POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE			21 JULY 2020

Corporate Planning Timetable

Final Decision-Maker	Policy and Resources Committee
Lead Head of Service	Director of Finance and Business Improvement
Lead Officer and Report Author	Angela Woodhouse, Head of Policy, Communications and Governance and Anna Collier, Policy and Information Manager
Classification	Public
Wards affected	All

Executive Summary
This report sets out the proposed timetable for a review of the priorities and outcomes in the Strategic Plan 2019 to 2045 and updating the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) to cover the five year period 2021 to 2026
Purpose of Report Decision

This report makes the following recommendations to this Committee:
1. To adopt the corporate planning timetable

Timetable
*Meeting*		*Date*
Policy and Resources Committee		21 July 2020

Corporate Planning Timetable

1. CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

Issue	Implications	Sign-off
Impact on Corporate Priorities	The four Strategic Plan objectives are: � Embracing Growth and Enabling Infrastructure � Safe, Clean and Green � Homes and Communities � A Thriving Place The strategic plan sets the corporate priorities.� This paper sets the timetable by which the refresh of those outcomes will be undertaken.	Head of Policy Communications and Governance
Cross Cutting Objectives	The four cross-cutting objectives are: � Heritage is Respected � Health Inequalities are Addressed and Reduced � Deprivation and Social Mobility is Improved � Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability is respected The Strategic Plan sets the corporate priorities.� This paper sets the timetable by which the assessment of the cross-cutting objectives will be made.	Head of Policy Communications and Governance
Risk Management	Already covered in the risk section	Head of Policy Communications and Governance
Financial	The proposals set out in the recommendation are all within already approved budgetary headings and so need no new funding for implementation. Financial implications of the Strategic Plan will be addressed by developing an updated Medium Term Financial Strategy in parallel with the Strategic Plan. A report on the Medium Term Financial Strategy is included on this agenda.	Section 151 Officer & Finance Team
Staffing	We will deliver the recommendations with our current staffing.	Head of Policy Communications and Governance
Legal	The Strategic Plan aligns with the Council�s general duty, as a best value authority, to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness � section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999. If adopted as recommended the corporate planning timetable enables the Council to monitor its performance against the agreed Strategic Plan outcomes.	�Team Leader (Corporate Governance), MKLS
Privacy and Data Protection	Any data collected as part of the Strategic Planning process will be processed in accordance with GDPR/Data Protection Act 2018.�	Policy and Information Team
Equalities	The recommendations do not propose a change in service therefore will not require an equalities impact assessment	Policy & Information Manager
Public Health	The COVID-19 Public Health crisis has posed a number of acute risks to society due to the virus itself but also the measures taken to contain it. There will be longer term risks to residents� health due to the impact on the wider determinants of health. The COVID-19 pandemic has also shown that the risks are greater to particular groups of the population further highlighting the health inequalities that already existed prior to the outbreak. This will need to be a consideration when moving forwards with the Strategic Plan and recommendations of this report.	Senior Public Health Officer
Crime and Disorder	No Impact
Procurement	No Impact

2. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.1 The corporate planning process within the Council ensures the overall vision for the borough is clear and delivered. The priorities and outcomes in the Strategic Plan are developed alongside the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) as the financial expression of the Strategic Plan.

2.2 The current Strategic Plan was adopted in December 2018 and covers the period until 2045.� The plan was agreed after careful analysis and consultation, the decision taken for it to be a 26-year plan to ensure continuity, and a basis on which all other internal plans and strategies could be developed.�

2.3 The Council�s strapline is �A borough that works for everyone� expressed through our vision with 4 key priorities and 4 cross cutting objectives:

� Priorities

� Embracing Growth and Enabling Infrastructure

� Safe Clean and Green

� Homes and Communities

� A Thriving Place

�� Cross Cutting Objectives

� Heritage is respected

� Health inequalities are addressed and reduced

� Deprivation is reduced and social mobility is improved

� Biodiversity and Environmental sustainability is respected

2.4 Outcomes for 2019/24 were set under each priority and progress against these outcomes can be seen at Appendix A. Progress has been made across all four priorities in line with our plan.

3. AVAILABLE OPTIONS

Retain and update the existing strategic plan

3.1 The current Strategic Plan was developed involving a wide cross section of Councillors, staff and other stakeholders in 2018 before being adopted in December of that year, the vision and priorities are clear and relevant. Progress has been made across all priorities as can be seen in the outcomes update as can been seen in Appendix A.

