Council Plan 2012 to 2016 - Wrexham€¦ · Web viewThe Council Plan – 2012 to 2016. The purpose of Wrexham County Borough Council is to ensure that the people of Wrexham are

Council Plan2012 to 2016

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Alternative Formats

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Feedback

We welcome your comments on both the format and the content of our Council Plan. If you have any suggestions or comments to make the plan more readable, or for additional or alternative areas on which the Council should focus please contact us at the address below. Any proposals for additional areas of focus will be considered as part of the performance management and updating of this plan. Comments on the presentation of the plan will be considered for its next publication in spring 2013.

To provide feedback please use the contact details below.

Contact Details

Performance and Improvement Unit,Wrexham County Borough Council,Lambpit Street,Wrexham,LL11 1AY

Email: [email protected]: 01978 292263

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Our Council Plan – 2012 to 2016

Item Page Number

Foreword from Leader and Chief Executive..................................................................4Welcome to our Council Plan.........................................................................................5Our Strategic Priorities 2012 to 2016.............................................................................7The Council Plan Framework 2012-16............................................................................9

Strategic Theme: Economy...........................................................................................10E1 – People want to live, work, visit and invest here....................................................11E2 – Businesses can locate and grow here.................................................................13E3 – People can prosper as individuals and within their communities.........................14

Strategic Theme: People...............................................................................................16PE1 – All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential........................................................................................................................17PE2 – Children and young people are safeguarded.....................................................19PE3 – People feel, and are, safe and secure...............................................................21PE4 - All people are enabled to make healthy choices................................................23PE5 – All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and well-being..............................................................................................................25PE6 – Welsh language and culture is promoted and supported...................................27

Strategic Theme: Place.................................................................................................28PL1 - Homes that meet people’s needs and aspirations..............................................29PL2 – An Environmentally Responsible Place.............................................................30PL3 - Communities with sustainable, attractive settlements, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces...................................................................................................................32PL4 – Well Connected Communities............................................................................34

Corporate Theme: Organisation...................................................................................36O1 – Engaged and Satisfied Customers......................................................................37O2 – Creating the Conditions for Success...................................................................39

Working in Partnership for Wrexham County Borough.............................................41Working in Collaboration for Wrexham County Borough..........................................43Financial Planning – Transitional Arrangements........................................................43How Do Our Plans Link Together?...............................................................................44Annual Improvement Report Statement............................................................................45

Appendix 1 - What Do These Words Mean To Us?....................................................48Appendix 2 - The Key issues for Wrexham County Borough......................................49Appendix 3 - Key Supporting Strategies and Inspection Reports...............................51

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Foreword from Leader and Chief Executive

The Council Plan – 2012 to 2016

The purpose of Wrexham County Borough Council is to ensure that the people of Wrexham are supported to fulfil their potential and to prosper. This plan sets out where the Council will focus its energy and its resources to best achieve that purpose.

These are not aims that the Council can achieve on its own, and nor should they be. We have a duty to work with, support, and influence all the organisations, communities and people who can have an impact on the County Borough to make sure that their impact is a positive one. Whether this means attracting new businesses onto the Wrexham Industrial Estate or supporting local people as they in turn provide unpaid care for a loved one, this Council has a key role to play.

The plan covers the next four years, but won’t simply be printed and then left on a shelf. It is a plan that the Council will work to, and it will need to change and be updated as Wrexham County Borough – and the needs and concerns of local people changes over the next four years.

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Cllr. Ron Davies Dr. Helen PatersonLeader of the Council Chief Executive

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Welcome to our Council Plan

Wrexham County Borough Council delivers, and enables the delivery of, services to people who live in, work in and visit the County Borough.

The Council Plan is the overarching plan for the Council. It defines where we focus our energies and resources, how we will judge our performance and the Council’s contribution to the Community Strategy (see page 41). The Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 requires the Council to agree ‘improvement objectives’, which are referred to locally as ‘priority outcomes’ and are agreed as part of this plan.

This Council Plan sets out, for 2012 to 2016:

The Council’s vision, purpose, guiding principles and values The strategic themes and corporate theme that the Council will focus on for the next

four years The priority outcomes that sit under each theme How these were identified

We will judge whether we have been successful in meeting these outcomes by monitoring our progress against agreed outcome indicators and targets, which will help us measure the difference we have made for local people.

To performance manage this work, Members and officers of the Council will also monitor and report on:

Improvement activity – the projects and improvements that are being planned and delivered to support, influence or deliver improvements in identified outcomes.

Performance measures – measures of how well improvement activity has been delivered.

The Council will use this document to plan and manage its priorities, improvement activity and service delivery at a strategic level. It is also supported by a hierarchy of strategies and plans that contain a far greater level of detail and are regularly reviewed. As such the Council Plan is a living document that must respond to the changing local, regional and national context. It will be formally updated at the start of each financial year.

Performance management is an ongoing activity throughout the year, but the Council also publishes an annual review and assessment of its performance over the last financial year. This includes an assessment of the authority’s comparative performance, its achievement against the outcomes and targets it set itself, and judgements from bodies such as external regulators. This assessment is a public document and is in turn reviewed by the Wales Audit Office.

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The Council Plan – 2012-16

Our Vision

The Council as a strong community leader

Our Purpose

To ensure Wrexham and its people are supported to fulfil their potential and prosper

Our Guiding Principles

Citizens, Customers and Equality – Being at the centre of everything we do

Members – Elected Members as community leaders being at the heart of decision making

Welsh Language – Supporting and encouraging customers and staff to communicate in Welsh and English

Our Values

It is important for us to recognise what is driving how we deliver our services and how we behave as an organisation.

Trust Respect Innovation Flexibility Integrity Commitment

These values have been used to define a way of working for the Council:

We ask our customers what they want, consider their requests, work together to identify creative and appropriate ways forward, balancing risk and opportunity, and

then feed back to them honestly what can be delivered, working hard to keep our promises. We build trust and help to improve the quality of life for the people of

Wrexham.

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Our Strategic Priorities 2012 to 2016

The Council Plan sets out three strategic themes – Economy, People and Place – and a corporate theme of Organisation – striving for excellence.

Whilst these are distinct themes they cannot be viewed in isolation. The Economy requires both the right People, in terms of entrepreneurship and skills, and the right Place to work from, in terms of business sites and supporting infrastructure. Each strategic theme interacts and impacts on another, whilst the corporate theme of Organisation underpins the ability of the Council to provide or enable the delivery of the services required by the local economy, people and place.

These strategic and corporate themes are comprised of a number of priority outcomes, set out on page 9. These have resulted from an ongoing dialogue throughout the year and have been developed through a review of the Council’s existing and emerging strategies and the needs assessment and engagement work that has underpinned them. The identification of priority outcomes has also taken account of the results of the Council’s budget survey and key issues for Wrexham County Borough survey, details of which are set out more fully in Appendix 2. This consultation and engagement information has been considered alongside assessments of current performance, financial considerations, statutory guidance and comments from regulators.

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Economy

People

Place

Wrexham County

Borough

8

Priority Outcomes

Our priority outcomes are conditions of well-being - what we want for Wrexham County Borough in order to improve the quality of life for the people of Wrexham. We will judge how well we are doing in making that difference through monitoring the outcome indicators set out against each outcome. These are not direct measures of the activity that the Council is undertaking, but of the change in the outcomes that the Council is seeking to improve or sustain. The more that the Council focuses on improving outcomes, the more important positive partnership working, across all sectors, becomes. Neither outcomes nor outcome indicators are wholly within the Council’s control and can be influenced by the priorities and performance of partners and stakeholders, as well as a range of other local, national and even global factors.

We compare ourselves with others where we have the opportunity to do so. This is to put both performance and targets in context and to better understand the impact the Council and our partners are having.

Target Setting

We will work to improve performance on all the outcomes identified and will monitor and report on whether that improvement has been delivered using balanced scorecards. Alongside this, we set targets that help define and drive the Council’s level of ambition. These targets will be regularly reviewed and are set at levels that push the County Borough towards being one of the best performing areas in Wales. For some outcome indicators this means improvement targets that will challenge performance to show significant improvement over the course of this plan to the level of the best. Examples include targets on reducing the proportion of young people claiming Job Seekers Allowance, or improving the effectiveness of homelessness prevention services. For other targets, it means the challenge of sustaining performance at that level as other areas seek to improve and develop. Examples include the target to sustain the proportion of vacant town centre shops as being five percent better than the UK average.

