Agenda item

The Council considered a report of the Chief Executive which sought approval of the Council Plan 2025-2029 refresh (for copy see file of Minutes).

In moving the report Councillor Hopgood, Leader of the Council thanked the Head of Corporate Affairs for the report, his team and all officers and Members involved in updating the Council Plan.

Councillor Hopgood said that since June 2022, Council has received an updated and refreshed Council Plan on an annual basis, alongside the MTFP and budget setting reports. This was the fourth review since that decision was taken.  The Council was responsible for a wide range of public services and had a significant role to play in improving the lives of everyone who lived in, visited, or worked in County Durham. We knew that our county had both opportunities and issues that needed to be addressed, and like all Local Authorities, we also faced financial challenges; it was therefore vital that we set out our strategic direction and priorities, that would enable us to use our finances well and deliver the best possible services locally.  Many of our issues could not be solved by the council alone and as such this administration recognised the critical importance of working in partnership with others across the public, private, voluntary and community sectors.  This was why the Council Plan also set out our part in delivering the County Durham Vision 2035 which was developed in partnership.  The updated Council Plan, covering the period 2025 to 2029 did not, and could not, include a list of everything we did, so it was underpinned by a wide range of specific strategies and service specific action plans. That said, as a direct result of the consultation, this year’s plan did provide more detail about what the council was going to do to achieve its ambitions.  Our focus as a council remained steady, and as such, like last year, the plan set out our ambitions to support our economy, our people, our environment, our communities, and to further improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our council for everyone’s benefit. However, we must ensure our resources continued to be used in a transparent and effective way, and in line with the Medium-Term Financial Plan.  In his introduction the Head of Corporate Affairs mentioned the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge which would take place next year. This would put more focus on the quality of our strategic planning. This process was informed by the Government’s “Best Value Standards” which stated that well-functioning councils provided quality leadership by setting a clearly articulated, achievable and prioritised vision for officers to follow. The vision must also put place and local people at its heart; this plan does that and therefore set out how we intended to drive forward improvements across our County. Over the last year the Joint Administration had focused on delivering things that mattered to local people and local communities, and we had achieved a lot. But as a Council we would face ongoing challenges in 2025, driven by increasing demand for Council Services whilst resources remained scarce; as such we must prioritise, allocate resources carefully and ensure we delivered. This plan provided the common denominator for those functions, and with that Councillor Hopgood moved that the Council accepted the report and the recommendations to approve the Council plan 2025-2029.

In seconding the report Councillor R Bell, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Finance thanked the Head of Corporate Affairs and his team for the work undertaken to refresh and simplify the Council Plan.    

Councillor Bell was pleased that the focus on plain English and the presentational style meant that it was easier to read and digest than in previous years, which made it more understandable to the communities we served. He emphasised that the Council Plan was a high-level summary of the actions being taken by the Council, and details of how priorities would be delivered was contained within supporting council and partnership strategies and council service plans. However, supporting strategies were named within the plan and anybody wanting further information could access it using the hyperlinks, or alternatively by contacting the council for accessible versions.

The Council Plan we were considering set out the actions we would lead on and take forward. It was aligned to the medium-term financial plan and supported the County Durham Vision 2035. Importantly the plan set out very clearly the achievements of this Council which were all directed at supporting the people and communities of this great County to flourish.

Councillor Bell was also pleased that the Council had clearly listened to the views of our communities and local businesses.  In line with the Equality Act 2010, equality objectives were incorporated into the plan and these objectives had a range of actions which identified and tackled discrimination, inequalities and promoted good community relations.  With that Councillor Bell seconded the report and moved the recommendation to approve the Council Plan.

Councillor C Marshall commented that the timing of this report was shocking as was weeks away from when we approach the public with our offer and when they can decide what the new make up of the Council would be.  He said that this should have come forward after the election but he clarified that he would not vote against the plan, and thanked the Head of Corporate Affairs and his team.   Councillor Marshall did not believe the plan went far enough to address the failures in delivering services to all residents in County Durham, in terms of community safety, creating local jobs, roads and potholes.

Councillor M Wilkes confirmed that the plan was discussed at length at  Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board in December, a meeting that Councillor Marshall did not attend.  He commented that it was not right to delay our ambitions as we needed to deliver to our residents and he asked members to support the plan.

Councillor A Hopgood clarified that there were much more than 3000 more jobs that had been created with partnerships, and that this plan was consulted upon every year, and had been for the past four years.  In addition, the Council could not stand still due to the election, as it had to take the business as usual approach.  Councillor Hopgood said that all points fed in through the consultation had been incorporated into the plan.

Councillor Marshall confirmed that he had not objected to approving the plan but that Labour would bring a new plan forward after May.

Resolved:

That the Council Plan 2025-2029 be approved.