Issue - meetings

Report of the Head of Enterprise Programme Management Office

The scrutiny committee received the report of the Executive Head of Strategy and Communications and Head of Enterprise Programme Management Office setting out progress on the council’s strategic framework comprising the Council Plan 2020-24 and Delivery Plan 2020-22; the Organisational Development Strategy 2020-24 and Delivery Plan; and Covid-19 Road to Renewal Plan.  Progress had last been scrutinised by members at Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 25 February 2021.

The Head of Enterprise Programme Management Office and Executive Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development discussed the different strands of the framework and responded to members’ questions.  During discussions the following points were raised and, where relevant, additional information sought:

•           Dementia Admiral Nurses were working with the council’s community protection team to provide support and signposting to patients and their carers to available assistance.

•           Woodside sports complex: further information was sought on the plans for organisations, including the Velmurugan Trust, if they were displaced as a consequence of the Woodside redevelopment plans.

•           Hospital car park: whether the council maintained some control over out-of-hours usage for the benefit of local residents experiencing parking pressures in surrounding roads.  This point had been raised at Major Projects Forum; the majority of spaces were allocated to hospital staff and visitors, however there might be an opportunity for some spaces to be made available to residents.  This question would be put to the Riverwell project team.

•           Ensuring all parts of the town felt involved in the Council Plan: it was stressed that the Council Plan was for the whole borough.  Behind the work stream headlines there were a range of activities which variously impacted the town’s different wards.  In addition, there were a number of borough-wide initiatives.

•           Ensuring that the Council Plan stayed on track: the Delivery Plan used a comprehensive system of tracking and reporting to ensure that progress against the different work streams was monitored effectively.  This work was the responsibility of the Enterprise Programme Management Office which provided regular reports, including to Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  The Delivery Plan intentionally ended in 2022 to enable a reassessment of the Council Plan against delivery.

•           Checks on staff wellbeing during the Covid pandemic: this issue was taken extremely seriously by the council led by the Managing Director.  Line managers maintained regular contact with their teams to monitor wellbeing and ensure workloads were manageable and adequate breaks taken.  A number of anonymous surveys had been undertaken to get direct feedback from staff and to assess home office needs.  In addition, the council’s intranet had developed a series of pages dedicated to staff health and wellbeing, signposting readers to specialist help, support and good practice.  Initiatives such as Time to Talk conversations between staff had also been used to support staff working remotely.

•           Appetite of staff to return to the town hall: a series of surveys had been undertaken to understand staff working preferences.  The vast majority supported a hybrid approach.  There were no plans for an immediate return to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5