Agenda item

Report of Senior Head of Corporate Development and Governance and Senior Corporate Development Officer.

Cabinet lead member:  Councillor Troy Tester.

(1) Approach and timeline to the development of the new corporate plan agreed.

(2) Suggestions for revisions and updates to the aims within the corporate plan themes and projects to be brought forward.

(3) Headline consultation outcomes set out in section 4 of the report noted and use of this information as a key guide in determining future priority projects endorsed.

43.1 Cabinet considered the report of the senior head of corporate development and governance and senior corporate development officer.  The corporate plan was a key strategic document that set out the council’s ambitions for Eastbourne over a five year period.  The plan was refreshed on an annual basis to update actions and targets and ensure that activities continued to reflect local priorities. 

43.2 The council remained committed to supporting the delivery of its’ 2026 partnership Vision for the town:

“By 2026, Eastbourne will be a premier seaside destination within an enhanced green setting. To meet everyone’s needs, Eastbourne will be a safe, thriving, healthy and vibrant community with excellent housing, education and employment choices, actively responding to the effects of climate change.”

43.3 It was recommended that the new 2016/20 corporate plan continue with the same 4 priority themes as the current version – prosperous economy, quality environment, thriving communities and sustainable performance.  These continued to be important areas of focus both locally and nationally and this approach would also add a degree of continuity to the projects and targets set within the plan.

43.4 The final draft of the new corporate plan was due to go to the council’s scrutiny committee and cabinet early in the New Year before being submitted for final approval by council on 17 February 2016.   The plan would be considered in parallel with the draft budget proposals.  Ongoing financial and performance reporting had also been aligned to improve the quality of management information that regularly went to members.  Delivery and monitoring of the plan would begin from 1 April.

43.5 A residents’ survey had been commissioned earlier in the year and posted out to 4,000 households.  The survey was designed to measure residents’ satisfaction with Eastbourne, the council and specific services, as well as assess perception regarding how well previous priority areas had been addressed and what should be the focus for future improvement.  Almost 1,000 residents had responded and a full report of the findings was available on the council’s website.  Overall satisfaction with the council’s performance had increased from 45% in 2008 to 58% this year and dissatisfaction had dropped from 25% to 13% over the same period.  Of the list of potential priority areas listed in the survey, all were strongly supported by respondents with no theme receiving less than 75% percent of respondents saying it was “important” or “top priority”.  Summary details were given of the themes that received the highest proportion of ‘top priority’ votes; top 5 areas of improvement; areas judged to have worsened; areas considered most important in making somewhere a good place to live; and areas most needing improving in their local area.  A second survey had been conducted online at the same time as the residents’ survey.  This used shorter questionnaire and was made available to anyone who lived, worked or visited Eastbourne to feedback their opinions.  The link was also circulated to a wide array of stakeholders groups and publicised over social media.  Over 500 responses were received and these were broadly in line with the residents’ survey responses.  Details were again summarised in the report.

43.6 Resolved (key decision): (1) That the approach and timeline to the development of the new corporate plan, as set out in section 3 of the report, be agreed.

(2) That suggestions for revisions and updates to the aims within the corporate plan themes and projects be brought forward.

(3) That the headline consultation outcomes set out in section 4 of the report be noted and the use of this information as a key guide in determining future priority projects be endorsed.