MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE Cabinet HELD ON 08 FEBRUARY 2012
REFRESH OF THE STRATEGIC PLAN 2012-13
Issue for Decision
To consider the refreshed Strategic Plan 2012-13.
Recommendation Made
That the refreshed Strategic Plan 2012-13, attached at Appendix A, be adopted subject to delegated authority being given to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to make minor amendments as required.
Reasons for Recommendation
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.
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.
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 approach was also agreed at the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January 2012. This refreshed document is included at Appendix A.
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.
The Cabinet agreed that the Refreshed Strategic Plan be amended to reflect that the Leisure and Culture Strategy is now integrated with the Economic Development Strategy and that all reference to Neighbourhood Forums be deleted.
Alternatives considered and why not recommended
It could be decided 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.
The development of a new plan could be requested, 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.
Background Papers
Strategic Plan 2011-2015
Corporate Planning Timetable Cabinet report September 2011