Crawley Borough Council
Report No:CEx36
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Report to Overview & Scrutiny Commission
7th February 2011
Report to Cabinet
9th February 2011
Corporate Plan Update 2011 - 2016
1. Key Points
1.1 This report sets out the revised Corporate Plan Update for the period 2011 to 2016 which is attached at Appendix A.
1.2 The Plan is a rolling five – year document that is updated annually in line with the Budget Strategy and sets out the strategic priorities of the council. There are key milestones for delivery of the priorities for the period 2011/12.
1.3 The report also sets out the progress made against the council’s priorities in 2010/11 which is attached at Appendix B.
1.4 The report seeks continued member level commitment to the continual development, improvement and change of the Council.
2. Recommendations
2.1 To the Overview & Scrutiny Commission
That the Commission consider, support and comment on the final draft Corporate Plan Update 2011 – 2016 and decide what comments, if any it wishes to submit to the Cabinet.
2.2 To the Cabinet
It is RECOMMENDED that the Cabinet:
(i) Review the annual report of progress made against the corporate priorities in 2010/2011.
(ii) Request the Council to adopt the Corporate Plan Update 2011 – 2016 and that the Chief Executive in consultation with the Leader of the Council be authorised to make appropriate amendments/minor clerical correction as necessary.
LEE HARRIS COUNCILLOR LANZER Chief Executive Leader
2 3. Background
3.1 The Corporate Plan 2010 – 2015 “creating a successful future for Crawley” was agreed by Cabinet on the 10 th February 2010. As the Corporate Plan is a rolling five- year plan, it was agreed that an annual review of the Corporate Plan would coincide with the Budget Strategy in order to ensure that the council’s activities reflect both the national and local challenges it faces.
3.2 It was also agreed that an annual update of delivery against the outcome measures in 2010 / 11 be presented to Cabinet. This has been attached at Appendix B.
4. Final draft Corporate Plan Update 2011 - 2016
4.1 The new Coalition government has set out a major step change in the way public services will be delivered at a time when Government funding will be reduced. They have set out a very different way of working with a focus on three areas, deficit reduction, Localism and the Big Society, which they are committed to delivering within their five-year term.
4.2 The Corporate Plan has been updated to reflect the national challenges but remains committed to the delivery of the themes and priorities that support the Council’s mission to be “a high performing council, creating a successful future for Crawley”.
4.3 Some of the measures included in the plan were made up of National Indicators contained in the Place Survey. The Coalition government scrapped the Place Survey and is dismantling the National Indicator Set.
4.4 The Government published on the 10 November their Departmental Business Plans and their measures, which they are calling Impact Measures. Therefore, the council will still be required to report on a comprehensive list of data/impact measures currently being developed by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG). This list is expected to be produced for the new financial year April 2011, however some of the previous measures around housing, homelessness and waste and recycling rates are still relevant and have been included in the updated plan.
4.5 As Government is moving away from target-based performance measures, the Corporate Plan instead has included key milestones of success for 2011/12. These milestones are more activity based and will evidence delivery of the plan over the next year. An annual report of progress will be submitted to Cabinet in 2012.
5. Links to other Corporate Processes
5.1 The Corporate Plan sets the strategic direction for a variety of other Council activities and corporate processes that support the delivery of the priority outcomes set out. These include the Budget Strategy, Workforce Plan, the Crawley Together Sustainable Community Strategy, other Council strategies, Directorate Service Plans for 2011/12 and individual appraisal objectives, which set out the actions that will be undertaken to deliver against the priorities.
5.2 The Corporate Plan priorities are used as the basis of the Council’s performance management framework and hence the Corporate Plan continues to drive resources, effort and attention towards those things that the public and Members have highlighted as being most important for the town and Council.
3 5.3 In order to ensure delivery of the Plan, quarterly reports to the Corporate Management Team, Improvement Planning Group and Performance Monitoring Scrutiny Panel will be supplemented by an annual report to Cabinet.
6. Ward Members' Views
6.1. None
7. Staffing, Equalities, Financial and Legal Implications/Powers
7.1 The Workforce Strategy and three year action plan was adopted in 2010, which supports staff in the delivery of the Corporate Plan priorities in line with our values.
7.2 An Equality Impact Assessment was completed in November 2009 and is valid until November 2012. It is available on the Council’s website.
7.3 There are inevitably financial implications related to any service changes or improvements and the budget strategy complements this plan to enable the Council to deliver its priorities. The priorities laid out within the plan will take precedence when considering limited resources and other pressures will need to be considered on their individual merits when budgets are determined.
7.4 There are no specific legal implications. The Corporate Plan is a framework document and the process employed for its adoption is in accord with the Council’s constitution.
8. Risk Implications
8.1 The Corporate Plan update has been risk assessed by Cabinet, Corporate Management Team and Heads of Service and the corporate risk register will be updated.
