Hertfordshire County Council
2006-2009 Corporate Plan
COVER
(Design integrated with 2006 council tax leaflet - example below)
Page 19/11/2018
Hertfordshire County Council
2006-2009 Corporate Plan
Inside front cover: contents page
3………………………………………Leaders foreword
4………………………………………Celebrating success
5………………………………………Living in Hertfordshire
8………………………………………The way we work
9……………………………………… Our challenges
25……………………………………. Service priorities
33……………………………………. Our people
34……………………………………. Our services
35……………………………………. Our customers
36……………………………………. Summary, standard text/translations, links to further information
NB: Pages of the draft document may not follow the page numbers as above, as pagination will change as a result of the graphic design process.
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2006-2009 Corporate Plan
Leader’s message or foreword
(Achievement focused i.e. TWWW, Shared Services, BVRP, Mori, 4 stars, view to the future and partnerships including LAA)
Welcome to Hertfordshire County Council’s first corporate plan. I hope it will tell you everything you need to know about the council and the work we do on your behalf.
We’ve tried to paint a picture of what it’s like living in Hertfordshire now and the pressures we face. We’ve also spelt out the challenges we believe are most important for us in the next few years.
Life has changed for councils. We recognise the importance of listening to local people and acting on what they tell us. We are happy to work with partners if that’s the best way to get things done but we are also happy to take the lead when we need to speak on behalf of the community.
We are among the best performing local authorities in the country and on course to do even better. That’s the verdict of the Audit Commission which has not only awarded us its top four star rating for overall performance but has judged it to be ‘improving well’. Of course we are pleased about that but you will want to know what it means for you and your family.
In its evaluation, the Commission commended us for:
- Improving key priority services, such as those that support children and improve education qualifications
- Achieving government beacon awards for its work to support carers and its
management of assets
- Working with the police to reduce fear of crime by funding police community
support officers
- Improving services that help older and disabled people keep their independence
and stay in their own homes
- Successfully recruiting key social care staff
- Achieving good value for money, particularly in waste management and through
more efficient management processes
- Improving arrangements for planning services
- Working in partnership with other agencies to improve services
All of which is good news for our residents. This corporate plan will tell you more about the challenges we face.
We also work hard to find out what you think of us and that’s why we commission a MORI survey to learn your views. In 2005 you told us that life is good in Hertfordshire and most of you think we are doing a good job.
The survey quizzed a thousand residents of all ages and from all backgrounds on how they rate the council, the services it provides and the way it is tackling key challenges facing the county.
Naturally, we’re pleased to know this, but we’re certainly not complacent. The point of this yearly survey is not just to find out what we do well but what we could do better.
Listening to what our residents say and regular assessments of our performance are the factors that keep Hertfordshire at the top of the local authority tree. Life is good in Hertfordshire, compared to many other parts of the country, and we aim to make it better by continuing to take the views of Hertfordshire people into account as we set our priorities for the next and future years.
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Achievements / celebrating success
A BVPP based (balanced) summary text of our current performance. Recent awards – Beacon Asset Management, IIP, Charter Mark
Achievements
- 92% of Adult Care Service users are having their equipment delivered withinseven working days of assessment
- The overall performance of primary and secondary schools in Hertfordshire remains high, with many performing in advance of national expectations. We were the only local authority to have improved at each of the Key Stages for each of the last three years
- We have reduced the number of people killed or seriously injured on Hertfordshire’s roads from an average of 1084 per year to 691 in just four years. In that time, we have also reduced the amount of children killed or seriously injured by almost half. This is the best reduction achieved by any authority in the whole Eastern region
- This year we are delivering 524 highway improvement and maintenance schemes valued at £23million
- The Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) initiative has developed significantly over the last 12 months. 148 officers will be in post by March 2006. It is anticipated that an additional 211 staff will be appointed by the end of 2007/08. The county council contributes just under £2m per annum to the funding of PCSOs – equivalent to about 66 posts. This far exceeds the funding of the majority of councils and demonstrates the importance we place in tackling crime and fear of crime
- Our 40% reduction in deliberate fires between 2003/4 and 2004/5 has so far been maintained and improved upon in 2005/6 with a further reduction in excess of 3%. This success has been achieved through various activities and initiatives
- There are now more than 440 public access PCs in Hertfordshire libraries, offering access to the Internet, Microsoft Office and other applications. Access is free for library members, and sessions can be booked in advance
Disappointments
- Although Hertfordshire provides a high quality environment in which most children, young people and their families thrive and do well, this is not the case for all. We need to improve lower performing schools, the attainment of boys in relation to girls, the children of some black and minority ethnic groups, as well as improving both post-16 achievement and attainment
- There has been an increase in the number of Adult Care Service clients receiving a review of their services, however this is still an area where we need to do better
- A high number of people in Hertfordshire are not wearing seatbelts, as proved in roadside checks during September 2005. It is a major concern as recent figures show not wearing a seatbelt is a major factor in fatal casualties in Hertfordshire
- In line with national trends, fewer people are using buses
- Hertfordshire has one of the lowest crime rates in the country but fear of crime is still an issue
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Living in Hertfordshire (1/2pp)
Why residents and visitors like (or possibly dislike) Herts. Demographic/Geographic information to showcase strengths of Hertfordshire. Text to provide context for the HCC ambition, outline external influences and what the future holds for Hertfordshire.