Each year we will review the level of improvement delivered across all identified outcomes, how it compares against the targets we have set ourselves, and how it compares against the performance of others. Following this review we will identify where we need to sustain and where we need to improve performance.

Plan Framework

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The Council Plan Framework 2012-16

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Strategic Theme: EconomyCreating a vibrant, diverse and inclusive economy

The current economic downturn means that businesses are trading in an incredibly tough environment, unemployment is on the up, high street spending is down and economies are becoming more and more fragile.

Priority OutcomesE1 People want to live, work, learn, visit and invest hereE2 Businesses can locate and grow here E3 People can prosper as individuals in their communities

The Context

The employment rate in Wrexham County Borough is high, but this masks issues around youth unemployment and comparatively low levels of self-employment. The value of the goods and services produced in the County Borough1 is one of the highest in Wales, but between 2000 and 2010, average earnings moved from above to below the Welsh average.

The number of businesses in the County Borough has fallen since 2005, but the completion of the Eagles Meadow shopping and leisure complex has seen significant growth in local leisure and shopping opportunities. The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation

highlights the contrasts within the County Borough, with one area being one of the ten most deprived areas in Wales and another just outside the ten least deprived areas.

How this theme was developed

The priority outcomes within this strategic theme are drawn from the Economic Prosperity Strategy. It reflects the Community Strategy theme of ‘A place that is prosperous’ and links to the Joint Plan outcome one, ‘no child or young person is disadvantaged by poverty.’

‘The single most important thing the Council can do is to encourage new business to provide

work for local people’Survey respondent

Job prospects was the issue highlighted as most in need of improvement in the County Borough, supported by 52% of survey respondents2. A third of respondents (33.2%) also highlighted wage levels and the local cost of living.

‘Ensuring long term employment which has career potential and personal development. Not

just low paid, low skilled work’.Survey respondent

1 Gross value added per head – taken from regional accounts (ONS) 20092 ‘The key issues for Wrexham County Borough’ survey – for more info see appendix 1

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E1 – People want to live, work, visit and invest here

The more people who want to build their lives, pursue their ambitions or spend money here, the wealthier the place will be and the greater the quality of life for everyone. We need however to build the right physical environment and the right image or profile of the area.

We are investing in the County Borough in order to: Secure enough of the right land or buildings to attract high quality employment opportunities

with premium employers; Capitalise on the potential of our tourism assets to encourage visitors to stay longer and

spend more; Reduce the number of vacant/void town centre premises and increase footfall. More

shoppers means more pounds through the shop tills! Conserve and regenerate key buildings to raise the overall quality and feel of the

infrastructure and public realm within the County Borough.

One way of gauging the health of the economy is to take a walk down any high street. And, according to the latest survey, the results are not good, with 14% of town centre shops in the UK currently vacant. Weak consumer confidence, rising unemployment and growing online sales are being blamed.

A place that is attractive to residents will also attract business and investment as well as be a place where tourists wish to be. It’s all about lifestyle.

We will monitor our success through:

OutcomeIndicator

Comparison Wrexham 2011/2012

Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Total value of investment in physical regeneration in Wrexham (as broken down below)

n/a £3.53m £2.45m £4.32m Under review3

Under review

Town centre vacancy rate UK 14% 9.2%Our vacancy rate will track the national average.

Sustain performance at a minimum of 5% below the national average.

Value of visitor spend in Wrexham County Borough £84.4m4 £87m £87.5m5 £88m £88.5m £89m

We will achieve this by:

Completing western gateway junction 3 and securing planning permissions for junction 2 and the spine road;

Leading the conservation and restoration of buildings in Cefn Mawr;

3 Total value of investment post 2013-14 will de determined after the adoption of the Physical Regeneration Strategy for Wrexham CBC, which is to be produced within the coming year.4 Figures for Wrexham County Borough 2010/115 Projected figures are at 2011/12 prices and will need to be adjusted for inflation. They also take into account the imminent changes to the Scarborough Tourism Economic Measure (STEAM) system used to collate such economic data, in addition to the economic trend for the past 5-year period.

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Improving the visitor experience within the whole of the world heritage site including support for the development of tourist facilities and attractions at key location such as Trevor Basin and Chirk;

Preserving the distinctive character of our built heritage;

Taking forward physical improvements in Wrexham town centre including physical and environmental improvements at King Street and infrastructure improvements at the indoor markets; and

Developing and delivering a Marketing and Communications plan with focus on promoting Wrexham Town Centre, Wrexham Industrial Estate and Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal World Heritage Site.

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E2 – Businesses can locate and grow here

In recent years many businesses in Wrexham County Borough have been adversely affected by the downturn in the global economy. Similarly, our own commercial activities have not been immune. For example, the occupancy levels in our own commercial property portfolio have declined in recent years. This mirrors the experience of many private sector landlords. Over the next five years we will adjust our property portfolio to make it more relevant to business needs and work with all partners to try and attract new businesses to this area. We shall also encourage and support new business starts. Our overall goal is to increase the number of registered businesses in the County Borough from 4,565 (ONS, March 2010) to closer to 5,000 over the period and create jobs for local people.


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Number of new businesses assisted by Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC)6

n/a 30 60 60 60 60

Percentage of WCBC lettable commercial property occupied7 n/a 68 75 78 80 82

Number of qualified investment enquiries n/a 100 150 175 200 250

Number of registered businesses n/a 45658 Increase at one per cent per year more

than the national average


Developing close business relationships with strategically important businesses;

Encouraging entrepreneurship, business start-ups and indigenous growth by developing tailored packages of business support;

Provide commercial property that meets the needs of indigenous business, New Start businesses and potential inward investors;

Help businesses and training partners identify skills gaps and work with colleges to extend the training they can offer;

Help businesses increase their turnover, profit and sustainability by encouraging ‘supply chain’ opportunities and links between businesses; and

Develop ‘business communities’ and encourage dialogue between firms so that they work together for mutual benefit and improved competitiveness.

6 Robust information on the number of new business is not available, and so this measure is to be used as a proxy7 Information on vacancies across all commercial property is not available, and so this measure is to be used as a proxy 8 No of registered businesses as given by Office for National Statistics as at 22/3/10

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E3 – People can prosper as individuals and within their communities

Unemployment in Wrexham is not significantly worse than anywhere else in Wales however at 3.9% compared to Wales average of 4% it is not something we are complacent about especially in this tough economic climate. Increased, co-ordinated action to reduce unemployment is required to ensure the growth of Wrexham’s economy is realised for the residents of Wrexham. Youth unemployment in Wrexham has been steadily rising and is amongst the highest in North Wales, targeted efforts are needed to reverse this trend.

Engaging inactive people in community activity and community learning is a recognised route to improving employability and improving community spirit and cohesion which lead to building strong, active and prosperous communities. Our focus will be on improving quality as much as on overall growth, ensuring that progression and impact are better built-in and measured, and that such engagement can make a real difference in terms of economic and social wellbeing.

If people have bank accounts they can save money – on utilities, mobile phones, credit and so on. Yet more than 28% of low earners in Wrexham don’t have them, meaning that their low income has to pay disproportionately for the things that many take for granted. The initial target here is to work with partners to define and deliver a financial inclusion action plan that will show a reduction over the period.


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Percentage of people aged 16-64 claiming Job Seekers Allowance 4

(Wales)3.9 3.99 3.9 3.8 3.7

Percentage of key benefit claimants (Nomis definition)

18.4(GB average

14.5%)16.5% 16.5%10 16.5 15.5 14.5

Percentage of 18-24 population in Wrexham who claim Job Seekers Allowance

8.9 9.4 - Wales Average -

1% below Wales

averageNumber of people participating in community learning (top 25 most deprived communities)

N/A 2000 2050 2100 2150 220011

Number of people participating in community volunteering (top 25 most deprived communities)

N/A 1000 1025 1050 1075 1100

Number of people earning less than £15,000 with a mainstream bank account

TBC 28.3% 28.3% 27.8% 27% 26.3%12

9 Target is to maintain position below Wales average in first two years giving time for Employment Strategy to be determined and have initial impact in 2015, increasing gap below Wales average by further 0.1% each year. Percentages assume Wales average stays constant, and so would need to be revised annually to serve as ‘tracker’ figures rather than absolute figures.10 As above, target is to maintain tracking position below Wales average initially, and to achieve further distance from Wales average as Employment Strategy takes effect. Assumptions about Wales average are as above.11 Target is to steadily grow participation, seeing a 10% increase by 201612 Target is to reduce proportion of low earners without a bank account by 2% over the whole period

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Identifying a way forward with our partners to both reduce economic inactivity and respond to the challenges resulting from the Welfare Reform;

Increasing activities that encourage participation in learning and volunteering in order to increase community activity particularly in our 25 most deprived communities (as identified through Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2012);

Providing support in our rural communities to promote youth enterprise and sustainability to stimulate the rural economy and reduce youth unemployment; and

Working with our partners to reduce financial exclusion through provision of a co-ordinated range of services such as debt advice, access to mainstream banking (credit union) and supporting a reduction in fuel poverty.

