AGENDA ITEM NO. 8
REPORT TO: Council
REPORT NO: CLF / 12 / 13
DATE: 22 May 2013
LEAD MEMBER: Councillor Malcolm King OBE (Policy, Finance, Performance and Governance)
CONTACT OFFICER: Morgan Jones (Tel: 292263)
SUBJECT: The Council Plan 2013-17
WARD: All Wards
1. PURPOSE OF THE REPORT
To seek Member approval for the proposed Council Plan 2013-17 and for the outcome indicators, targets and improvement activity set out within it.
2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2.1 The Council Plan is the overarching plan for the Council. It sets out where we will focus our energies and resources, how we will judge our performance and what the Council’s contribution to ‘Our Wrexham Plan ‘ – Wrexham Local Service Board’s single integrated plan - will be. It is also the means by which the Council agrees its improvement objectives as required by the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 and as such is a key focus for our regulators.
2.2 The framework for the Council Plan was developed through a review of the Council’s existing and emerging strategies and the needs assessments and engagement work that underpins them. It also considered Members’ reflections, statutory guidance and comments from regulators – particularly Wales Audit Office concerns regarding appropriate outcomes and measures.
2.3 In December 2011 Executive Board approved a Council Plan framework for 2012-16 to reflect the four year electoral cycle upon which the Council operated. Council then approved this framework in March 2012. As this has now been extended to a five year electoral cycle, it is recommended that the Council Plan is similarly extended to 2017.
2.4 However, the Council is currently undertaking significant work to reshape services to meet the financial challenges ahead whilst prioritising the most vulnerable. As such, the Plan only includes targets for the next financial year. During this year decisions will be taken which will allow longer-term targets to be set.
2.5 The Council plan sets out a vision, purpose, guiding principles and values for the authority that set the context for three strategic themes – Economy, People and Place – and one corporate theme of Organisation – striving for excellence.
2.6 The three strategic themes and one corporate theme are informed by a series of fifteen priority outcomes.
2.7 Each priority outcome sets out how the Council will judge its success in that priority outcome area and how it intends to achieve this through:
Outcome indicators – a measure of the impact that activities are having, ie the extent to which projects and services are affecting the economy, people, place or organisation in the intended way. Improvement activity – the key projects and improvements which are being planned and delivered to support, influence or deliver improvements in identified outcomes.
2.8 Underpinning the planned improvement activity will be the day to day business that departments undertake and which will be reflected in departmental service plans. These plans will also include the performance measures by which the delivery of wider improvement activity can be managed.
2.9 The Council Plan is a living document and will be regularly reviewed throughout its life to reflect changes in the local, regional and national context. Specifically it will reviewed alongside the delivery plan for ‘Our Wrexham Plan’ – Wrexham Local Service Board’s single integrated plan – to ensure that those outcome indicators and actions that depend on partnership working remain consistent with those agreed with partners in ‘Our Wrexham Plan’.
3 RECOMMENDATIONS
3.1 Council approves the proposed Council Plan 2013-17 and the outcome indicators, associated targets and improvement activity set out within it.
REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS
(i) To define the priorities of the Council for the next four years and to set out the Council’s improvement objectives as required in the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009.
4. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
4.1 The Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 requires authorities to put in place arrangements to secure continuous improvement which allows them to effectively understand local needs and priorities and to make best use of their capacity to meet them and to evaluate the impact of their actions. Authorities should seek to ensure that their improvement objectives remain relevant, the best arrangements for delivering them are in place, and they are able to understand and demonstrate the impact on the outcomes for citizens.
4.2 Specifically, the Measure requires authorities to:
publish annual plans for improvement which must include a set of Improvement Objectives; and publish an annual assessment of performance relating to their plans and Improvement Objectives
4.3 An authority is expected to publish a council plan (referred to in the measure as an improvement plan) as soon as ‘reasonably practicable’ after the start of the financial year to which it relates.
The Council Plan framework
4.4 The existing Council Plan was agreed for 2012-16 on the basis that this reflected the four year electoral cycle upon which the Council operates. As the electoral cycle has now been extended to five years, it is proposed that the Council Plan is similarly extended.
4.5 Local authorities are currently facing unprecedented financial pressures. Decisions on how to reshape services to meet these financial challenges have yet to be taken and as such the attached plan only presents targets for the next year. Longer term targets will be agreed once these decisions have been taken and their service delivery implications can be reflected within proposed targets.
4.6 The framework approved by Council in March 2012 proposes a vision, purpose and values for the Council.
Vision: Wrexham County Borough Council is a strong community leader. Purpose: To ensure Wrexham and its people are supported to fulfil their potential and prosper Guiding Principles: Citizens, customers & equality being at the centre of everything we do; Elected members as community leaders being at the heart of decision making; Supporting and encouraging customers and staff to communicate in Welsh and English Values: Trust, respect, innovation, flexibility, integrity, commitment
4.7 These values have been used to define a way of working for the Council: We ask our customers what they want, consider their requests, work together to identify creative and appropriate ways forward, balancing risk and opportunity, and then feedback to them honestly what can be delivered, working hard to keep our promises. We build trust and help to improve the quality of life for the people of Wrexham.
4.8 The framework sets out three strategic themes – Economy, People and Place – and one corporate theme of Organisation – striving for excellence. Each of these is informed by a number of priority outcomes.
4.9 These priority outcomes have been developed through a review of the Council’s existing and emerging strategies, the needs assessments and engagement work that underpins them, Members reflections, statutory guidance and comments from regulators.
4.10 The Economy strategic theme is based on the Economic Prosperity Strategy which was developed in consultation with stakeholders and originally approved in January 2012.
4.11 The People strategic theme is largely drawn from key outcomes of ‘Our Joint Plan,’ the Council’s combined Children and Young People’s Plan and Health, Social Care and Well-being Strategy, a three year plan which was approved by Council in March 2011. It also draws in key outcomes from the Flintshire and Wrexham Community Safety Partnership Plan, the Welsh Language Scheme and Welsh in Education Strategic Plan.
4.12 The Place strategic theme is based on the Unitary and Local Development Plans, the emerging Local Housing Strategy, the Carbon Management Action Plan, Community Cohesion Strategy and Highways Asset Management Plan.
4.13 The Organisation corporate theme focuses on customers and staff. It is drawn from the Organisation Development and Workforce Strategy, the agreed Customer Care Standards and Strategic Assessment Programme.
4.14 Each priority outcome sets out a small number of outcome indicators, which are the high level measures that will be used to assess whether the outcomes that the Council is working to improve have actually done so. It also sets out the key Improvement activities which will be undertaken to improve those outcomes.
4.15 The Council Plan can only provide a summary of key activities and outcome indicators. It is underpinned by a wider performance management framework which details the wider activities that the Council will undertake and the performance measures and targets by which this work will be performance managed.
4.16 The Plan is a living document which will be subject to regular review throughout its life to reflect changes in the local, regional and national context. It will also need to consider reviews of the supporting plans and strategies that underpin it, as well as reviews of ‘Our Wrexham plan’ which it, in turn, underpins.
4.17 Policy Framework – It is a requirement of the Wales Programme for Improvement that the Council identifies and delivers on its priority and improvement areas.
4.18 Budget – The priorities set within the Council Plan will continue to be a key driver in allocating resources and future budgets.
4.19 Legal – There are no legal implications in the report.
4.20 Staffing – There are no staffing implications in the report
4.21 Equality/Human Rights – The original Equalities Impact Assessment of the Council Plan has been updated. It is available on the Councils Equality Assessment System and Index (EASI) as EIA/00569 and is based upon the equality impact assessments of the strategies upon which it is based. The development of the plan has also considered issues such as the equality challenges for Wales set out by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission.
The key actions already taken as a result of the EIA have been the development of more accessible versions of the Council Plan – including the ‘short and snappy’ version developed in consultation with the Senedd Yr Ifanc (Youth Parliament), and the easyread version developed in consultation with a local Learning Disability Group. More accessible performance reporting now needs to be developed alongside this.
4.22 Risks - Not having the Council Plan framework in place will put the Council at risk of not meeting its statutory requirement to publish improvement objectives as soon as practicable after April each year.
5. CONSULTATION
5.1 The Council Plan framework is supported by a range of existing Council strategies such as the Economic Prosperity Strategy and the Director of Social Services Annual Report & Business Plan, as well as partnership strategies such as ‘Our Wrexham Plan’ which has replaced strategies such as ‘Our Joint Plan.’ Each of these strategies has been developed in consultation with citizens, professionals and interested groups.
5.2 The overall framework and the outcome indicators, targets and improvement activity detailed within the plan has been developed in consultation with Lead Members and the Strategic Management Team and made available to all Members through an information report following the forced cancellation of a planned workshop in March 2013 due to heavy snow.
5.3 As well as engagement activity undertaken through existing strategies, consultation on the Council Plan has also been supported by specific exercises which are detailed in Appendix 2 of the plan. The most recent area for improvement highlighted is around the proportion of local people who feel that the Council takes account of residents views when it makes decisions.
6. SCRUTINY COMMITTEE COMMENTS
6.1 The Council Plan framework has not been considered by any specific scrutiny committee but was to be discussed at all member workshops in March 2013 that had to be cancelled due to snow. The information which would have been considered within the workshop has been circulated as an all-Member Information Report.
7.2 The Customers, Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee are due to consider proposals for the involvement of scrutiny in Council Planning at their June meeting.
