Issue - meetings

Corporate Strategy

Meeting: 18/09/2024 - Climate Change Board (Item 4.)

GBC Corporate Strategy 2024-34

Verbal update in respect of the integration of the Council’s Climate Change corporate priorities across the organisation.


Meeting: 23/07/2024 - Council (Item 25)

25 Corporate Strategy 2024-2034 pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Council noted that, in accordance with sector best practice, as well as an action arising from the Council’s Improvement Plan, work to develop a new Corporate Strategy had been undertaken in recent months.

The Corporate Strategy was a key strategic document which set out the Council’s priorities and ambitions through to 2034, and was crucial to shaping service delivery as well as the allocation of resources to deliver those priorities.

In recent weeks, the draft Strategy had been reviewed by both Overview & Scrutiny Committees whose comments and suggested amendments had been submitted to the Executive for consideration at its meeting on 15 July 2024.

A table setting out the recommended response from the Executive to the comments made by the Overview & Scrutiny Committees was approved by the Executive, and a copy of that table was included in the full Council’s Supplementary Agenda Pack.   The Executive had therefore recommended adoption of the new Corporate Strategy, subject to three alterations.

In addition, the Assistant Director for Strategy and Corporate Services, in consultation with the Leader and the Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development, had agreed a further minor alteration as detailed in the Supplementary Agenda Pack.

 

A revised version of the Corporate Strategy, incorporating all of these alterations, had been circulated to all councillors on Monday 22 July.

Upon the motion of the Leader of the Council, Councillor Julia McShane seconded by the Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development, Councillor Carla Morson, the Council

RESOLVED:

(1)    That the draft version of the Corporate Strategy circulated to all councillors on Monday 22 July 2024, incorporating the various alterations suggested by Overview and Scrutiny, as set out on the Supplementary Agenda Pack and referred to above, be adopted.

(2)    That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director for Strategy and Corporate Services, in consultation with the Leader and the Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development, to make any necessary minor typographical changes and to finalise the document’s design and imagery, prior to publication.

Reason:

The proposed new Corporate Strategy had been prepared to set out the Council’s key priorities for the period up to 2034.

 


Meeting: 15/07/2024 - Executive (Item 26)

26 Corporate Strategy 2024-2034 pdf icon PDF 100 KB

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Decision:

Decision:

 

That the following recommendations be approved by Council (23 July 2024):

 

(1)         That the draft Corporate Strategy, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Executive be adopted, subject to such amendments as may be necessary in consequence of the approval of the Executive’s response to the comments submitted by the Overview & Scrutiny Committees as set out in Appendix 2 to the Supplementary Agenda Pack circulated prior to the Executive meeting.

 

(2)         That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director for Strategy and Corporate Services, in consultation with the Leader and the Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development, to make any necessary minor typographical changes and to finalise the document’s design and imagery, prior to publication.

 

Reasons:

·      The proposed new Corporate Strategy has been prepared to set out the Council’s key priorities for the period up to 2034.

·      The timings of the meetings of the Overview & Scrutiny committees meant that their comments and feedback could not be incorporated into the proposed Strategy (Appendix 1 to the report).

Options considered and rejected:

To not recommend adoption of the Corporate Strategy.

 

Details of any conflict of interest declared by the Leader or lead councillors and any dispensation granted:

None.

Minutes:

The Executive considered the draft Corporate Strategy appended to the report. It was recommended that the Executive endorse the draft and forward to full Council for adoption. The draft was the result of many months intensive work and officers were commended for their role and support in bringing to the finalised version.  The draft had been considered by both Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) committees during the previous week and comments and recommendations were set out in the Supplementary Information Sheet. There were twenty-one substantive suggested changes to the draft from O&S. It was recommended that the Executive accept all of them. The chairmen and members of O&S were thanked for their consideration and input.

The draft, entitled ‘A greener, fairer, thriving Guildford’, covered all areas of the council’s work and would be its key strategic document for the coming ten years. Five key priorities were set out in the document covering environment, business development, inclusivity, housing and organisational resilience. Beneath each priority lay a series of actions and outcomes. Alongside the suggested amendments from the O&S committees and some of the design and typographical elements were still to be finalised and consequently delegated authority was sought to make to those minor amendments.

The Executive heard that once the Strategy was adopted by full Council, a delivery plan would be drawn up. This plan would be intrinsic to the council’s budget setting process. Service plans and individual staff appraisals and objectives would be refreshed and updated to incorporate the new strategic priorities. Delivery of the strategic objectives would also be tracked at corporate level by quarterly performance reporting to be reviewed by both O&S committees and the Executive itself. The suite of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) would be realigned to reflect the new areas of focus. A dedicated webpage on the council’s website would accommodate the new Strategy and associated relevant material. Consultations would continue as set out in page 7 of the draft. It was noted that the design of the document had been undertaken by a local graphic designer.

The Executive welcomed and accepted the suggestions made by O&S and was content to recommend to Full Council that it was adopted.

RESOLVED:

That the following recommendations be approved by Council (23 July 2024):

(1)         That the draft Corporate Strategy, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report submitted to the Executive be adopted, subject to such amendments as may be necessary in consequence of the approval of the Executive’s response to the comments submitted by the Overview & Scrutiny Committees as set out in Appendix 2 to the Supplementary Agenda Pack circulated prior to the Executive meeting.

