Agenda item

Cabinet RECOMMENDED to Council that the Corporate Plan setting out the Council’s vision, objectives and actions for 2015-2020, and incorporating key performance measures under each aim, be approved as set out at Appendix 1 of the report.

Council APPROVED the Corporate Plan, setting out the Council’s vision, objectives and actions for 2015-2020 and incorporating key performance measures under each aim.

Councillor Whiteman-Downes, Portfolio Holder for Corporate and Customer Services, presented a report on the Council’s revised Corporate Plan for 2015-20 and proposed that it be approved.  Councillor Whiteman-Downes outlined that the Plan had been refreshed to reflect the changing needs and priorities of the Council.  The long term vision and aims of the Council would remain unchanged and specific objectives would continue to fall under the three main categories of ‘engagement’, ‘partnerships’ and ‘wellbeing’.

Councillor Ray Manning, Leader of the Council, seconded the proposal.

The following points were made by Members in debating the revised Plan:

·         the objective regarding working with communities should feature ahead of the objective to develop the property company pilot scheme under the ‘engagement’ heading, in order to convey the right message;

·         the Plan still lacked specific information about how each objective would be measured and key performance indicators;

·         the Plan should include reference to the Council’s relationship with the Government under the ‘partnerships’ heading, particularly in respect of the Northstowe development and the Greater Cambridge City Deal;

·         the issue of conservation was not referred to at all within the Plan;

·         the Plan should set out a commitment to protect those rural villages in South Cambridgeshire that were at threat of large scale speculative developments;

·         the objectives within the Plan should do more to support the long term vision of South Cambridgeshire being the best place to live, work and study in the country.

(NOTE – Councillor Orgee attended the meeting at this stage of proceedings).

Councillor Manning, as seconder of the proposal, referred to the Council’s relationship with Government and agreed that this was an important issue.  He reported that, as Leader of the Council, he regularly met with and lobbied Ministers on a range of issues relating to South Cambridgeshire and would continue to do so.

Councillor Whiteman-Downes acknowledged the comments made and highlighted that the numbered objectives were not in a priority order and were all corporate priorities.  He emphasised that the plan had gone through an extensive consultation process, involving workshops for Members and consideration at meetings of the Scrutiny and Overview Committee and Cabinet where comments had been taken into account.  Councillor Whiteman-Downes agreed that communities in the district had to be protected, which was why the Council’s long term vision of ensuring that South Cambridgeshire was the best place to live, work and study in the country remained in the Plan.

Voting on the proposal, with 31 votes in favour, 12 against and 1 abstention, Council APPROVED the Corporate Plan, setting out the Council’s vision, objectives and actions for 2015-2020 and incorporating key performance measures under each aim.

Enough Members as prescribed in the Council’s Standing Orders requested a recorded vote.  Votes were therefore cast as follows:

In favour

Councillors David Bard, Richard Barrett, Val Barrett, Francis Burkitt, Brian Burling, Pippa Corney, Kevin Cuffley, Simon Edwards, Sue Ellington, Andrew Fraser, Roger Hall, Lynda Harford, Roger Hickford, Mark Howell, Caroline Hunt, Mervyn Loynes, Ray Manning, Mick Martin, Raymond Matthews, David McCraith, Cicely Murfitt, Charles Nightingale, Tony Orgee, Neil Scarr, Tim Scott, Ben Shelton, Robert Turner, Bunty Waters, David Whiteman-Downes, Tim Wotherspoon and Nick Wright.

Against

Councillors Anna Bradnam, Jonathan Chatfield, Jose Hales, Philippa Hart, Peter Johnson, Sebastian Kindersley, Deborah Roberts, Bridget Smith, Hazel Smith, Jim Stewart, Aidan Van de Weyer and John Williams.

Abstention

Councillor Nigel Cathcart.

(NOTE – Councillor David Morgan was not in attendance for the consideration of this item).