Hertfordshire is a prosperous county. But the price of prosperity is pressure on our environment.
People want to live here because it is attractive and convenient, with a unique semi-rural feel, but it’s also the most densely-populated county in Britain and sometimes it feels like it.
We need to maintain Hertfordshire’s unique character by balancing conflicting needs.
We must carefully plan for the future and ensure that the plans we make today do not compromise the needs of tomorrow.
Our residents are well-educated, computer-literate, and relatively well-paid. But many young people cannot get on to the property ladder and we have an ageing population needing increasing support.
At least one in seven of the county’s population is aged 65 and over and that total is going to rise because people live longer. In 2010 there will be 12% more people aged 75+ than there were in 2000.
A fifth of Hertfordshire’s residents commute to London for work and two thirds work within the county. Two thirds of the population use their cars for journeys to work.
Crime rates in Hertfordshire are relatively low in comparison with the rest of the UK. But low level crime like vandalism and graffiti leave people feeling unsafe.
The county has strong transport links, with major motorways and airports within easy reach, but poor east west links and increasing congestion. We also have to live with the threat of airport expansion, from both Luton and Stansted.
Hertfordshire has a strong economy, with a workforce of approximately XXXXX and consistently low unemployment, although there has been a slight increase in the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance long term. In 2005 the mean annual earnings of Hertfordshire resident employees were £31,877 – the highest in the east of England.
We have a higher proportion of employment in high tech services than most EU regions. Knowledge-based industries and services dominate the Hertfordshire
Living in Hertfordshire – continued.(2/2pp)
economy. But high house prices keep away lower paid workers and there is a
slower growth in the engineering, manufacturing and agricultural industries.
We need to work to ensure that the county is not too dependent on one particular industry and has a good supply of skilled workers.
With the exception of prices for flats and maisonettes, house prices in Hertfordshire are considerably higher than the national average. The average house price in Hertfordshire recorded in the period July to September 2005 was £262,970, compared to a UK average of £194,589 for the same period.
Even the least expensive accommodation is over five times the average annual household income for Hertfordshire.
The county has a mixture of urban and rural areas so there is a challenge to deliver sustainable affordable housing that supports growth in small rural communities, as well as meeting the regeneration and renewal needs of urban areas.
The county council has the problem of balancing the need for housing with the need to protect the environment. We don’t want to sacrifice greenfield sites which can never be replaced.
We need to find room for more homes but there’s little available space and new housing brings its own pressures.
We are also aware that more houses need more and better roads, good public transport, health and other essential services, shops and schools. They also bring extra pressure on resources such as the water supply.
Following two years of successful recruitment campaigns Hertfordshire now has the highest number of police officers ever with numbers approaching a target of 2157 officers. Along with over 1000 support staff, these officers, serve a population in excess of one million and cover an area of 1637 square kilometres.
Police Community Support Officers are new members of the policing family that have been introduced across the country, including in Hertfordshire, since 2003, helping to link better with communities and releasing police officers to concentrate on tasks requiring full police powers.
They are uniformed civilian support officers who provide a reassuring visible presence across Hertfordshire. Roles and duties do vary slightly across the county
but all help tackle important quality of life issues such as vandalism and anti-social behaviour. PCSOs wear a uniform which is highly visible and identifies them as part of Hertfordshire Constabulary, but clearly makes them distinct from police officers. They carry radios linked to the police systems and can report information or call for police assistance when required.
Funding for PCSOs has come from the county council and other local authorities within Hertfordshire, as well as central government.
