Agenda item

Report for decision.

ORDERED that Executive:

1. That the report include an additional action for work to be carried to hold more meetings focussed on young people when creating the Council Plan going forward.
2. Approve proposed changes to the Executive actions, detailed at Appendix one of the report.
3. Approve the proposed changes to the Council Plan 2024-27 supporting workplan actions, detailed at Appendix three of the report.

AGREED the Executive:

1. Note the delivery status of the Council Plan 2024–27 supporting workplan, as detailed at Appendix two of the report.
2. Note the progress and position of the corporate performance disciplines, including activity within the Transformation Portfolio.
3. Note the Strategic Risk Register, as detailed at Appendix four of the report.

The Mayor submitted a report for the Executive’s consideration which sought approval of the proposed approach to revisions to the Council Plan as part of its 2026/27 refresh.

The Council Plan was the organisation’s overarching medium-term business plan, typically refreshed annually following a review of the previous year’s performance and consideration of an outcome-driven approach to demonstrate progress and impact.

Although the vision and priorities remained the same, consideration was given to ensuring strategic cohesion and planning for effective delivery of the Council Plan priorities through clear articulation of intended outcomes and the enabling workplan required to achieve them.

The projected financial outturn for Quarter Two 2025/26 had been presented separately and that plans were in development to integrate performance, risk, and financial reporting in future years. It was also noted that, as part of continuous improvement, the Leadership Management Team had implemented monthly reviews of corporate performance using a Directorate Performance dashboard, with outputs reflected in quarterly updates to the Executive covering progress on agreed actions, key directorate issues, and other performance-related matters.

Overall corporate performance at Quarter Two 2025/26 showed mixed progress against expected standards. Two of the five performance disciplines met the 90% standard: the Council Plan workplan achieved 97% of initiatives on target, and Strategic Risk Register compliance stood at 95%. Executive actions improved to 75% but remained below standard, as did Council Plan outcome measures at 25% and Programme and Project Management performance at 79%. Trends indicated improvement in most areas except Programme and Project Management, which declined compared to Quarter One. It was also noted that six project gateway approvals were completed during the quarter, including Project Closure Reports for two Adult Social Care projects, a CRM/CMS review, Change Controls for SharePoint and Hemlington Grange West, and a Project Brief for the Customer Programme on Customer Access to Services and Single View of the Customer.

The Mayor commented that significant portions of the Council Plan seemed to be aimed at adults and there needed to be increased focus on outcomes for young people. As such the Mayor recommended that the report be amended to include an action whereby work would be carried out to involve young people in the development of the Council Plan going forward.

OPTIONS

1. It was imperative that the Council effectively articulated and communicated an overarching plan to direct activity across Directorates and services, towards the achievement of its priorities and ambitions.
2. The only other realistic potential decision would have been to leave the Council’s strategic activities unchanged on the assumption that they were sufficiently robust to address and achieve previously identified outcome measures. This, however, was not correct and neither would it represent an appropriate response to the needs of the town, it would detrimentally impact local communities and the business of the Council for some years ahead.
3. The only other feasible decisions therefore related to the structure of the document, and its horizon (i.e., reverting to an annual plan). It was strongly in the Council’s interest to plan over the medium-term, (between 3-5 years) in line with the indicative budgets over this period outlined by the Government. The proposed document achieved this whilst also providing an appropriate level of detail for all audiences on the Council’s planned activity over this period.

ORDERED that Executive:

1. That the report include an additional action for work to be carried to hold more meetings focussed on young people when creating the Council Plan going forward.
2. Approve proposed changes to the Executive actions, detailed at Appendix one of the report.
3. Approve the proposed changes to the Council Plan 2024-27 supporting workplan actions, detailed at Appendix three of the report.

AGREED the Executive:

1. Note the delivery status of the Council Plan 2024–27 supporting workplan, as detailed at Appendix two of the report.
2. Note the progress and position of the corporate performance disciplines, including activity within the Transformation Portfolio.
3. Note the Strategic Risk Register, as detailed at Appendix four of the report.

REASONS

To enable the Executive to approve the refresh and outcome-driven approach to the Council Plan workplan 2026/27-29 ensuring that it was reflective of major developments of the past year, and those anticipated in the coming three years whilst retaining its focus on the four priorities and existing aims.