To consider a presentation from the Leader and Chief Executive on future challenges and priorities for the Council.
Minutes:
Clive Jones (Leader of the Council) and Susan Parsonage (Chief Executive) attended the meeting to give a presentation to the Committee on the challenges facing the Council over the coming year.
The presentation covered the following points:
Challenges Facing the Council:
· Budget pressures (e.g. from Health and Adult Social Care reforms).
· Recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic.
· Inflation and the cost of living crisis.
· Increasing demand, complexity and costs (housing, poverty, special educational needs and disability (SEND) and Adult Social Care (ASC)).
Service Priorities:
· Chief Executive’s Office – customer excellence; tackling poverty and the equalities framework; community engagement; organisational development.
· Resources and Assets – financial sustainability; income generation and commercialisation; high standards of governance and financial management; supporting businesses; health and wellbeing.
· Place and Growth – Local Plan Update; new Anti-Social Behaviour service; climate change; housing demand and needs; sustainable transport options; supporting refugees coming into the Borough.
· Adult Social Care – keeping people safe; involving residents and delaying the need for formal care and support; commissioning services that deliver quality and value for money; integrating health and social care changes; Public Health priorities for the Borough.
· Children’s Services – protecting and safeguarding children, young and vulnerable people; championing outstanding education; enabling children and young people to achieve their full potential regardless of their background.
Crosscutting Priorities:
· Customer excellence – embed a customer excellence culture and simplify customer journeys.
· Business intelligence – use data to develop insights which support demand management and decision making.
· Contracts and procurement – drive commercial efficiencies and service quality through contract management and longer term planning.
· Asset opportunities – review the Council’s property portfolio and align assets to future business needs.
· Workforce – enhanced organisational design and improved retention through a focus on talent management.
· Community and partnerships – develop relationships which support a cohesive approach to meeting community needs and increase social value.
· Financial sustainability – underpins each of the cross-cutting priorities.
Administration Priorities:
· Recover and prosper – supporting local businesses; homes for local people; arts, culture and libraries.
· Cleaner and greener – preserve green spaces; tackle climate change; highways and transport.
· Caring for everybody – Adult Social Care (funding and partnerships); Children’s Services (school places, SEND and CAMHs); Covid-19 recovery plan; White Ribbon accreditation.
· Being responsible and responsive – equality, inclusivity and diversity; support for residents on low incomes; finance (prudential controls, review of Capital programme, reduce debt and borrowing, review contracts).
· Improve our responsiveness to residents – improving access to the Council and responsiveness of services.
Next Steps:
· Further action on the Budget and Capital re-profiling.
· Continuing the delivery of priority projects.
· Further review of the administration’s aspirations.
· Increase and deepen the quality of partnership working within and outside the Council; improve cross-party working.
In the ensuing discussion Members raised the following points:
The presentation highlighted key priorities which had been identified and addressed by the previous administration. What was different about the priorities identified in the presentation and what new challenges were emerging? Clive Jones stated that the new administration was already making progress on key issues, such as the discussion with Michael Gove about housing numbers in the Borough (to be followed up with the new Secretary of State, Greg Clark). The new administration was looking at the challenges to be tackled in the Local Plan Update and assessing the Council’s financial situation. Susan Parsonage commented that a number of the priorities and challenges were cross-cutting and the new administration was not aiming to change everything. For example, customer excellence was a priority for the previous administration and continued to be a priority for the new administration.
Did the new administration have a target in mind for the reduction of the annual new housing numbers target? Clive Jones stated that work was ongoing to understand the Council’s financial position and the impact on the organisation and key services. In relation to housing numbers, the Liberal Democrat Group had stated in the past that moving below 600 new homes per year was a reasonable target for discussion with the Government.
Did the new administration aim to bring greater transparency to financial decisions such as the sale of assets? Clive Jones stated that the process of taking the draft Budget through the Overview and Scrutiny process would continue. The new administration saw value in the work of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees. Bringing items to the Committees earlier in the decision making process would add value and enable Overview and Scrutiny Members to influence policy development more effectively.
Potential changes to the delivery of Adult Social Care could have serious impacts on the Council’s financial stability. Susan Parsonage stated that work was ongoing to map out various scenarios with possible risks and mitigation measures. In the meantime the Council would continue to lobby the Government to ensure that its views were heard. The Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee would be updated on any new developments relating to changes to Adult Social Care.
Recent publication of Census data had shown that the Borough’s population had increased by 15% over the past 10 years. This was unsustainable. What was the Council doing to challenge the Government’s methodology for future housing numbers? Clive Jones stated that contact had been made with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the issue of Councils which had over-delivered on new homes and should, therefore, have lower targets moving forwards. This should be reflected in the Local Plan Update.
Now that the regeneration of Wokingham town centre was reaching a conclusion, what plans were there for regeneration of the other towns in the Borough? Clive Jones stated that officers had commenced working on options for further regeneration projects, commencing with Woodley.
RESOLVED That:
1) Clive Jones and Susan Parsonage be thanked for attending the meeting to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the Borough;
2) Clive and Susan be invited to a future meeting of the Committee to discuss progress and the identification of emerging challenges and opportunities.