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Strategic Theme: PeopleRaising Aspirations, creating confidence and promoting opportunity

The County Borough is home to around 133,600 people13 a number that is increasing. The number of people in the UK aged 85 and over is projected to more than double over the next 25 years14.

Priority Outcomes

PE1 All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential

PE2 Children and young people are safeguardedPE3 People feel, and are, safe and securePE4 All people are enabled to make healthy choices

PE5 All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and well-being

PE6 Welsh language and culture is promoted and supported

The Context

The demography of Wales, and of the UK, is changing with increasing numbers of people living for longer

Recent international education tests15 ranked Wales as the poorest of the UK regions in educational attainment

High profile safeguarding cases across the UK have led to increases in referrals to children’s social services across the UK

Agreed health priorities for North Wales include reducing smoking and alcohol misuse

The Welsh Government is seeking to increase the number of people using the Welsh language through the ‘A living language; A language for living’ project


It is drawn from the evidence and engagement work underpinning strategies that include: ‘Our Joint Plan,’ the joint Children and

Young People’s Plan and Health, Social Care and Well-being Strategy

The Community Safety Partnership Plan Local Safeguarding Children’s Board

Strategic Plan Social Services Business Plan Welsh Language Scheme and Welsh in

Education Strategic PlanIt also reflects the focus of regulators on safeguarding and wider education issues. Key issues highlighted by survey respondents for this theme were activities for teenagers and the level of crime.

‘Make our schools the best in Wales and the UK’Survey respondent

13 ONS 201014 ONS 2010 based national population projections15 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009

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PE1 – All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential

There are around 19,000 young people in Wrexham’s nurseries, primary and secondary schools, and throughout their years in statutory education we are supporting and preparing them for the next stage of their lives. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child highlights the importance of education to a child’s life. We want children and young people to have higher aspirations, and the confidence and qualifications to achieve them.

We monitor the performance of pupils throughout their twelve years at school, and on to further education but we will know we have succeeded by looking at the standard of qualifications achieved by sixteen year olds as they leave statutory education, the number and breadth of qualifications they achieve, and how many of them choose to remain in full time education, training or employment.


OutcomeIndicator

Comparison Wrexham 2011/2012*

Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Educational achievement on leaving secondary school:

The capped point score16 for pupils attainment at Key Stage Four (16 years old)

15th in Wales (311.6

average)307.9 322 329 336 343

Educational achievement on leaving secondary school:

The percentage of pupils achieving the Level 2 Threshold including English or Cymraeg and Mathematics (roughly equivalent to 5 GCSEs A*-C)

16th in Wales(50.1%

average)46.2% 52% 54% 56% 58%

Percentage of pupils leaving Year 11 who remain in full time education (from Careers Wales destination data)

82.8%2010 Wales

Average

81.5%**(2010 data)

83%(2011)

85%(2012)

87%(2013)

89%(2014)

*2011/12 attainment figures refer to qualifications achieved within the financial year 2011/12. These refer to examinations taken by pupils at the end of the 2010/2011 academic year, which ended in Summer 2011**Careers Wales destination data is published annually in April, and provides a snapshot of performance in October of the previous year


Working proactively with identified schools to boost attainment at Key Stage Four; Providing a differentiated challenge to schools on individual pupil performance, with a clear

focus on the quality of leadership and management; Encouraging the sharing of good practice between educational establishments; Collaborating with North Wales partner authorities; Reviewing Fixed Term Exclusions across the County Borough and identify targeted actions;

16 The capped wider points score shows the average achievement of pupils within the Local Education Authority, calculated using a pupil’s eight best results

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Analysing the educational attainment gaps between specific groups of learners and report this, and the actions being taken to address gaps, to Members on an annual basis; and

Strengthening collaboration with Work Based Learning providers to better prepare young people for employment.

We will also respond to demand for improved activities for teenagers, and link these activities to aspirations, learning and achievement by:

Engaging with local communities to explore the current and likely future level and nature of demand for youth and play provision and how to best respond to this;

Delivering updated youth and play provision in light of this; and Developing an outcome indicator for the number of young people achieving accreditation

through informal and non-formal learning.

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PE2 – Children and young people are safeguarded

There are over 31,000 people under 20 in Wrexham County Borough17 - a significant proportion of the population. They represent the borough’s future but they are also potentially some of the most vulnerable people in our community. The Council, together with other agencies, parents and carers all play a part in ensuring their safety and protection from harm. We want to be more responsive to children who are vulnerable.

By 2016 we want more of the children and young people involved with social services to be able to say that they feel safe. We want fewer children to be victims of crime but we want those who are victims to be able report it and we want children to be less likely to be injured accidentally or deliberately and those that are, to be supported and protected to prevent more serious harm.

This priority outcome reflects the safeguarding aspect of the Joint Plan (Wrexham County Borough’s joint Health Social Care and Well-being Strategy and Children and Young People’s Plan) outcome 2 ‘All children, young people and vulnerable adults are safe from harm’ and the Wrexham and Flintshire Local Safeguarding Children’s Board Strategic Plan 2011-14 outcome of ‘Children and Young People are Safeguarded’.


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Percentage of children and young people involved with children’s social care services who report they feel safe at home n/a Establish a baseline and set targets for future yearsPercentage of children and young people involved with children’s social care services who report they feel safe in school

Performance Measure Comparison Wrexham 2011/2012

Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

The percentage of initial assessments that were completed during the year where there is evidence that the child has been seen by the social worker18

64.2%Wales average

2010/11

73.6%Quarter 3 2011/12

80% 90% 95% 100%

The percentage of reviews of LAC, Children on the Child Protection register and Children In Need in line with the statutory timetable19

68.4%Wrexham 2010/11

(No Wales average

available)

73.4%Quarter 3 2011/12

80% 90% 95% 100%

17 Office for National Statistics. Resident population estimates, All persons September 201118 Public Accountability Measure SCC/11a19 Public Accountability Measure SCC/45

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Ensuring that our staff place the highest importance on speaking and listening to children to ascertain whether they feel safe and what their wishes and feelings are. This will be reflected in our training and supervision of staff.

Ensuring that other agencies contribute to core assessments through inter-agency training and where necessary holding partners to account through the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board and the local partnership structures;

Undertaking a pilot project with the Police to improve our efficiency in delivering social care services;

Working with Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board to develop an indicator on hospital admissions that relates to both deliberate injury (diagnosed abuse) and unintentional injuries (wider safeguarding) that is comparable to data currently collected in England by the NHS; and

Work with North Wales Police to develop currently collected data on child victims of crime to become a contextual indicator of violence affecting Children and Young People that makes use of the Home Office Data Source (From 2013).

Please note that the indicators are the nearest equivalent currently available to the performance indicators proposed in The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report A child-centred system (2011)

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PE3 – People feel, and are, safe and secure

The level of crime and how safe people feel are key factors that impact on people’s quality of life, and have been highlighted as such by local people. Safety and feelings of safety can only be improved in partnership, but Wrexham County Borough Council has a key contribution to make, both through its lead role within the partnership and through services such as the Youth Justice Service, Public Protection teams, the planning service and others.

By 2016, we will have worked with partners to reduce the number of crimes in the County Borough, and to maintain the high proportion of people who feel safe and consider that the Police and Council are dealing with crime.

This priority outcome reflects the Wrexham and Flintshire Community Safety Partnership Plan 2011/14 outcomes that ‘Our area is a safe place to live, work and visit’ and ‘Our area feels like a safe place to live, work and visit’. It is also informed by the Joint Plan outcome 2, ‘All children, young people and vulnerable adults are safe from harm.’


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Number of recorded crimes per 1,000 residents

Ranked 12/15 from the Home

Office group of similar

areas

77.5 Ensure year on year reduction based on March 2011 baseline figure

Percentage of respondents to the North Wales Police confidence survey who consider that crime is being dealt with by the Police and Council

Ranked 1st of North

Wales Police CSP's

87% Maintain position relative to other North Wales CSPs

Percentage of Peoples Voice respondents stating that they feel very or fairly safe in Wrexham County Borough in the day

n/a 97%20 Sustain performance at this level

We will achieve this by: Reduce the levels of violent crime, including domestic and sexual violence, by encouraging

licensed premises to positively participate in the Nightsafe and Pubwatch schemes, and by co-ordinating targeted educational work with young people, highlighting respect and risk;

Work with partners to respond to anti-social behaviour referrals with preventative and diversionary activities; support for vulnerable and repeat victims, enforcement against offenders and action against identified problem locations;

Reduce the levels of acquisitive crime by co-ordinating targeted interventions including tackling vehicle security, decoy cars, mobile automated number plate recognition and vehicle crime prevention packs;

Reduce re-offending by supporting the agencies that actively manage offenders by reviewing the Prolific and Priority Offenders / Integrated Offender Management scheme, and agree necessary action to improve performance;

20 People’s Voice Survey result Winter 2011/12. Sample of 327 responses.

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Reduce the harm substance misuse causes to communities, families and individuals by commissioning interventions such as advice and information, drop-ins, day care, residential rehabilitation, recovery, after care and support services;

Tackle hate related crime and disorder and encourage reporting supporting targeted campaigns and publicity aimed at increasing awareness, supporting victims and bringing perpetrators to justice;

Increasing public confidence by implementing a programme of community consultation and engagement, including public access to community safety information; community networks; web based communications and involving the community in community safety campaigns and consultation exercises.

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PE4 - All people are enabled to make healthy choices

Some people who live in Wrexham are overweight or obese, which has been shown to have a bad effect on people’s health, including heart problems, cancer and diabetes. We will therefore support people to improve their diet, have a more active lifestyle and so have fewer local people who are overweight or obese.

Smoking and alcohol are two of the biggest factors in ill-health and premature death in Wales and in Wrexham. Reducing the prevalence of underage smoking and alcohol consumption is key to tackling the associated health and anti-social behaviour issues. Restricting young people’s access to tobacco and alcohol is a vital element in reducing consumption. We will address these issues through health promotion, education, advice and prevention.

The Council will focus on targeted enforcement action; in relation to alcohol this will primarily be to improve compliance with the law relating to under age sales at licensed premises. Evidence from other areas shows that in relation to tobacco in particular, demand from under 18s is being met by the availability of cheap, smuggled cigarettes sold on the black market.

There is a need to gain a clearer picture of the smoking and drinking habits of young people in Wrexham, which will tell us how many smoke and drink, how much they smoke and drink and where they get the products they consume. This will allow performance to be measured by monitoring prevalence rates and will provide the information to enable limited resources to be effectively targeted.


OutcomeIndicator

Wales Average

Wrexham 2012

Target 2013

Target 2014

Target 2015

Target 2016

Percentage of Wrexham adults (16+) who are overweight or obese21

57% 54% Sustain top quartile position in Wales and a reducing trend.

Percentage of reception year children who are overweight or obese22

Will be available late 2012

20%23

(2010)

Sustain or improve to top quartile position in Wales (once determined) and a

reducing trend.Average premises risk assessment rating for underage sale of alcohol24:

a) Off licensed premisesb) On licensed premises

(calculated on a scale 0 – 10 where 0 = min risk, 10 = max risk)

- - a) 4b) 7

a) 3b) 6

a) 3b) 5

a) 3b) 3


Implementing the Healthy Eating and Being More Active Strategy and Tobacco Control Action Plan;

Implementing Appetite for Life recommend Food Standards for school lunches and outside lunchtime provision in all Schools by September 2013;

21 Source: Welsh Health Survey 22 Source: Measuring childhood heights and weights in Wales June 201023 This baseline from the pilot study so may need to be adjusted and no comparative data for Wales to date24 Calculated from data including test purchase attempts, systems put in place and local intelligence

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Undertaking Health Promotion activity and campaigns; Undertaking targeted enforcement activity; Delivering Education, Advice and Prevention through the In2Change and Healthy Schools

teams; Develop a way to measure the number of under 18’s who smoke and how/where they get

their tobacco/cigarettes; and Once key sources of tobacco for under 18’s has been established, target enforcement

activity on these sources.

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PE5 – All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and well-being

More people in Wrexham are living for longer and have more significant support needs. Health, housing, social care and other services are working closely together to support vulnerable older people and those who care for them. By 2016 there will be a more efficient service that provides early support to stop issues escalating into a crisis. This will mean that more people will be supported but less intensively. As a result of this more of those we are working with will report an improvement in the quality of their life. We will also focus on supporting the unpaid carers who are enabling people to remain independent and ensuring they receive the services that help them in their caring role.


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Older people supported by the services arranged by the Adult Social Care and Housing Departments who experience an improvement in their quality of life25

- 89%26

(2011) 91%27 93% 94% 95%

The extent to which the help received from Adult Social Care meets the needs of the Carer (from the perspective of the Carer)

- 85%28

(2011) 87% 89% 91% 93%

Performance Measure Comparison Wrexham 2011/2012

Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

The average waiting time for occupational therapy assessment (in weeks)

- 6 4 3 2 1

The number of delayed transfers of care per annum

- 22 19 16 14 12

The number of enhanced telecare packages provided - 490 528 573 626 687

The average number of calendar days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant

386.65Wales average

305.11(2010/11) Sustain performance in the top quartile


Developing more robust quality of life indicators for Adult Social Care and Housing; Improving accessibility to housing warden services for people in the community;

25 Quality of life information is not available for all older people and so information on those using services is being used as a proxy26 based on 400 replies from people being supported by Adult Social Care27 On a minimum sample of 50028 Baseline information is a Quarter 3 result based on a sample of 67. Future annual returns will be on a sample of around 300

document.doc 26

Implementing the recommendations of the review of housing accommodation for older people;

Community engagement and involvement that provides support to vulnerable older people from within their local community;

Expanding services that keep people safe at home through:o using new technologyo further developing reablement services29

o Further developing intermediate care services30

o Extending the service and support that we offer to people at risk of falling; and Continuing to develop information services for carers and older people.

29 This service supports people to be as independent as possible by providing up to 6 weeks of therapy and care support30 This service is designed to provide rapid care and support to older people in the event of them becoming unwell, or to support them to return home following an admission to hospital

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PE6 – Welsh language and culture is promoted and supported

Wrexham is the largest town in North Wales and is a gateway to Wales for those living in the Midlands or North West England. Hosting the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol in 2011 highlighted the profile of the Welsh culture and language across the County Borough and we want to build on that.

By 2016 Wrexham County Borough will be a hub for Welsh cultural events, more children and their families will be choosing Welsh medium education, and the Welsh language will be seen and heard more often throughout the County Borough.


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Percentage of learners choosing to enter Welsh medium education

14% of the population are Welsh speakers31

12.08%32

(Sept 2011) - 13% - 14%

Percentage of pupils sitting full GCSE in Welsh as a second language

22% 2010 24.9% 5%

increase

To be agreed with Welsh Government as part of the

Welsh in Education Strategic Plan Implementation Plan.

Number of visitors/participants to a Welsh cultural event or exhibition33 24,00034 49,000 52,000 58,000 64,000 70,000


Incorporating Welsh Government feedback into the Authority’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan and use this to inform an Implementation Plan and to set and agree annual delivery targets with the Welsh Government;

Establishing a Welsh Education Forum to oversee the delivery of the Implementation Plan Exploring the potential to participate in the Welsh Government ‘bilingual town’ pilot as part of

the ‘A living language; a language for living’ strategy; Providing and promoting a stimulating programme of Welsh cultural events and exhibitions; Improving the physical infrastructure of our cultural assets, including the creation of a new

gallery for Wrexham County Borough and further development of our museum and archives; Establishing a Welsh language training and development scheme across the Adult and

Community Learning Partnership; and Offering Welsh in the Workplace accredited training to all community tutors and monitor and

support the inclusion of the Welsh dimension in adult and community learning;

31 ONS. Data is taken from the 2001 Census. This is the most robust, up to date data and is that used by the Welsh Language Board32 Taken from the finalised September 2011 statistics for school numbers at reception (aged four) 33 By Welsh cultural events and exhibitions we mean events and exhibitions which showcase Welsh artists or are about Wales, the County Borough and its heritage34 2010/11 figures for Wrexham, which were unusually low due to the closure of the museum during its refurbishment

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Strategic Theme: PlaceInvesting in attractive, safe and inclusive communities

Wrexham is a large and diverse county borough of almost 500km², ranging from the town of Wrexham itself – the largest town in North Wales – to the beautiful landscape of the Ceiriog Valley.

Priority OutcomesPL1 Homes that meet people’s needs and aspirationsPL2 An environmentally responsible place

PL3 Communities with sustainable, attractive settlements, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces

PL4 Well connected communities

The Context

Sat on the border between England and Wales, Wrexham County Borough has developed into a natural hub for the surrounding areas and a commercial centre for the region.

The balance now needs to be sought between managing our environmental impact and delivering enough housing, plenty of open space and good transport networks. We want to make sure this doesn’t prevent growth, but our social and economic progress can only take place within environmental limits.

Being socially responsible is important to protect our environment and our communities. This means being considerate of people and surroundings and taking responsibility for our behaviour. It also means recognising communities’ rights, as well as their


This theme includes a widened focus of the affordable housing council priority, which remains a key issue for local people. The existing council priority on carbon reduction and improvement priority on waste minimisation and recycling are combined. These continue to be areas where the Council has a community leadership role as well as a need to reduce costs. The theme is drawn from strategies such as the Unitary and Local Development Plans, Carbon Management Action Plan and Community Cohesion Strategy.

‘The most important thing is ensuring a clean environment’ Survey respondent

Affordable, decent housing was the second most common issue highlighted for the County Borough by survey respondents, with transport issues also rated highly.

‘Provide more good quality affordable housing’Survey respondent.

document.doc 29

contributions to and responsibilities for the success of the County Borough.

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PL1 - Homes that meet people’s needs and aspirations

Decent and accessible homes are vital. For the past three years we have focused on providing new affordable homes at a time when house building has been in decline. Whilst relatively few units have been delivered, the work put in place means increasing numbers of new affordable homes will be delivered. For some, housing need is even more urgent. The number of homeless households approaching the Council has increased significantly over the last three years, with imminent welfare reforms expected to push that number higher still. To support people through this we will ensure a more responsive homelessness service that focuses on preventing households from becoming homeless.

The Council is also the landlord for 11,500 households across the County Borough, only 1% of which meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. This percentage ranks Wrexham as third best of the seven Welsh authorities that have retained their housing stock, although this ranking is a reflection of the number of authorities where no properties meet the standard. A £195m investment35 would be required to update all Wrexham properties in line with the standard. As we cannot make that level of investment, by 2016 we will have prioritised the improvements we can make on those areas that matter most to tenants – ensuring a good state of repair but also updating more heating systems, bathrooms and kitchens.

We will monitor our success through

OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

The number of new units of affordable housing

In 2010/11 Wrexham was

below the Wales average

89 90 95 100 10536

The percentage of all potentially homeless households for whom homelessness was prevented for 6 months

58.43%(Wales Average)WCBC was fourth quartile in 2010/11

17.9%(quarter two

2011-12)- 3rd quartile - 2nd

quartile

The percentage of properties meeting the following elements of Welsh Housing Quality Standard:

i. up to date kitchensii. up to date bathroomsiii. Adequately heatediv. In a good state of repair

i. 1%ii. 39%iii. 55%iv. 85%

i. 5%ii. 42%iii. 59%iv. 86%

i. 10%ii. 45%iii. 63%iv. 87%

i. 15%ii. 48%iii. 67%iv. 88%

i. 20%ii. 51%iii. 71%iv. 89%

We will achieve this by: Implementing phase 2 of the Affordable Housing Project - building more affordable housing

on Council owned land - by 2014 though selecting a development partner and beginning development;

Improve homeless prevention through the deployment of additional resources and liaison with Private Sector landlords; and

Providing an annual Housing Capital programme that is based on quality, efficiency and value for money.

35 Figures are taken from the last full Stock Condition Survey which was undertaken in 200736 Targets are not cumulative, so the target is for a total of 390 affordable units over the life of this plan

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PL2 – An Environmentally Responsible Place

The environmental impacts of climate change, the rising cost of electricity and fossil fuels, Government penalties and targets imposed for carbon emissions and the amount of waste sent to landfill, make environmental responsibility a priority for Wrexham.

Our aim is to optimise energy efficiency, use renewable energy, and increase recycling rates where possible across Wrexham County Borough. In doing this a number of principles will underpin our work including:

Significantly reducing the Council’s carbon emissions and energy use; Effectively managing rising energy costs to reduce potential negative impacts on service delivery; Effectively managing financial penalties and fines imposed by government legislation to reduce

potential negative impacts on service delivery; Positively influencing our employees’ behaviour in work and elsewhere; Carrying out our community leadership role to positively influence partners and the public; and Being a best practice leader across the UK.

We will set ourselves ambitious targets to reduce our carbon emissions and increase recycling rates to move us quickly towards becoming a low carbon, low waste, environmentally responsible organisation.


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/13

Target 2013/14

Target 2014/15

Target 2015/16

Percentage reduction in carbon emissions from non-domestic Council buildings since 2010/11 (first year of the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme)

UK CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme

17,508 tC0237

reported for

2010/11

3% 6% 9% 12%

Percentage reduction in carbon emissions from public sector housing across the County Borough since 2010/11

HECA Report

54,327 tCO2

reported for

2010/11

3% 6% 9% 12%

The percentage of municipal waste reused, recycling or composted

Welsh Average for 2010/11

43.65%, Wrexham is in the

top quartile for Wales

50% 52%Sustain 2012/13 performance and remain in the top quartile

for Wales


Delivering a programme of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across our non domestic buildings;

Delivering a programme of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across our social housing;

Rolling out of the ‘People Power’ communications campaign aimed at changing behaviour to reduce carbon emissions and energy use; and

Supporting and coordinating the implementation of an evidence-based community carbon reduction plan;

37 Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide

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Implementing mechanisms by which the Council can offer householders energy efficiency advice and support;

Delivering a rolling recycling awareness programme and education programme with both residents and schools across the County Borough; and

Increasing recycling rates at the three Household Waste Recycling Centres by encouraging the public to split their recyclable waste when they visit the Household Waste Recycling Centres.

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PL3 - Communities with sustainable, attractive settlements, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces

The people of Wrexham come from a rich heritage of communities. These communities can be geographical (e.g. particular villages) and communities of interest (e.g. faith groups). The places in which communities live are the result of historic patterns of development, but which have been influenced in more recent times by the planning system.

We want our communities to be able to function and grow in harmony with each other and to sustain positive relationships that recognise that everyone in Wrexham has a unique blend of qualities, skills, background, heritage and beliefs.

Key indicators of cohesion within and between our communities relate to how people feel about living in their neighbourhood, local area and County. Surveys in 2005 and 2009 showed that people in Wrexham have a strong and growing sense of belonging and that they get on well with people from different backgrounds, but that fewer people mix with others from different backgrounds. Over the next four years we will help communities work together to make Wrexham a place where all people feel respected, are at ease with each other and have a shared sense of belonging.

Key indicators of the quality of development in our towns and villages include objective measures like national standards for sustainable homes and commercial buildings, and the amount of development permitted in the countryside as well as subjective measures such as public perceptions of new developments once built. Over the next four years we will promote development and use of land that creates employment, regenerates communities and builds attractive, safe and accessible places in which to live, while also protecting the environment.


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/13

Target 2013/14

Target 2014/15

Target 2015/16

Percentage of people who feel that they belong to:

Their neighbourhood Their local area Wrexham County Borough

59%England

average38

89%39

81%78%

- 89%83%81%

- 90%85%85%

Percentage of people who feel that their local area is a place where people from different backgrounds can get on well together

85%England

average4063% - 75% - 85%

Percentage of new residential development that achieves Code 441 under the ‘Code for Sustainable Homes’

No data Code 3, 100%

Obtain baseline

data

5% above

2012/13 baseline

7.5% above

2012/13 baseline

10% above

2012/13 baseline

38 Taken from the 2009 Place survey39 2009 People’s Voice Survey40 2009 Department of Communities and Local Government Citizenship Survey41 The Code for Sustainable Homes is a nationally recognised criteria-based assessment of the degree to which new homes are sustainable (e.g. of energy consumption)

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OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/13

Target 2013/14

Target 2014/15

Target 2015/16

Percentage of people satisfied that the design of new development preserves or enhances a local sense of identity

No data No data

Conduct survey to establish baseline

5% above

2012/13 baseline

-

10% above

2012/13 baseline


Implementing the Community Cohesion Strategy and Action Plan 2011/14: Increased representation of minority communities’ views (including those of children and

young people) on strategic partnerships (Wrexham Local Service Board, Health Social Care and Wellbeing Strategic Partnership, Community Safety Partnership, Children and Young Peoples Framework for Partnership, Local Safeguarding Children Board);

Use of community views to inform Equality Impact Assessments; and Public, voluntary and community sector staff are helped to be more culturally competent and

confident to engage with minority communities.