9. Other Impacts
9.1 None.
10. Other Implications
10.1 None.
11. Links to the Sustainable Community Strategy and Corporate Plan
11.1 The proposals contained in this report relate to the following key areas of the Sustainable Community Strategy
Community Cohesion y Community Safety y Young People and Children y Health and Well Being y Older People y The Environment y The Local Economy y Social Inclusion y
The following key principles are applicable:-
(i) Working together y (ii) Dignity, respect and opportunities for all y (iii) Involving People y 4 (iv) Making it last y
The report relates to the following areas in which the Council operates to enhance the town and the quality of life of local people:-
(i) Prosperity y (ii) Community y (iii) Environment y (iv) Value for Money y
12. Reason for the Recommendations
12.1 The Corporate Plan is a rolling five-year plan that sets out the strategic priorities in support of the council’s mission statement. It is updated annually in line with the Budget Strategy to ensure the council’s activities reflect the national and local challenges it faces.
13. Background Papers
None.
Appendix A: Corporate Plan Update 2011 – 2016 Appendix B: Corporate Plan Annual Progress Report 2010 /11
Contact Officer: - Anna Pedlow Direct Line: - 01293 438780
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APPENDIX A
Corporate Plan Update
2011 – 2016
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Contents
Foreword
The key challenges facing the council
Our Corporate Plan
Our mission
Our values
Our staff
The council’s roles
Our themes
Monitoring, measuring and review
Appendix 1
Other Plans and Strategies
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Foreword
This Corporate Plan sets out the strategic direction and priorities for the council over the next five years. It lays out what we will do to ensure the best possible services are delivered for our residents, partners and businesses at a time of significant change in local government.
This is a period of sustained downward pressure on public finances and as the new Government is focused on reducing the budget deficit, we will need to do more with less to meet the rising expectations of the quality of public services. This means continuing to build on our growing reputation for changing the way services are managed and delivered. This has the potential to save taxpayers money, while services are maintained or even improved.
The way local government operates is changing and the “Big Society” is about empowering people to get more involved in their local communities and in the running of public services. It is centred on “localism”. Crawley already has a strong tradition of community involvement and it is something we want to build upon. There will be more opportunities for people to get involved, which presents an exciting opportunity for local people to shape the place where they live and be at the heart of the future developments in public services.
There will be some uncomfortable choices and we are fully committed to making those decisions after a dialogue with the community, local businesses, the voluntary sector, councillors, staff and others affected by proposed changes to services.
The achievement of the priorities set out in this Corporate Plan will be hugely dependant on the professionalism, energy and creativity of councillors and staff. We recognise and applaud the enormous efforts and dedication of the councillors and staff who work together to do their very best for the town. We are committed to supporting them through this difficult economic period and move the council and community into a more prosperous future.
Cllr Bob Lanzer Lee Harris Leader of the Council Chief Executive
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The key challenges facing the council
This is a time of significant change with a new Coalition Government setting out a major step change in the way public services will be delivered at a time when Government funding will be reduced. The Coalition has set out a very different way of working with a focus on three themes: deficit reduction, Localism and the Big Society, which they are committed to delivering within their five-year term. In light of these changes, the Corporate Plan has been updated and takes account of and acts upon the key external and internal factors that will impact upon us. This Plan is ambitious and is designed to:
encourage economic growth and prosperity continue to support our communities especially the most vulnerable enhance the quality of the built and natural environment and meet Crawley’s housing needs and aspirations provide greater value for money as public spending is reduced whilst maintaining good customer satisfaction.
Local challenges
The Council has a good understanding of Crawley and this Plan is informed by research and numerous consultations with the community. Councillors and staff know Crawley well and have made a valuable contribution to the Plan.
The Plan also takes account of Crawley Together, the Local Strategic Partnership’s Sustainable Community Strategy. The Executive of Crawley Together work collaboratively to bring about change against the partnership’s priorities. Their work is focused on the priorities of domestic violence, safeguarding children and the local economy.
Crawley has a population of 105,000 and the town is the principal urban centre in West Sussex. It has an increasingly diverse community with for example, long- standing and well established black and minority ethnic communities from the Indian sub continent and newer migrant workers from Eastern and Central Europe. There are at least 90 different languages spoken by pupils in Crawley schools. The population is ageing and is projected to grow by 7.8 per cent by 2016.
Economically, Crawley sits at the heart of the Gatwick Diamond sub region with Gatwick Airport within the Borough. The Borough accounts for 40 per cent of business in West Sussex and is a major centre of wealth creation. Transport links, proximity to London and good quality leisure and community facilities attract many people to Crawley to live, work and visit.
Crawley has a long history that pre-dates its new town status and will do more to celebrate its heritage. The Town has an attractive environment with award winning parks and gardens and a strong community focus on improving the town. Parts of the Borough are also vulnerable to flooding which is being addressed. We will continue to build the case amongst the public, through positive leadership and action, that local people and the Council have a central role in tackling climate change, reducing energy and water consumption and encouraging more sustainable and healthy means of transport.