The disposal of waste is also a perennial problem for Hertfordshire. The latest calculations show that we could run out of landfill space soon after 2008. Around 67% of household waste produced in the county in 2004/5 was disposed of in landfill sites but these sites are running out of space and fewer are being created.
In 2004/5, the total amount of waste produced in Hertfordshire was approximately 2 million tonnes, around a quarter of which was household waste. This equates to a 2.8% increase in household waste since 2003/4. Also in that year more than 300,000 tonnes of Hertfordshire’s household waste was disposed of outside the county, at facilities in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex and North London.
However 26.7% of household waste produced was recycled, almost 141,000 tonnes, demonstrating the commitment of Hertfordshire's local councils to increasing the county’s average recycling level to more than 30% by 2005/6.
As this brief snapshot demonstrates, Hertfordshire is a county of contrasts. A great place to live and work but a victim of its own success. The county needs to fight hard to retain its character and protect its resources, so that future generations can enjoy the pleasures of living here.
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The way we work – our vision
Signposts to our corporate planning process, our values, our people, our partners (ref: LAA & Vertex). What makes us tick, customer service, providing the best services.
Our values
The vision for the management of the county council is that we will be an organisation which is forward thinking, innovative and able to handle external pressures. We will:
- Keep the people of Hertfordshire at the centre of everything we do
- Maximise the use of technology and eradicate unnecessary bureaucracy
- Recognise the importance of highly trained and motivated staff
- Work with public and private sector partners to benefit Hertfordshire
Equalities and diversity
We believe that the differences that make people who they are must be respected, that discrimination, harassment or bullying should not be tolerated and that equality of opportunity should be made a reality.
Everyone in the community has the right to benefit from the services we provide and the job opportunities we offer - irrespective of gender, age, background, disability, race, sexual orientation, political and religious beliefs or trade union activities.
We aim to reflect those beliefs in all that we do, both inside and outside the council. We aim to ensure that everyone we work with, and everyone we employ, feels respected, is confident that we will recognise their individuality and their needs, and knows that we will deal with them honestly and openly. To that end:
- We are working in partnership with other agencies, the voluntary sector and communities to ensure that all services are provided fairly
- We are developing effective consultation mechanisms so that the needs of all sectors of the community are taken into account when services are planned, developed and delivered
- Each council department is implementing and monitoring an action plan for ensuring that its services are equally accessible to all people and appropriate to their differing needs
- Our staff recruitment procedures are based on fair selection methods
- We encourage all employees to undertake the training they need to achieve a high standard of performance and develop their careers, and to ensuring that these opportunities are equally accessible to staff with disabilities.
Customer care standards (work in progress)
Subject to SMB approval, April 06
Providing the best services - this is how we’ll make it happen
(work in progress)
Conclusion statement around all the above, contributing to how we make Hertfordshire an even better place to live and work
Our partners
We need to improve the quality of support services by maximising the use of
technology, reducing duplication and exploiting economies of scale. We are
working with a company called Vertex which has just taken over our customer
service centre in Stevenage to develop a shared service centre model that will
improve customer service and produce significant efficiencies. They are currently
talking to senior managers to establish what we currently do that might be done
differently, bringing to us the expertise and experiences from other organisations
they work with.
The Local Area Agreement (LAA) is a new national regime designed to improve local services via strengthened partnership working. The LAA will provide greater flexibility for key agencies in Hertfordshire (such as Local Authorities, Health, the Voluntary Sector and the Police) to pool their budgets and join up services in number of key areas.
Details of Hertfordshire’s LAA can be found at (website to be inserted). Further details can be found in appendix X (to be confirmed)
The Corporate Planning Process
The Corporate Planning Process, first undertaken in 2005/06, is an evidence-based approach, drawing on performance and cost data in key areas of our business, feedback and demographic information. This enables transparent alignment between our budget and priorities.
You can find more details of our Corporate Planning Process in appendix X (to be confirmed).
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Our challenges over the next three years
Text to provide context, links to service plans / LAA, challenge chart (organizational fit). Revised challenges based on Chief Officer meetings with Cabinet Panel.
Introduction page providing overview of challenges, why these are the wicked issues for the authority and residents. Also, outlining how they fit within our corporate planning process, service outcomes and partnerships.
Our ambition ‘to make Hertfordshire an even better place to live and work’ is at the heart of our corporate planning process and the challenges reflect key issues affecting our ability to achieve this ambition. This is gives an indication of our direction of travel and demonstrates that as an organisation we are focused on continual improvement. There are of course key service deliverables within the departmental service outcomes that may not feature as part of the challenges.