Contact: Chris Lawrence-Pietroni, ext 7385

1 Summary

1.1 Cabinet met in March to review the future direction and priorities for the administration following the sessions with CMT at the end of 2005.

1.2 Cabinet is asked to consider the draft direction and priorities and the proposals for the development of the revised Corporate Strategy and supporting corporate business plan for the period to May 2009.

2 Introduction

2.1 As reported in October, it is proposed that the revised Corporate Strategy should take a new approach. The Corporate Strategy will now have a clear statement of political direction and priorities set by Cabinet which will endure for the life of the administration. This will be supported by a corporate business plan, with high level targets, to be monitored annually by CMT and reported to Cabinet.

2.2 Cabinet met to consider the future direction and priorities for the administration against a background of previous discussions including the workshop with CMT in October, the results of the 2004/5 MORI residents survey and the latest information on the emerging Local Area Agreement

2.3 The workshop focused on the need for the public to be able to understand the County Council's key priorities, to provide direction for budget, workforce and service planning, and in support of the County Council's Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) Direction of Travel self assessment.

2.4 Cabinet agreed that the outcome of the workshop would provide the high level political direction and priorities which would exist for the life of the administration and that would form the basis for Chief Officers to identify key corporate targets and indicators within a corporate business plan that would be capable of being monitored on an annual basis for performance at the corporate level.

3. Draft direction and priorities

3.1 The Cabinet workshop identified 1 overarching priority and 2 supporting priorities as follows:

Priority 1: Hampshire safe and secure for all

Priority 2: Maximising wellbeing

Priority 3: Enhancing our quality of place

Priority 1: Hampshire safe and secure for all

The Cabinet's top priority for this Administration is to ensure that Hampshire is safe and secure for all. This dovetails with the priorities established through the LSPs, LAAs and responds to the priorities of residents as shown in MORI surveys and user groups.


To deliver on this vision Hampshire County Council will prioritise measures which:

· Safeguard the vulnerable

· Maximise the safety built into the environment

· Help communities to feel secure and confident

· Support individual responsibility

· Help young people to lead safe, positive lives

3.2 The Cabinet will take a particular role in ensuring the delivery of initiatives
that will build on and enhance core services to help deliver on the promise
of Hampshire safe and secure for all, seeking to set targets at the highest
level in relation to:

· The provision of Accredited Community Support Officers as a deterrent to crime and anti-social behaviour and as a visible means of support and reassurance to the community (target to be agreed).

· Ensuring that Hampshire's secondary schools deliver the Rights, Respect and Responsibilities programme supporting young people as they become active citizens (target to be agreed).

· Increase outreach work with young people (target to be agreed)

· Enhanced road safety/control of speeding/pavements etc (target to be agreed)

· Designing in safety to our built environment (target to be agreed)

These specific targets will be included in the corporate business plan to be
monitored by CMT.

3.3 The Cabinet's other two priorities are valuable in their own right and contribute

to securing Hampshire safe and secure for all.

Priority 2: Maximising wellbeing

Hampshire is a place where people should be able to do more than just live - they should enjoy a strong sense of wellbeing. The County Council will empower people to take a full part in their community and to access services. With partners, the County Council will ensure that people have every opportunity to support themselves safe in the knowledge that if things go wrong we will be there with the right help to support them.

Priority 3: Enhancing our quality of place

Hampshire will be recognised by residents as a good place to live with excellent facilities, good transport links, a beautiful environment and a healthy economy. The County Council needs to ensure that this continues to be the case protecting local distinctiveness & diversity, respecting our heritage and planning positively for the future.

4. Next steps

4.1 Cabinet are asked to agree the political direction and priorities and make a
recommendation to County Council in July as part of the Policy Framework
within the Constitution. Cabinet are also asked to agree the approach for the
production of a corporate business plan for approval by July.

4.2 Policy Unit officers will work with CMT and Departmental Management
Teams to identify targets and indicators at the corporate level to complete the
corporate business plan which will be reported to CMT and Cabinet in July.

4.3 Corporate Business Plan
The corporate business plan will provide CMT with a framework for reviewing and managing high level targets across the authority in support of the political direction and priorities and will include:

Services:

· the targets set for the Cabinet initiatives as in paragraph 3.2, above

· key actions and targets from other statutory plans including the Children and Young Person's Plan, Local Transport Plan etc

· other key actions from departmental service plans that relate to the Cabinet priorities and/or have a corporate impact;


Management issues:

· key management priorities such as value for money, efficiency targets, equality and diversity and the pay & benefits programme; and


Partnership commitments:

· key corporate partnership commitments as in the Hampshire Community Strategy, Local Area Agreement (and LPSA) and other plans.

5. Conclusion

5.1 The workshop has provided a valuable start to the process of agreeing a corporate direction and priorities for the County Council for the period of the new administration.

5.2 The next step is to create the corporate business plan to identify and clarify the specific improvement targets and performance indicators, at the corporate level, which will allow the County Council to demonstrate how it intends to achieve the outcomes and sets a clear framework for measuring performance.

6. Recommendations

(a) That Cabinet agree the draft direction and priorities

(b) That Cabinet agree the proposals set out in Para 4 above for approving
the Corporate Strategy and developing the corporate business plan.


(c) That Cabinet recommend the proposals to County Council for
consideration at its next meeting