Councillor Cathy Scott, the Leader of Council, will attend to talk about her priorities.
Minutes:
Councillor Cathy Scott, the Leader of Council, was welcomed to the meeting to talk about her priorities for 2023/24.
She explained that a new Council Plan was in development and would be finalised in early 2024. She set out her four core priorities as follows:
· Address the financial position in a fair and balanced way.
Balancing the budget was the most pressing challenge, against the background of funding issues affecting local authorities across the country and the economic pressures. This would necessitate some difficult decisions and the aim was to do this in a transparent, fair and balanced manner. There was a need to protect the most vulnerable and to continue to assist residents in respect of the cost of living. The impact of decisions would be assessed, and the Council would lobby for changes to the funding system.
· Strive to transform Council services to become more efficient, effective and modern.
Limited resources would be used as efficiently and effectively as possible. This would include work on early intervention and prevention, and safeguarding. The Council would continue to work with partners to avoid duplication and share knowledge and resources. The work already being done to deliver and improve services, such as in adult social care and children’s services, would continue.
· Continue to deliver a greener, healthier Kirklees and address the challenges of climate change.
This would include the prioritisation of delivery of an environmental strategy and net-zero commitments. Progress would be pursued in respect of energy, waste, and improvements to green spaces. There would be a continued focus on prevention work in health services, alongside partners.
· Continue to invest and regenerate our towns and villages to support our diverse places and communities to flourish.
This priority addressed the need to build resilience for local people. Aiming to ensure the necessary infrastructure was in place to offer opportunities for the future and to bring investment into the district. It would include improving housing. This would be undertaken prudently, and the Capital Programme was flexible to allow the plans to be responsive to changing conditions and challenges.
Questions and comments were invited from Committee Members, with the following issues being covered:
· The Cabinet’s agenda was ‘to do with, not to’ and to enable and support local communities. The Leader would own the priorities. It was important that there was a clear vision but there had to be fluidity in the approach to facilitate a response to external pressures.
· It was suggested that there would be value in the Council looking at Climate Emergency UK’s Action Scorecards as a useful tool to help demonstrate its action on climate change; the Council had been rated below average by this organisation. It was explained that the Council had responded to the score it had been given by Climate Emergency UK but this had not been reflected in the published version.
· The Council had been the first local authority to receive an award from the Royal Meteorological Society for its work in this area.
· The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) score was due to be published shortly and an improvement on last year’s rating, of B, was anticipated. This score was widely recognised as an important measure in terms of climate impact.
· It was noted that the Environment and Climate Change Scrutiny Panel was to look at the issue of air quality at their meeting the following day.
· Reports would be submitted to Cabinet in respect of the work to achieve the priorities, including risk assessments and timelines, so that progress towards targets would be in view.
·
The impact on the Council’s staff of the current financial
position and the negative narrative in the press was acknowledged
and it was very important that they were provided with the
necessary support and reassurance; systems and packages were in
place to do so.
· The assurance in respect of the need to build economic resilience and to protect the most vulnerable was welcomed.
· In respect of the investment into towns and villages, there were a number of current investment zones and there had been a recent Government announcement about funding for Dewsbury of £20 million over a ten-year period. There were still opportunities to deliver on the Council’s blueprints and other regeneration plans, albeit that this may have to be through a phased approach.
· The importance of effective consultation, the correct information being in place, and ensuring that everyone has a fair opportunity to respond was stressed.
· The feedback provided and the impact of each decision would be considered as part of the process.
· With regard to the continuation of ward-based budgets, no decisions had been made at this point. This funding was much valued by ward councillors and could be used as ‘seed funding’ in certain instances. The role of ward councillors as leaders within their communities and their ability to enable and support them, in conjunction with partners and volunteers, or in signposting to relevant funding opportunities was vital.
Resolved –
(1) That the Leader be thanked for attending the meeting and that she be invited to return to the Committee, at an appropriate time, to give an update on progress with her priorities.
(2) That it be noted that the Environment and Climate Change Scrutiny Panel will be looking at climate change and that the points raised be taken forward by the Lead Member as appropriate.