BACKGROUND PAPERS LOCATION WEBSITE INFO. CLF/09/1 http://www.wrexham.gov. Council Plan Target Challenge Website uk/assets/pdfs/informatio Report 2013-17 n_reports/2013/council_p lan_target_challenge_rep ort.pdf
CLF/06/13 http://www.wrexham.gov. 2012/13 Quarter Three Website uk/assets/pdfs/informatio Performance Report n_reports/2013/q3_perfor mance.pdf
http://www.internal.wrexh CE/03/12 Website am.gov.uk/MinutesData/ The Council Plan 2012-16 ExBoard/Reports/CE031 2.doc
http://www.internal.wrexh CEO/08/11 Website am.gov.uk/MinutesData/ Proposed Council Plan Framework ExBoard/ex13122011a.ht 2012-16 m
Council Plan 2013 to 2017
www.wrexham.gov.uk / www.wrecsam.gov.uk
Alternative Formats
The Council Plan is available in both English and Welsh from Council Offices, Libraries or to download from our website. As well as the full plan there is an executive summary, a ‘short and snappy’ version which has been developed with the Senedd Yr Ifanc (the young people’s parliament) and an easy read version developed with a local learning disabilities group.
This document is available in languages other than English and Welsh and in accessible formats such as large print, Braille, BSL DVD, audio-CD, or electronic format upon request. To request production of the Plan in these or another format more accessible to you please use the contact details below.
Feedback
We welcome your comments on both the format and the content of our Council Plan. If you have any suggestions or comments to make the plan more readable, or for additional/ alternative areas on which the Council should focus, please contact us at the address below. Any proposals for additional areas of focus will be considered as part of the performance management and updating of this plan. Comments on the presentation of the plan will be considered for its next publication in spring 2014.
To provide feedback please use the contact details below.
Contact Details
Organisational Effectiveness Service, Wrexham County Borough Council, Lambpit Street, Wrexham, LL11 1AY
Email: [email protected] Telephone: 01978 292263
Version Control Draft version 2.7
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Our Council Plan – 2013 to 2017
Item Page Number
Foreword from Leader and Chief Executive ...... 3 Welcome to our Council Plan ...... 4 Our Strategic Priorities 2013 to 2017 ...... 6 The Council Plan Framework 2013-17 ...... 8
Strategic Theme: Economy ...... 9 E1 – People want to live, work, visit and invest here...... 10 E2 – Businesses can locate and grow here...... 12 E3 – People can prosper as individuals and within their communities...... 13
Strategic Theme: People...... 15 PE1 – All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential ...... 16 PE2 – Children and young people are safeguarded...... 18 PE3 – People feel, and are, safe and secure...... 19 PE4 - All people are enabled to make healthy choices...... 20 PE5 – All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and well-being...... 22 PE6 – Welsh language and culture is promoted and supported ...... 23
Strategic Theme: Place...... 24 PL1 - Homes that meet people’s needs and aspirations...... 25 PL2 – An Environmentally Responsible Place...... 26 PL3 - Communities with sustainable, attractive settlements, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces...... 28 PL4 – Well Connected Communities ...... 30
Corporate Theme: Organisation ...... 32 O1 – Engaged and Satisfied Customers...... 33 O2 – Creating the Conditions for Success...... 35
Working in Partnership for Wrexham County Borough...... 37 Working in Collaboration for Wrexham County Borough ...... 38 Financial Planning ...... 38 How Do Our Plans Link Together?...... 39 Annual Improvement Report Statement ...... 40 Appendix 1 - What Do These Words Mean To Us? ...... 43 Appendix 2 - The Key issues for Wrexham County Borough...... 44 Appendix 3 - Key Supporting Strategies and Inspection Reports ...... 47
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Foreword from Leader and Chief Executive
The Council Plan – 2013 to 2017
Wrexham County Borough Council works to ensure that the people of Wrexham are supported to fulfil their potential and to prosper. This Plan sets out how we intend to achieve that – focusing on the four connected themes of economy, people, place and organisation.
The first twelve months of this plan have been both challenging and rewarding, with many new and interesting projects and initiatives taking place and coming to fruition: the Wrexham Industrial Estate road was opened in a blaze of publicity, massively improving links between a major employment zone of 513 hectares and around 300 companies with the regional transport network; Wrexham became the only Council in Wales to have adopted Supplementary Planning Guidance to restrict new hot food takeaways in close proximity to schools; and the Guardian newspaper praised Wrexham for moving ‘into the renewable energy premier league after installing 30,000 locally made solar panels on 3,000 council homes’ following the £60 million scheme to fit 3,000 social houses with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, saving up to 3000 tonnes of CO2 a year and providing subsidised green power to thousands of our tenants.
The next year will be just as challenging and, we trust, just as rewarding. The funding pressures faced by the public sector – and local authorities in particular – are unprecedented. There are hard decisions to be made as we reshape services to meet the financial challenges ahead whilst prioritising the most vulnerable people in Wrexham. As a Council, we are continually striving to work effectively with our partners and develop into an ever more efficient and streamlined organisation that remains fit for the future.
Cllr. Neil Rogers Dr. Helen Paterson Leader of the Council Chief Executive
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Welcome to our Council Plan
Wrexham County Borough Council delivers, and enables the delivery of, services to people who live in, work in and visit the County Borough.
The Council Plan is the overarching plan for the Council. It defines where we focus our energies and resources, how we will judge our performance and the Council’s contribution to the Community Strategy (see page 40). The Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 requires the Council to agree ‘improvement objectives’, which are referred to locally as ‘priority outcomes’ and are agreed as part of this plan.
This Council Plan sets out, for 2013 to 2017:
The Council’s vision, purpose, guiding principles and values; The strategic themes and corporate theme that the Council will focus on; The priority outcomes that sit under each theme; and How these were identified
We will judge whether we have been successful by monitoring our progress against agreed outcome indicators and targets, which will help us measure the difference we have made for local people. Targets have only being agreed for the current financial year. This reflects ongoing work within the Council to reshape services to meet the financial challenges ahead whilst prioritising the most vulnerable. Once these decisions have been taken, targets for subsequent years can be established. To performance manage this work, Members and officers of the Council will also monitor and report on:
Improvement activity – the projects and improvements that are being planned and delivered to support, influence or deliver improvements in identified outcomes. Performance measures – measures of how well improvement activity has been delivered.
The Council will use this document to plan and manage its priorities, improvement activity and service delivery at a strategic level. It is also supported by strategies and plans that contain a far greater level of detail and are regularly reviewed. As such the Council Plan is a living document that must respond to the changing local, regional and national context. It will be formally updated at the start of each financial year.
This is not a performance report and does not include information on performance against targets. However, performance management is an ongoing activity throughout the year and performance against target for 2012/13 will be reported to Executive Board on 11 June 2013. The Council also publishes an annual review and assessment of its performance over the financial year in the following October. This will include an assessment of the authority’s performance when compared to other Local Authorities in Wales, its achievement against the outcomes and targets it set itself, and judgements from bodies such as external regulators. This assessment is a public document and is in turn reviewed by the Wales Audit Office.
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Our Vision
The Council as a strong community leader
Our Purpose
To ensure Wrexham and its people are supported to fulfil their potential and prosper
Our Guiding Principles
Citizens, Customers and Equality – Being at the centre of everything we do
Members – Elected Members as community leaders being at the heart of decision making
Welsh Language – Supporting and encouraging customers and staff to communicate in Welsh and English
Our Values
It is important for us to recognise what is driving how we deliver our services and how we behave as an organisation.
Trust Respect Innovation Flexibility Integrity Commitment
These values have been used to define a way of working for the Council:
We ask our customers what they want, consider their requests, work together to identify creative and appropriate ways forward, balancing risk and opportunity, and then feed back to them honestly what can be delivered, working hard to keep our promises. We build trust and help to improve the quality of life for the people of Wrexham.
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Our Strategic Priorities 2013 to 2017
The Council Plan sets out three strategic themes – Economy, People and Place – and a corporate theme of Organisation – striving for excellence.
Whilst these are distinct themes they cannot be viewed in isolation. The Economy requires both the right People, in terms of entrepreneurship and skills, and the right Place to work from, in terms of business sites and supporting infrastructure. Each strategic theme interacts and impacts on another, whilst the corporate theme of Organisation underpins the ability of the Council to provide or enable the delivery of the services required by the local economy, people and place.
People
Wrexham County Borough Economy Place
These strategic and corporate themes are comprised of a number of priority outcomes, set out on page 8. These have resulted from an ongoing dialogue throughout the year and have been developed through a review of the Council’s existing and emerging strategies and the needs assessment and engagement work that has underpinned them. The identification of priority outcomes has also taken account of the results of the Council’s budget survey and key issues for Wrexham County Borough survey, details of which are set out more fully in Appendix 2. This consultation and engagement information has been considered alongside assessments of current performance, financial considerations, statutory guidance and comments from regulators.
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Priority Outcomes
Our priority outcomes are what we want to achieve to improve the quality of life for the people of Wrexham County Borough. We will judge how well we are doing in making that difference through monitoring the outcome indicators set out against each priority outcome in this plan.
However, these outcomes and indicators are not wholly within the Council’s control and can be influenced by the priorities and performance of partners, stakeholders, and other local, national and even global factors. The more that the Council focuses on improving outcomes, the more important positive partnership working, across all sectors becomes.
We compare the performance of the County Borough against other local authority areas in Wales or the UK where we have the opportunity to do so. This is to put our performance and targets in context and to help us better understand the impact that the Council and our partners are having.
Target Setting
Wrexham County Borough Council works to ensure that local people receive good quality services that provide value for money within a reducing budget. We judge the success of these services through setting and monitoring outcome indicators. Outcome indicator targets are currently set at one of three levels:
Sustain current standards of performance; Improve performance in line with current trends; and Stretch to achieve a significant improvement.
This Plan sets out targets for the current financial year. During this year the Council will be working to reshape services to meet the financial challenges ahead whilst prioritising the most vulnerable. As this work develops and decisions are made, the targets for subsequent years will need to be reviewed. Where we decide to withdraw or reduce a service we will also consider introducing a fourth target category:
Minimum Standard below which performance should not fall.
Each year we will review the level of improvement delivered across all identified outcomes, how it compares against the targets we have set ourselves, and how it compares against the performance of others. This review will be published by the end of October each year and previous such reports are available on the Council website.
