Agenda item

To monitor the Council’s progress in delivering the  Corporate Plan 2017 to 2022.

The Lead Member for Finance, Performance and Strategic Assets introduced the Strategic Planning Team Manager’s report and appendices (previously circulated) which presented the Committee with an update on the Council’s performance on delivering its 2017-2022 Corporate Plan as at the end of the second quarter of 2018-19.  He drew members’ attention to the Executive Summary report on progress to date - Appendix 1, Appendix 2 which contained the full quarterly performance report, and Appendices 3 and 4 which contained a summary of the projects underway with a view to realising the overall Plan and their current statuses, advising that both Cabinet and officers were currently satisfied that progress to date was as projected.

The Strategic Planning Team Manager highlighted a number of points and decisions taken recently in relation to each corporate priority in the Plan:

·         Housing priority:  the new Affordable Housing Register, Tai Teg, had recently been re-launched in partnership with Grŵp Cynefin.  The largest user group for this register was expected to be 25 to 34 year old employed people

·         Connected Communities:  there had been an improvement in 4G coverage in the county in recent months, it was now in line with the national average for Wales.  A project on Digital Access Points had been presented to the Digital Futures Board during the summer.  Due to the project’s potential inability to deliver long term change and realise value for money a decision had been taken not to proceed with the project

·         Resilient Communities:  this priority remained as a ‘priority for improvement’ status due to the fact that work was underway to bring a number of different services and agencies together to work on developing a Supporting Carers Project and a business case for an ‘Acting to reduce Domestic Abuse in Denbighshire’ project.  Work was also underway on a project relating to the county being a ‘Dementia Friendly’ county

·         Environment:  work was continuing with a view to ensuring that the Council’s housing stock would all achieve an energy rating of ‘C’ by the end of the Corporate Plan

·         Young People:  the Denbighshire Employment Bursary was in the process of being launched.

Responding to members’ questions the Lead Member and the Strategic Planning Team Manager:

·         reassured the Committee that despite the programme dashboard indicating an ‘at risk’ status for the new area school for Ysgol Carreg Emlyn the project was not at risk and building work was well underway.  The risk status was thus due to the initial delay encountered in identifying a preferred site;

·         advised that the locations for extra care housing projects were determined by the need for that type of accommodation in an area coupled with the economic viability of operating that type of facility.  Extra Care accommodation would require to comprise of a sufficient number of units to ensure that its operating costs were met;

·         confirmed that services and support to Carers featured prominently in the Corporate Plan.  The Council’s Carers Strategy had recently been examined by Partnerships Scrutiny Committee and an Information Report on the support available to Young Carers was due to be circulated to members of that Committee in the near future.  The Communities and Environment Corporate Priority Project Board had recently considered a business case in support of the Carers Strategy;  

·         informed the Committee that the 2,200 tree planning programme in Rhyl and Upper Denbigh was funded externally and linked to the well-being agenda, hence the reason that the planting programme was limited to the county’s most deprived council wards.  The Council’s Countryside Services was actively working with schools, city, town and community councils in relation to other tree planting projects and opportunities;

·         advised that the Council’s Customers, Communication and Marketing Service was working with the Tai Teg Scheme with a view to promoting it and drawing its existence to residents’ attention;

·         advised that the decision on what constituted an ‘affordable property’ was determined based on a graded national formula;

·         confirmed that a business case had recently been approved to facilitate the appointment of an Empty Homes Officer; and

·         confirmed that a Communications Strategy for the Programme Boards projects was a standing item on both Boards’ business agenda

Members welcomed the inclusion of the project around Denbighshire Working Toward Being Dementia Friendly with the Alzheimer’s Society within the Resilient Communities corporate priority and the proposal to include activities to support parents as part of the Young People Corporate priority. 

The Committee registered their concerns in relation to the increase in the number of domestic abuse incidents being reported, but acknowledged that this was partly as a result of a change in the way incidents were recorded and awareness raising campaigns. 

Committee members requested that community bio-diversity events, such as tree planting activities, were publicised to a wider audience in order to improve participation and that more collaborative working took place between the County Council, city, town and community councils and local businesses with respect of tourism work and initiatives.

At the conclusion of the discussion the Strategic Planning Team Manager and Scrutiny Co-ordinator undertook to obtain:

·         figures on the number of people helped to access housing via different government schemes and information on what was deemed as satisfactory performance in relation to helping people to buy their home;

·         information on the support available to countryside and biodiversity initiatives across the county from the team based at Loggerheads;

·         information on the length of the maintenance agreements associated with the trees planted under the PLANT tree planting scheme; and

·         details on when a report on a Tourism Signage Strategy for the county would be presented to Communities Scrutiny Committee

It was:

Resolved: - subject to the above observations and the provision of the requested information to acknowledge the Council’s performance, at the end of Quarter 2 2018-19, in delivering its Corporate Plan and improving outcomes for the county’s citizens