Agenda item

To receive a ‘State of the Borough’ presentation from the Leader of the Council, Councillor R J E Vines   

78.1           The Mayor invited the Leader of the Council, Councillor R J E Vines, to present his ‘State of the Borough’ report.

78.2           The presentation covered the following key points:  

·         Introduction – 2016 had been a successful and challenging year and had marked the end of the Council Plan. Against a backdrop of challenges, the Council had made significant savings whilst still delivering services that cost less but provided the same level of support for customers. The Council had also become more agile and flexible; successfully working together with partners, staff and Councillors following its ethos to be better for customers, better for business.

·         The Council Plan 2012-16 – The current Council Plan had included significant achievements including a successful peer review; the establishment of the public services centre; the near completion of the leisure centre; the introduction of the place programme; a management restructure; and a number of successful service reviews. It was felt that the Council should be proud of its achievements with performance remaining impressive.

·         Year Four Refresh – Use Resources Effectively and Efficiently – 2015/16 had seen the Council face further financial challenges with a grant reduction of 15.6%; despite this it froze the Council Tax for the fifth year in a row. The Transform Working Group had helped the Council to manage its budget proposals and transform the way it did things with successful projects including the Council Offices refurbishment, the new leisure centre and various service reviews. In addition, a new Customer Care Strategy and Standards had been introduced which clearly set out what its customers could expect if they contacted the Council. The new complaints system had been introduced in April and had made it much clearer and easier for its customers to advise when it had not performed as it should have done. It also meant that monitoring and learning from customer feedback would be improved.

·         Year Four Refresh – Promote Economic Development – The Government had given approval for the Council to spend the remaining £220,000 of flood grant funding to support business marketing which had resulted in the launch of the new ‘Discover Tewkesbury’ branding. There had also been the launch of a new £1.4million scheme called LEADER which was aimed at boosting the rural economy across the Forest of Dean and Tewkesbury Borough; this would support rural jobs and growth. The Council’s economic development team had been working with partners to support around 500 businesses through start-ups, training and mentoring, seminars, networking events and enterprise clubs. There was currently an Overview and Scrutiny Working Group in place which was reviewing the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy and looking at various key areas that would inform the new Strategy, including liaising with representatives from the Local Enterprise Partnership and ensuring the new Strategy linked into the new Council Plan. In addition, the Tewkesbury Regeneration Partnership continued to oversee various projects to enhance the regeneration of the town and, in July, had secured the ‘missing link’ on the east side of the river Avon in Tewkesbury Town.

·         Year Four Refresh – Improve Recycling and Care for the Environment – The Council’s recycling rate remained in the top quartile at a healthy 52% with recycling campaigns having included a ‘no food waste’ sticker which had increased recycling by 20%. The volunteer litter picking scheme now had 185 volunteer litter pickers who remained enthusiastic and committed – the Council supported them through annual events, newsletters and the provision of equipment. The Council had seen a 40% increase of customers using its online self-service for garden waste renewals with nearly 15,000 customers now using the scheme. In addition, in terms of flooding, a lot of projects had been completed during 2015/16 including the clearance of blockages, felling of trees and desilting. The completion of a substantial surface water bund in Tirley was one of the largest schemes the Council had ever carried out.

·         Year Four Refresh – Customer Focussed Community Support – The public services centre at the Council Offices continued to grow with three more partners having joined this year; that brought the total number of organisations to seven. A new Community Funding Officer had been appointed and within the first six months she had already spoken with over 90 community groups to help signpost them to external funding. Support to the Citizens’ Advice Bureau continued with a £53,000 grant which had helped to support over 1,000 residents within the first nine months. Year two of the Council’s Health and Wellbeing Strategy had been successful with one good example being the launch of social prescribing which linked people with activities which benefited them rather than using medication. The Council continued to support neighbourhood planning with 11 designated areas across 15 different Parishes. Following a successful pilot in the east area of the Borough the place programme was approved for Borough-wide roll-out in January.

·         Year Four Refresh – Develop Housing Relevant to Local Needs – A lot of work had been carried out on the Joint Core Strategy and the Tewkesbury Borough Plan. The Joint Core Strategy was now at examination stage with the hearing sessions having started in May 2015. The Council was on track to deliver an estimated 205 affordable homes in 2015/16 which was the largest number delivered since 2007/08. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had recently concluded its review of disabled facilities grants with recommendations being made around work processes and time improvements and the need to be more customer friendly. This year, the Council had helped deliver more than 80 disabled facilities grants which had amounted to nearly £395,000. In addition, St Mungo’s Broadway had been appointed to provide an outreach service for people sleeping rough and this year more than 120 homelessness prevention cases were carried out.

·         Moving Forward – The Council had an exciting and challenging four years ahead as it introduced its new Council Plan which set out its priorities for 2016-2020. An increase in Council Tax of £5 for a Band D property had been agreed for next year and yet the Council remained the fifth lowest in the country; it had been felt that freezing Council Tax would have been impossible without affecting services. The new leisure centre would open on 30 May with the former Olympian gold medallist, Sharon Davies ‘cutting the ribbon’. The Council had launched a new Digital Strategy to help provide its customers with online services. One of the priority actions within the Strategy was to map out the Council’s current digital offers and work with services to improve them. It was anticipated that this Council Plan period would see the adoption of the Joint Core Strategy and the Borough Plan as well as the commencement of a project to refurbish the Spring Gardens area in Tewkesbury Town which would look at commercial options including mixed used development within the site. The Council would face further financial challenges with a £2.9million deficit faced which could increase if there were further government changes to income streams. In addition, there would be a focus on transforming how the Council delivered its services and looked to be more commercially minded as well as ways that it could maximise the use of its assets.

78.3           A Member felt that the presentation had provided an uplifting report and review of what the Council had achieved to make the Borough a better place to live. He explained that, at the centre of the Council Plan were four key priorities, one of which was economic development and through that the Council had done a number of things very successfully to promote the Borough. Even though the Economic Development team was a small one it was very quick and flexible to responding to opportunities that arose. He also advised that there was a Working Group which was looking at the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy which would underpin elements of the Council Plan; there had been a slight delay in its work in getting to grips with certain matters but it would be reporting later in the year. In terms of the LEADER funding, the Member appealed to Councillors for help in raising its profile. He explained that, whilst the Council’s team was promoting the funding through business leaders etc., the best way was by word of mouth and so, if Members knew of any businesses/organisations that could use the money, he urged them to pass the details onto the Economic Development Team.

78.4           The Leader encouraged Members to take the presentation to their respective Parish Council meetings as a way of reporting the Borough Council’s work over the year. The Mayor thanked the Leader for his informative presentation and, with no further questions, it was

                  RESOLVED         That the ‘State of the Borough’ presentation provided by the                               Leader of the Council be NOTED.