Key strategic challenges
To take steps to maintain a climate that encourages local economic growth and more employment. We will promote initiatives that will bring about a more diverse economy including greater entrepreneurship and steps that will raise the aspirations of Crawley people to attain higher skilled jobs. 9
Gatwick is a major international airport and is a key economic asset to the town and the sub-region. Together with our Gatwick Diamond partners, we are engaging with the new owners of the airport on how it can continue to make a major contribution to the local economy. The Gatwick Diamond area has achieved national recognition as the economic centre of the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). This will involve working closely with the local business community and public sector partners, including Surrey County Council, West Sussex County Council, Croydon Council and Brighton and Hove City Council to face the challenges ahead to increase employment, income, trade and investment.
To create a confident and self-reliant community capable of championing neighbourhood issues that embrace pride of place. To build trust and respect within our increasingly diverse community, and to develop a clearer sense of local identity.
To work with GPs and partners who will have a lead role in ensuring services across the NHS, social care and public health are joined up and meet the needs of local people. There is a gap of more than five years between life expectancy in the east and west of the town and the rate of teenage pregnancy is the highest in West Sussex. There is also an increasingly elderly population, which creates more demand for health, social and well-being services.
To continue to reduce crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour and build greater public confidence in our ability to deliver such a reduction with our partners.
To meet housing needs and aspirations, without compromising the quality of the built and natural environment. With a focus on progressing the West of Bewbush development and pushing for a decision on the North East Sector.
To protect our environment through, for example, reducing the Council’s and the town’s carbon footprint and through maximising the use of waste as a resource and minimising waste sent to landfill.
To improve the physical infrastructure of the Town. As a new town, parts of Crawley are showing their age, necessitating capital infrastructure works to make them fit for the 21st century. For example, we will continue to undertake significant work to reduce the likelihood of flooding and will complete the neighbourhood improvement schemes. We have plans for a new museum that celebrates our heritage. We also intend to acquire land for a new cemetery by 2015. The major Town Centre North scheme has been put on hold, but we remain committed to bring this forward as the national economy recovers.
To implement the outcomes of the Leisure Options appraisal. To raise the quality of the Hawth Theatre, Tilgate Park, venture play facilities and community centres to a more sustainable footing that keeps Crawley at the forefront of the region’s leisure offer.
This is an ambitious agenda in the current financial climate. We have developed a budget strategy that complements this Corporate Plan to enable us to deliver our priorities. The Workforce Strategy and action plan will equip us with the skilled and flexible workforce that is vital for delivery.
International, National and Regional challenges
The international, national and regional outlook is an especially difficult one at the present time. In summary, the headlines, which form a context to this Plan, are set out below.
The Local Government Finance Settlement for 2011/12 and 2012/13 have confirmed the extent of the reduction in Government grant. Together with the impact of low investment
10 interest, the Council expects to use reserves to maintain services in 2011/12 despite having identified over £1m of savings. The Council has already identified additional savings measures for 2012/13, which together with projected increases in interest rates should mean that it can return to a balanced budget in 2012/13 in a planned and managed way. To achieve this, new savings measures will be identified during 2011 as part of the 2012/13 budget process.
The Localism Bill sets out the future challenges for local government. There will be changes to the planning and housing systems, which are intended to return decision- making powers to local councils. The Bill sets out how local government can respond to the Big Society agenda, which is fundamental to giving back power to local people by encouraging them to take on more responsibility in shaping the place where they live.
With the abolition of primary care trusts (PCTs) and Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), the government is to create a new public health system in England. The new system is made up of two elements: the creation of Public Health England and of local government taking on new responsibilities for improving people’s health and tackling health inequalities at the local level. The Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health (Public Health White Paper) , sets out the changes to the future of the NHS.
Globalisation, creating more diverse local communities and “footloose” businesses. With its economy dominated by large businesses, Crawley is more affected by this than many other places.
Foreign conflicts, terrorism, natural disasters and incidents have an impact on diverse local communities. Nationally there has been a sustained high risk of terrorism. This has led to a greater focus on and priority afforded to community cohesion and integration.
Climate change. This is high on the agenda and there is pressure from the Government on local government, which is expected to play its part in reducing the UK’s carbon footprint. In the last two years Crawley has experienced colder winters with more snow and disruption to public services.
The London 2012 Olympic Games. There is a once in a generation opportunity to build on the legacy of the Games.
11 Our Corporate Plan
The Corporate Plan is the key strategic business document that sets out the overall vision and direction for the Council over the next five years and which has been assessed against the current local, regional and national challenges facing the council. It links the various individual service strategies together and gives an overview of the key actions to be undertaken over the five-year period.
The Plan forms the basis for the council’s performance management activities and will drive the distribution of resources, time, effort and attention towards the identified priorities across all our activities, services, initiatives, projects and events. The Corporate Plan will be updated annually as necessary in line with the Budget to reflect any necessary changes to priorities or services.