This review will also provide graphic information on performance trends for all indicators within the plan, with performance against the Welsh average where this is available. This report will be available on our website.
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The Council Plan Framework 2013-17
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Strategic Theme: Economy Creating a vibrant, diverse and inclusive economy
The current economic context means that businesses are trading in an incredibly tough environment, unemployment is on the up, high street spending is down and economies are becoming more and more fragile.
Priority Outcomes E1 People want to live, work, learn, visit and invest here E2 Businesses can locate and grow here E3 People can prosper as individuals in their communities
The Context How this theme was developed
The employment rate in Wrexham County The priority outcomes within this strategic theme Borough is high, but this masks issues around are drawn from the Economic Prosperity youth unemployment and comparatively low Strategy 2012-16. This priority outcome also levels of self-employment. The value of the reflects the ‘Our Wrexham Plan’ theme of ‘A goods and services produced in the County place with a strong, resilient and responsible Borough1 is one of the highest in Wales, but economy’. gross disposable household income is around ‘The single most important thing the Council can the Wales average. do is to encourage new business to provide
work for local people’ The number of businesses in the County 2012 ‘What are the key issues for Wrexham’ Survey respondent Borough has fallen since 2005, but increased in the last year. The Eagles Meadow shopping Job prospects was the area highlighted as most and leisure complex has seen significant growth in need of improvement in the County Borough, in local leisure and shopping opportunities and supported by 52% of survey respondents2. A there are a lower proportion of empty shops on third of respondents (33.2%) also highlighted Wrexham high streets than in most UK towns. wage levels and the local cost of living.
The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation ‘I would like to see more work done on the town highlights the contrasts within the County centre’. Borough, with one area being one of the ten 2013 ‘Your council, your area’ survey respondent most deprived areas in Wales and another just outside the ten least deprived areas.
1 Gross value added per head was £17,820 in 2011 (Regional Accounts - ONS) 2 ‘The key issues for Wrexham County Borough’ survey – for more info see appendix 1 9
E1 – People want to live, work, visit and invest here
The more people who want to build their lives, pursue their ambitions or spend money here, the wealthier the County Borough will be with a better quality of life for everyone. We need however to build the right physical environment and the right image or profile of the area.
We are investing in the County Borough in order to: Secure enough of the right land or buildings to attract high quality employment opportunities with premium employers; Capitalise on the potential of our tourism assets to encourage visitors to stay longer and spend more; Reduce the number of vacant/void town centre premises and increase footfall - more shoppers means more pounds through the shop tills! Conserve and regenerate key buildings to raise the overall quality and feel of the infrastructure and public realm within the County Borough
One way of gauging the health of the economy is to take a walk down any high street. According to a recent national survey, the results are not good, with 14% of town centre shops in the UK currently vacant. Weak consumer confidence, rising unemployment and growing online sales are being blamed.
A place that is attractive to residents will also attract business and investment as well as be a place where tourists wish to be. It’s all about lifestyle.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target 2013/14 Indicator 2012/13
Sustain: Total value of investment in physical 3 £3.53m £1.6m £1.7m regeneration in Wrexham Sustain performance at a Sustain: Town centre vacancy rate 14%4 10% minimum of 5% below the national average5 Awaiting Improve: Value of visitor spend in Wrexham 6 report from 7 £87m £88m County Borough STEAM in May 13
We will achieve this by:
Improving the visitor experience within the whole of the world heritage site including support for the development of tourist facilities and attractions at key locations such as Trevor Basin and Chirk;
3 Figures for Wrexham County Borough 2011/12 4 UK average for 2012/13 5 In other words, our vacancy rate will track the national average 6 Figures for Wrexham County Borough 2011/12 7 Projected figures are at 2011/12 prices and will need to be adjusted for inflation. They also take into account the imminent changes to the Scarborough Tourism Economic Activity Measure (STEAM) system used to collate such economic data, in addition to the economic trend for the past 5-year period.
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Preserving the distinctive character of our built heritage;
Taking forward physical improvements in Wrexham town centre including physical and environmental improvements at King Street and infrastructure improvements at the indoor markets; and
Developing and delivering a Marketing and Communications plan with focus on promoting Wrexham Town Centre, Wrexham Industrial Estate and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site
Porvair - a specialist filtration and environmental technology group with operations in the US, Germany, China and Wrexham County Borough
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E2 – Businesses can locate and grow here
In recent years many businesses in Wrexham County Borough have been adversely affected by the downturn in the global economy. Similarly, our own commercial activities have not been immune. For example, the occupancy levels in our commercial property portfolio have declined in recent years. This mirrors the experience of many private sector landlords. Over the next five years we will adjust our property portfolio to make it more relevant to business needs and work with all partners to try and attract new businesses to this area. We shall also encourage and support new business starts. Our overall goal is to increase the number of registered businesses in the County Borough from 4,565 (ONS, March 2010) to closer to 5,000 over the period and create jobs for local people.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target 2013/14 Indicator (Wrexham 2012/13 2011/12) Sustain: Number of new businesses assisted by Wrexham County Borough 30 80 Sustain above 70 Council (WCBC)8 Improve: Percentage of WCBC lettable 68 71 78 commercial property occupied9
Improve: Number of qualified investment 100 230 Sustain above 200 enquiries10
Increase at one percent per Improve: Number of registered 456511 5127 year more than the national businesses average
Improve: Number of jobs created New indicator 28 30
We will achieve this by:
Developing close business relationships with strategically important businesses; Encouraging entrepreneurship, business start-ups and indigenous growth by developing tailored packages of business support; Providing commercial property that meets the needs of indigenous business, New Start businesses and potential inward investors; Helping businesses and training partners identify skills gaps and work with colleges to extend the training they can offer; Helping businesses increase their turnover, profit and sustainability by encouraging ‘supply chain’ opportunities and links between businesses; and Developing ‘business communities’ and encourage dialogue between firms so that they work together for mutual benefit and improved competitiveness. Undertaking business interventions providing advice and guidance tailored to meet the needs of the business, with the intention of creating and safeguarding jobs.
8 Robust information on the number of new business is not available, and so this measure is to be used as a proxy 9 Information on vacancies across all commercial property is not available, and so this measure is to be used as a proxy 10 These are investment enquiries from outside the County Borough that are not simply a general enquiry but are from an interested party with a view to relocation. 11 Figure taken from March 2010 and derived from ONS 12
E3 – People can prosper as individuals and within their communities
Unemployment in Wrexham is not significantly worse than anywhere else in Wales however at 4.1% compared to Wales average of 4.3% it is not something we are complacent about especially in this tough economic climate. Increased, co-ordinated action to reduce unemployment is required to ensure growth in Wrexham’s economy is realised for the residents of Wrexham. Youth unemployment in Wrexham has been steadily rising and is amongst the highest in North Wales, targeted efforts are needed to reverse this trend.
Engaging economically inactive people in community activity and community learning is a recognised route to improving employability, community spirit and cohesion which leads to building strong, active and prosperous communities. Our focus will be on improving quality as much as on overall growth, ensuring that progression and impact become the priorities and develop a process that demonstrates such engagement can make a real difference in terms of economic and social wellbeing.
If people have bank accounts they can often save money – on utilities, mobile phones, credit and so on. Yet figures from Experian show that 28% of low earners in Wrexham don’t have them, meaning that their low income has to pay disproportionately for the things that many take for granted. We will work with partners to define and deliver a financial inclusion action plan that will help more people open a bank account.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target Indicator 2012/13 2013/14
Improve: Percentage of people aged 16-64 claiming Job Seekers 4.0% (Wales) 4.0% 3.9%13 Allowance12 3.7% (GB)
14 17.5% (Wales) Sustain: Percentage of key benefit claimants (Nomis definition) 14.1% (GB) 16.3% 16.2%
Below Improve: Percentage of 18-24 population in Wrexham who claim 7.8% (Wales) 8.1% Wales Job Seekers Allowance15 6.7% (GB) Average
We will achieve this by:
Identifying a way forward with our partners to both reduce economic inactivity and respond to the challenges resulting from the Welfare Reform;
Increasing activities that encourage participation in learning and volunteering in order to increase community activity particularly in our 25 most deprived communities (as identified through Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2012);
12 ONS claimant count – the comparison and Wrexham 2012/13 figures are quarterly figures taken from NOMIS, published April 2013 13 Target is to maintain position below Wales average for the next year giving time for Employment Strategy to be determined and have initial impact in 2015, increasing gap below Wales average by further 0.1% each year. Percentages assume Wales average stays constant, and so would need to be revised annually to serve as ‘tracker’ figures rather than absolute figures. 14 Key Benefit claimants (total claimants) taken from NOMIS. Data used is most recently available – November 2012 15 ONS claimant count – the comparison and Wrexham 2012/13 figures are quarterly figures taken from NOMIS, published April 2013 13
Providing support in our rural communities to promote youth enterprise and sustainability to stimulate the rural economy and reduce youth unemployment; and
Working with our partners to reduce financial exclusion through provision of a co-ordinated range of services such as debt advice, access to mainstream banking (credit union) and supporting a reduction in fuel poverty
St Giles Church as seen from Eagle’s Meadow
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Strategic Theme: People Raising Aspirations, creating confidence and promoting opportunity The County Borough is home to around 134,844 people16 a number that is increasing. The number of people in the UK aged 85 and over is projected to more than double over the next 25 years17.
