Agenda item

Kathryn Hall, Chief Executive, introduced the report which set out revisions to the Council’s Corporate Plan 2020/21 to reflect the impact of the Covid-19 crisis. She noted that the report was subject to debate at the Scrutiny Committee for Leader, Finance and Performance with the minutes of meeting attached as an appendix to the report.

The Deputy Leader referred to the debate at the Scrutiny Committee for Leader, Finance and Performance. She noted the financial impact of the crisis on the Council.

The Cabinet Member for Community supported the report. He commented that as the nation rebuilds both nationally and locally there are opportunities to create a society with a less negative environmental impact than previously and welcomed the inclusion of environmental responsibilities alongside economic responsibilities in the report.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Service Delivery welcomed the revision of the waste service provision targets and looked forward to both the waste service redesign and proposals to improve the walk and cycle routes in the District.

The Cabinet Member for Economic Growth outlined that he has seen a greater sense of community amongst residents. He was pleased and impressed to see the sustainable economic growth programme appear in the report and to still see the aspiration to develop the A2300 travel corridor in Burgess Hill.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning commended the comprehensive and well written document. He drew attention to the impact of the crisis on the planning and housing services.

The Leader believed that the Council needs the Recovery Plans. He mentioned the need to learn lessons to see how people have changed in their interaction with the Council. He too highlighted the financial impact of the crisis on the Council. He proposed an amendment to Recommendation 4ii on P.7 of the report adding at the end ‘and ask officers to review the level of these aspects and report to the 21/22 Corporate Plan process’. He explained that the additional wording was included as work will be starting shortly on the Corporate Plan 21/22 which will be able to provide better information on the revenue savings and use of reserves.

He took the Members to the recommendations, contained in the report and amended recommendation which were agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED

The Cabinet considered and commented on:

(i)          The Recovery Plans outlined in Appendices A to C;

(ii)         The advice and suggested changes to the Council’s financial strategy and Medium-Term Financial Plan (MTFP) outlined in Appendix D, specifically the use of reserves and revenue savings to help deal with the impact of the crisis; and ask officers to review the level of these aspects and report to the 21/22 Corporate Plan process.

(iii)        The proposed Governance Review (Appendix E) and its overarching principles;

(iv)        The advice about the Council’s Corporate Priority Projects (CCPs) in Appendix F;

(v)         The performance of the Council during the first quarter of this year (Appendix G) and proposed changes to performance indicators as outlined in Appendix H; and

(vi)        The comments of the Scrutiny Committee for Leader, Finance and Performance.