Our Corporate Planning Triangle shows how the priorities filter down into the organisation and are delivered through service plans and strategies.
Our mission
Crawley Borough Council’s mission is “to be a high performing Council creating a successful future for Crawley”. We have identified four themes, and ten priorities within these themes, on which the council will act in order to deliver the mission:
Prosperity Community Environment Value for money
Our values
We have identified the following organisational ‘core values’ to underpin and guide the way we work and we will promote them as enablers of exceptional performance:
Customer focused Open and honest Positive and creative Recognising and rewarding good performance Valuing diversity, inclusion and equality Value for money
12 Our staff
A new Workforce Strategy was adopted in 2010 to support the delivery of the Corporate Plan. We understand that the quality of our staff is key to developing an organisational culture that will deliver the ambitions of the Corporate Plan in line with our values. We will support staff to be professional, customer focused, creative, empowered and positive. We will invest in staff development to create the skilled and flexible workforce that modern local government needs. We will recognise and reward good performance and we will be more proactive in addressing underperformance.
The downward pressure on public finances has necessitated a move towards a flatter management structure in order for us to maintain high quality services. This process has begun and will continue over the lifetime of this plan. We are likely to share more functions with other councils and see a growth in the level of public services that are delivered in partnership with the private and voluntary sectors. Changes of this nature are sensitive and we are committed to a continuing dialogue with staff to help them to cope with the changes that impact on them.
In delivering our Corporate Plan, we expect to:
Continue to reduce sickness absence levels year on year Increase staff satisfaction with organisational change Reduce the gender pay gap Achieve Age Positive accreditation Increase the numbers of trainees, apprentices and work experience opportunities in line with our Young People’s Employment Framework.
The Council’s roles
The Council’s work in achieving much of this Plan will be through all of the applicable roles:
Leader inspiring, galvanising and encouraging others to work with us
Influencer lobbying, communicating, pressing and campaigning
Partner actively engaging with others and jointly committing time, money and resources
Provider having the ability to do something independently and directly for residents
The council’s role as a direct provider of services is likely to change over the plan period with a shift towards working more as a leader, influencer and partner.
13 Our themes
Prosperity
Our priorities
To encourage sustainable local economic growth and employment with a focus on enhancing the potential of our principal business centres – Gatwick Airport, Manor Royal and the Town Centre. We will also seek out opportunities for drawing new elements into our economy to broaden the contribution to and potential for Crawley’s future prosperity. These actions will be supported by efforts to raise the aspirations and skills of local people and nurture an enterprise culture.
To identify additional financial resources and to maintain strong delivery of our capital investment in Crawley. This will include reducing the likelihood of flooding; completing the neighbourhood improvement schemes, investing in our housing stock and delivering a new museum that celebrates our heritage.
Key milestones of success 2011/12:
Progress formal negotiations for a revised Town Centre North Scheme Actively encourage the development of key sites in the Town Centre and determine any related planning applications Gain the commitment of landowners and other partners to an improved Crawley Station and surrounding area Work with our economic partners develop a coherent approach to support business and enterprise in Crawley Production and implementation of the Manor Royal Improvement Business Plan in partnership with the business community. Undertake the neighbourhood parade improvements scheduled for completion in 2011/12.
Community
Our priorities:
To create a confident and self-reliant community capable of championing neighbourhood issues that embrace pride of place. To build trust and respect within our increasingly diverse community, and to develop a clearer sense of local identity.
To reduce crime, disorder and anti-social behaviour and to build greater public confidence in our ability to deliver this reduction with our partners.
To work with GPs and partners to improve the health and well-being of our community in a way that focuses on reducing health inequalities and recognises the needs of the increasingly elderly population.
To maintain high quality leisure, cultural and sport facilities and activities that enhance residents’ quality of life.
Key milestones of success 2011/12:
Reduce overall crime rate Improvement in the way the council responds to Anti Social Behaviour as a result of the Systems Thinking intervention Increase the proportion of adults and children who regularly participate in sport and cultural activities 14 Play an active role on the Joint Commissioning Board with GPs and partners and contribute to the production of the Board’s three year work plan Implement the recommendations from the Leisure Options appraisal with regards to the future of the services at Tilgate Park, the Hawth theatre, venture play facilities and community centres Complete and publish a three-year programme of equality impact assessments and publish the outcomes on the Council’s website Develop and support the delivery of a corporate consultation programme to ensure the views and opinions of all communities in crawley are reflected in decision making Develop and deliver a programme of targeted capacity building within the voluntary sector in Crawley to support civic participation Implement and deliver the Prevent Partnership Plan
Environment
Our priorities:
To enhance the quality of the built and natural environment and meet Crawley’s housing needs and aspirations.
To protect and enhance our environment by reducing the Council’s and the town’s carbon foot print. Key actions will include maximising the use of waste as a resource, whilst minimising waste sent to landfill, and keeping the streets, parks and other public open spaces clean and attractive.
