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MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

CABINET

8 FEBRUARY 2012

REPORT OF THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL AND THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE

Report prepared by Ellie Kershaw 

1.           REFRESH OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN FOR 2012/13

1.1        Issue for Decision

1.1.1   Cabinet are asked to agree the refreshed strategic plan for submission to Council on 29 February 2011.

1.2        Recommendation of the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive

1.2.1   That Cabinet recommends the refreshed Strategic Plan 2011-15 to Council subject to delegation to the Chief Executive to make minor amendments in consultation with the Leader as required.

1.3        Reasons for Recommendation

1.3.1   The vision for Maidstone in the Sustainable Community Strategy is “We want Maidstone Borough to be a vibrant, prosperous 21st century urban and rural community at the heart of at the heart of Kent, where its distinctive character is enhanced to create a safe, healthy, excellent environment with high quality education and employment where all people can realise their aspirations.” The essence of this message can be distilled as “Great place, great people, great opportunity” and this is what the Strategic Plan sets out to achieve.

1.3.2   Key objectives in the Strategic plan are developed alongside the Medium Term Financial Strategy. The service planning process then allows these objectives to be translated into actions for each team in the Council.

1.3.3   In September 2011 Cabinet agreed that the Strategic Plan 2011-15 would be retained for 2012/13 but refreshed to reflect key changes including work that Cabinet would undertake on the future shape of the organisation and the planning and prioritisation of actions needed to achieve the outcomes set out in the Strategic plan. In December 2011 Cabinet agreed the targeted approach to be taken in the Strategic Plan. This refreshed document is included at Appendix A.

1.3.4    There are some aspects of the plan that require further information that is not yet available before they can be updated. These are;

·         Resident satisfaction, where the results of the most recent survey are expected back in mid February

·         ‘How the Council Works’ which can be updated following the review of the Scrutiny function and

·         Performance information which is not available until year end.

1.4        Alternative Action and why not Recommended

1.4.1   Cabinet could decide not to refresh the Strategic Plan. However, this would lead to out of date information being publicly available and make it difficult for officers to maintain the ‘golden thread’. The Council also needs to be able to demonstrate how it is reacting to changes in the local and national context.

1.4.2   Cabinet could request the development of a new plan. However, this is not recommended as the development of a new plan would require additional resources and would risk not being produced in time for the new financial year.

1.5        Impact on Corporate Objectives

1.5.1   The Strategic Plan sets out the Council’s Corporate Objectives and is the top level document from which other plans and strategies flow.

1.6        Risk Management

1.6.1   Refining the priorities within the outcomes will allow a more robust risk management process to be undertaken.

1.7        Other Implications

1.7.1   The Strategic Plan has a range of implications which are discussed in the body of this report.

1.7.2   The Medium Term Financial Strategy and Strategic Plan are developed in conjunction with each other to ensure that priorities and resources are considered together.   

1.8        Relevant Documents

1.8.1   Appendices

Appendix A Draft refresh of the Strategic Plan 2011-2015

1.8.2   Background Documents

·         Strategic Plan 2011-2015

·         Corporate Planning Timetable Cabinet report September 2011

IS THIS A KEY DECISION REPORT? x     Yes                                               No     If yes, when did it first appear in the Forward Plan?   December 2011     This is a Key Decision because: It affects all wards       Wards/Parishes affected: all