Making Our Vision a Reality Allerdale – a Great Place to Live, Work & Visit
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Making Our Vision A Reality Allerdale – A great place to Live, Work & Visit First Draft Corporate Improvement Plan 2006-2011 Version 0.1 Page 1 of 53 Corporate Improvement Plan 2006/2011 CONTENTS 1. Foreword 2. Introduction 3. Context to the Corporate Improvement Plan • About Allerdale • How Does It All Fit Together – National To Local 4. Making Our Vision A Reality - The Corporate Improvement Framework 5. Our Achievements To Date 6. Performance Management Arrangements 7. Our Resources 8. Key Contacts 9. Glossary Version 0.1 Page 2 of 53 1. Foreword Welcome to Allerdale Borough Council’s first Corporate Improvement Plan. This Plan is very important for us, as it builds upon our ambitious Vision of making Allerdale “a great place to live, work and visit”, and takes it one step further to identify how, over the next five years we will work towards making it happen. In developing this plan, we have looked at what is important to our communities, rather than what legal duties as a Council we have to undertake. The way we have done this is by engaging with and listening to a wide range of views and opinions to ensure that our key priorities and focus are in line with local aspirations. We would like to thank all of the individuals and organisations who have supported us to this point and we look forward to continuing to nurture these relationships as we move forward into delivery, as we are very aware that in order for us to achieve our ambitions we will need to work with, and through, a range of partners. Over the next twelve months, we have set ourselves an ambitious agenda. Looking forward we expect significant developments through the West Cumbria Strategic Forum via the production of a 10 year Master Plan, which will be considered by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, the Rt. Hon. Alan Johnson MP. We will drive forward the work of the Local Strategic Partnership to ensure that all public sector agencies within West Cumbria link together to address our key issues around educational attainment, health inequalities and transport and infrastructure. For our own part, we aim to set an example by continuing to build upon the solid foundations and innovative work which has recently been undertaken. For example, by June we will have made strides to improve our planning activities to ensure that customers obtain a satisfactory level of service. In September, we will see the introduction of our One Stop Shop, a key part of our desire to improve services to our customers. By October, we will ensure that the regeneration of Workington Town Centre -- including the new multi-storey car park -- is completed, providing an enhanced shopping facility and a range of new job opportunities for local people. In summary, this year is a year of improvement and delivery. We have a committed team of staff and Councillors, all of whom are desperate to deliver on the expectations of the people of Allerdale. By working closely together with partners and the local community, we can bring about big improvements in the quality of people’s lives. The years ahead will be exciting and productive, and we look forward to making our vision a reality by delivering what counts to local people. Councillor Jim Musgrave, Leader : Pictures to be inserted Gillian Bishop, Chief Executive Version 0.1 Page 3 of 53 2. Introduction What is the Corporate Improvement Plan? The Allerdale Corporate Improvement Plan (CIP) will turn our vision into reality by defining a practical deliverable framework over a five year period from 2006- 2011. The framework will create a clear and tangible set of measurable targets and outcomes to enable all members of the organisation, and wider partners to have a common picture of our destination, and each of our roles and responsibilities within it. The CIP will have an important influencing role. A conscious decision has been made in the development of the CIP, not to focus primarily on what we as a local authority have within our powers and duties to undertake, but instead to have as the driving force the needs and opportunities of our local community. As a result the CIP contains priorities and targets which are outside of Allerdale Borough Council’s direct sphere of control, therefore there is a requirement for us to influence and negotiate through wider partners the delivery of our priorities to meet local people’s needs. This activity will be challenging but essential to ensure that we maximise resources and influence others to meet local needs and priorities as part of our wider community leadership role. The CIP will enable us as an organisation to focus directly on what matters to the people of Allerdale. It will specify what are our priorities and what are not our priorities moving forward over the next five years. The development of the CIP will also ensure that we address an outstanding recommendation of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment report of 2003 which clearly states: ”…the Council still has to set out clearly what improvements will be achieved against the overall aims”. Why have we done this? We need to keep focused on what matters most to you – and not get distracted with other issues that may not be vital to us in Allerdale. Our framework will ensure that we target our resources – money, staff, and equipment – in the right way, with the right amount, to get the right outcome. All our decisions will be focused on meeting these priorities – this will mean that we are likely to have to make some tough decisions during the next 5 years – but we are now clear that the reason behind our decision making is to deliver the things that matter most to our community. How did we create our Plan? The Plan was created following significant consultation will all our stakeholders. We have linked in to emerging priorities from our partners including the Cumbrian Vision, the Cumbria Strategic Partnership and the West Cumbria Strategic Partnership. Version 0.1 Page 4 of 53 We have taken a conscious decision that our plan needs to focus not just on what we ourselves can deliver, but also those priorities that are not entirely within our control. We are committed to driving and influencing the achievement of other priorities such as being safe, being healthy and having a good education. When will this happen? Our plan is for the next 5 years – from 2006 to 2011. This starts at the 1st April 2006. We have committed ourselves to timescales within the plan so we are clear when we must achieve our results. Now we have done this we can make sure that our governance, budget, project planning and performance management processes keep us focused on meeting these deadlines. Who will do all this? Each action has an identified lead person. This means that for our staff, our roles and responsibilities are now crystal clear. We will be working closely with our partners to make sure that jointly, we deliver what you have asked us to do. What happens next? This plan is not static – it will be reviewed on an annual basis – so that our priorities are still focused for a 5 year period, and that actions and timescales are refreshed to make sure we still meet your changing needs. We will keep you well informed of what our successes are and you will be an integral part of the review process to make sure that your priorities are our priorities. Version 0.1 Page 5 of 53 3. Context to the Corporate Improvement Plan Where is Allerdale? Allerdale is one of six districts in Cumbria, a large county in North West England. Allerdale is situated at the north-western edge of Cumbria, covering over 94,500 square miles, stretching from the Solway Firth in the north down to its largest town of Workington, and bounded by the Lake District mountains. Allerdale has a population of approximately 94,500, mainly living in Workington and the other main towns: Maryport, Cockermouth, Keswick and the northern market towns of Silloth, Wigton and Aspatria. Workington is over 35 miles from the M6 at Penrith, the motorway connection to Scotland in the north and Manchester to the south. The map shows the main towns and road links in the borough. Where is Allerdale? Map of UK Map of Cumbria showing districts, key towns, showing including Carlisle, Barrow, Kendal, Penrith, and Cumbria Whitehaven Plus shaded area for LDNP & principle town s of Allerdale on, with populations & mark on Solway Firth Extend to show rest of North West showing major cities: Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, Preston, etc What is Allerdale like? Allerdale is an area of great contrast. The borough has three distinct areas: • the urban triangle of Cockermouth, Maryport and Workington; • the dispersed hill farms, forests, mountains and lakes of the Lake District National Park; and • the rural and fertile Solway Plain, stretching to the north towards Carlisle. Allerdale has some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain. At the same time, some neighbourhoods are amongst the most deprived in the country. Allerdale has eight wards in the top 20% most deprived wards in England, with parts of Workington and Maryport particularly in need of extra help. Community projects in these areas have benefited from Government money, such as the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund. Version 0.1 Page 6 of 53 Approximately a third of the borough lies within the Lake District National Park. For the part of Allerdale within its boundary, the Lake District National Park Authority are responsible for some local authority services, for example deciding planning applications,.