Priority Outcomes All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their PE1 potential PE2 Children and young people are safeguarded PE3 People feel, and are, safe and secure PE4 All people are enabled to make healthy choices All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and PE5 well-being PE6 Welsh language and culture is promoted and supported
The Context How this theme was developed
International education tests in 200918 The priority outcomes within this strategic theme raised concerns over standards of are drawn from the evidence and engagement education in Wales work underpinning strategies that include: ‘Our Wrexham Plan’ the community strategy High profile safeguarding cases have led Partnership plans such as ‘Our Joint Plan’ to increases in referrals to children’s social The Social Services Business Plan and services across the UK. Local Safeguarding Children’s Board
Strategic Plan Health priorities for North Wales include reducing smoking and alcohol misuse. Welsh Language Scheme and Welsh in Education Strategic Plan It also reflects the focus of regulators on The demography of Wales, and of the UK, safeguarding and wider education issues. Key is changing with increasing numbers of issues highlighted by survey respondents for this people living for longer. theme were education, activities for teenagers and the level of crime. The Welsh Government is seeking to introduce Welsh language standards ‘Make our schools the best in Wales and the UK 2012 ‘What are the key issues for Wrexham’ Survey respondent ’
16 ONS Census 2011 information 17 ONS 2010 based national population projections 18 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 15
PE1 – All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential
There are around 19,000 young people in Wrexham’s nurseries and primary and secondary schools. Throughout their years in statutory education we are supporting and preparing them for the next stage of their lives. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child highlights the importance of education to a child’s life. We want children and young people to have higher aspirations, and the confidence and qualifications to achieve them.
We monitor the performance of pupils throughout their twelve years at school, and onto further education but we will know we have succeeded by looking at the standard of qualifications achieved by sixteen year olds as they leave statutory education, the number and breadth of qualifications they achieve, and how many of them choose to remain in full time education, training or employment.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target Indicator 2012/201319 2013/2014 Stretch: Educational achievement on leaving secondary school:
307.9 (Wrex) The capped point score20 for pupils attainment at Key Stage Four 315.6 322 325.5 (Wales) (16 years old)
Stretch: Educational achievement on leaving secondary school:
21 46.2% (Wrex) The percentage of pupils achieving the Level 2 Threshold 51.1% (Wales) 45.3% 53% including English or Cymraeg and Mathematics
Improve: Percentage of pupils leaving Year 11 who remain in full 85.1% 83.7%22 85% time education (from Careers Wales destination data) 2011 Wales (2011 data) (2012) average
We will achieve this by:
Working proactively with identified schools to boost attainment at Key Stage Four (16 years old); Officers from both Wrexham County Borough Council and the Regional School Effectiveness and Improvement Service will continue to support and challenge through the North Wales regional categorisation of schools process. All Wrexham schools are categorised using a wide range of information and evaluated against the Leadership and Management Tool. There are four categories of schools: 1. A school requiring minimum monitoring and support; 2. A school requiring light monitoring and support; 3. A school requiring focused support and monitoring; 4. A school requiring substantial support and monitoring. Encouraging the sharing of good practice between educational establishments;
19 2012/13 attainment figures refer to qualifications achieved within the financial year 2012/13. These refer to examinations taken by pupils at the end of the 2011/2012 academic year, which ended in Summer 2012 20 The capped wider points score shows the average achievement of pupils within the Local Education Authority, calculated using a pupil’s eight best results 21 roughly equivalent to 5 GCSEs A*-C 22 Careers Wales destination data is published annually in April, and provides a snapshot of performance in October of the previous year 16
Collaborating with North Wales partner authorities; Reviewing Fixed Term Exclusions across the County Borough and identify targeted actions; Analysing the educational attainment gaps between specific groups of learners and report this, and the actions being taken to address gaps, to Members on an annual basis; and Strengthening collaboration with Work Based Learning providers to better prepare young people for employment
We have responded to demand for improved activities for teenagers by engaging with local communities to explore the current and likely future level and nature of demand for youth and play provision and how to best respond to this. As a result of this review we will;
Implement a new flexible service model approach to youth service provision to engage greater numbers of young people; and Build on the 4% of young people who gained accreditation through informal and non- formal learning last year and improve this proportion in the next academic year
School dinners being greeted with a grin
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PE2 – Children and young people are safeguarded
There are over 31,000 people under 20 in Wrexham County Borough23 - a significant proportion of the population. They represent the borough’s future but they are also potentially some of the most vulnerable people in our community. The Council, together with other agencies, parents and carers all play a part in ensuring their safety and protection from harm. We want to be more responsive to children who are vulnerable.
Our aim is to ensure that we continue to provide good quality services to the children, young people and families that need them.
This priority outcome reflects the safeguarding aspects of the Joint Plan (the joint Health Social Care and Well-being Strategy and Children and Young People’s Plan) and the Wrexham and Flintshire Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Strategic Plan 2011.
We will monitor our success through:
Performance Measure Comparison Wrexham Target 2013/2014 2012/2013* Stretch: The percentage of initial assessments that were completed during the year where there 74.90% (Wrex) Aim for 100% 76% is evidence that the child has been seen by the 67.93% (Wales) performance social worker24 Stretch: The percentage of reviews of LAC, Children on the Child Protection register and 77.4% (Wrex) 92% Aim for 100% 83.07% (Wales) Quarter 3 Children In Need in line with the statutory 2011/12 performance timetable25
We will achieve this by:
(for detailed actions, milestones etc please see the Director of Social Services Annual Report 2012/13 and Business Plan 2013/14):
Continuing to develop and investigate integrated ways of working to ensure that families are provided with support at the earliest opportunity, preventing the need for more specialist intervention e.g. work with the Police as part of the development of a multi agency hub over the next 3 years, establishing a Safeguarding People Service to better support families where there are child and/or adult protection concerns. Providing good quality services e.g. improving the quality of assessments, implementing and monitoring the new Risk Model Ensuring that the information we receive from families using our services informs improvements practice and service delivery.
The Welsh Government are currently working to develop a National Outcomes framework for all Council services including Social Services. This priority outcome will be reconsidered once this framework is available.
23 Office for National Statistics. Resident population estimates, All persons September 2011 24 Public Accountability Measure SCC/11a 25 Public Accountability Measure SCC/45 18
PE3 – People feel, and are, safe and secure
The level of crime and how safe people feel are key factors that impact on people’s quality of life, and have been highlighted as such by local people. Safety and feelings of safety can only be improved in partnership, Wrexham County Borough Council has a key contribution to make, both through its lead role within the partnership and through services such as the Youth Justice Service, Public Protection teams, the Planning service and others.
By 2016, we will have worked with partners to reduce the number of crimes in the County Borough, and to maintain the high proportion of people who feel safe and consider that the Police and Council are dealing with crime. This priority outcome reflects the ‘Making Wrexham a place that’s safe and where everyone feels included’ priority of ‘Our Wrexham Plan’.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target Indicator 2011/12 2012/2013 2013/2014 84.34 Ensure year on year Improve: Number of recorded crimes per 1,000 Ranked 12/15 in the 74.72 improvement based on residents Home Office group 26 of similar areas March 2011 baseline figure Sustain: Percentage of people who feel safe in Wrexham County Borough according to;
a) People’s Voice survey undertaken every a) 97%27 a) survey a) Sustain Performance at other year every other this level year b) Annual survey of members of the Online b) New Watch Link Indicator b) An improving trend
We will achieve this by:
Reducing the levels of violent crime, including domestic and sexual violence; Working with partners to respond to anti-social behaviour referrals with preventative and diversionary activities; supporting vulnerable and repeat victims, enforcement against offenders and action against identified problem locations; Reducing the levels of acquisitive crime by co-ordinating targeted interventions; Reducing re-offending by supporting the agencies that actively manage offenders; Reducing the harm substance misuse causes to communities, families and individuals by commissioning appropriate interventions; Tackling hate related crime and disorder by, supporting targeted campaigns and publicity aimed at increasing awareness and encouraging reporting, supporting victims and bringing perpetrators to justice; and Increasing public confidence by implementing a programme of community consultation and engagement, including public access to community safety information; community networks; web based communications and involving the community in community safety campaigns and consultation exercises
26 These are the fifteen areas that the Home Office have identified as most similar to Wrexham County Borough – using demographic, economic and social characteristics that relate to crime - and so providing a meaningful comparison for crime statistics 27 The most recent data is from the November 2011 People’s Voice survey. 19
PE4 - All people are enabled to make healthy choices
Some people who live in Wrexham are overweight or obese, which has been shown to have a bad effect on people’s health, including heart problems, cancer and diabetes. We will therefore support people to improve their diet and have a more active lifestyle therefore reducing the number of local people who are overweight or obese.
Smoking and alcohol are two of the biggest factors which can ill-health and premature death in Wales and in Wrexham. Reducing the prevalence of underage smoking and alcohol consumption is key to tackling the associated health and anti-social behaviour issues. Restricting young people’s access to tobacco and alcohol is a vital element in reducing consumption. We will address these issues through health promotion, education, advice and prevention.
The Council will focus on targeted enforcement action; in relation to alcohol this will primarily be to improve compliance with the law relating to under age sales at licensed premises. Evidence from other areas shows that in relation to tobacco in particular, demand from under 18s is being met by the availability of cheap, smuggled cigarettes sold on the black market.
There is a need to gain a clearer picture of the smoking and drinking habits of young people in Wrexham, which will tell us how many smoke and drink, how much they smoke and drink and where they get the products they consume. This will allow performance to be measured by monitoring prevalence rates and will provide the information to enable limited resources to be effectively targeted.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target Indicator 2012/13 2013/14 Improve: Percentage of Wrexham adults Improve to top quartile 28 54% (Wrex) (16+) who are overweight or obese 57% (Wales) 56% position in Wales and a reducing trend. Percentage of reception year children who Sustain or improve to top 29 are overweight or obese 20% To be published quartile position in Wales (Wrexham 2010) Winter 2013/14 (once determined) and a reducing trend. Improve Average premises risk assessment rating for underage sale of alcohol30: a) Off licensed premises - a) 1.2 a) 2 b) On licensed premises b) 5.9 b) 6
(calculated on a scale 0 – 10 where 0 = min risk, 10 = max risk)
We will achieve this by:
Implementing the Healthy Eating and Being More Active Strategy and Smoke Free Wrexham Action Plan;
28 Source: Welsh Health Survey 2011. Figures given are the most recent for Wales and Wrexham 29 Source: Measuring childhood heights and weights in Wales pilot study June 2010. Both national and local data will be available annually from Public Health Wales from Winter 2013 onwards 30 Calculated from data including test purchase attempts, systems put in place and local intelligence 20
Implementing Appetite for Life recommended Food Standards for school lunches and outside lunchtime provision in all Schools by September 2013; Undertaking Health Promotion activity and campaigns; Undertaking targeted enforcement activity; Delivering Education, Advice and Prevention through the In2Change and Healthy Schools teams; Develop a way to measure the number of under 18’s who smoke and how/where they get their tobacco/cigarettes; Once key sources of tobacco for under 18’s has been established, target enforcement activity on these sources; and Obtain purple flag status over the next three years.
