Decision details

A report was received from the Managing Director and would also be going to Council on 13 March 2018.

The Mayor commented that the Corporate Plan was the council’s way ahead for the future.  It was timely with a new mayoral term and had endorsement from the Local Government Association peer review.

The Managing Director highlighted the corporate planning framework (on page 7 of the Corporate Plan) which set out the five priorities and how the council operated with effective engagement, high performance, its values and culture.  The graphic was a clear way to present the council’s ethos and convey the council’s approach.  The Corporate Plan then went into detail on all the major priorities, themes and ways of working and set out what would be achieved over the medium term.

The Managing Director also drew Cabinet’s attention to the community survey which had received over 1,000 responses.  The findings were very satisfactory with 80% of respondents agreeing that the council was working for a better place to live, 82% thought that the council provided value for money and 85% agreed that the council was working to make Watford economically successful.

Following a question by the Mayor, the Communications and Engagement Manager agreed to discuss the results at a county communications meeting to see how they compared with other local authorities.

The Managing Director explained that the areas for improvement which had come from the residents survey had been picked up in the Corporate Plan e.g., new homes to be supported with good infrastructure, keeping local people informed about decisions and explaining why well-planned growth was important to the town.

Councillor Taylor welcomed the focus on sustainable transport opportunities within the Corporate Plan.

The Mayor praised the Corporate Plan and its clarity.

RESOLVED:

            That Cabinet:

1.     Notes the revised draft Corporate Plan 2020 and proposes any amendments and recommends it to Council.

2.     Notes that the work programme within the plan will underpin service plans and staff’s individual work programmes as set out in their annual performance development reviews.

3.     Notes the work programme set out in the plan will be monitored through the year.