Council Plan Action Plan 2023 to 2025

Overview

Getting the basics right and acting on the things that people have told us are most important to them matters. Improving customer care and how we do things runs as a theme throughout the Plan and is a focus for our staff, so that whenever people speak to or meet someone from the Council that person feels supported and listened to. Becoming the best Council means moving beyond customer service to focusing on how we connect with people, acting with care in everything that we do from a phone call to how we deliver new homes. To deliver the Plan we need to continue listening to and talking with residents, communities and our partners in the public, private and voluntary sectors, as we take on the challenge to become the best Council for a borough that is greener, safer, fairer. 

Key actions to deliver this priority in the next two years include:

1. Investing in our housing, streets and schools through our capital programme. Over the next two years the Council will spend £431,868,000 on the areas that matter to residents. Key activities will include investment in street scene improvements at Sloane Street, investment in new and existing Council homes and temporary accommodation, and development of the Notting Dale Heat Network.
2. Making it easier for people to report things and speak to the Council online and face to face. Over the next two years we will be implementing our new service standards, co-designed with residents, to make sure people have a good experience of contacting the Council whichever means they choose.  We will also invest in digital solutions to make it easier for residents to request services and get updates on progress; starting with a simplified way to order and pay for parking permits.
3. Delivering our Social Investment strategy, which aims to make the best use of our assets, like property, by striking the right balance of non-financial outcomes with financial returns.

How we do things as a Council

Activity	How we will get there	Lead Member	Lead Officer
4.1 People Plan	We will build the culture, work environment, support and opportunities to ensure that all our people can deliver their best. There will be a clear delivery plan which will demonstrate outcomes and be regularly reported.	Leader of the Council	Executive Director for Resources
4.2 Customer Access Strategy	Implement the customer access strategy. Activity will focus on:  Making it easier to deal with the Council. Improving experience when people access services. Making resident’s lives easier. Increasing meaningful opportunities to engage with the Council. Ensuring residents are better able to get what they need from the Council when they need it. Improving resident satisfaction. New service standards for the whole Council will be implemented from September 2023 and resident designed interview questions for recruitment will be used from May 2023.	Lead Member for Finance and Customer Delivery	Executive Director for Resources
4.3 Develop and implement an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan from 2024 onwards.	The outcomes for the action plan will be developed through the engagement and development stages of the strategy. Consultation and engagement will take place late summer to early Autumn 2023/24 with the new action plan in place from early 2024.	Lead Member for Communities	Chief Executive
4.4 Deployment of a new Enterprise Resource Planing system.	Smooth transition to a new Human Resources, payroll and finance system. The new system will enable the Council to work more efficiently and effectively. The planned implementation date is October 2024.	Lead Member for Finance and Customer Delivery	Executive Director for Resources
4.5 Digital, Data and Technology Innovation.	Establishment of a Digital Innovation Program. The purpose of this is to enable and drive innovation across the Council, across the borough and with external stakeholders.  The programme will support the adoption of innovative practices impacting positively on the way the Council works and on the lived experience of residents.	Lead Member for Finance and Customer Delivery	Executive Director for Resources
4.6. Digital Transformation – Affecting all digital platforms in the Council.	The operating model for Information Technology delivery to all services will be redeveloped over the next two years to make service delivery and information sharing more efficient – this should benefit residents when accessing services.	Lead Member for Finance and Resources	Executive Director for Resources

Involving residents in decision making and ensuring we are accountable 

Activity	How we will get there	Lead Member	Lead Officer
4.7. Charter for public participation – a set of commitments on how local people can get involved in Council Activity and improving our organisational capability around consultation.	The Charter will ensure more residents feel they are central to what the Council does and their voices are heard and at the heart of decision making and service design. Activity will include: Citizen’s Panel events programme. Consultation exercises as needed by services and the Council. We will also create a new organisation-wide offer to skill-up, support and continuously improve our capability to deliver the best resident led and community driven services possible. This will include new approaches to widen and deepen participation developed and used with residents. The programme will launch at the end of Autumn 2023.	Lead Member for Communities	Executive Director for Environment and Communities
4.8 Corporate performance reporting.	We publish quarterly performance information to give residents and councillors the opportunity to scrutinise the performance of the Council. The Council’s Corporate Management Report outlines the Council’s performance against approximately 80 external and internal indicators and delivery against the Council Plan.	Leader of the Council	Chief Executive

Managing our money and assets

Activity	How we will get there	Lead Member	Lead Officer
4.9 Medium Term Financial Strategy.	The Council’s fiscally robust Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) provides the financial framework for the delivery of the Council’s aims, ambitions, and strategic priorities as set out in the Council Plan. Each year we will set a balanced budget that achieves delivery and value for money meeting the needs of the borough.	Lead Member for Finance and Customer Delivery	Executive Director for Resources
4.10 Capital programme.	Each year we will invest in housing, streets and schools. The Capital programme aims to deliver plans to timescale, budget and quality, setting an affordable budget that maximises efficient borrowing opportunities and maximises external grant funding opportunities.	Lead Member for Finance and Customer Services	Executive Director of Resources and Executive Director for Housing and Social Investment
4.11 Social Investment Strategy.	The Social Investment Strategy sets out the principles for the Council's Social Investment approach, which is how we can maximise the use of Council resources to balance financial and non-financial returns to improve the prosperity and wellbeing of our residents. The strategy is set to be reviewed by the Leadership Team in 2023.	Lead Member for Grenfell Housing, Housing and Social Investment	Executive Director for Housing and Social Investment