Mish Tullar, Head of Corporate Policy, Partnerships and Communications has submitted a report to seek approval of the Oxford City Council Business Plan & Corporate KPIs.

Recommendations: That Cabinet resolves to:

1.    Agree the draft Oxford City Council Business Plan 2021-21, setting out the Council’s priority work programmes for the next financial year; 

2.    Agree the draft Oxford City Council corporate key performance indicators (KPIs) for 2021-24 - the remainder of the covered by the Council Strategy 2020-24; and

3.    Delegate authority to the Head of Corporate Policy, Partnerships and Communications in consultation with the Council Leader to make further minor amendments to the draft Oxford City Council Business Plan 2021-22 and Corporate KPIs 2021-24, before implementation.

Mish Tullar, Head of Corporate Policy, Partnerships and Communications, had submitted a report  to seek Cabinet approval of the Oxford City Council Business Plan & Corporate KPIs.

The Chair introduced the report. With reference to the Scrutiny Committee’s recommendations she confirmed that care would be taken to ensure that the final version was aligned with the recommendations flowing from the Climate Emergency Review Group and was pleased to agree to the incorporation of a glossary of terms, as well as a reference to the circular economy.

The plan set out the Council’s objectives over the next four years. The first significant priority was to enable an inclusive economy. The plan set out how this would be achieved and how success would be measured. The recently updated procurement strategy, for example, supported this objective through the encouragement of procurement  via local businesses and supporting  those which have adopted the Oxford Living Wage, particularly small and medium sized enterprises. The plan drew attention to the work done by the Council throughout the pandemic to support  local residents, the local economy and businesses, many aspects of which would continue.

The plan identified a number of important outcomes in relation to equalities, not just in relation to the Council’s workforce but elsewhere in the City. The plan sought to ensure that the Council’s workforce was properly representative of the communities it serves and  that the Council engages with all elements of those communities. The plan recognised the critical importance of partnership working to its success as illustrated, for example, by the ‘Meanwhile’ project.

The second and continuing priority was the delivery of more housing and affordable housing. House building provided another link to the Council’s ambition to be  zero carbon city, with  the encouragement of  modern methods of construction which can contribute to that.

The Blackbird Leys regeneration scheme will be an important strand of work which will involve close co-operation with the local community to ensure their needs are met, including the provision of affordable housing.

The third priority was that of supporting thriving communities through the work of among others, leisure centres and community services. The development of locality based teams over the previous year provided a basis for a future model of locality based working. Grant funding for voluntary groups would remain important given the invaluable contribution made by volunteers to the lives of those in the city. The Chair paid particular tribute to the work of volunteers over the previous year. The value of the Council’s parks and open spaces had been evident over the previous 12 months and its commitment to them was reaffirmed.

The fourth priority was the Council’s  commitment to a zero carbon oxford. The Chair was proud to be the Leader of a council which, having declared a climate emergency, had then demonstrated its commitment to tackling it by  an ever expanding programme of activity, in addition to a great deal of work which had already been undertaken.

Mish Tullar, Head of Corporate Policy, Partnerships  ...  view the full minutes text for item 159

Cabinet, at its meeting on 10 March, will consider a report on the Council Business Plan 2021-22 and Business Plan 2020-21 update. The Committee is asked to consider the report and agree any recommendations thereon.

Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of the Council and Mish Tullar, Corporate Policy Partnership & Communications Manager, have been invited to attend for this item.

Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of the Council, introduced the report. The last 12 months had been most unusual and,  as a result,  the focus had been on producing a plan which both met the Council’s objectives as well as meeting the atypical needs faced by the City as it emerged from the pandemic. Members and officers across the Council had worked hard to secure the right objectives which were fit for purpose and informed by a high level of engagement with stakeholders. The plan included targets which were both exciting and realistic. The section on  “Equalities Impact” was worthy of particular attention because of the way in which it exemplified the  critical importance of equalities as a key theme throughout the plan. She went on to draw attention to a few examples such as the promotion of the Oxford Living Wage; the promotion of socially responsible businesses (which would be helped by the recently revised procurement strategy); and the importance of employment and economic  recovery over the next year and beyond. Housing and homelessness comprised another important element, building on the good work of the last year. It continued to be important to deliver the Workforce Equalities Action Plan with its key objective of securing a properly representative and inclusive workforce. 

Mish Tullar, Head of Corporate Policy, Partnerships and Communications, emphasised that this ambitious plan was the product of significant engagement with, among others, all senior officers and portfolio holders. The plan had been constructed on the basis that it was deliverable (although this necessarily included assumptions about the ability to proceed with some activities as the current Covid-19 driven restrictions receded). The structure of the plan echoed that of the Council’s 4 year strategy and this included, for the sake of clarity and conciseness, the capturing of an item in the plan just once. It was important not to misinterpret this as meaning that an item was not considered relevant or important in some other strand of the plan also. It was important also to note that the plan’s focus was on transformative actions and not those which might be considered to be both important but also “business as usual.”  A great deal of thought had been given to the KPIs, seeking to identify ones which were both accessible and meaningful.

The Committee expressed support for the overall objectives of the plan and went on to raise a number of detailed  observations. These included the desirability of identifying how to track social value; clarifying the meaning of ‘infrastructure’ in the context of the Oxford Cambridge Arc; clarifying what was meant by the  Transport and Connectivity Prospectus; some actions appeared not to be aligned with those CERG recommendations  which seemed likely to be agreed by Cabinet; a better measure in relation to the conversion of fleet vehicles might be how many miles are covered by  both types of vehicle rather than the number of them; some apparent inconsistencies between aspirations for zero carbon buildings and what  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86