3.2 In-light of the pandemic and its significant impact, work will now need to be carried out to refresh our outcomes for 2019/24 to a refreshed set of outcomes for 2021/26 in the plan. This should be a light touch piece of work to ensure the outcomes we are aligned to our recovery approach.

3.3 Work is underway on recovery as per the report from the Chief Executive in June to Policy and Resources Committee developing impact assessments and plans. The actions resulting from these should inform the development of outcomes in the strategic plan. It is also proposed to conduct consultation to identify the impact of the pandemic on our residents to help inform our recovery plans.

3.4 A light-touch refresh of the Strategic Plan would include:��

� Identification of areas of focus for 2021/26

� Refresh of any contextual information in the document such as statistics

� Refreshing the foreword.

3.5 Outlined below is a proposed timetable for updating the Strategic Plan and development of budget proposals. A report on the MTFS has been included on this agenda and that has been taken into account in the proposed timetable below.

�

3.6 Corporate Planning Timetable

Date	Action
21 July 2020	Policy and Resources Committee consider the corporate planning timetable
July 2020	Recovery Impact Assessments undertaken
July 2020- August 2020	Resident COVID-19 Impact and Recovery Consultation launched
July 2020- October 2020	Engagement with Members
	Engagement with Unit Managers
	Engagement with Staff
September 2020 � November 2020	Develop detailed budget proposals Refresh strategic plan
October 2020	Budget survey
December 2020	Budget Proposals considered by Policy and Resources Committee; Strategic Plan refresh considered alongside consultation results
January 2021	Consultation with Service Committees on Budget Proposals and Strategic Plan refresh
February 2021	Policy and Resources consider for submission to Council Strategic Plan refresh and final Medium-Term Financial Strategy
February 2021	Strategic Plan and Medium-Term Financial Strategy considered at full Council

�� Create a new Strategic Plan

3.7 The Committee could decide that the existing strategic plan is not fit for purpose.� It should be noted that creating a new Strategic Plan would have a substantially greater impact on resources.

3.8 The timetable proposed would also need to be revisited and this could have an impact on the development of the Local Plan, as the spatial expression of the Strategic Plan. �The timetable agreed for the Local Plan Review at Strategic Planning Infrastructure Committee is outlined below.

Preferred approached consultation (Regulation 18b) (with emphasis on future strategies for growth)	Preferred approached consultation (Regulation 18b) with emphasis on detailed topic areas	Draft DPD Consultation (Regulation 19)	Examination	Adoption
October 2020	February 2021	December 2021	June/July 2022	October 2022

�� Amend or create a new timetable for a new strategic plan

3.9 The Committee can amend the timetable proposed for the refresh of the plan.� Members would need to consider the impact that this would have on the development of the Local Plan. The corporate planning timetable proposed includes the development of the MTFS which is also included on this agenda.

�� Do not refresh the Strategic Plan

3.10 Councillors may identify that the current plan does not need refreshing in-� light of the impact of the pandemic. Whilst the vision, priorities and cross cutting objectives are long-term and therefore would not need redrafting; this would miss the opportunity to look again at the shorter-term outcomes we want to achieve to determine if they are fit for purpose in light of the impact of COVID-19. We may for example want to put more emphasis on community infrastructure and capacity, an area that features in our priorities but does not feature in the present outcomes for 2019/24.

4. PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1 It is recommended that as the current Strategic Plan was only written in 2018, the present plan was refreshed to ensure contextual information is up to date and areas of focus in relation to outcomes for 2021/26 refreshing those for 2019/24 are agreed.

4.2 Not updating the plan is not recommended as there has the local and national landscape has significantly changed and the Council needs to demonstrate how it is planning and manage and respond to this change.

5. RISK

5.1 The risks associated with this proposal, including the risks if the Council does not act as recommended, have been considered in line with the Council�s Risk Management Framework.

6. CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

�

6.1 As outlined in the table above a resident COVID-19 impact and recovery survey is planned for the summer and budget consultation for October 2020. These will inform the Strategic Plan and the Medium-term Financial Strategy.

6.2 Members and Officers will be engaged throughout the corporate planning process.

7. NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

7.1 The proposed details for next steps are set out at in the options section of this report.

8. REPORT APPENDICES

� Appendix A: Strategic Plan Outcomes Update

9. BACKGROUND PAPERS

None