focus for the Corporate Plan for the next 12 months

aligned to the risks set out in section 4 of the Report, be agreed:

          I. Governance and performance review.

II. Value for money and financial sustainability.

III. People strategy.

IV. Replacement systems (FINEST and CareFirst).

V. Equality, diversity and inclusion.

VI. Devon, Plymouth and Torbay devolution deal.

(d) that the most significant risks facing the Council and the approach to

managing them, as described in section 4, be agreed and further invite

regular reports to future meetings on the management of those risks; and

(e) to further note that Directorate/service area plans will be developed over

the next three months linked to the: Strategic Plan 2021-2025, areas of focus,

key risks and People Strategy – ‘People First’.

(Councillors Brazil, Whitton and Wrigley attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Joint Report of the Chief Executive, Director of Transformation and Business Services, Director of Legal and Democratic Services, Director of People and Culture and Director of Finance and Public Value, outlining the Council's Strategic Plan 2021 to 2025 and Corporate Plan for the next twelve months. The Report had been circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Council adopted its “Best Place” Strategic Plan at its meeting on 2 December 2021 (minute 64 refers). That Plan – https://www.devon.gov.uk/strategic-plan/ - set out the Council’s vision, ambition, and overall priorities for 2021 to 2025.

The Plan’s ambition was to help Devon to become the best place to:

·       Grow up - a commitment to being a child friendly Devon where children / young people were safe, healthy, ambitious, and could fulfil their potential.

·       Live well - being a fairer Devon: inclusive, compassionate, and caring, where everyone was safe, connected, and resilient.

·       Prosper - being a greener and prosperous Devon, with opportunities to create a sustainable future for all.

There were a number of priorities and for each of those, the webpages described the outcomes that would be achieved over the period 2021-2025, the summary being included as Appendix 1 to the Report.

The year ahead would be a critical period for the Council as it needed to tackle some long-standing issues and challenges. It was proposed that six areas of focus, described in full in the Report, were agreed as the corporate plan for the next 12 months to improve the current arrangements for decision-making and governance, achieve, as far as possible, financial sustainability and support and empower staff to deliver the best outcomes for the people of Devon.

These 6 areas of focus were:

·       Governance and performance review (Committee structure, decision making and financial thresholds, communications with, and support for, Members, contract procedure rules, Council procedure rules, financial regulations, scheme of delegation, modernisation of the Council Chamber and membership of external boards, partnerships and committees);

·       Value for money and financial sustainability (staffing, contract management, efficiency of services, income generation and full cost recovery and use of assets and buildings);

·       People strategy;

·       Replacement of key systems (Finest and Care First);

·       Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; and

·       Devolution Deal.

Section 4 of the Report outlined some key risks to the Council, such as  cyber-attack, failure to prepare a robust budget, failure to deliver priority services as a result of significantly reduced finances and failure to adhere to the statutory SEND code of practice: 0-25 years. There were further risks in childrens social care services, highway maintenance and management and the integrated care and system leadership.

The Cabinet noted that the Council’s priorities for 2021 – 2025 would have a positive impact on everyone living and working in Devon. The extent of the impact on each protected characteristic were set out in Equality Impact Assessments for each area of work and the exact nature of the anticipated impact would be assessed as part of future plans and on a case-by-case basis.

The Chief Executive clarified that the document was a framework with targets, milestones and deliverables and subsequent reporting featuring in the work stream, adding that directorate plans would be key to holding services to account.

The matter having been debated and the options and alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability and carbon impact), risk management, equality and legal considerations and alignment with the Council’s Strategic Plan) set out in the Joint Report having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Hart, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED

(a) that the commitment to, and support for, the “Best Place” Strategic Plan 2021 – 2025 is reaffirmed;

(b) that a Report on progress to date with the Strategic Plan 2021-2025 be prepared for consideration by the Council at its meeting on 7 September 2023;

(c) that the six areas of focus for the Corporate Plan for the next 12 months aligned to the risks set out in section 4 of the Report, be agreed:

               I.    Governance and performance review.

               II.   Value for money and financial sustainability.

               III.  People strategy.

               IV.  Replacement systems (FINEST and CareFirst).

               V.   Equality, diversity and inclusion.

               VI.  Devon, Plymouth and Torbay devolution deal.

(d) that the most significant risks facing the Council and the approach to managing them, as described in section 4, be agreed and further invite regular reports to future meetings on the management of those risks; and

(e) to further note that Directorate/service area plans will be developed over the next three months linked to the: Strategic Plan 2021-2025, areas of focus, key risks and People Strategy – ‘People First’.