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

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

13.2           The presentation covered the following key points:  

·           Introduction – 2017 had been a really successful and challenging year and had marked the end of the first year of the new Council Plan. Against a backdrop of financial pressures, the Council had made significant changes whilst continuing to deliver services that cost less but provided the same level of support for customers.

·           Year One Refresh – Finances and Resources – 2016/17 saw the Council face further challenges but also saw it change the way it thought about generating income for the Council and its services. The leisure centre had provided an income of £150,000 since May 2016 through management fees; a new commercial strategy had been developed which included a £14 million property investment providing an annual income of £430,000; a new corporate website had been designed and launched which was exceptional value for money at £150 per year compared to the previous annual cost of £13,600; £8,000 had been saved on annual electrical costs since the installation of solar panels on the building; a new £3.5 million waste and recycling fleet had been procured – with the new vehicles being more efficient and able to collect more waste so were future proofed for growth in the Borough; a strategic management review had been implemented, including the appointment of a new Deputy Chief Executive and two new Heads of Service; and, alongside all those achievements, Council Tax remained the fifth lowest in the country.

·           Year One Refresh – Economic Development – An economic assessment and employment land review had been carried out within the Borough. External funding had been secured and a consultant had been appointed to develop a vision for Junction 9 of the M5. The Council had been successful in gaining £377,000 worth of funding from the Local Enterprise Partnership to host a business growth hub at the Public Services Centre which would be the first of its kind in the County. The Council had also been successful with regeneration projects within Tewkesbury Town including a new signage project and the completion of the Riverside Walk. In addition, a new website for businesses in Tewkesbury had been launched along with a new investment prospectus which showed the benefits of investing within Tewkesbury Borough. 

·           Year One Refresh – Housing – The main modifications for the Joint Core Strategy had been approved by the three Councils (Tewkesbury Borough, Cheltenham Borough and Gloucester City) and all responses from the consultations had been sent to the Inspector for consideration; public examination hearings would be held in the summer. With 13 Neighbourhood Plans now being developed the Council continued to provide support to Town and Parish Councils for their development. A new housing and homelessness strategy for 2016/20 had been adopted and, in 2016/17, the Council had delivered 197 affordable homes which was above its target of 150. The Council had worked with key partners retendering the rough sleeper outreach contract which was part of the newly formed District partnership. The Council was continuing to work with its partners to prevent residents becoming homeless and undertaking visits with Severn Vale Housing to tenants most likely to be significantly affected by the forthcoming welfare reform.

·           Year One Refresh – Customer-Focused Services – The Council’s customer care standards had been launched in March 2016 with the aim to ensure customers received consistently excellent customer service. The public services centre had continued to grow with a further refurbishment of the reception area, civic suites and the top floor being approved for completion in early 2018. A review of the garden waste service had commenced which would look at improving the service for customers and introducing a set renewal date. A new digital strategy was approved in March 2016 and key projects had been delivered which included the introduction of a property services helpdesk, new tree inspection software – which mapped where all the Council’s trees were within the Borough – as well as the design and launch of the refreshed corporate website. A new complaints framework had been rolled out which included a revised complaints and Freedom of Information reporting system which had made it easier for Officers to monitor and respond to customers. The Council continued to support the Citizens’ Advice Bureau with a grant of £53,000 and this had helped to support over 1,000 residents. 2016/17 had seen an increased recycling rate of 54% of waste being recycled or composted throughout the year which was a good improvement on 50% in 2015/16. In addition, revenues and benefits performance continued to be in the top quartile nationally for the processing of claims.

·           Moving Forward to 2017/18 – The Council had an exciting and challenging time ahead with constant pressure to do more with less. The second year of the Council Plan continued to have big ambitions with many projects coming to fruition throughout the year ahead. Investigating different options and putting in place a plan for the redevelopment of Spring Gardens was high on the agenda, as was delivering the public service centre refurbishment project - which would include letting the top floor of the building – this went hand in hand with an exciting project to develop and launch the business growth hub. The Council’s commitment to ‘digital’ remained strong and a new online reporting system would be introduced to make residents experience simpler and quicker. The adoption of the Joint Core Strategy in the next year would be vital in helping to shape the future of the Borough. The Leader felt that, for a relatively small Council, Tewkesbury Borough had big ambitions.

13.3           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.