Agenda item

            The Director of City and Organisational Strategy submitted for the Committee’s consideration the following report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report

1.1       To update the Committee on the proposed approach to the 2019 - 2020 corporate planning cycle and publication of the council Improvement Plan.  The proposed approach takes account of the local government elections in May and feedback from the Local Government Auditor.

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       Members are asked to:

·        agree to the production of an annual SP&R Committee Plan, commencing in 2019/ 20.  This will be similar to the committee plans that are produced for both City Growth & Regeneration Committee and People & Communities Committee;

·        to note that Committee Plans will form the basis of the Council’s annual action plan and will be published on a revamped strategic planning webpage with links to the Belfast Agenda, our Corporate Plan 2017-21 and the annual Council Improvement Plan; and

·        to note the timetable in paragraph 3.5 for completing the 2019/20 Corporate Improvement Plan and Committee Plans.

3.0       Key Issues

3.1       Corporate Plan 2017 - 2021: Annual Update

            Last year as part of the corporate planning and update process, council undertook a light touch refresh of the corporate plan and produced a Year 2 update document, the look and feel of which remained broadly the same.  At the beginning of the 2019-20 planning cycle, the Strategic Hub reassessed this approach and agreed a more effective and efficient method for communicating the planned work of council for the year ahead.  As a result, it is recommended that the existing committee plans, which are produced and presented to committee on an annual basis, and which in effect constitute our annual operational update, should form the basis of our annual corporate plan update. 

3.2       Committee Plans

            Committee Plans were introduced in 2015-16 to enable Members to more effectively plan, prioritise and monitor activity for the year ahead.  Committee plans are currently produced for the City Growth & Regeneration and People & Communities committees; and it is recommended that a new bespoke SP&R ‘Committee Plan’ be developed commencing 2019-20.  The SP&R Committee Plan will detail internal actions and specific project activity not already assigned to the other committees e.g. the continuous improvement, customer focus and efficiency programmes, the people strategy and the enabling and infrastructure support tasks for the Belfast Agenda.  SP&R’s role in providing strategic oversight across all council will not change; rather the document will capture SP&R’s specific areas of focus for the year ahead.  This will not only improve communications with the public but will also support the delivery and performance management of specific corporate projects. 

3.3       As the routine standing committee will not be held in May, officers will organise extended meetings in June with the new committees to discuss the priorities for the upcoming year and sign off final committee plans.   In the meantime, the Strategic Hub will continue to work with Departments to prepare the committee plans in line with the Belfast Agenda and corporate planning and monitoring requirements.   Furthermore, the Strategic Hub will provide consistent guidance on the departmental planning process for the organisation.

3.4       Council Improvement Plan

            The Local Government Act (NI) 2014 introduced an ‘improvement duty’ on councils and a statutory obligation to publish an annual Improvement Plan.  The Auditor expects to see a clear rationale for why we chose our improvement objectives, including evidence of political input and public consultation.  CMT will therefore undertake a thorough review of the Improvement Objectives before bringing proposals to the Budget & Transformation Panel for consideration.  Following this, an 8-week public consultation will be undertaken. 

3.5       Key Dates:  2019-20 Planning Cycle

            Council is legally required to publish the Improvement Plan by 30th June each year.  Given the alignment between this and the other council planning processes, all the corporate planning documents will be approved and published by the same date.  The following timetable reflects this and the local government elections:  

3.6       Financial & Resource Implications

            There are no resource implications arising directly from this report. 

3.7       Equality or Good Relations Implications/Rural Needs Assessment

            There are no equality or rural need implications arising directly from this report.”

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.