Agenda item

The Leader presented the second Corporate Annual Report (2018/19) on Newport City Council’s Corporate Plan 2017/22, based on the Labour Group Manifesto.

The purpose of the report was to reflect back on 2018/19 achievements, identify what more can be done and to look at the Council’s ambitions for the remainder of the Corporate Plan.

The Annual Report was presented in September to the Overview and Management Scrutiny Committee and their feedback and recommendations were included in the report to Cabinet.  The Leader had been happy to attend the Scrutiny Committee to answer questions.

A Welsh version of the report will be released alongside the annual report.

The Leader explained to Cabinet the background to the report in that:

The Wellbeing of Future Generations Act requires public service bodies (including Newport City Council) to deliver an annual report that reflects on progress in delivering the four Wellbeing Objectives which are:

1.    To improve skills, educational outcomes and employment opportunities;

2.    To promote economic growth and regeneration whilst protecting the environment;

3.    To enable people to be healthy, independent and resilient, and,

4.    To build cohesive & sustainable communities.     

The Annual Report focused on the progress of delivery against the four themes (Resilient Communities/Aspirational People/Thriving City/Modernised Council) which support the Wellbeing Objectives.

In 2018/19 the Council faced challenging financial pressures which were managed effectively and led to a £2.4m underspend at the end of the financial year. 

The report noted the medium term budget is showing a funding gap of £30m and this Cabinet will have to be courageous, transparent and open to its residents and service users in the decisions that are made going forward.

In the reporting of the Council’s national performance measures for 2018/19 against the other 21 councils in Wales, Newport Council reported above the national average for nine measures out of 18 measures which included important items such as:

o    Reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training;

o    The number of new homes created as a result of bringing empty homes back into use.

Where Newport Council is underperforming against the Welsh average, the Council’s Chief Executive, the Senior Leadership Team and Corporate Management Team will monitor the measures to ensure that improvements are made to the delivery of those services.

The Leader highlighted some of the achievements made in 2018/19:

·      The introduction of the Young Person’s Promise that has been developed by the young people of Newport for the young people of Newport.  The Promise has set out six Promises for Newport Council to implement and incorporate into the decision making processes and activities of the Council.  (A montage will be situated in Committee Room 1 to celebrate this).  The Leader, at her own expense has asked for a copy of the montage to take with her to the House of Lords.

·      The Council’s commitment to provide opportunities for young people to work for Newport Council through its Apprenticeship programme which has once again seen them fulfil their potential and take up full time employment in the Council or go into further employment and training.  This has also led to the development of a Graduate Programme which had its first intake of graduates at the start of September.

·      The support and care to look after and safeguard children and young people in the care system remains a challenging but rewarding area.  In 2018/19 the Council purchased and redeveloped Rose Cottage to bring young people back from out of county placements into Newport.  This has been very successful in providing one-to-one care and support and has seen one of the young people being returned back to their home.  This has also led to further exploration of purchasing a second property in the city to provide similar care and to have the facility to maximise young people’s potential and opportunity to succeed.

·      The redevelopment of Oaklands House which provides respite care for young people and their families.

·      Last year the Council received a positive Estyn Inspection for its Education Services and is using the feedback from Estyn to improve services.

·      In 2018/19 A Level (53.7%) and GCSE (57%) results improved and demonstrate the hard work of pupils and staff in schools.

·      In 2018/19 Cabinet supported the redevelopment of Chartist Tower into a hotel which will generate over 350 jobs and support the further redevelopment of the city centre and the new convention centre at the Celtic Manor.  This has led to the same developer redeveloping the former post office sorting office building into new office space.

·      The relocation of the National Software Academy to the Information Station for undergraduate and post graduate students.

·      The commitment to reduce waste taken to landfill and to recycle more in Newport.  The Leader took this opportunity to thank the people of Newport for embracing the use of the smaller bins and the contribution to more recycling which has had an immediate impact on the recycling figures for the first quarter of this year.

·      The work undertaken to introduce civil parking enforcement which has already seen a step change to the parking in the city and positive results to the environment across the city.

·      This year will see the launch of the Ringland Neighbourhood Hub which will bring a multi-agency approach for customers and improve a collaborative approach to providing services.  

The Leader welcomed comments from Cabinet colleagues on the Annual Report 2018/19.

Cabinet colleagues thanked officers for the hard work which had resulted in these projects being brought to fruition and reiterated the achievements made within their portfolios as per the bullet points above.

The Chief Executive confirmed the information contained in the report flowed well, and the aims and objectives in the five year plan are embedded in service plans to form a comprehensive plan.

Cabinet was asked to endorse the Annual Report 2018/19 in order to enable the report to be published before the 31^st October 2019 deadline.