(2)         That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director for Strategy and Corporate Services, in consultation with the Leader and the Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development, to make any necessary minor typographical changes and to finalise the document’s design and imagery, prior to publication.

Reasons:

·        The proposed new Corporate Strategy has been prepared to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26


Meeting: 11/07/2024 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Resources (Item 9)

9 Development of a new Corporate Strategy (2024-2034) pdf icon PDF 174 KB

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Minutes:

The Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development introduced the item.  She indicated that the draft Corporate Strategy was the result of several months of work by the Executive and officers.  The Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development advised the meeting that the Strategy was the key strategic document for the Council and set out the Council’s priorities for the next 10 years and provided a focus for all the Council’s work.  She indicated that central to the new Strategy was the vision ‘To make Guildford borough a thriving place to live, work and do business.’

 

The Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development gave an overview of the Strategy’s five key priorities: a more sustainable Borough, a more prosperous Borough, a more inclusive Borough, decent and affordable homes, and a resilient and well-managed Council. The Committee was informed that the version of the Strategy circulated to the Committee for comment was in draft form, with elements such as the design and photography to be finalised.  The Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development confirmed that feedback from both of the Council’s overview and scrutiny committees would be considered by the Executive on 15 July and the adoption of the Strategy would be determined by full Council on 23 July.

 

The Chief Executive Officer thanked the officers who had helped prepare the draft Corporate Strategy.  He advised the Committee of the planned delivery of the Strategy and its link to the Council’s budget setting process, together with how the Strategy would inform individual service delivery and form the basis for individual staff objectives and annual appraisals. 

 

The Chief Executive Officer advised that implementation of the delivery plan would be tracked at the corporate level through the quarterly Corporate Performance Report, which both overview and scrutiny committees would review.  He stated that the Council’s suite of key performance indicators was being refreshed ahead of the Quarter One report to ensure alignment with the priorities set out in the draft Strategy.

 

The Chief Executive Officer stated that a Guildford-based graphic design company was undertaking the design of the Strategy document.

 

During the ensuing discussion, Councillors raised a number of queries and made suggestions to improve the draft Strategy:

 

·       In response to a question on possible extra staffing capacity for the Council’s organisational development service, the Chief Executive Officer advised the Committee that this would be unknown until the budget setting process and the allocation of resources had occurred.

 

·       A member of the Committee asked for details of the communications and consultations planned to engage with local community groups.  The Chief Executive Officer referred to the importance of residents being able to engage with the Council and stated that the process of engagement was central to the development of the corporate delivery plan.  He indicated that efforts would be made to reach seldom heard groups as part of future consultations.

 

·       A member of the Committee indicated that the evidence and analysis behind the draft Strategy was not provided in the report submitted  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9


Meeting: 10/07/2024 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Services (Item 7)

7 Development of a new Corporate Strategy (2024-2034) pdf icon PDF 98 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development introduced the item.  She indicated that the draft Corporate Strategy being reviewed was the result of months of work by the Executive and officers.  The Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development advised the meeting that the Strategy was the key strategic document for the Council, as it set out the Council’s priorities for the next 10 years and provided a focus for all the Council’s work.

 

The Lead Councillor for Community and Organisational Development gave an overview of the Strategy’s five key priorities: a more sustainable Borough, a more prosperous Borough, a more inclusive Borough, decent and affordable homes, and a resilient and well-managed Council. The Committee was informed that the version of the Strategy circulated to members for comment was in draft form, with elements such as the design and photography to be finalised.

 

The Assistant Director, Strategy and Corporate Services, advised the meeting that beginning next spring an annual delivery plan for the Corporate Strategy would be published.  He indicated that this plan would tie into the Council’s Budget setting processes and link to actions over the coming year.  In addition, he stated that service delivery plans and staff objectives and annual appraisals would correlate to the annual delivery plan.  The meeting was informed that implementation of this plan would be tracked at a corporate level, including through quarterly performance reports to overview and scrutiny. 

 

During the ensuing discussion, Councillors raised a number of queries and made suggestions to improve the draft Strategy:

 

·       A member of the Committee queried the cover picture used on the draft Strategy document, particularly the prominence of the ring road.  In addition to using images such as the Guildhall clock or Guildford Castle, the value of images to highlight the planned opening-up of the River Wey was suggested.  Other Councillors suggested the use of photographs of Stoke Park, the Lido, the market, the river around Millmead, and Pewley Hill.

 

·       Members asked how the Strategy’s progress would be measured and advocated including specific targets within it, for example, the number of houses that would be built over the next 10 years.  In response, the Assistant Director, Strategy and Corporate Services, stated that it was not the intention to include such details within the Strategy document, and that such targets would feature within the delivery plan and the service planning process that he had outlined earlier in the meeting.

 

·       With reference to equality, diversity and inclusion commitments and imagery, members of the Committee noted the need to both reference and include a wider range of groups and individuals within the Strategy document.  The current lack within the document of images of people with disabilities or from different ethnic groups was pointed out.

 

·       Members asked how much consultation had informed the preparation of the Strategy.  In reply, the Assistant Director, Strategy and Corporate Services, indicated that there were commitments within the Strategy that the delivery of it would be done in partnership and in consultation with a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7