Key milestones of success 2011/12:
Increase the number of net additional homes to the housing stock Ensure the delivery of affordable homes in the current climate Progress the planning application for the development of homes West of Bewbush Reduce the number of households living in temporary accommodation Increase the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting Deliver the other actions for year 1 of the Climate Change and Waste Reduction Strategy: 2011 – 2050 action plan Submit the final application to the Heritage Lottery Fund stage 2 for the restoration of Worth Park Gardens in 2011 Achieve a “Gold” South East in Bloom award and be invited to participate in Britain in Bloom when next eligible in 2012.
Value for money
Our priorities:
To deliver high quality services at the lowest possible cost to our residents.
To deliver a budget strategy that directs financial resources to priorities, balances the revenue budget with no reliance on reserves, frees up investment income for capital investment and minimises the burden on the council taxpayer.
Key milestones of success 2011/12:
Achieve the overall savings set out in the Budget Strategy 2011 – 2016 Identify options for budget savings of 10% and 15% when undertaking Short Reviews Identify options for budget savings and improve customers’ experience and satisfaction through undertaking Systems Thinking Interventions Develop a new ICT strategy Enable customers to access more services on the web.
15 Monitoring, Measuring and Review
Each of the above priorities is accompanied by key milestones that will enable us to track the progress made in achieving them and to take corrective or alternative action where necessary.
There are also some performance measures collected locally by staff who manage services and together they form the backbone of our performance management framework and are reported on a quarterly basis to the Corporate Management Team, Improvement Planning Group and Performance Management Scrutiny Panel in order to ascertain progress and to take corrective action if appropriate . Delivery of the Plan and performance against the milestones will be supplemented by an annual report to Cabinet.
16 Appendix 1
Other Plans and Strategies
In addition to annual service plans, the Council has a number of other Plans and Strategies that have been formally approved and which set out agreed action plans for our services. These Plans and Strategies are a useful source in finding more information about how we will deliver our priorities.
Many of the Strategies are interlinked and interdependent and the following diagram supports our corporate planning triangle by explaining how the documents inform and feed upon each other.
17 APPENDIX B
“Creating a successful future for Crawley”
Corporate Plan 2010 – 2015
Annual report 2010 / 11
Introduction
This annual report sets out our progress and achievements against the priorities in the Corporate Plan “Creating a successful future for Crawley, 2010 – 2015”. Our corporate plan forms the basis for the council’s performance management activities and drives the distribution of resources, time, effort and attention towards the identified priorities across all our activities, services, initiatives, projects and events.
Our Staff
Workforce Strategy
Cabinet agreed the Workforce Strategy and its three-year action plan in June 2010 and the actions are being implemented as planned.
Staff Survey
The 2010 Staff Survey took place during the summer and the results were shared with staff at a number of briefing sessions in September. Suggestions for changes were collected and actions are being implemented including more involvement of CMT in Team Brief and consideration of a Question Time session where staff can challenge CMT and other senior managers. The overall return rate and the scores for job satisfaction and line management remained at the high level achieved in 2008 despite the difficult economic situation affecting the Council. The scores for CMT’s leadership of the organisation increased.
Sickness Absence
Sickness Absence remained low at 6.8 days per year. This compares with a private sector average of 6.6 days and is significantly lower than the public sector average of 9.6 days.
Investors in People
The Council achieved re-accreditation of Investors in People in October 2010 and was assessed as an Achieving Council within the Equalities Framework in March 2010.
Best Place to Work
Crawley was listed as the sixth best council out of twenty to work for based on a survey undertaken by 500 members of staff as part of the “Times best place to work”. This was an improvement from 2009, when we were ranked 11 th . Crawley was also ranked the 40 th best place to work in the whole of the public sector. This was the first year we entered this particular category.
Prosperity
Town Centre North
The market for new retail developments has been slow to recover nationally. However, the Council, in partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency, has been working with developers with an interest in investing in the Town Centre. We also continue to maintain a dialogue with key partners and stakeholders including John Lewis. 18
The Council undertook a retail capacity study to inform the policy on the nature and timing of Town Centre North and the Town Centre generally. This confirmed that there is a realistic prospect of a major retail and leisure-led development in Crawley Town Centre and has informed our plans for 2011 and beyond.
Manor Royal Business District
The Manor Royal masterplan was launched to coincide with the area's 60th birthday. It looks to maximise Manor Royal's future commercial benefits through high quality design, amenity provision and sustainable transport and infrastructure. All of this will help attract long-term inward investment. The masterplan also includes a commitment to work with business partners to look at what other improvements need to be made, including the introduction of better facilities as well as the possibility of on-site energy generation.
Crawley Museum
Cabinet agreed to meet the council’s statutory obligations of restoring The Tree, a grade two listed building, to a useable condition and have earmarked up to £763,000 from capital reserves to meet the cost of these works. It was also agreed the council would support the Crawley Museum Society in making a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund to cover the additional cost to convert and fit out The Tree for use as a museum. The council currently meets some of the revenue costs incurred by Crawley Museum Society in operating the current museum service through the community grant aid process. The council has asked Crawley Museum Society to submit an amended business plan for a revised museum service operating out of The Tree from 2012/13.
