Agenda item

Following scrutiny, members noted the report

Louise McAndrew Corporate Strategic Planning and Governance Officer informed members that it is a reflective document covering the period 2023/24 and was prepared as part of the council’s duty to report on the corporate plan. This report is based on the 2022/27 version of the corporate plan.

Members highlighted the following measures before asking questions on them.

• Flood and Pollution Mitigation Measures: Aim 12 shows as amber, indicating work with partners to develop these measures is ongoing but not yet complete.
• Regeneration and Economic Development Team Capacity: Well-being Objective 4, Aim 11, shows as red, highlighting the need to increase capacity within the team to better position the council for funding opportunities.
• Aim 19 is red, which involves assessing the impact of changes to the Council's operating model and proposing the repurposing of assets versus surplus requirements.

Members requested more information on the targets, the reasons for missing them, and current actions being taken. They noted the lack of this information in the report. Additionally, they observed that the three mentioned objectives are missing from the new six-monthly report, despite not being achieved.

Simon Brennan, Head of Property and Regeneration, acknowledged the difficulty of increasing capacity within the current budgets. He explained that officers will discuss this issue with the new Chief Executive in the coming weeks.

Members were advised that the council has utilised the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) to add staff members to the business team and these additions are helping with business support, particularly regarding SPF grants and managing the implications of the Tata Steel situation on the supply chain.

In terms of the regeneration team, officers haven't had any further resources yet.

Officers have been working on a long-term program for the past 15-20 years to divest buildings that are not needed or suitable for service delivery. This includes rearranging service delivery methods. The council has reduced its portfolio from approximately 1500 units, selling about a third of the sites or handing back leases over the last 15 years.

Members were informed that the council's property portfolio is currently quite lean. When a property becomes available, it is circulated among directorates, including education and social services, to check for internal needs. This process can sometimes take longer than desired. Once a decision is made, the property is either leased out or sold. While some buildings may not have significant value, divesting them reduces the council's liabilities.

Cllr. Jeremy Hurley the Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Economic Growth mentioned that the Business Support team, did excellent work. However, the uncertainty over future SPF funding makes it hard to sustain the team, with some transferred over to assist with Tata. He explained that there is also concern that if SPF funding is rerouted through the Welsh Government, the authority might receive less due to top slicing.

The Cabinet member felt that there is an uncertainty of how to move forward, but the Industrial Alliance group's continuous lobbying of the UK Government has brought some more clarity. He hoped that the authority can take a different position on it.

Members were concerned that it now seems that neither of these aims are showing up as targets and asked if this means that maintaining the size of the team and increasing the size of the team is no longer a priority or not high enough of a priority to be reported on.

Simon Brennan advised that it remains a priority for him, however managing within existing budget limits and salary caps is challenging, especially with a limited talent pool for this type of work. Attracting qualified candidates with the council's salary offerings is tricky. However, increasing the team is essential due to significant ongoing projects like levelling up, SPF, Tata Steel and the Freeport. Members were informed that the authority needs to build capacity to handle these initiatives effectively.

Louise McAndrew Corporate Strategic Planning and Governance Officer advised that in reference to the aims flowing through from one Corporate plan to the other, there is still a reference to flooding on page 146 of the pack under the three-year aims and there is still a reference to securing funding to establish a strong quick gateway to business support and on page 170 of the pack. Officers felt that officers should have made clearer was that this corporate plan is around the transformation programmes that we need to invest to save for the longer term.

Members were advised that the corporate plan is also supported by heads of service delivery plans, which include a lot more of the detail of operation and service. These are available to view if needed and they underpin some of the work underneath the corporate plan.

Mike Roberts Head of Streetcare advised that in relation to the amber status on the flood risk, the committee has seen the emerging update on the Council's flood risk strategy and action plan.  Furthermore, Officers know there are areas and properties subject to significant risk of flooding and they have got schemes for these that they want to deliver and are working on to address, subject to funding. Members were advised that officers won't mark everything as green until the schemes are completed.

Members appreciated that amber doesn't necessarily mean failure and can just mean, something is headed in the right direction, but not there yet. Members asked if that aim is also reflected in the new plan.

Louise McAndrew apologised that there was going to be a reference to a flooding update, but unfortunately it wasn’t received in time to bring to cabinet and then on to scrutiny, but it will be appearing for quarter three.

Members suggested that it would be helpful to include an explanation in future reports about the changes and redefinitions, and also how new aims incorporate old ones. Members felt that this would allow for better tracking and understanding of progress, as reports often focus on future goals and expectations for the next year.

Members stated that it is important to track progress over time and gave the example that if something has improved from red to amber, that it is a positive, but if it has declined from green to amber, that is a concern. Members felt that including more explanations of how old goals relate to new ones would provide a better understanding and help track progress.

Officers mentioned that the next performance update will reflect changes in the corporate plan, making it more streamlined with the transformation programs. Some work will be detailed in the service delivery plan, and not everything will be reported at committee meetings.

Members observed that the report is long with a lot of information. They felt that a summarised version would be more effective in engaging the public and gathering their views.

Members noted that many initiatives and projects are still ongoing, but there is no clear information on how to get involved. They asked for details on accessing this information and felt that people are interested in participating in these projects.

Louise MacAndrew acknowledged the point and mentioned that they will start adding extra hyperlinks to direct the public to relevant contacts or information on how to get involved. Officers are also trailing a supporting video to accompany the annual report, which will be released in January.

Officers plan to create more interactive content to make it easier for residents to engage with the information in a concise format.

Members asked about the success of the ‘Let's Talk business events’ in terms of footfall and if there are any plans to continue with them in the next financial year?

Officers mentioned that while they don't have the footfall figures at hand, the events are very well attended and generate significant interest and positive outcomes, therefore, they plan to continue hosting as many of these events as possible.

Members were informed that while the format of these events might change, maintaining strong connections with businesses is crucial, especially considering the issues from Tata Steel. Officers explained that they are committed to continuing their engagement with the entire business community.

Cllr. Jeremy Hurley Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Economic Growth shared his positive experience attending the business events as a business owner. He encouraged members to motivate businesses in their wards to attend, emphasising that early advice is invaluable, and the events were very helpful.

Following scrutiny, members noted the report