Julie, a local resident, enjoying looking at the fish on a trip out
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PE5 – All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and well-being
More people in Wrexham are living for longer and have more significant support needs. Health, housing, social care and other services are working closely together to support vulnerable older people and those who care for them. By 2016 there will be a more efficient service that provides early support to stop issues escalating into a crisis. This will mean that more people will be supported but less intensively. As a result of this more of those we are working with will report an improvement in the quality of their life. We will also focus on supporting the unpaid carers who are enabling people to remain independent and ensure they receive the services that help them in their caring role.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target 2013/2014 Indicator (Wrexham 2012/2013 2011/12) Sustain: Older people supported by the The Quality of Life survey was piloted in Adult Social Care services arranged by the Adult Social Care during 2012/13 and will be rolled out across Housing and the who experience an improvement in their Adult Social Care Departments in 2013/14 quality of life31
Improve: The extent to which the help 32 received from Adult Social Care meets the 85% (Wrexham 88% Improve to 89% and then sustain needs of the Carer (from the perspective of 2011/12) the Carer)
Performance Measure Wrexham Wrexham Target 2011/12 2012/2013 2013/2014 Improve: The average waiting time for occupational therapy Projected 4 6 3 assessment (in weeks) weeks Sustain: The number of delayed transfers of care per annum 22 16 16 Improve: The number of enhanced telecare packages 490 602 700 provided Sustain: The average number of calendar days taken to 305.11 248 250 deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant (Wales - 386.65)
We will achieve this by:
Developing more robust quality of life indicators for Adult Social Care and Housing; Improving accessibility to housing warden services for people in the community; Making recommendations arising from the Older Person's Housing Needs Study and developing a delivery strategy; Community engagement and involvement that provides support to vulnerable older people from within their local community; Promote preventative services such as reablement33 and intermediate care34 in response to people's wishes to live independently for as long as possible and to provide a cost-effective service within the available budget; and Continuing to develop information services for carers and older people
31 Quality of life information is not available for all older people and so information on those using services is being used as a proxy 32 Baseline information is a Quarter 3 result based on a sample of 67. Future annual returns will be on a sample of around 300 33 This service supports people to be as independent as possible by providing up to 6 weeks of therapy and care support 34 This service is designed to provide rapid care and support to older people in the event of them becoming unwell, or to support them to return home following an admission to hospital 22
PE6 – Welsh language and culture is promoted and supported
Wrexham is the largest town in North Wales and is a gateway to Wales for those living in the Midlands or North West England. Hosting the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol in 2011 highlighted the profile of the Welsh culture and language across the County Borough and we want to continue to build on that legacy.
By 2016 Wrexham County Borough will be a hub for Welsh cultural events, more children and their families will be choosing Welsh medium education, and the Welsh language will be seen and heard more often throughout the County Borough.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target 2013/2014 Indicator 2012/2013* Improve to fill the 226 Improve: Reception admissions to schools 195 children 198 children Welsh Language providing Welsh medium education (Sept 2011) (Sept 2012) places available Stretch: Percentage of pupils sitting full GCSE in 5 percentage point 24.9% 26.8% Welsh as a second language 2011 annual increase
Sustain: Number of visitors/participants to a 36 49,000 62,416 70,000 Welsh cultural event or exhibition35
We will achieve this by:
Delivering against the Authority’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan and associated Implementation Plan; Supporting the ongoing development of the Welsh Education Forum to oversee the delivery of the Implementation Plan Providing, promoting and supporting a stimulating programme of Welsh cultural events and exhibitions; Improving the physical infrastructure of our cultural assets, including investigating the feasibility and developing the business case for the creation of a new gallery for Wrexham County Borough and further development of our museum and archives; Establishing a Welsh language training and development scheme across the Adult and Community Learning Partnership; and Offering Welsh in the Workplace accredited training to all community tutors and monitor and support the inclusion of the Welsh dimension in adult and community learning;
35 By Welsh cultural events and exhibitions we mean events and exhibitions which showcase Welsh artists or are about Wales, the County Borough and its heritage. This indicator only considers events 36 2010/11 figures for Wrexham, which were unusually low due to the closure of the museum during its refurbishment 23
Strategic Theme: Place Investing in attractive, safe and inclusive communities
Wrexham is a large and diverse county borough of almost 500km², ranging from the town of Wrexham itself – the largest town in North Wales – to the beautiful landscape of the Ceiriog Valley.
Priority Outcomes PL1 Homes that meet people’s needs and aspirations PL2 An environmentally responsible place Communities with sustainable, attractive settlements, neighbourhoods, buildings PL3 and spaces PL4 Well connected communities
The Context How this theme was developed
Situated on the border between England and This theme is drawn from strategies such as: Wales, Wrexham County Borough is a natural Unitary Development Plan hub for the surrounding areas and a Local Development Plan commercial centre for the region. Carbon Management Action Plan The balance now needs to be sought Community Cohesion Strategy between managing our environmental impact Highways Asset Management Plan and delivering enough housing, plenty of open space and good transport networks. It includes a continuing focus on improving the We want to make sure this doesn’t prevent provision of affordable housing and highlights growth, but our social and economic progress environmental responsibility through carbon can only take place within environmental reduction and waste minimisation and recycling. limits. Being socially responsible is important to ‘The most important thing is…a clean environment’ 2012 ‘What are the key issues for Wrexham’ Survey respondent protect our environment and our communities. This means being considerate Affordable, decent housing was the second most of people and surroundings and taking common issue highlighted, with transport issues responsibility for our behaviour. It also means also rated highly. recognising communities’ rights, as well as their contributions to and responsibilities for ‘Roads around Wrexham seem to constantly have the success of the County Borough. road works on them’’ 2013 ‘Your council, your area’ survey respondent . 24
PL1 - Homes that meet people’s needs and aspirations
Decent and accessible homes are vital. For the past three years we have focused on providing new affordable homes at a time when house building has been in decline. Whilst relatively few units have been delivered, the work put in place means increasing numbers of new affordable homes will be delivered. For some, housing need is even more urgent. The number of homeless households approaching the Council has increased significantly over the last three years, with welfare reforms expected to push that number higher still. To support people through this we will ensure a more responsive homelessness service that focuses on preventing households from becoming homeless.
The Council is also the landlord for 11,300 households across the County Borough, only 2% of which meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. This percentage ranks Wrexham as third best of the seven Welsh authorities that have retained their housing stock, although this ranking is a reflection of the number of authorities where no properties meet the standard. A £237m investment37 would be required to update all Wrexham properties in line with the standard. As we cannot make that level of investment, by 2016 we will have prioritised the improvements we can make on those areas that matter most to tenants – ensuring a good state of repair but also updating more heating systems, bathrooms and kitchens.
We will monitor our success through
Outcome Wrexham Wrexham Target Indicator 2011/12 2012/2013* 2013/2014 Stretch: The number of new units of affordable 91 21 90 housing Stretch: The percentage of all potentially homeless 23.42% (Wrex) 38 households for whom homelessness was prevented 60.46% (Wales) 12.8% 46.25% for 6 months Stretch: The percentage of properties meeting the following elements of Welsh Housing Quality Standard: a) up to date kitchens a) 1% (110) a) 5% (600) a) 23% b) up to date bathrooms b) 39% (4484) b) 39% (4830) b) 55% c) Adequately heated c) 55% (6215) c) 60% (6785) c) 63% d) In a good state of repair d) 85% (9605) d) 86% (9718) d) 87%
We will achieve this by: Implementing phase 2 of the Affordable Housing Project - building more affordable housing on Council owned land - by 2014 though selecting a development partner and beginning development; Improve homeless prevention in order to mitigate the effects of the Welfare Reforms and it’s expected increase in demand on the homelessness service; and Providing an annual Housing Capital programme that is based on tenant aspirations and maximising properties achieving the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS)
37 Figures are taken from the last full Stock Condition Survey which was undertaken in 2007 38 This target would move performance into the 3rd quartile for Wales according to 2011/12 figures 25
PL2 – An Environmentally Responsible Place
The environmental impacts of climate change, the rising cost of electricity and fossil fuels, Government penalties and targets imposed for carbon emissions and the amount of waste sent to landfill, make environmental responsibility a priority for Wrexham.
Our aim is to optimise energy efficiency, use renewable energy, and increase recycling rates where possible across Wrexham County Borough. In doing this a number of principles will underpin our work including: Significantly reducing the Council’s carbon emissions and energy use; Effectively managing rising energy costs to reduce potential negative impacts on service delivery; Effectively managing financial penalties and fines imposed by government legislation to reduce potential negative impacts on service delivery; Positively influencing our employees’ behaviour in work and elsewhere; Carrying out our community leadership role to positively influence partners and the public; and Being a best practice leader across the UK.
We will set ourselves ambitious targets to reduce our carbon emissions and increase recycling rates to move us quickly towards becoming a low carbon, low waste, environmentally responsible organisation.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target Indicator (Wrexham 2011/12) 2012/2013* 2013/2014
Improve: Percentage reduction in carbon emissions from non- 39 14,341 tC02 6% domestic Council buildings since 2011/12 figures are reported in the July of Improve: Percentage reduction in carbon emissions from public 40 52,307 tCO2 the following 6% sector housing across the County Borough since 2011/12 year
Sustain: The percentage of municipal waste reused, recycling 41 Top 48.64% 52.82% or composted Quartile
We will achieve this by:
Delivering a programme of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across our non domestic buildings; Delivering a programme of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across our social housing; Supporting and coordinating the implementation of an evidence-based community carbon reduction plan; Implementing mechanisms by which the Council can offer householders energy efficiency advice and support; and Developing a Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) Plant on land adjacent to the existing Wrexham Eco Recycling Park on Wrexham Industrial Estate. The plant will process all of Wrexham's residual household waste collected by the council and produce a refuse derived
39 Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide reported for 2011/12 40 Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide reported for 2011/12 41 Wrexham County Borough was in the third quartile for Wales in 2010/11 26
fuel (RDF) for heat and energy generation elsewhere. It will also process a small amount of construction and industrial waste. The plant will be operational in the summer of 2014. Delivering a rolling recycling awareness programme and education programme with both residents and schools across the County Borough; and Increasing recycling rates at the three Household Waste Recycling Centres by encouraging the public to split their recyclable waste when they visit the Household Waste Recycling Centres.
Wrexham’s People Power Campaign challenged people to reduce their carbon emissions
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PL3 - Communities with sustainable, attractive settlements, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces
The people of Wrexham come from a rich heritage of communities. These communities can be geographical (e.g. particular villages) and communities of interest (e.g. faith groups). The places in which communities live are the result of historic patterns of development, but which have been influenced in more recent times by the planning system.
We want our communities to be able to function and grow in harmony with each other and to sustain positive relationships that recognise that everyone in Wrexham has a unique blend of qualities, skills, background, heritage and beliefs.
Key indicators of cohesion within and between our communities relate to how people feel about living in their neighbourhood, local area and County. Surveys in 2005 and 2009 showed that people in Wrexham have a strong and growing sense of belonging and that they get on well with people from different backgrounds, but that fewer people mix with others from different backgrounds. Over the next four years we will help communities work together to make Wrexham a place where all people feel respected, are at ease with each other and have a shared sense of belonging.
Key indicators of the quality of development in our towns and villages include objective measures like national standards for sustainable homes and commercial buildings, and the amount of development permitted in the countryside as well as subjective measures such as public perceptions of new developments once built. Over the next four years we will promote development and use of land that creates employment, regenerates communities and builds attractive, safe and accessible places in which to live, while also protecting the environment.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target Indicator Most recent 2013/2014 data* Improve: Percentage of people who feel that they belong to:
Their neighbourhood 89%43 59% 89% Their local area England 81% 42 83% average 78% Wrexham County Borough 81%
Improve: Percentage of people who feel that their local area is a place where people from different backgrounds can get on well 85% 63%45 England 75% together average44
Improve: Percentage of people satisfied that the design of new Survey developed and to be launched development preserves or enhances a local sense of identity alongside the major developments at Ruthin Road, Mold Road and Tanyfron
We will achieve this by:
Implementing the Community Cohesion Strategy and Action Plan 2011/14:
42 Taken from the most recent result - the 2009 Place survey 43 Most recent result - 2009 People’s Voice Survey 44 2009 Department of Communities and Local Government Citizenship Survey 45 Most recent result - 2009 People’s Voice Survey 28
Increased representation of minority communities’ views (including those of children and young people) on strategic partnerships; Use of community views to inform Equality Impact Assessments (Diversity Forum); and Public, voluntary and community sector staff are helped to be more culturally competent and confident to engage with minority communities.
Implementing changes though the planning system: Publish and secure compliance with a new Local Development Plan; Secure affordable housing, open space, school places and other community facilities through developer contributions; Increase the number of developments which demonstrably follow sustainability principles to reduce carbon emissions; Ensure that new development is of a high quality design that respects the character of Wrexham's towns, villages and landscapes and follows inclusive design principles Promote biodiversity; Ensure that development follows ‘secure by design’ principles (e.g. clearly defined public and private spaces and natural surveillance of open space and walkways); and Take proactive enforcement action to ensure compliance with planning policy in order to remove harmful development.
Bellevue Park in Wrexham Town Centre
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PL4 – Well Connected Communities
The availability of jobs, or the existence of shopping and cultural opportunities means little if people cannot access them easily and affordably.
In the current economic climate, costs for road construction and maintenance are rapidly increasing, and our funding is diminishing. Despite this, we will continue to invest in the County Borough’s roads, working to maintain the highest possible standards within the funding available. We will also ensure that public transport remains accessible for all, as running costs increase and central funding falls. As we cannot request commercially sensitive data such as the number of passenger journeys from private bus companies, we will measure the number of concessionary travel pass journeys undertaken, as this is recognised as a good indicator of overall usage and availability.
Over the next four years accessibility will continue to become a ‘virtual’ issue, with more and more services available on-line. We want these opportunities to be just as accessible to local people and will work to influence providers to improve the quality of local broadband availability, using local businesses to spearhead demand.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target 2013/2014 Indicator 2012/13 Sustain: Percentage of (A) road network in 5.98% 4.31% Sustain performance in the top poor overall condition. (Wales 2011/12) (2011/12)46 quartile for Wales
Sustain: Percentage of (B) road network in 7.76% 6.08% Sustain performance in the top poor overall condition. (Wales 2011/12) (2011/12) quartile for Wales
Sustain: Percentage of (C) road network in 19.21% 21.63% Sustain current performance poor overall condition. (Wales 2011/12) (2011/12)
2,122,853 Sustain: No. of concessionary travel pass 2,113,607 journeys Sustain 2010/11 performance journeys per annum (2012/13) (2010/11)
Lobby: Number of the County Borough’s 15 exchanges that have been: a) 21st Century Network enabled47 Not a) 3 Lobby BT to speed up the b) Fibre to the Cabinet enabled48 available b) 3 enabling of local exchanges
We will achieve this by: Re-constructing and improving those roads identified as in poor condition as part of a rolling programme of works; Review the Highways Asset Management Plan and seek member approval for a new service delivery option that will enable current highway standards to be maintained Delivering functionality improvements on targeted junctions to make efficiency improvements;
46 The 2011/12 data is the most recently available data for this indicator 47 Providing broadband speeds of up to 24MBps (mega-bytes per second) dependent on distance from the exchange and copper quality 48 Broadband capable of speeds of up to 80 Mbps. Ofcom defines ‘superfast broadband’ as having a speed of no less than 30 Mbps 30
Improving bus information by developing an on-line journey planner and mobile device access to existing real time bus tracking technology by 2013 ; Working in partnership with transport providers and others to develop smart ticket purchase options by 2014; Monitoring the Welsh Government "next generation" broadband scheme and identifying opportunities for the County Borough once a decision is in place; Redesigning Wrexham County Borough Council web information systems to support smart technology applications; Proactively lobbying the current broadband providers to ensure Wrexham has a fit for purpose broadband network; Improving modal links into the Borough through strategic rail developments, including dualling of the Wrexham/Chester line and electrification of the Wrexham/Bidston line; and Reducing travel times into and out of the Borough through strategic junction improvements.
Driving into Wrexham town centre
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Corporate Theme: Organisation Striving for Excellence
Wrexham County Borough Council is made up of 52 elected Members. It is led by an Executive Board who are supported and held to account by Scrutiny Committees. The Senior Management Team for the Council is made up of the Chief Executive, three Strategic and Performance Directors and nine Heads of Department. Services are provided and enabled by over 6,000 members of staff.
Outcome O1 Engaged and satisfied customers O2 Creating the Conditions for Success
The Wrexham Context How this theme was developed
Each year, the Auditor General for Wales This priority theme will mainstream the Council’s reports on how well Welsh councils are planning transformation programme and focus it upon for improvement and delivering their services. effectiveness as well as efficiency. They have judged that this plan outlines the Council’s improvement objectives, which comply with the Welsh Government guidance and ‘The Council should ‘listen to [local people] and appear achievable; that the results of previous take notice of what they hear’’ consultation activities with the public and 2012 ‘What are the key issues for Wrexham’ Survey respondent relevant partners have informed the development of the Improvement Priorities; and ‘Online services mean I can deal with the that the Council has set out high-level targets for Council when I want to’ 2013 ‘Your council, your area’ survey respondent achievement during the life of the Plan.
In terms of performance reporting, the Auditors The opportunity to influence decisions was a key found that the Council had met its requirements issue for improvement highlighted by survey but there was too little use of comparative respondents, as well as one that has been information and no reference to progress against raised by regulators. statutory recommendations previously made by the Auditors. ‘The Council should ‘value and support its staff’ 2012 ‘What are the key issues for Wrexham’ Survey respondent
For more information see page 41
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O1 – Engaged and Satisfied Customers
Over seven thousand people contact Wrexham County Borough Council each working day for advice and information, to request services or to report problems. Thousands more benefit from the universal services the Council provides or enables, such as waste collection and trading standards. We strive to ensure that these services reflect the requirements of local people, and that this is reflected in the satisfaction of local people with those services.
We will extend the services provided through our Corporate Customer Services Team ensuring we provide a consistent and high quality service. We will extend our Contact Centre and Contact Wrexham to provide the majority of services through a single point of contact. We will also continue to improve our corporate Complaints procedures ensuring that we learn from mistakes and continually improve our services.
We will continue to address the needs of customers who increasingly wish to contact us via Digital channels. We will extend the services we provide via our website, increase our use of social networking and support those customers who need help in using digital technology, ensuring they get the full benefits of digital services and have full access to “digital by default” public services. We will promote the website as the most efficient and effective method of contacting the Council.
By 2016 the Council will earn the public’s trust by engaging with local people and using what it learns to make significant changes in the services that it provides. As a result, customers will value the work that we do and will tell us they have seen a significant improvement in the services they receive and how they receive them.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target Indicator 2012/2013 2013/2014 Improve: Customer satisfaction with Contact Wrexham Wales Services by: benchmark a) Telephone information is a) 91% a) 95% b) Face to face currently b) 94% b) 95% c) Web being agreed c) 68% c) 72%
Improve: Percentage of web contacts as a percentage of No benchmark 57% 60% all contact available Improve: Percentage of customers who trust the Council to deliver the service they requested 63% 76% 78% (Wrexham 2011/12)
Stretch: Percentage of local people who feel that the 49 Survey Council takes accounts of residents’ views when making 47% 26%50 every British average decisions other year
We will achieve this by: Migrating the majority of customer contact currently delivered by departments into the Corporate Contact Centre; Delivering a significant upgrade of the Council’s Customer Relationship Management system to support the ability to resolve queries at the first point of contact;
49 LG Insight/Populus poll July 2011, which showed a 7% increase on the previous poll in January 2011. This survey has since ended and is becoming increasingly out of date as a benchmark. 50 Taken from a People’s Voice Survey in January 2013. Based on a sample size of 314 responses. 33
Continuing to review processes to make them streamlined and easily accessible for customers; Analysing customer information to ensure we learn from mistakes and continue to improve services; Delivering an upgrade of our website and promoting digital inclusion for all customers; Reviewing and improving the management, quality and flexibility of the Council’s ‘People’s Voice’ citizens panel; Highlighting and promoting the existing departmental good practice in consultation and engagement across all Departments; Promote best practice in analysing, sharing and disseminating research and statistics information; Regularly communicate to local people how customer feedback, consultation and engagement information has impacted on decisions, by summarising this in an annual report; and Undertaking a survey every two years to understand local peoples’ satisfaction with, and perceptions of, the Council.
Gwersyllt Book Club
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O2 – Creating the Conditions for Success
Wrexham County Borough Council wants employees who do their best work and ‘go the extra mile’ to deliver the required service. We also want our employees to have jobs that are worthwhile, jobs that inspire them and to understand how what they do contributes to the success of the authority.
To build an authority that delivers positive results again and again we nurture an organisation where employees feel valued. Feedback and challenge are seen as healthy processes and there is a commitment to listen and respond.
Good leaders create the environment for employees to be innovative in how we improve what we do and the outcomes we deliver for the people of Wrexham. In short, we create a passion within the Council for customer service within Wrexham. Employees understand their unique contribution to the Council and this inspires change, creativity and innovation.
We will monitor our success through:
Outcome Comparison Wrexham Target Indicator 2012/13 2013/14
Improve: Level of staff engagement (Amalgamation of employee engagement measures taken from the 58.9%51 64% 65% new staff survey)
a) Percentage of staff due to receive a PRCD52 who received one a) 85%54 a) 100% Reporting in b) Percentage of staff receiving a PRCD who b) New b) New June 2013 were rated as being at level three (good) or Indicator indicator better53 Improve: Number of complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman55, adjusted for population that: a) 3 a) 856 a) 3 a) Resulted in a ‘quick fix’ or voluntary b) 1 b) 2 b) 1 settlement c) N/A c) 0 c) 0 b) Were upheld in whole or in part c) Concerned the code of conduct and were (Wales 2011/12) referred onwards
We will achieve this by:
Developing and improving the workforce planning approach across the Council, ensuring we have appropriate staffing and skills in place to deliver services;
51 The comparison given is the figure from the last Wrexham Council survey, undertaken in 2008 52 PRCD is the Council’s staff appraisal process –the Performance Review and Career Development process 53 Under the PRCD process all members of staff are rated out of five. 1- needs improvement, 2 – developing, 3 – good, 4 – very good, 5 – outstanding. 54 This is taken from the 2013 Employee Survey which asked all staff if they had received an annual PRCD. However, posts such as school crossing patrols, escorts, caterers and repair trades are not covered by the PRCD scheme 55 Information is taken from the Local Government Ombudsman for Wales annual letter, published each July, which sets out the number of complaints resulting in ‘quick fixes’ and other outcomes 56 This is taken from Wrexham’s most recent Ombudsman letter which refers to the 2011/12 financial year 35
Implementing and developing an integrated human resources and payroll system to improve and support the workforce planning and monitoring process; Cultivating positive staff engagement by developing our leaders and ensuring staff behaviours reflect the values of the Council; Providing our employees with the necessary skills and empowering staff to deliver excellent customer services to all our customers; Undertaking a change programme to reshape services to meet the financial challenges ahead whilst prioritising the most vulnerable; Maintaining a positive and improving view of the Council amongst our key regulators and responding positively and promptly to their recommendations and proposals for improvement; Maintaining our commitment to Investors in People by responding to the areas of improvement highlighted within the Council’s positive reassessment; Phased implementation of ICT Strategy actions to enable change and improvement Build on departments’ achievement of the Council Equality Award by moving the focus onto achieving equality outcomes; Achieving the Corporate Health Gold Standard by 2016; Continue to update the Medium Term Financial Strategy to show how the Council integrates its processes for developing future strategic priorities and allocating resources to them.
Children celebrating the success of the National Eisteddfod in Wrexham
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Working in Partnership for Wrexham County Borough
To ensure that the people of Wrexham County Borough are supported to fulfil their potential and prosper, the Council provides or enables a wide range of services and we are continually looking for ways to improve how we can deliver them with the resources we have available.
We recognise that sometimes the best way to deliver services is by working in partnership or through collaboration. One of the key partnerships that the Council is involved in is the Wrexham Local Service Board (LSB).
Wrexham Local Service Board
The purpose of the Wrexham Local Service Board is to strengthen local public service leadership so that it can tackle fundamental cross-cutting service delivery issues and integrated working across sectors to deliver better outcomes and services from a citizen, not a sector, perspective.
The Board is a leadership team, made up of senior representatives from the local authority, health sector, further and higher education, police, fire and rescue, probation, and the voluntary sector. The Wrexham Local Service Board set out its vision for Wrexham County Borough in ‘Our Wrexham Plan’.
Our Wrexham Plan (2013 – 2024) sets out three priorities, all equally important:
Wrexham is a place where people can live independently and are health and active
Wrexham is a place with a strong, resilient and responsible economy
Wrexham is a place that’s safe and where everyone feels included
The Wrexham Local Service Board, following publication by the Welsh Government in June 2012 of ‘Shared Purpose – Shared Delivery’ is looking at how partnerships and their plans can be integrated into the single plan to ensure that partnerships can work together even more effectively on delivering real improvements for the people of Wrexham.
The vision and priorities in ‘Our Wrexham Plan’ interlink with the priorities we have developed as a Council for achieving improvement over the coming four years. The diagram on page 39 illustrates the connection between the community strategy, the Council Plan and the various departmental, team and personal development plans which feed into the Council Plan.
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Working in Collaboration for Wrexham County Borough
Collaborative working is not a new way of working for Wrexham County Borough Council. In 2009, Members agreed to the principle of collaboration and Programme Boards were set up. Wrexham has also collaborated in other areas - the North Wales Adoption Service and the North Wales Emergency Social Services Duty Team are both collaborative ways of working that are led by Wrexham.
Following the publication of The Simpson Report in March 2011 the Welsh Government asked Local Authorities to sign up to a Compact, agreeing to collaborate. Wrexham has signed up to the Compact in accord with the five key principles agreed by Council in February 2012:
Wrexham County Borough Council Members must remain central to key decisions in relation to collaboration via the existing decision making process of Executive Board; All collaboration must have a sound business case highlighting strong improvement outcomes and/or financial benefits for Wrexham; Collaboration must support the Council’s vision for Wrexham County Borough; Some collaborative work may not maximise short-term benefits for Wrexham, but all business cases must evidence the longer-term maximisation of benefits for Wrexham; and No collaboration should undermine the ability of the democratically elected Council to best represent the interests of Wrexham.
Financial Planning
The Council has an established process of approving a detailed budget and setting the council tax for the following year. The Council’s budget for 2013-14 was developed in accordance with the Council Plan 2012-16 and was considered by Members through a series of All Member Workshops during the year.
On 27 February 2013, full Council set the budget for 2013-14 at £230million and the Authority’s Council tax for 2013 for Band D was set at £937.87. The budget was developed in accordance with the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2013-16.
For the financial year 2013/14 the MTFS includes an amount of £476k in respect of pupil demography changes which is directly linked to the Strategic Priority Outcome PE1. An amount of £1m has been included to address some of the impacts of the Welfare Reform changes, particularly the Council Tax Reduction Scheme (£600k) and Universal Credit etc. This resource ties in with the Strategic Themes of People and Place.
In the Capital Programme a significant resource of £15.5m has been included in respect of School buildings under the 21st Century Schools Scheme, this falls within the Strategic Priority Outcome PE1.Other capital provisions have been made including Disabled Facilities Grants which help ensure independence in accordance with Priority Outcome PE5.
The MTFS is reviewed on an annual basis and takes into account demands on the Councils resources and the latest information with regard to future levels of funding. The 2013/14 MTFS identified savings of £3.2million with further savings to follow.
The Council's funding in future years remains uncertain and following the Chancellors Budget on 20 March 2013, it was announced that public spending cuts of a further £1.5bn will need to be identified in the June 2013 Comprehensive Spending Review.
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How Do Our Plans Link Together?
The Council Plan sets out the contribution that the Council will make to ‘Our Wrexham Plan’
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Equalities
The Equality Act 2010 has replaced nine anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, simplifying the law, removing inconsistencies and making it easier for people to understand and comply with it. It has introduced a new integrated public sector equality duty with three aims:
Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
Wrexham County Borough Council has published a single Strategic Equality Plan that sits alongside this Council Plan, and replaced the previous equality schemes for Race, Gender and Disability. The equality challenges set out in the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s ‘How Fair is Wales’ report were considered in formulating the Council Plan and the action plans that underpin it. As an example, challenges like those for Education – to close the gap in attainment between different groups and to reduce the incidences of young people who are not in education employment or training (NEET) – have been reflected in actions around the analysis and reporting of educational attainment gaps between specific groups of learners and the continued focus on NEETs and, more specifically, the proportion of young people remaining in full time education.