Flood alleviation scheme
Work on the Tilgate Dam Improvements commenced in Spring, which is the first project to have commenced as part of the Flood Alleviation Scheme developed by the Environment Agency. The existing dam will be raised which will protect thousands of people’s homes from the risk of flooding in the future. Works are due to be completed in Spring 2011. Other projects in the future will include the Gatwick Stream at Worth Farm, the Stanford Brook at Clay’s Lake Pease Pottage and the River Mole in Ifield.
Decent Homes
Since the programme started in early 2009 Crawley Homes has upgraded the kitchen and/or bathroom of almost 4,000 homes, installed 1,140 boilers and replaced the windows of 882 homes. Customer feedback is very positive with the finished product but there have been problems with the journey that a few of our tenants experienced during the work. The size and complexity of the project, to deliver £29.5m programme to budget and on time, has been challenging, especially as the work varies from property to property. It has also been hard to manage some customers’ expectations as some kitchens and bathrooms have not been renewed because they already meet the Decent Homes and Crawley Standard. Nonetheless, much has been achieved through this programme, which has seen a major improvement to the quality of Crawley Homes’ housing stock.
Langley Green & Bewbush Regeneration Programme
The Langley Green Centre is complete and was officially opened on the 7 th December 2010. The Healthy Living Centre in Bewbush is complete and was officially opened on the 30 th November 2010. Both centres have been designed to enhance community facilities and sit at the hub of their neighbourhood.
19 Community
Community Safety
The Crawley Community Safety Partnership achieved a 10 per cent reduction on overall crime in 2009/10, which is an improvement from 2008/09, which saw an 8 per cent reduction. The partnership increased the number of CCTV cameras on neighbourhood parades, improved street lighting in vulnerable areas and tackled anti-social behaviour. The partnership continued to publish community safety articles and posters in Crawley Live, produced press releases and local police newsletters. They held street briefings, ward panel meetings and a community safety partnership public consultation meeting. The partnership has developed an action plan of priority areas for 2010/11, which will strive to continue the good progress made in 2009/10.
Health & Wellbeing
Crawley wellbeing along with local GPs launched the swimming referral programme; over 150 residents have been referred to the scheme within the first three months. The Weight Off Workshops (WOW) has continued their success with nearly 600 local residents being referred in the first 18 months by their GP, achieving a combined weight loss of 167 stone. At least one patient no longer requires surgery as a result of this intervention.
The “Feel Good and Balanced”, a community falls prevention service, which provides structured seated and standing exercises for the older, frailer adult will continue for a second year. The service improves balance, strength and co-ordination.
In conjunction with the Change4life campaign, a social marketing project was launched targeting residents in Broadfield to identify barriers to health and wellbeing participation. A Crawley Wellbeing Outreach Advisor was appointed to target the most hard to reach / inactive groups.
Community Cohesion
Strategically, the past year has seen significant development. There is a clear strategy in place for Community Cohesion and the corporate engagement programme has offered a good starting point for testing collaborative working at a neighbourhood level, particularly with regard to the engagement and involvement of residents. The Council’s strategy for support to the local Voluntary and Community Sector continues to develop, and work completed this year has offered more clarity with regard to priority developments that need to take place both in terms of how we fund and commission work, and how we provide capacity-building support. In addition, there has been partnership commitment to review youth services available in Crawley. Again, the outcomes of the review will provide clear priorities for future development. Consideration with regard to value for money, and who is best placed to deliver services has been central to the development of these strategic programmes.
Leisure & Culture
The Council continued to invest in the unsupervised play facilities with Three Bridges, Northgate and Tilgate Park playgrounds being opened this year. Funding was secured from Playbuilder for the Ifield West unsupervised playground, which should be completed in March 2011.
Other successful projects have included securing £133,515 funding from Aiming High for Disabled Children fund to develop an integrated BMX track in Langley Green, which should be completed in March 2011. The Play Rangers outreach programme is operating in neighbourhoods without Adventure Playground provision, which is funded by the Play lottery programme. The Friday Night Project at K2 had continued success with weekly 20 evening sessions for 11-18 year olds supported and delivered by multiple partners. This project positively influences reports of youth anti-social behaviour in the town.
The operation of Broadfield Stadium was successfully transferred to Crawley Town Football Club and work on the Maidenbower Pavilion should start in February 2011.
The council has also been looking at different ways of managing The Hawth, community centres, adventure playgrounds and Tilgate Park. The outcomes of the options appraisal have been presented to Cabinet and there are several opportunities to enhance these services in order to maintain high quality and value for money.
