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Agenda item

Corporate Plan 2018/22

Officer: Jo Negrini

Key decision: no

Decision:

The Leader of the Council has delegated to the Cabinet the power to make the decisions set out below.

 

RESOLVED to:

 

Recommend to full Council the Approval of the Corporate Plan for Croydon, 2018 – 2022, as set out in Appendix A & B of the report.

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council provided Cabinet with a presentation outlining that the Corporate Plan had been inspired by the 2018 Croydon Labour manifesto. Members were given an overview of the council’s priorities for the next four years including; a Healthier Croydon with increased joint commissioning, Choose Your Future being extended, delivering affordable homes, ensuring the streets of Croydon are safe despite the backdrop of reduced policing, a cleaner and more sustainable borough, supporting employment opportunities for young residents with work to continue to delivering a university, building a strong business sector, delivering sustainable transport, and ensuring that culture remained at the heart of regeneration. The Corporate Plan ambitions were set against the context of delivering cuts of 70% over the last ten years and the associated pressures experienced; however a commitment was provided that frontline services would be protected.

 

The Cabinet Member for Finance & Resources noted that councils across the country were having to reduce services to the statutory minimum to balance the budget; however it was stated that that was not the case in Croydon as the finances of the council had been taken control of. It was further noted that the Financial Strategy clearly supported the delivery of the Corporate Plan.

 

A presentation by the Chief Executive gave context to the Corporate Plan, noting that there were clear objectives for delivering the outcomes; including the different way the council would be working with residents in localities. The Chief Executive provided Cabinet with key statistics for the borough including that it was anticipated that the borough would experience substantial growth in population; however it was noted that there were already over 94,000 young residents which was the largest proportion of 0-17 years olds of any borough.

 

It was noted by the Chief Executive that since 2011/12 £5.5 million in grant funding had been lost; whilst substantial demands on services were being experienced including 627 child protection cases, 272 unaccompanied asylum seekers, and over 3,500 adults for which the council was responsible for.

 

The Chief Executive informed Members that £34.1 million had been spent on a variety of services to overcome social isolation, and as such there was a need to work more smartly to deliver services. Services would be delivered using an evidence based approach and a large amount of work had already been undertaken to gain a clear picture of the different residents across the borough and it was recognised that different localities required different services. The intention was to work with residents at an earlier stage before they reached crises point with a key focus on early intervention and prevention, and working closely with partners. Partnership working would be integral to the success of the locality working and would build upon work already being undertaken; such as developing the Gateway Service and further integrating with the NHS including the One Croydon Alliance.

 

Members were informed that three delivery pilots would be opened across the borough which would be tailored to the needs of the area and would deliver services closer to where people needed them. A hub in Thornton Heath would be launched before the end of 2018 and it was intended that the Croydon south pilot would be opened from Spring 2019.

 

The Chief Executive gave Members an overview of the council workforce which stood at just over 3,000 employees. The response rate to the recent staff survey had been 75%; with 88% of respondents stating that they would recommend the council as an inclusive employer and 92% feeling valued by their teams. However, it was noted that only 23% of respondents feeling there were opportunities for career progression. Members were informed that there were four leadership programmes within the council and two director posts were being ring fenced for internal recruitment only to ensure there were opportunities for employees.

 

The Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure & Sport drew Members attention to the arts, culture and sport section of the Corporate Plan noting that it was an important priority as culture had a positive impact and improved people’s health and life chances. Furthermore, there were positive economic impacts as more businesses were wanting to move to Croydon due to the investment.

 

The Cabinet Member for Homes & Gateway Services stated that an important area of work was ensuring that residents living in the private rented sector, who were increasingly those on the lowest incomes, were living in accommodation thst was fit for purpose. The Cabinet Member stated she was pleased to see that the council had a strong emphasis on ensuring housing was right and fit, but also was looking at the welfare, income and education of those living in the properties.

 

In response to Member questions the Cabinet Member for Homes & Gateway services confirmed that figures regarding the number of Landlord Licences that had been withdrawn would be provided to the Leader of the Opposition. She further stated that there had been significant progress in improving accommodation in the private rented sector as the council was working with landlords to ensure the properties were fit for purpose; however prosecutions had been made when notices had not been complied with.

 

Members discussed the different demographics of the borough and ensuring that the council was able to engage with all vulnerable residents to ensure no one was missed through the new locality work. The Leader confirmed that work was continuing to progress the work on the locality hubs and ensuring there was full understanding of the population and its needs.

 

The Cabinet Member for Transport, Environment & Homes (voting Job Share) confirmed that preliminary results on the 20mph zones 1 and 2 had been received and had been positive. Within the Labour manifesto there had been a commitment to extend 20mph speed limits to more roads, and as such roads would be assessed as to whether it would be appropriate to reduce the speed limit. It was further noted by the Cabinet Member that the Mayor of London had announced that he planned to introduce 20mph speed limits on Transport for London (TfL) roads.

 

In response to queries regarding the TfL consultation on reducing bus services the Leader stated the council would engage with TfL; however it was important to recognise that TfL had faced significant cuts in government grants also. The Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport & Regeneration (voting Job Share) further confirmed that the council had engaged positively with TfL and had an agreement for a Croydon bus review to be undertaken to ensure services met the needs of residents.

 

The Cabinet Member for Safer Croydon & Communities informed Members that there had been a restructure within the Place department and the position of Director of Public Realm had been formed which would facilitate the streamlining of services and improved responses. A review of community safety had been commissioned; however it was important to recognise that safety was the responsibility of the whole organisation and increased investment was being made into the service including 50% more Neighbourhood Officers.

 

In response to Member questions the Leader stated that neighbourhood forums would not be introduced in the same manner as they had been before; rather there would be a focus on further community devolution so that local communities and ward councillors were more involved in decisions affecting the area for which it was hoped there would be cross party support.

 

The Leader of the Council delegated to the Cabinet the power to make the decisions set out below.

 

RESOLVED to:

 

Recommend to full Council the Approval of the Corporate Plan for Croydon, 2018 – 2022, as set out in Appendix A & B of the report.

Supporting documents: