The Assistant Director of the Chief Executive’s Office will submit a report (Document “W”) which sets out our shared ambitions and priorities for the District. It sets the direction for the work of the many organisations and communities who belong to one or more of the Partnerships that make up the Wellbeing Board.

Recommended –

(1)       That the Committee note the development of the District Plan and       the related performance indicators.

(2)       That the Committee comment on the proposed performance      indictors set out in appendix B to Document “W” that will support        the measurement of the District plan outcomes.

(Sadia Hussain - 01274 431000)

The Assistant Director of the Chief Executive’s Office submitted a report (Document “W”) which set out our shared ambitions and priorities for the District. It set the direction for the work of the many organisations and communities who belong to one or more of the Partnerships that make up the Wellbeing Board.

It was stated that the plan comprised of five clear outcomes for the District, these were:

• Children have the best start in life
• Residents achieve good health and wellbeing
• Sustainable economic growth and decent work for all
• Safe, sustainable and inclusive communities
• Action at all levels to address climate and environmental change

It is envisaged that a list of possible areas of indicators based on the 5 outcomes of the District Plan and the areas of current focus by our Strategic Partnerships would be developed in the coming months.

The Wellbeing Board agreed that the outcomes of the plan would be measured by a single suite of Wellbeing indicators which are currently in development.

The District Plan was ratified at a Wellbeing Board meeting in August 2021.

The plan also acknowledged that all of our plans must adapt to our changed circumstances and the uncertainty that this brings. The District Recovery Plan that was launched in March 2021 assists with this. The District Plan will also serve as the Districts Health and Wellbeing Strategy and provide direction for the other plans and strategies that will operationalise the plan.

The new District plan, alongside the District Recovery plan and the Equalities work that is currently ongoing will support the recovery of the District to improve Wellbeing alongside maximising economic growth.

During the discussion a Member ascertained how definitive the suite of performance indicators would be and how they would be measured at a local, regional and national level; in addition he stressed that they needed to be clearly set out and ensure that the value added context was also taken into consideration.  In response it was stated that this would be a four year plan, with the plan having been agreed in broad terms, however the performance indicators still had to be developed and the points made would be taken into consideration and ensure that the indicators were robust and targets set that could be easily measured against.

It was also highlighted that the national targets had changed in the course of the pandemic, and therefore Pi’s needed to reflect this and thereby provide a real positon statement.

A Member commented that in relation to the safe, sustainable and inclusive communities indicators they was a need to ensure that there was an emphasis on hate crimes and that feeling safe was something that was also adequately measured.  In response it was stated that the fear of crime would be looked at in developing this indicator.

In response to a question regarding the duration of the District Plan, it was stated that this would be four year plan, with consultation planned in due course.  It was also highlighted that the District Plan would sit alongside the District Economic Recovery Plan.

It was envisaged that the Wellbeing Board would sign off the indicators in the next few months.

In response to a question regarding Northern Powerhouse Rail and the decision by Government not to support a new station in Bradford, it was stressed that our wider ambitions on economic growth for the district had not changed, with a continuing emphasis to lobby Government on Northern Powerhouse rail.

The Leader of Council was also present at the meeting and stressed that she welcomed the work the Council had done on narrowing the skills gap and the inroads made in reducing the number of people not in employment, education or training.

Resolved –

(1)       This Committee requests that a report setting out performance             against the District Plan together with outcomes delivered, be             presented to the Committee in 12 months.

(2)       That the comments raised by members, be considered towards            the development of the proposed performance indicators.

(3)       That the consultation findings be presented to this Committee,             when they are available.

ACTION: Assistant Director of the Chief Executive’s Office