Sustainability
Sustainable development means improving well being. This means building resilient communities that can face up to the challenges of the future, from living with our extreme weather patterns, to ensuring our future food and energy security to bouncing back from the economic downturn.
This will be challenging. Sustainability cuts across everything we do, and will mean that everyone, young and old, communities and businesses will need to come together with organisations such as Wrexham Council to shape what a low carbon Wrexham will look like in the future.
From 2016, the Welsh Government will require all public sector organisations to show how they have sustainability at their heart. The Council is working hard to ensure that everything we do will lead to social, economic and environmental outcomes that will last over the long term. This will complement the planning framework that the Local Development Plan will put in place for the County Borough.
As well as this, we will continue to work with local communities to explore what sustainability means to them, to find out what services they may need in the future. We will publish our performance as a Council and a community leader, using clear indicators alongside our end of year financial reports.
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Statutory Framework
The Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 redefines the duty placed on local authorities to ‘make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of their functions.’
The Measure requires local authorities to:
publish plans for improvement which must include a set of Improvement Objectives; and publish an assessment of performance relating to their plans and Improvement Objectives.
This Council Plan is the means by which Wrexham County Borough Council discharges this statutory duty. It is the authority’s plan for improvement, and the priority outcomes which it sets out are the authority’s improvement objectives. It is published under Section 6 of the Local Government Act 1999 and related revised Wales Programme for Improvement guidance issued by the Welsh Assembly Government.
Annual Improvement Report Statement
The Auditor General reports annually on how well Welsh councils are planning for improvement and delivering their services. The report contains recommendations and proposals for improvement and the most recent report for Wrexham County Borough Council is available at http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/council/audit/
One formal recommendation was made for Wrexham County Borough Council in the Wales Audit Offices’ Improvement Assessment Letter of the 28 January 2013:
R1 Implement proposals to improve the quality control of data collection, analysis and reporting, and ensure that an adequate control assurance framework supports this.
Response The Council has used this new Council Plan as an opportunity to fundamentally review and update the way in which performance data is collected, analysed and reported to Members. This approach was considered and agreed at a Members workshop October 2012 and will be reviewed by the Customers, Performance and Resources Scrutiny Committee in June 2013.
Further actions being taken to address the WAO recommendation include: Reinforcing the importance of adherence to national reporting guidelines to key officers; Undertaking pre-submission checks on those indicators reported to Welsh Government against their definition; The introduction of Data Quality Sheets to ensure that local indicators are clearly defined; and Reviewing the authority’s approach to performance, policy and change management issues.
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Statutory National Indicators
Welsh Ministers set statutory performance indicators for local authorities in Wales under section 8 of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009. The current set of statutory performance indicators were established under the Local Government (Performance Indicators and Standards) (Wales) Order 2010 and local authorities are under a legal duty to collect and report on these statutory performance indicators on an annual basis.
The Welsh Government generally consults annually on the statutory performance indicators to ensure that the data is still useful, relevant and that Local Authorities are able to continue to report this information going forwards.
Where the statutory performance indicators are used to monitor progress against our Council Plan Priority Outcomes our performance and targets have been included within this document alongside the most recent Wales average figure to show how we are performing when compared to other Local Authorities in Wales.
The results for the full set of statutory indicators for 2012/13 will be included in the ‘Focused on Our Performance’ Council Plan document once these have been validated and released by the Welsh Government.
To see how we performed against these statutory indicators in 2011/12 you can view the 2011/12 Focused on our performance council plan document or the statistical bulletins published on the Welsh Government website; http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/assets/pdfs/councilplan/performance.pdf https://statswales.wales.gov.uk/Catalogue/Local-Government/National-Strategic-Indicators-of-Local- Authority-Perfomance
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Appendix 1
What Do These Words Mean To Us?
Strategic/Corporate Theme The key themes that the Council Plan, and so the work of the Council, is focused upon: Economy, People, Place and Organisation. Economy, People and Place are our strategic themes, and Organisation is the corporate theme and focuses specifically on the Council as an organisation.
Priority Outcome The specific outcomes the Council will focus on under each strategic and corporate priority theme. These are conditions of well-being – what we want for Wrexham County Borough in order to improve the quality of life for the people of Wrexham.
Outcome Indicator A numeric indicator that helps to describe the level of improvement being achieved against an outcome. Such indicators help us to understand whether things are changing in the way we intended. Where robust outcome indicators at the level required are not available, a proxy may be used.
Proxy Indicator A ‘best-fit’ indicator used where robust outcome indicators are not available at the level required. An example is monitoring the number of business start-ups assisted by the Council where the absolute number of business start-ups is not available.
Improvement Activity The projects and improvements which are being planned and delivered to support, influence or deliver improvements in identified outcomes.
Target We look to improve our performance on all priorities and see improvement as success. Targets define and drive the ambition that the Council has for the level of improvement on an indicator. The way that we set out targets is set out on page 7.
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Appendix 2
The Key Issues for Wrexham County Borough
The Council Plan priority outcomes, and the outcomes of Economy, People, Place and Organisation have been drawn together from existing plans and strategies and are based on the evidence base and consultation and engagement work that underpinned those plans and strategies.
A list of the key plans and strategies used to inform this Council Plan is available at Appendix 3. We will continue to review and consider our engagement with local people and communities through the life of this plan, which will be continuously refined throughout its life as the strategies which underpin it are updated and reviewed, and as the Council becomes better at responding to the changing requirements of local people. The review and refresh of the Community Strategy, and the engagement and evidence gathering exercise that will support it, will also be a key opportunity for refreshing this plan.
Alongside this existing information, the People’s Voice citizens’ panel were consulted on the Council, the local area and their quality of life in early 2013. 314 responses were received from the 557 panel members, a response rate of 56%.
Around two thirds (66%) of respondents are satisfied with the way Wrexham County Borough Council runs things, with 15% stating that they were dissatisfied. A similar proportion agreed that the Council provides good quality services.
When asked which services they thought were particularly good, the most frequent responses were: Waste and recycling services libraries
The word cloud below sets out the services most commonly though of as good (the more frequently cited the word the larger and darker it is shown).
Of those services highlighted as being thought particularly poor, the most frequent responses included: maintenance of roads and highways (which falls under Pl4) planning (which falls under Pl3)
Again, the word cloud below sets out the services most commonly described as poor.
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Key issue arising from the 2013 survey:
A third of respondents (33%) are dissatisfied with the current opportunities to take part in local decision making; more than half of respondents (56%) disagree that they can influence decisions affecting the local area(?) and overall 73% of respondents would like to be more involved in the decisions that the Council makes. This is a key area for improvement identified within the ‘O1 – Engaged and Satisfied Customers’ outcome.
40% of respondents agree that the Council is good at letting people know how well it is performing, compared to 25% who disagreed. However, almost two thirds of local people (61%) would like more information on Council performance. Giving you clearer information on how well we are performing in achieving this plan will be another area for improvement.
In the 2012 Respondents identified those areas most in need of improving as:
1. Job prospects (51.8%) 2. Affordable decent housing (39.0%) 3. Road and pavement repairs (35.9%) 4. Wage levels and the cost of living (33.1%) 5. Activities for Teenagers (32.3%)
All five areas remain reflected within the council plan. However, road and pavement repairs are an area where the Council is facing rising costs against a static budget and, as such, whilst a rolling programme of reconstruction and repairs will be made on routes deteriorating into poor condition, the aim will be to maintain rather than improve the overall quality of the County Boroughs road network. Activities for teenagers was not originally identified within the Council Plan, but had been identified by the Senedd Yr Ifanc. Appropriate actions from the Joint Plan have been reflected under the People outcome ‘Pe1 – Children and Young People have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential’.
In terms of those areas most in need of improving, affordable housing was rated the most important areas by those in the 19-30 age bracket (58.3%), by women (54.7%), and by those living either outside (56.3%) or within rural areas of the County Borough (51.6%). Education provision was more likely to be highlighted by those over 61 (60%).
Other key issues identified by the Senedd Yr Ifanc (Youth Parliament) include: sexual health and drugs alcohol & smoking, which are key issues within the Joint Plan although only alcohol and tobacco have been highlighted within the Council Plan due to priority given to these issues by Public Health Wales; Improving Education, which is reflected in priority
45 outcome Pe1; The Welsh language, which is reflected in priority outcome Pe6; Affordable transport, which is reflected in the public transport strands of the Pl4 priority outcome; and the reputation of young people which is not reflected within this plan but is being further considered by a sub-group of the Senedd.
Equalities information is requested from those who participate in consultation and engagement exercises. This information is used for two purposes – to understand who is (and who is not) participating in such exercises, and to analyse responses to highlight the differences in opinion and experience between different communities. Equalities information is still not being consistently collected, but a best practice guide on equalities monitoring has been developed.
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Appendix 3
Key Supporting Strategies and Plans
Carbon Management Action Plan Community Cohesion Strategy Departmental Service Plans Development Plan – The Unitary Development Plan and emerging Local Development Plan Economic Prosperity Strategy Workforce and Organisation Strategy 2012-16 Emerging Local Housing Strategy Medium Term Financial Strategy 2012 - 2015 Our Joint Plan Our Wrexham Plan (the Wrexham Single Integrated Plan) Strategic Equality Plan Social Services Annual Report and Business Plan Welsh in Education Strategic Plan Welsh Language Scheme Wrexham and Flintshire Community Safety Strategy Wrexham and Flintshire LSCB Strategic Plan
Key Regulatory and Inspection Reports
Annual Improvement Report (Wales Audit Office) Chief Inspectors Letter (Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales) Local Authority Education Services for Children and Young People (Estyn) Inspection of health & safety management system and supporting organisational culture (Health and Safety Inspectorate)
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