Agenda item

Report No:   CAB/SE/17/034

Portfolio Holder: John Griffiths         Lead Officer: Davina Howes

RESOLVED:

That:

(1)     delegated authority be given to the Assistant Director (Families and Communities), in consultation with SEBC’s Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth and Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to make minor amendments to the West Suffolk Annual Report 2016/2017 in connection with:

(a)     placing more emphasis on the importance of Growth moving forward;  and

(b)     reinstating ‘Clare’ under ‘Promoting Physical Activity’ (page 27) for the reasons set out in the minutes for the Cabinet meeting held on 27 June 2017; and

(2)     subject to (1) above, the West Suffolk Annual Report 2016/2017, as contained in Appendix A to Report No: CAB/SE/17/034, be approved.

The Cabinet considered Report No: CAB/SE/17/034, which sought approval for the draft West Suffolk Annual Report 2016/2017.

The Annual Report highlighted the key activities and developments that had been achieved over the financial year 2016/2017, with regard to the priorities set out in the West Suffolk Strategic Plan.

Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the Council, drew relevant issues to the attention of Cabinet, including that a more modern approach to the presentation and format of the Annual Report had been taken this year, which was less resource intensive than the previous traditional type-set report.  The creation of a new dedicated webpage highlighting the West Suffolk Councils’ key achievements in different formats hoped to create further engagement with partners and stakeholders, together with providing the opportunity to give ongoing updates on successes and achievements throughout the year.

On 6 and 7 June 2017, the draft Report was presented to the respective Forest Heath District and St Edmundsbury Borough Councils’ Overview and Scrutiny Committees for consideration, which resulted in a number of amendments being recommended, as set out in paragraph 1.1.3 of Report No: CAB/SE/17/034, and had been incorporated into the final draft as presented to Cabinet for approval.

A detailed discussion was held and whilst the Cabinet commended the content of the Report and supported the new approach regarding its presentation, Councillor Alaric Pugh, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth, considered the following revisions should be made:

·         That more emphasis should be placed on the importance of Growth moving forward to ensure an accurate reflection of the work undertaken in this key priority area during 2017/2018 and beyond was sufficiently captured in next year’s Annual Report; and

·         That ‘Clare’ should not be removed from the list of ‘centres of population’ identified under the commitment to ‘promoting physical activity’ contained on Page 27 of the Annual Report, as proposed by the Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Committee.  The O&S Committee had considered that a holistic, place-based solution approach to promoting physical activity should remain focussed on the major centres of population, namely Brandon, Bury St Edmunds, Haverhill, Mildenhall and Newmarket.  Councillor Pugh considered that the small town of Clare should remain within this list, as originally proposed, as Clare currently offered a wide range of physical health activities, the scale and important benefits of which should continue to be recognised and promoted accordingly.

Other Cabinet Members supported Councillor Pugh’s proposed revisions above, and it was agreed that delegated authority should be given to the Assistant Director (Families and Communities) to finalise the wording for the Annual Report, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth and Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED:

That:

(1)     delegated authority be given to the Assistant Director (Families and Communities), in consultation with SEBC’s Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth and Chairman of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, to make minor amendments to the West Suffolk Annual Report 2016/2017 in connection with:

(a)     placing more emphasis on the importance of Growth moving forward;  and

(b)     reinstating ‘Clare’ under ‘Promoting Physical Activity’ (page 27) for the reasons set out in the minutes for the Cabinet meeting held on 27 June 2017; and

(2)     subject to (1) above, the West Suffolk Annual Report 2016/2017, as contained in Appendix A to Report No: CAB/SE/17/034, be approved.