The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change presented a report which sought endorsement of the Council’s Corporate Plan 2018-2023 reviewed for 2021-22 (Appendix A) prior to submission to Council for approval.

She advised that the Corporate Plan 2018-2023, described the Council’s vision for Bridgend County Borough, our 3 well-being objectives and our organisational values and principles that underpin how we will work to deliver our priorities. It also represented the contribution to achieving the 7 national well-being goals.

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that the Corporate Plan had been refreshed for 2021-22. This followed a corporate planning process with Corporate Directors / Heads of Service through each Directorate’s departmental management team. The process was carried out between October 2020 and December 2020 to review progress and streamline the plan. The updated plan was listed at Appendix A of the report.

The Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change explained that due to Covid-19, the targets set had become redundant in that the performance indicators and data collected were not indicative of a normal year of performance.

She advised that the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered the updated plan on 14 January 2021 and made a number of constructive comments and where feasible, those changes had been added to the updated plan. The Committee would continue to monitor progress against the plan.

The Leader thanked Interim Chief Officer – Finance, Performance and Change for the report. He stated that it was the most important report received by Cabinet and was pleased to see the high level of engagement from Members through the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee which was reflected in the plan.

The Cabinet Member Social Services and Early Help welcomed the report and stated that considering the position we had been in for the last year, she was pleased to see the partnership work and relationships had been strengthened. She explained that the prevention agenda was extremely important and had be recognised as such throughout the pandemic.

The Cabinet Member Education and Regeneration supported the statement on performance indicators and stated that this was particularly noticeable in the education sector. He paid tribute to the head teachers, teachers, parents and children who had endured the difficulties during Covid-19 and said that the challenges had been met superably.   

The Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations thanked all the officers who put the report together and made it such an easy read. She pointed out a number of key areas listed in the report and was pleased to see that the environmental aspect was key and had not been forgotten amongst others.

The Deputy Leader also thanked everyone involved in putting the report together and had full gratification for the staff who had stepped up during these times with many undertaking additional roles that they may not had been familiar with. He also thanked the finance team for successfully distributing £30 million worth of business grants to local businesses in need.

The Leader stressed that much of the detail in the report was important and crucial plans but was not an exhaustive list of everything that was carried out by BCBC. There were many services that were provided by BCBC but were not necessarily included in the Corporate Plan, however were just as important.

The Cabinet Member Communities thanked the team involved in bringing forward a thorough and cohesive strategy in terms of the heat networks. He stated that it was a small team, but they had worked tirelessly on these strategies and this had not gone unnoticed.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet:

Endorsed the Corporate Plan 2018-2023 reviewed for 2021-22 and recommended it to Council for approval on 24 February 2021.