Agenda item

Report No: OAS/FH/17/023

[Councillor Brian Harvey declared a non-pecuniary interest as Forest Heath District Council Shareholder Representative on Barley Homes Group, and remained in the meeting during the discussions and subsequent voting].

Councillor James Waters, Leader of the Council presented Report No: OAS/FH/17/023, which sought input into the development of the draft West Suffolk Strategic Framework 2018-2020.  The strategic framework represented a revision of the existing West Suffolk Strategic Plan 2014-2016.

The report summarised the work that had been carried out so far on the development of a draft West Suffolk strategic framework and sought views on the draft document attached at Appendix B to the report.  The work undertaken to date had involved the formulation of a draft vision and strategic priorities, based on a review of West Suffolk’s existing priorities, and set against a background of evidence about West Suffolk and the issues being faced.  The three priorities that emerged from the work continued to be growth; resilient families and communities; and housing which were supported by a draft set of projects and actions.

Attached at Appendix A, was a diagram which showed how St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Forest Heath District Council were contributing to outcomes in West Suffolk alongside others, including residents, families and communities, businesses, the voluntary sector and other public sector partners, including Suffolk County Council and town and parish councils.

The aim of the framework document was to set out the council’s priorities for the final year of two separate councils and to set the direction in the first year of a new single council.  Decisions on what would happen after May 2019 would be for the new administration, whether or not that was a single council, but it was good practice to set the strategic direction beyond the end of the current administration to allow time for new priorities and plans to be developed.

The draft West Suffolk Strategic Framework would be considered by both councils’ Cabinets and Councils in December 2017.  The document would be proof-ready, formatted and designed, including the addition of photographs in advance of being published.  A communications plan for the final stages of the process was also being finalised to ensure all Members, staff and partners were updated on how the final plan had developed.

The Committee considered the report in detail and asked a number of questions to which comprehensive responses were provided.  Discussions were held on the infographics to be included at a later date; how the aspirations in the Strategic Framework would be evaluated; bringing growth forward in Forest Heath; Barley Homes and concerns about the withdrawal of land which was sold to another developer and issues with Universal Credit.

In particular, responses were provided in relation to the following questions raised:

-      Universal Credit:  Officers were talking to all agencies involved with Universal Credit (UC) , including the Citizens Advice Bureau, which was due to be rolled out in Forest Heath in September 2018.  The Assistant Director (Families and Communities) explained that UC was about money management, and there were already concerns about the system and delays in payments being made.  She confirmed she would be happy to provide the Committee with a briefing on the role out of UC in Forest Heath in 2018.

-      Infographics: The infographics evidence data would be included in the draft document for Cabinets consideration in December 2017.  The infographics would summarise statistics for West Suffolk, and would set out the emphasis of its importance.  District Councillors were given ward profiles, and officers had now looked at the data for towns and zoned the rural areas.  Councillors would then be able to compare data across Wests Suffolk.  Officers agreed that they would be happy to present the date to the Committee, which would also be available on the council’s website. 

In response, the Chairman of the Committee advised that he would like to see the council working with parish councils and web links to all parish councils to access the data which would also help them in their jobs.

-      Evaluation:  The Strategic Framework was a high level document, and measuring successes was always an issue.  However, the Strategic Framework was aligned with the Medium Term Financial Strategy and all council services.  Work would also continue on the performance framework, which was reported through the Performance and Audit Scrutiny Committee.

Comments were made on the following areas of the draft West Suffolk Strategic Framework document:

(1)        General: - suggest including reference in the Strategic Framework document to links with the Medium Term Financial Strategy.

(2)        Page 15: Point 2 – suggest including growth examples coming forward in Forest Heath.

(3)        Page 15: Point 5 – suggest revisiting the wording relating to Barley Homes and becoming self-sufficient.

(4)        Page 16: Point 15 – suggest including more detail on the role out of Universal Credit.

It was then proposed by Councillor Ruth Bowman, seconded by Councillor Nigel Roman and with the vote being unanimous, it was

          RECOMMENDED:

That subject to the approval of Cabinet and Council the Draft West Suffolk Strategic Framework 2018-2020, attached as Appendix B to Report No: OAS/FH/17/023, be adopted, inclusive of comments made during the meeting.