Agenda item

That the Five Year Plan, attached as Appendix ‘A’ to the report, be approved and Recommended to full Council on 27^th January 2015.

The Strategic Director, Regeneration, Housing & Resources introduced a report seeking approval to recommend to Council the draft Five-Year Plan which set out the focus of the Council’s work between 2015 and 2020.

The plan provided a high level vision for the borough against which the Council would prioritise its resources and was a new approach to forward planning over the medium term, replacing the existing Corporate Plan.  The following eight outcomes were proposed under the main themes of ‘changing, retaining and growing’; ‘enabling and preventing’; and ‘using resources wisely’:

• Slough will be the premier location in the south east for businesses of all sizes to locate, start, grow, and stay.
• There will more homes in the borough, with quality improving across all tenures to support our ambition for Slough.
• The centre of Slough will be vibrant, providing business, living, and cultural opportunities.
• Slough will be one of the safest places in the Thames Valley.
• More people will take responsibility and manage their own health, care and support needs.
• Children and young people in Slough will be healthy, resilient and have positive life chances.
• The Council’s income and the value of its assets will be maximised.
• The Council will be a leading digital transformation organisation.

Detailed outcome plans would be developed containing actions and a performance framework to account for progress.  The plan would be used to drive budget decisions in the future and provide the basis of discussions with partners about the services they provided.

Commissioners discussed a range of issues including the need to ensure the Council had clearly defined its priorities to ensure that it could deliver the high quality services wanted by residents during a period when financial resources would continue to be reduced.  In response to a question, it was confirmed that the delivery plans would break down actions to be undertaken in each year and that the plan would be reviewed on an annual basis.  After discussion, the Cabinet approved the plan and agreed to recommend it to Council at the meeting to be held on 27th January 2015.

Recommended –  That the Five Year Plan, as set out in Appendix ‘A’ to the report, be approved.