Implementing changes though the planning system: Publish and secure compliance with a new Local Development Plan; Secure affordable housing, open space, school places and other community facilities

through developer contributions; Increase the number of developments which demonstrably follow sustainability principles to

reduce carbon emissions; Ensure that new development is of a high quality design that respects the character of

Wrexham's towns, villages and landscapes and follows inclusive design principles Promote biodiversity; Ensure that development follows ‘secure by design’ principles (e.g. clearly defined public

and private spaces and natural surveillance of open space and walkways); and Take proactive enforcement action to ensure compliance with planning policy in order to

remove harmful development.

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PL4 – Well Connected Communities

The availability of jobs, or the existence of shopping and cultural opportunities means little if people cannot access them easily and affordably.

In the current economic climate, costs for road construction and maintenance are rapidly increasing, and our funding is diminishing. Despite this, we will continue to invest in the County Borough’s roads, maintaining our current standards within existing funding. We will also ensure that public transport remains accessible for all, as running costs increase and central funding falls. As we cannot request commercially sensitive data such as the number of passenger journeys from private bus companies, we will measure the number of concessionary travel pass journeys undertaken, as this is recognised as a good indicator of overall usage and availability.

Over the next four years accessibility will continue to become a ‘virtual’ issue, with more and more services available on-line. We want these opportunities to be just as accessible to local people and will work to influence providers to improve the quality of local broadband availability, using local businesses to spearhead demand.


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Percentage of (A) road network in poor overall condition.

6.63%(All Wales

Ave.)

3.96%(2010/11) Sustain performance in the top quartile for Wales

Percentage of (B/C) road network in poor overall condition.

14.29%(All Wales

Ave.)

14.72%(2010/11) - Wales

average - Top Quartile

Number of concessionary travel pass journeys per annum

No All Wales comparison

data

2,122853 journeys(2010/11)

Sustain 2010/11 performance

The number of broadband exchanges in Wrexham that are ‘SDSL Enabled’

Increase the number of business broadband connections.

All Wales 6%

Total connections in Wrexham 60,898

13.33%

3297 Business

connections in Wrexham

3330 Business


13.33%

3363 Business


3396 Business


20% of exchanges SDSL enabled

3429 Business connections in Wrexham(An 4 year increase of 4%)

We will achieve this by: Re-constructing and improving those roads identified as in poor condition as part of a rolling

programme of works;

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Delivering functionality improvements on targeted junctions to make efficiency improvements;

Delivering the Wrexham Industrial Estate Access Road by 2012; Improving bus information by developing an on-line journey planner and mobile device

access to existing real time bus tracking technology by 2013 ; Working in partnership with transport providers and others to develop smart ticket purchase

options by 2014; Monitoring the Welsh Government "next generation" broadband scheme and identifying

opportunities for the County Borough once a decision is in place; Redesigning Wrexham County Borough Council web information systems to support smart

technology applications; Proactively lobbying the current broadband providers to ensure Wrexham has a fit for

purpose broadband network; Improving modal links into the Borough through strategic rail developments, including

dualling of the Wrexham/Chester line and electrification of the Wrexham/Bidston line; Reducing travel times into and out of the Borough through strategic junction improvements;

and Developing a community transport network within the Borough to support unmet demand

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Corporate Theme: OrganisationStriving for Excellence

Wrexham County Borough Council is made up of 52 elected Members. It is led by an Executive Board who are supported and held to account by Scrutiny Committees. The Strategic Management Team for the Council is made up of the Chief Executive, three Strategic and Performance Directors and nine Heads of Department. Services are provided and enabled by around 6,400 people in 4,900 full time equivalent posts.

OutcomeO1 Engaged and satisfied customersO2 Creating the Conditions for Success

The Wrexham Context

Each year, the Auditor General for Wales reports on how well Welsh councils are planning for improvement and delivering their services. The report for 2010/11 found that Wrexham County Borough Council:

Is making slow progress in developing its arrangements to support improvement and in improving some services

Continues to have good financial management and is developing collaborative projects, but it has made slow progress in improving its governance and other arrangements

Is making mixed progress in improving services Extensive time and resources are used in performance monitoring but the Council is not making the best use of information to support self assessment and performance management

For more information see page 47


This priority theme will mainstream the Council’s transformation programme and focus it upon effectiveness as well as efficiency.

‘The Council should ‘listen to [local people] and take notice of what they hear’’

Survey respondent

The opportunity to influence decisions was a key issue for improvement highlighted by survey respondents, as well as one that has been raised by regulators as an area for improvement.

‘The Council should ‘value and support its staff’Survey respondent

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O1 – Engaged and Satisfied Customers

Over seven thousand people contact Wrexham County Borough Council each working day for advice and information, to request services or to report problems. Thousands more benefit from the universal services the Council provides or enables, such as waste collection and trading standards.

We will strive to ensure that these services reflect the requirements of local people, and that this is reflected in the satisfaction of local people with those services.

In 2008 the Council had over 100 published phone numbers and nine town centre receptions between which customers were directed depending on the service they want. The Customer Contact Centre was established in 2009 as a single point of access for those services most frequently requested by customers. This has significantly reduced the range of published numbers in use and the services accessible through the centre is continuing to grow.

By 2016 the Council will earn the public’s trust by engaging with local people and using what it learns to make significant changes in the services that it provides. As a result, customers will value the work that we do and will tell us they have seen a significant improvement in the services they receive and how they receive them.


OutcomeIndicator


Target 2012/2013

Target 2013/2014

Target 2014/2015

Target 2015/2016

Percentage of popular services accessible through the Contact Centre

Telephone Face to face E mail

- Tel: 25%F2F: 38%E Mail:23%

Tel: 38%F2F: 61%E: 38%

Tel: 61%F2F:69%E: 54%

Tel: 85%F2F:85%E:77%

Tel: 92%F2F:92%E M: 85%

Customer satisfaction with Contact Wrexham Services by:

Telephone Face to face Web

(UK average) 93% 73% 45%

95% 80% 59%

96% 82% 60%

97% 84% 61%

97% 86% 62%

97% 88% 63%

Percentage of customers who trust the Council to deliver the service they requested

- 63% 68% 73% 78% 83%

Percentage of local people who feel that the Council takes accounts of residents’ views when making decisions

41%42

British average n/aBritish

Average or Better

-Above British

Average-

We will achieve this by: Migrating the majority of customer contact currently delivered by departments into the

Corporate Contact Centre;

42 LG Insight/Populus poll January 2011. Wales average was 39%

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Delivering a significant upgrade of the Council’s Customer Relationship Management system to support the ability to resolve queries at the first point of contact;

Continuing to review processes to make them streamlined and easily accessible for customers;

Implementing an enhanced complaints process and structure; Implementing a robust customer satisfaction survey across all channels and services; Analysing customer information to ensure we learn from mistakes and continue to improve

services; Publishing an annual report setting out how customer feedback, consultation and

engagement information has impacted on decisions; and Undertaking an annual survey to understand local people’s satisfaction with, and

perceptions of, the Council.

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O2 – Creating the Conditions for Success

Wrexham County Borough Council wants employees who do their best work and ‘go the extra mile’ to deliver the required service. We also want our employees to have jobs that are worthwhile, jobs that inspire them and to understand how what they do contributes to the success of the authority.

To build an authority that delivers positive results again and again we nurture an organisation where employees feel valued. Feedback and challenge are seen as healthy processes and there is a commitment to listen and respond.

Good leaders create the environment for employees to be innovative in how we improve what we do and the outcomes we deliver for the people of Wrexham. In short, we create a passion within the Council for customer service within Wrexham. Employees understand their unique contribution to the Council and this inspires change, creativity and innovation.