2012 Olympics
Crawley is celebrating the build up to the Olympic Games with a host of cultural, sporting and community projects throughout 2010 and 2011 inspired by London 2012. K2 Crawley signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Barbados Olympic Association securing their commitment to use Crawley as their chosen venue for pre-London 2012 training camps. We have hosted their hockey and netball squads. We will be receiving delegations from other National Olympic and Paralympic Associations in the coming months and will look to secure other nations.
Art in motion is an exciting, new open art competition for Crawley. Running each year from 2010 to 2012, the winners’ artworks will contribute to a new permanent art exhibition at K2 Leisure Centre, celebrating sport and physical activity in Crawley.
Environment
10:10 and energy savings
Crawley signed up to the 10:10 campaign, which showed our commitment to reducing our carbon emissions by a further 10% in 2010. We have supported our contractor Freedom Leisure to make even further gas and electricity reductions at K2 Crawley; reduced the amount of electricity used for IT at the Town Hall; and used LED lighting in our multi-storey car park. Crawley has been recognised nationally by these efforts and is to be the face of the 10:10 national campaign. Amenity Services division’s new vehicle procurement arrangements has resulted in vehicle fleet CO 2 emission reductions of more than 100g /km for each of 4 new vehicles. The Borough’s first electric vehicle charge points have also been installed at the Town Hall as part of a national network of charging points.
The council achieved a 5% reduction in CO 2 emissions from council activities between 08/09 and 09/10 and a Borough-wide low carbon, decentralised energy feasibility study is underway, due for completion in March 2011. The council maintained EMAS accreditation for the 8 th year running.
Recycling and waste reduction
A new Climate Change and Waste Reduction Strategy: 2011-2050 is currently being developed for adoption in 2011. The recycling rate for the town, including WSCC’s household waste recycling site at Metcalf Way, was up to nearly 40%
Britain in Bloom, South & South East in Bloom
Crawley won silver gilt and was category winner at the 2010 Britain in Bloom Awards, the first time the town has won the prestigious national competition. Crawley was victorious in the large town/small city category, up against Bedford (Bedfordshire), Derry City (Northern Ireland), Fareham (Hampshire) and Whitehaven (Cumbria). 21
Let’s FACE It! was crowned the best community project in the entire country when it picked up the Britain in Bloom Community Award. The residents of Bolney Court, Bewbush, gained UK-wide recognition when they were awarded an It’s Your Neighbourhood National Certificate of Distinction.
The town won gold and category winner prizes for the large town/small city category at the South & South East in Bloom awards on September 2010. Crawley also achieved other awards at the South and South East in Bloom ceremony for its high quality parks and open spaces and the amazing work of community groups.
Eco homes
The Council was awarded nearly half a million pounds through the Retrofit for the Future competition to give four homes around Crawley an eco-makeover. Work on the properties included a range of insulation like Spacetherm insulation, Nanogel insulation and under- floor insulation. The work also included LED lighting, solar panels, combined heat and power boilers and triple glazing. The green homes are expected to save the tenants hundreds of pounds (reducing annual combined gas and electricity bills of £800 to around £100, for example) - as well as tonnes of carbon emissions.
Meeting local housing demand In 2009/10, 411 net additional dwellings were developed in the Borough. In terms of the total number of people on the councils housing register local demand has remained consistent over the years, although there have been fluctuations in the particular needs (i.e. larger accommodation for families, between bandings, between units types and between tenures).
Of the 411 net dwellings, 129 were affordable dwellings. In 2006/07 a peak of 362 new- builds was achieved, while in the current 2010/11 financial year only 56 are forecast for completion. This is largely as a result of the downturn in the housing market, while future years appear increasingly challenging as the economic downturn begins to impact on the availability of grant funding.
The continuing difficult economic climate coupled with the recently announced changes to the benefits system has greatly restricted access to the private rented sector for households reliant on LHA to pay the rent, which has resulted in a significant increase in the number of homeless applications being made to the council and requiring temporary accommodation. Local Development Framework Core Strategy The Council published the first stage of the Core Strategy Review (Issues and Options consultation) in May 2009. As a consequence of the policy changes introduced or anticipated by the Coalition Government, including the abolition of the South East Plan, publication of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill and the continued delay in the Secretary of State issuing the final North East Sector decision, progress on the Core Strategy Review has been slowed.
The current intention, provided the final North East Sector decision is received in the near future, is to publish a revised Issues and Options consultation in May 2011. In the interim, the Council is considering and addressing the implications of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill and the Big Society policy approach on plan making, community engagement and the role and nature of planning policy.
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Value for Money
Budget Strategy
The Council has delivered the lowest Council Tax increase in all of Sussex for the last four years.
The 2011/12 to 2015/16 Budget strategy report approved by the July 2010 Cabinet identified a strategy that would produce a balanced budget with no reliance on reserves, released £15 million of resources for the capital programme and projected a council tax freeze subject to receipt of Government Grant.
