Interviews with:

·  Angela Woodhouse, Head of Change and Scrutiny;

·  Councillor Chris Garland, Leader of the Council; and

·  Alison Broom, Chief Executive.

Angela Woodhouse, Head of Change and Scrutiny, introduced the Strategic Plan Refresh, focused on developing and aligning the council’s priorities to what mattered most for Maidstone.

The Committee were asked to consider the refreshed document which had increased its outcomes from 6 to 7 and the updated action plans for the outcomes, identifying any amendments and making recommendations as appropriate.

In response to Members questions the Chief Executive explained that the document defined the identity wanted for Maidstone.  The refresh of the Strategic Plan reflected what had been achieved so far but was not proposing a fundamental change.

The Committee considered the detail of the document, suggesting the following additions and amendments to it:

• That an emphasis be placed in the description of the borough in the Leader’s foreword and the body of the document that promotes Maidstone as a vibrant County Town, home to many strategic authorities including the Police and Fire Services;
• That the term direction of travel, where used in the borough, be replaced with the word objectives;
• That on page 25 of the document in addition to the following reference to Tourism ‘As a consequence, the Council has reviewed our cultural services and tourism offer creating a new visitor economy business unit within economic development,’ the following sentence be added: The low financial priority given to Tourism would not prevent the authority from pursuing opportunities that would benefit the local economy and tourism, should they arise;
• That further clarity was needed with the references within the document and glossary to the terms neighbourhood planning and planning for real process;
• That under local context in the document that information be included on the size of the inward economy and inward investment to compliment the information already included on public money.  This should be introduced in the Leader’s foreword;
• That the reference to the Marmot review should include a footnote or brief definition;
• That the reference to the Troubled Families Programme on page 18 of the document be reworded from ‘we have also started to identify families who will be worked with through the government’s troubled families programme’ to worked ‘alongside’ or ‘supported’; and
• That clarification be given on the progress of issues relating to Maidstone’s economy that have been addressed by the Council’s priorities and strategic plan; what has been achieved so far and remaining aims and objectives.  A headline section should be added to the Strategic Plan that cross references with the refreshed Economic Development Strategy.  This addition to the strategic plan should include and show alignment to the relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) adopted by the Locality Board since the last version of this document.

It was recommended that:

a)  An emphasis be placed in the description of the borough in the Leader’s foreword and the body of the document that promotes Maidstone as a vibrant County Town, home to many strategic authorities including the Police and Fire Services;

b)  The term ‘direction of travel’ be replaced with the word objectives in the document;

c)  On page 25 of the document’ in addition to the following reference to Tourism ‘As a consequence, the Council has reviewed our cultural services and tourism offer creating a new visitor economy business unit within economic development,’ the following sentence be added: The low financial priority given to Tourism should not prevent the authority from pursuing opportunities that would benefit the local economy and tourism, should they arise;

d)  Further clarity should be given to the terms neighbourhood planning and planning for real process within the document and glossary;

e)  Within the section local context in the document information be included on the size of the inward economy and inward investment to compliment the information already included on public money.  This should be introduced in the Leader’s foreword;

f)  The reference to the Marmot review includes a footnote or brief definition;

g)  The reference to the Troubled Families Programme on page 18 of the document be reworded from ‘we have also started to identify families who will be worked with through the government’s troubled families programme’ to worked ‘alongside’ or ‘supported’; and

h)  Clarification be given on the progress of issues relating to Maidstone’s economy that have been addressed by the Council’s priorities and strategic plan; what has been achieved so far and remaining aims and objectives.  A headline section should be added to the Strategic Plan that cross references with the refreshed Economic Development Strategy.  This addition to the strategic plan should include and show alignment to the relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) adopted by the Locality Board since the last version of this document