OutcomeIndicator

Comparison Wrexham 2012

Target 2013

Target 2014

Target 2015

Target 2016

Level of staff engagement (Amalgamation of employee engagement measures taken from the new staff survey)

- 58.9% 60% 65% 70% 75%

Percentage of an identified basket of national indicators43 where performance is first quartile44 for Wales Quartiles are an

indicator of comparison

56%(2010/11) 67%

Future targets will be reviewed following the current Welsh

Government review of statutory national indicators

Percentage of an identified basket of national indicators where performance is first and second quartile for Wales

66% 78%


Developing and improving the workforce planning approach across the Council, ensuring we have appropriate staffing and skills;

Implementing and developing an integrated human resources and payroll system to improve workforce monitoring;

Undertaking a programme of strategic assessments to shape the organisation and to deliver improved outcomes;

Cultivating positive staff engagement by developing our leaders and ensuring staff behaviours reflect the values of the Council;

Developing our employees to ensure they are equipped with the skills they need to help them achieve the Council's strategic priorities and their full potential;

Retaining the Investors in People status by affirming processes within the organisation through the reassessment process;

43 Identified basket of National Strategic and Public Accountability Indicators where the Council wants to sustain or improve comparative performance. Will be reviewed following the Welsh Government review of these indicators44 1st quartile means that performance is amongst the best 25% in Wales; 1st or 2nd, the best 50%.

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Integrating equality and valuing diversity through each department achieving the 'gold standard' of the Council Equality Award;

Achieving the Corporate Health Gold Standard by 2016; Putting forward to Council proposals for changes to scrutiny, decision making and

business processes; Updating the Medium Term Financial Strategy to show how the Council integrates its

processes for developing future strategic priorities and allocating resources to them.

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1.

Working in Partnership for Wrexham County Borough

To ensure that the people of Wrexham County Borough are supported to fulfil their potential and prosper, the Council provides or enables a wide range of services and we are continually looking for ways to improve how we can deliver them with the resources we have available.

We recognise that sometimes the best way to deliver services is by working in partnership or through collaboration. One of the key partnerships that the Council is involved in is the Wrexham Local Service Board.

Wrexham Local Service Board

The purpose of the Wrexham Local Service Board is to strengthen local public service leadership so that it can tackle fundamental cross-cutting service delivery issues and integrated working across sectors to deliver better outcomes and services from a citizen, not a sector, perspective.

The Board is a leadership team, made up of senior representatives from the local authority, health sector, further and higher education, police, fire and rescue, and the voluntary sector. The Wrexham Local Service Board set out its vision for Wrexham County Borough in the Community Strategy.

The Wrexham Local Service Board, following publication by the Welsh Government in January 2011 of ‘Shared Purpose – Shared Delivery’ is looking at how partnerships and their plans can be integrated into a single plan to ensure that partnerships can work together even moreeffectively on delivering real improvements for the people of Wrexham.

Wrexham Community Strategy

The Community Strategy sets out how Wrexham Council works in partnership with its public, private and third sector partners to promote and improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area. It sets out six priority areas for improving the quality of life for the people of Wrexham County Borough.

The vision and priorities in the Community Strategy are:

‘To improve the quality of life for all in Wrexham County Borough’

In doing this we commit to ensuring that Wrexham County Borough is a place where people have a say in the services that are delivered to them, and that their views, needs and aspirations are taken into account.

To deliver this vision, for all people and communities now and in the future, our aim is to make Wrexham County Borough a place that:

Is economically prosperous – with reduced deprivation, where communities and businesses work together to create good economic opportunities now and in the future. This is reflected in the strategic theme of economy.

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Is safe – with communities where people feel safe and secure and levels of local crime and anti-social behaviour are reducing. This is reflected in the ‘People feel, and are, safe and secure’ priority outcome.

Values citizenship, community spirit and social responsibility – where people get on well together and respect each other, take responsibility for themselves and their actions and take pride in where they live. This is reflected in the ‘Communities with sustainable and attractive settlements, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces’ and the ‘Engaged and satisfied customers’ priority outcomes.

Enables people to reach their full potential – providing excellent education, training and personal development opportunities and equipping people with the skills needed for work. This is reflected in the ‘All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential’ priority outcome.

Looks after its built and natural surroundings – protecting and enhancing the county borough now and for future generations. This is reflected in the strategic theme of place.

Cares for people’s health – improving the health, social care and well-being of children, young people and adults. This is reflected in the ‘All people are enabled to make healthy choices,’ and ‘All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and well-being’ priority outcomes.

These themes were established in 2008 following a rigorous consultation and evidence gathering exercise. This work will now be repeated to inform a refresh and a new approach linked to the Local Service Board’s single plan. The results of this exercise will be used to challenge and reconsider the focus of this plan at its next major review at the start of 2013/14.

The vision and priorities in the Community Strategy interlink as set out above with the priorities we have developed as a Council for achieving improvement over the coming four years.

The diagram on page 44 illustrates the connection between the community strategy, the Council Plan and the various departmental, team and personal development plans which feed into the Council Plan.

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Working in Collaboration for Wrexham County Borough

Collaborative working is not a new way of working for Wrexham County Borough Council. In 2009, Members agreed to the principle of collaboration and Programme Boards were set up. Wrexham has also collaborated in other areas - the North Wales Adoption Service and the North Wales Emergency Social Services Duty Team are both collaborative ways of working that are led by Wrexham.

Collaboration is an integral way of working within Wrexham, as agreed by Executive Board in 2011, but must accord with the five key principles agreed by Council in February 2012:

Wrexham County Borough Council Members must remain central to key decisions in relation to collaboration via the existing decision making process of Executive Board;

All collaboration must have a sound business case highlighting strong improvement outcomes and/or financial benefits for Wrexham;

Collaboration must support the Council’s vision for Wrexham County Borough; Some collaborative work may not maximise short-term benefits for Wrexham,

but all business cases must evidence the longer-term maximisation of benefits for Wrexham; and

No collaboration should undermine the ability of the democratically elected Council to best represent the interests of Wrexham.

Financial Planning – Transitional Arrangements

The financial arrangements and timescales associated with moving from the existing Council Plan to this new Plan involve a period of transition.

The Council’s existing Medium Term Financial Strategy 2012-15 is regularly updated and incorporates details of the resources allocated to affordable housing, education and carbon initiatives. These add up to over £6m and are supplemented with information on the finances linked to the Council Improvement Priorities.

The Council Budget for 2012/13 was set on 29 February 2012, in accordance with the current Medium Term Financial Strategy. Additional resources generated during the transitional year of 2012/13, either by efficiencies, additional income or grants, will be available to firm up the priority areas associated with the new Plan. This resource alignment will be led by the New Council from June 2012.

The Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy will be updated following this year’s elections to ensure that both revenue and capital resources are focused on specific priorities within this Council Plan.

Clearly there is considerable overlap between the old and new Council Plan and this transitional year enables the smooth and timely inclusion of the priorities of the new Council.

The Council

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How Do Our Plans Link Together?

The Council Plan sets out the contribution that the Council will make to the Community Strategy

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Equalities

The Equality Act 2010 has replaced nine anti-discrimination laws with a single Act, simplifying the law, removing inconsistencies and making it easier for people to understand and comply with it. It has introduced a new integrated public sector equality duty with three aims:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.

Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

Wrexham County Borough Council will publish a single Equality Plan that will sit alongside this Council Plan, and which will replace the existing equality schemes for Race, Gender and Disability. The equality challenges set out in the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s ‘How Fair is Wales’ report were considered in formulating the Council Plan and the action plans that underpin it. As an example, challenges like those for Education – to close the gap in attainment between different groups and to reduce the incidences of young people who are not in education employment or training (NEET) – have been reflected in actions around the analysis and reporting of educational attainment gaps between specific groups of learners and the continued focus on NEETs and more specifically the proportion of young people remaining in full time education.

Sustainability

Sustainable development means focusing on how we will improve everyone's quality of life and well being. This means working towards becoming a more prosperous County Borough by developing people and resilient communities that can face up to the challenges of the future, from climate change, to food and energy security to bouncing back from economic austerity. This is no mean feat because sustainability cuts across everything we do, and will mean that individuals young and old, communities and businesses will need to come together with organisations such as Wrexham County Borough Council to shape what a low carbon Wrexham will look like. The Welsh Government is currently developing a new Bill to take forward the One Wales: One Planet vision for a sustainable Wales. This will require local authorities to put sustainability at the heart of their work. The Council is working to develop a strong mechanism to ensure that all services will deliver social, economic and environmental outcomes that are both sustainable and within environmental limits, and this will complement the sustainability framework that the Local Development Plan will put in place. We will publish our performance as a Council and a community leader, as clear indicators alongside our end of year financial reports. In addition to this we will continue to work with communities across the County Borough to explore what sustainability means to them, in order to find out what services they may need in the future.

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Statutory Framework

The Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 redefines the duty placed on local authorities to ‘make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of their functions.’

The Measure requires local authorities to:

publish plans for improvement which must include a set of Improvement Objectives; and

publish an assessment of performance relating to their plans and Improvement Objectives.