However, the Local Government Finance Settlement has announced the Council's grant from the government for 2011/12 will be 14.5 per cent lower than the grant we received in 2010/11. In cash terms, the settlement is £7.566m, which is £1.28m less than the current year (2010/11). When other budget pressures (e.g. interest rates, income) are taken into account it leaves a budget gap for 2011/12 of some £3.1m. By working together, we have already found savings of £1.3m.
The Cabinet agreed in November to explore bridging the funding gap through a number of means, including drawing on revenue reserves. The disappointing grant settlement has meant that the funding gap has grown and it is now almost certain that the Council will need to draw on its revenue reserves in 2011/12. This is the right thing to do given the lateness of the settlement announcement and the scale of the grant reduction.
The settlement for 2012/13 was also announced on 13 December. We have already identified savings of almost £850,000 for 2012/13 in addition to those identified for 2011/12, which is an excellent start. This leaves us with an estimated budget gap of £646,000. The council wants to return to a balanced budget in 2012/13 so we will be looking to find further savings over the next 15 months and will seek to do this in a planned and managed way. Despite these figures, we are still committed to maintaining services to the public and even improving them where possible
Service Review Programme
The Council has adopted a ‘twin track’ approach to service review by developing a programme of Systems Thinking interventions and Short Reviews.
Systems Thinking Interventions have included:
Housing allocations and homelessness Housing Repairs Crawley Homes income management Licensing Housing Benefits Development Control
Progress is updated on a monthly basis to the Improvement Planning group, which includes the Corporate Management Team, the Leader and the Portfolio Holder for Continuous Improvement. Cashable savings made from the interventions to date are over £336K, with more expected into 2011.
Systems Thinking has proven to be a powerful methodology for improving customer service and reducing costs by removing waste from the system and delivering improved value to the customer.
Short Reviews that took place in 2010 included: 23
Parks and Open Spaces* Vehicles and Vehicles Workshops* Facilities Management* Corporate Policy Unit* Pollution & Public Health* Consultation & Research* Sheltered Housing Accountancy Services / FMS
*These reviews have identified a combined total of £441K in savings. The reviews of Sheltered Housing and Accountancy Services / FMS failed to identify savings at the review, although they did identify further work, which it is hoped will lead to financial savings.
The Short Review programme is seen as a way of bringing together managers, staff and members to think creatively about how their service can be improved and made more efficient.
Shared Procurement Function
On 1st April 2010, a new shared procurement service was launched on a 12 month trial. The service saw the four existing staff within procurement across Crawley Borough Council, Horsham District Council and Mid Sussex District Councils join to become one team, based at Horsham District Council. The team has been equipped to enable mobile working across the three authorities.
This exciting development has helped strengthen the capacity of the procurement resource by targeting resources more effectively, whilst enabling greater opportunities for collaborative working. There will also be the creation of standardised processes in the three authorities with the aim of making procurement opportunities more accessible to the business community.
Comprehensive Area Assessment
The new coalition government abolished the CAA in June 2010 and subsequently abolished the Audit Commission and as such, there will be no scores in 2010. In 2009, the council was rated as performing “adequately” overall.
Councils in the future will be able to take greater control and lead on performance improvement in their local area, which will further reduce the burden of inspection.
24 Appendix 1 Corporate Plan measures report
This report sets out the data that i s available for a selection of the key measures of success that were chosen to monitor the outcomes against each of our Corporate Plan themes and priorities. The data included for 2010/11 where available is up to Quarter 3.
2009/10 Annual 2010/11 Annual Status PI Code Short Name Target Target Aim To Target Value Target 2009/10 Value YTD 2010/11 YTD HR&D23 Working Days Lost Due to Sickness Absence 6.8 7.5 7.5 5.3 4.9 6.5 Aim to Minimise (BV12) Adult participation in sport and active recreation - Sport NI 8 17.3% 22.6% 22.6% 14.9% 23.6% 23.6% Aim to Maximise England Survey/LAA2 – District Number of affordable homes delivered (gross) NI 155 290 150 150 27 75 150 Aim to Maximise cumulative - LAA2 - District Number of households living in temporary NI 156 138 190 190 188 170 170 Aim to Minimise accommodation - District
NI 158 % non-decent council homes - LAA2 - District 27.0% 14.0% 14.0% 1.2% 5.0% .0% Aim to Minimise
Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, r ecycling NI 192 29.01% 30.00% 30.00% 27.00% 32.00% 32.00% Aim to Maximise and composting - District Improved street and environmental cleanliness: Litter - NI 195a 4% 7% 7% 2% 6% 6% Aim to Minimise LAA2 - District Improved street and environmental cleanliness: NI 195b 3% 7% 7% 3% 6% 6% Aim to Minimise Detritus - LAA2 - District Improved street and environmental cleanliness: Graffiti NI 195c 0% 1% 1% 0% 0% 0% Aim to Minimise - LAA2 - District Improved street and environmental cleanliness: Fly- NI 195d 0% 1% 1% 0% 0% 0% Aim to Minimise posting - LAA2 - District
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