The Executive Board considered the attached report.

RECOMMENDED: That amended Sustainable Community Strategy is adopted. 

            The Executive Board had considered a report of the Strategic Director Corporate and Policy which provided Members with an amended version of the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS).

It was reported that Local Authorities were required to prepare and implement a SCS and the Council was expected to work with partners through the Local Strategic Partnership to agree priorities and to engage and involve local communities. It was further noted that the current SCS was adopted in 2006 and contained a long-term vision with clear objectives and targets for the period 2006 – 2011. Council was advised that since it was prepared a number of changes had taken place making it necessary to conduct a mid-term review of the SCS. Members were advised that this was an update and not a complete revision. It was also reported that recent perception surveys and the revised State of the Borough Report 2009 confirmed that the underlying vision and priorities from 2006 remained relevant.

            In 2010/11 work would commence on a full review and roll forward of the strategy with wide engagement, linking up with work being done on the Local Development Framework Core Strategy.

            The main objectives of the mid-term review were outlined in the report for Members’ consideration.

Reasons for Decision

The 2006 SCS needed updating to take into account changes to the National Performance Framework, including the Halton Local Area Agreement and recent statutory guidance.

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

The following options were considered:-

(1)    to leave the Strategy unchanged. This would result in the need to monitor performance against two different sets of targets and would not be compliant with statutory targets.

(2)    to conduct a full review of the Strategy. This was rejected because the Strategy was only adopted in 2006 and a full review would be premature.

Implementation Date

            The Strategy would take effect following its adoption by full Council.

            RESOLVED: That the Sustainable Community Strategy be adopted.

            The Board received a report of the Strategic Director, Corporate and Policy which provided Members with an amended version of the Sustainable Community Strategy.

            Members were advised that local authorities were required to prepare and implement a Sustainable Community Strategy. Local authorities were expected to work with partners through the Local Strategic Partnership to agree priorities and to engage and involve local communities. The current Sustainable Community Strategy was adopted in 2006. It contained a long-term vision with clear objectives with delivery targets for the period 2006-2011.

            It was noted that since the strategy had been prepared a number of changes had taken place making it necessary to conduct a mid-term review. This was an update, not a complete revision. Recent perception surveys and the revised State of the Borough Report (2009) confirmed that the underlying vision and priorities from 2006 remained relevant. Widespread engagement had therefore not been undertaken for this mid-term review. However, in 2010/11 work would commence on a full review and roll forward of the strategy with wide engagement, linking up with work being done on the Local Development Framework Core Strategy.

            Members were advised of the main objectives of the mid-term review which were set out in detail in the report.  Members were advised that the attached draft of the mid-term review had been drawn up following consultation with partners and would be considered by the Halton Strategic Partnership Board on the 20^th May 2009. The revised Sustainable Community Strategy had to be adopted by full Council (Local Government Act 200) and it was planned to take the final draft to the full Council meeting on the 22^nd July 2009.

            Members were further advised that the draft Strategy had been submitted to the Council’s Policy and Performance Boards (PBB’s) for scrutiny and a number of comments had been noted, particularly that the Employment, Learning and Skills PPB had requested the addition of a further local indicator for ‘children and young people’s satisfaction with Open Spaces and Parks’.

Reason for decision

The 2006 Sustainable Community strategy needs updating to take into account changes to the National Performance Framework, including the Halton Local Area Agreement, and recent statutory guidance.

Alternative Options Considered and rejected:

The following options were considered:

1. To leave the strategy unchanged.  This would result in the need to monitor performance against two different sets of targets and would not be compliant with statutory targets; and

2. To conduct a full review of the strategy.  This was rejected because the the Strategy  was only adopted on 2006 and a full review would be premature.

Implementation date

The strategy will take effect following its adoption by Council (anticipated to be 22 July 2009).

            RESOLVED: That the draft mid-term review of the Sustainable Community Strategy, subject to the addition of a further local indictor as set out above, be recommended to Council for adoption.

The Board received a report of the Strategic Director Corporate and Policy which presented the findings of the 2009 State of the Borough Report and its implications for the mid-term review of the Sustainable Community Strategy.

The Sustainable Community Strategy was adopted by 2006. It contained a long-term vision and objectives with targets for the period 2006-2011. Since it was prepared:

(1)     A national indicator set and local area agreements had been introduced;

(2)     Statutory Guidance under the Local Government and Public Health Act had been issued; and

(3)     There had been revisions to underpinning policies and strategies such as the Children and Young People’s Plan.

The Board was therefore advised that it was necessary to conduct a mid-term review of the Sustainable Community Strategy. It was intended that this would be an update, not a complete revision. Surveys to date confirmed that the underlying vision and priorities remain relevant. The main areas for the review were outlined in the report.

Members were advised that the five Specialist Strategic Partnerships had been consulted and work had commenced on the mid-term review. A consultation draft would be available for consideration by partners, SSPs and PPBs with a view to a final version being approved at the Halton Strategic Partnership Board in May and by the Council in July 2009.

It was noted that as part of the preparation for the mid-term review of the State of the Borough report had been updated. It was important to note that much of the data reflected the situation before the current economic downturn due to the time lag in the availability of statistics.

Members were advised that the final “scorecard” as set out in the report assessed the state of Halton in terms of three main dimensions of sustainable development. There had been no significant changes since the last report. The scores represented the quintile where the district fell on each of the measures and this was further outlined in the report in relation to Economic Development, Social Development and Environment.

The report also set out the most significant changes since 2008 and these were outlined in detail in the report.

Members were advised that the opportunities and challenges faced by Halton were well-known. The Sustainable Community Strategy set out the steps we needed to take to bring improvement and how we would measure progress. The LAA was a set of targets agreed with the Government which reflected the Community Strategy. The mid-term review was an opportunity to bring these together in a single coherent document.

The State of the Borough report provided further evidence to support our priorities. It did not, however, fully reflect the impact of the economic downturn. The recession should not deflect us from our long-term ambitions but may affect the pace at which we could move forward.

            The Board discussed the crime rate that appeared high, in response it was reported that Halton’s crime rate was consistent in comparison to other authorities in the same “demographic family”, figures  ...  view the full minutes text for item 113