This Council Plan is the means by which Wrexham County Borough Council discharges this statutory duty. It is the authority’s plan for improvement, and the priority outcomes which it sets out are the authority’s improvement objectives. It is published under Section 6 of the Local Government Act 1999 and related revised Wales Programme for Improvement guidance issued by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Annual Improvement Report Statement

The Auditor General reports annually on how well Welsh councils are planning for improvement and delivering their services. The report contains recommendations and proposals for improvement and the most recent report for Wrexham County Borough Council is available at http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/council/audit/

Two formal recommendations were made for Wrexham County Borough Council in the 2012 Annual Improvement report:

R1 The Council should outline arrangements to review scrutiny and decision making and to streamline business processes which increase the pace of change in addressing these issues.

Response Proposals for changes to democratic decision making and structures have been approved by Council. Members agreed that they will commence with effect from the first meeting of the new Council after the Annual Meeting in May 2012.

R2 The Council should set out how it will integrate the processes for developing future improvement objectives and allocating resources to them as part of its medium term planning and budget setting process.

Response The Council Budget for 2012/13 was set on 29 February 2012 in accordance with the current Medium Term Financial Strategy. Additional resources generated during the transitional year of 2012/13, either by efficiencies, additional income or grants, will be available to firm up the priority areas associated with the new Plan. This resource alignment will be led by the New Council from June 2012.

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http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/council/audit/

The Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy will be updated following this year’s elections to ensure that both revenue and capital resources are focussed on specific priorities within this Council Plan.

These recommendations were supported by five proposals for improvement. The council has responded in the form of an action plan against all the recommendations which will be regularly monitored by the Councils Senior Management Team.

Statutory National Indicators

Welsh Ministers set statutory performance indicators for local authorities in Wales under section 8 of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009. The current set of statutory performance indicators were established under the Local Government (Performance Indicators and Standards) (Wales) Order 2010 and local authorities are under a legal duty to collect and report on these statutory performance indicators on an annual basis.

The Welsh Government is currently consulting on a new set of statutory performance indicators that incorporate the existing set of statutory performance indicators with a small number of additional performance indicators taken from the Programme for Government and the intention is that these will be reported from April 2012 onwards.

Once confirmation of the final set of statutory indicators is received, these indicators and corresponding targets will be included in the Quarter 4 Performance Management Analysis report to the Council's Executive Board in June 2012.

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Appendix 1

What Do These Words Mean To Us?

Strategic/Corporate Theme The key themes that the Council Plan, and so the work of the Council, is focused upon: Economy, People, Place and Organisation. Economy, People and Place are our strategic themes, and Organisation is the corporate theme and focuses specifically on the Council as an organisation.

Priority Outcome The specific outcomes the Council will focus on under each strategic and corporate priority theme. These are conditions of well-being – what we want for Wrexham County Borough in order to improve the quality of life for the people of Wrexham.

Outcome Indicator A numeric indicator that helps to describe the level of improvement being achieved against an outcome. Such indicators help us to understand whether things are changing in the way we intended. Where robust outcome indicators at the level required are not available, a proxy may be used.

Proxy Indicator A ‘best-fit’ indicator used where robust outcome indicators are not available at the level required. An example is monitoring the number of business start-ups assisted by the Council where the absolute number of business start-ups is not available.

Improvement Activity The projects and improvements which are being planned and delivered to support, influence or deliver improvements in identified outcomes.

Target We look to improve our performance on all priorities and see improvement as success. Targets define and drive the ambition that the Council has for the level of improvement on an indicator. The way that we set out targets is set out on page 13.

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Appendix 2

The Key issues for Wrexham County Borough

The Council Plan priority outcomes have been drawn together from existing plans and strategies and are based on the evidence base and consultation and engagement work that underpinned those plans and strategies.

The consultation process for the Joint Plan alone included 50 meetings and events ranging from discussions at forums for local communities or interest groups, such as the Over 50s forum, to multi-agency stakeholder groups. The Local Development Plan has been developed through an exhaustive process of drafting, public consultation and deliberation whilst strategies such as the community cohesion and economic prosperity strategies were developed through initial visioning events and workshops of key stakeholders, partners and individuals before going on to consultation.

A list of the key plans and strategies used to inform this Council Plan is available at Appendix 3. We will continue to review and consider our engagement with local people and communities through the life of this plan, which will be continuously refined throughout its life as the strategies which underpin it are updated and reviewed, and as the Council becomes better at responding to the changing requirements of local people. The review and refresh of the Community Strategy, and the engagement and evidence gathering exercise that will support it, will also be a key opportunity for refreshing this plan.

Alongside this existing information, the People’s Voice citizens’ panel were consulted on the Council’s budgetary approach in Autumn 2011. 327 responses were received from the 562 panel members, a response rate of 64%. This exercise highlighted that over two thirds of residents agreed that spending should be reduced in central services. However, respondents highlighted three areas where over three-fifths disagreed that spending should be cut:

adult social care (62%); children’s social care (72%); and schools and education services (72%).

Just over half of respondents also disagreed that spending on roads and pavements should be cut. These four areas are reflected in the three ‘People’ priority outcomes Pe1, Pe2 and Pe5 and the ‘Place’ outcome Pl4 – Well Connected.

A survey on the ‘Key issues for Wrexham County Borough’ was undertaken in Winter 2011 and was advertised through a feature in the Wrexham Evening Leader and adverts in the Council’s offices, website and through social media. 268 responses were received.

Respondents identified those areas most in need of improving as:

1. Job prospects (51.8%)2. Affordable decent housing (39.0%)3. Road and pavement repairs (35.9%)4. Wage levels and the cost of living (33.1%)

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5. Activities for Teenagers (32.3%)

Whilst the first four areas were reflected within the emerging council plan, road and pavement repairs are an area where the Council is facing rising costs against a static budget. As such, whilst a rolling programme of reconstruction and repairs will be made on routes deteriorating into poor condition, the aim will be to maintain rather than improve the overall quality of the County Boroughs road network.

Activities for teenagers was the only area arising that had not been highlighted within the draft Council Plan, but had been identified by the Senedd Yr Ifanc and through the consultation on the joint plan. Appropriate actions from the Joint Plan have been reflected under the People outcome ‘Pe1 – Children and Young People have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential’.

In terms of those areas most in need of improving, affordable housing was rated the most important areas by those in the 19-30 age bracket (58.3%), by women (54.7%), and by those living either outside (56.3%) or within rural areas of the County Borough (51.6%). Education provision was more likely to be highlighted by those over 61 (60%).

Other key issues identified by the Senedd Yr Ifanc include: sexual health and drugs alcohol & smoking, which are key issues within the Joint Plan although only alcohol and tobacco have been highlighted within the Council Plan due to priority given to these issues by Public Health Wales; Improving Education, which is reflected in priority outcome Pe1; The Welsh language, which is reflected in priority outcome Pe6; Affordable transport, which is reflected in the public transport strands of the Pl4 priority outcome; and the reputation of young people which is not reflected within this plan but is being further considered by a sub-group of the Senedd.

Equalities information is requested from those who participate in consultation and engagement exercises. This information is used for two purposes – to understand who is (and who is not) participating in such exercises, and to analyse responses to highlight the differences in opinion and experience between different communities. Equalities information is not currently being consistently collected, completed by respondents where it is requested or analysed on consultation and engagement exercises and this is an area for improvement over the course of this Council Plan.

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Appendix 3

Key Supporting Strategies and Plans

Carbon Management Action PlanCommunity Cohesion StrategyDepartmental Service PlansDevelopment Plan – The Unitary Development Plan and emerging Local Development Plan Economic Prosperity StrategyEmerging Workforce and Organisation Strategy 2012-16Medium Term Financial Strategy 2012 - 2015Our Joint Plan Emerging Single Equality Plan Social Services Annual ReportWelsh in Education Strategic PlanWelsh Language SchemeWrexham and Flintshire Community Safety StrategyWrexham and Flintshire LSCB Strategic PlanWrexham’s Community Strategy 2009-2020

Key Regulatory and Inspection Reports

Annual Improvement Report (Wales Audit Office)Chief Inspectors Letter (Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales)Local Authority Education Services for Children and Young People (Estyn)Inspection of health & safety management system and supporting organisational culture (Health and Safety Inspectorate)

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Documents

Council Plan 2012 to 2016 - Wrexham€¦ · Web viewThe Council Plan – 2012 to 2016. The purpose of Wrexham County Borough Council is to ensure that the people of Wrexham are