Agenda item

 

The Leader presented the report which is the third Annual Report of the Council’s five year

Corporate Plan.

 

The purpose of the report is to reflect back on 2019/20 assessing the achievements the Council has made, areas for improvement and looking forward for the remaining period of the Corporate Plan.

The Leader confirmed that this year’s report also reflects back on the Council’s Covid-19 response against each of the Council’s Well-being Objectives and how these have contributed towards the learning and development of the Council’s Strategic Recovery Aims. 

The Annual Report was presented in September to the Council’s Overview and Management Scrutiny Committee.  The Committee’s detailed discussions on the Council’s Covid-19 response and their feedback on the contents of the Annual Report were welcomed.  Also, the Committee’s recommendations have been considered and updated in this final version of the report to Cabinet.

The Leader sought Cabinet’s endorsement of the Annual Report so that it can be published, at which time it will also be made available in Welsh.

The Leader recapped to confirm that at the beginning of this Cabinet’s term, four Well-being Objectives were set to support the Council’s mission of ‘Improving People’s Lives’:

·         To improve skills, educational outcomes and employment opportunities;

·         To promote economic growth and regeneration whilst protecting the environment

·         To enable people to be healthy, independent and resilient

·         To build cohesive & sustainable communities.     

 

The report outlined that in 2019/20, Newport Council has continued to make good progress against its Well-being Objectives, despite the challenging financial pressures that many of the Council’s front-line services have experienced. 

Despite these financial pressures, the Council was able to report an under-spend in its final accounts of £1.8m which was contributed to by an unexpected grant income to support the Council’s Social Services.

However, in the medium term and following the Covid-19 crisis, the Council is now facing new financial challenges which require some difficult decisions to be made going forward. 

In 2019/20, Newport Council continued to make significant improvements in the delivery of its services and also delivered key initiatives that will improve people’s lives.  None of the achievements could have been made without the close partnership working with other organisations, the Health Board and service users.

The report also recognised the areas which need improving and where the Council will make necessary changes in the delivery of its services. 

The Leader was pleased to note the following positive improvements:

 

Well-being Objective 1 (Improve skills, educational outcomes and employment opportunities)

 

·         Newport’s Primary Schools continue to improve their performance which has seen year-on-year improvements in the categorisation of schools as ‘Green’ by Welsh Government.

·         The City’s School attendance rates have improved for both primary and secondary schools.

·         Initiatives to improve the opportunities of disadvantaged children has seen improvements in their academic successes.

·         The Council’s Adult Learning offer also enables people in Newport to re-skill and re-train which is providing more opportunities in the workplace.

·         It is acknowledged more can be done and the Council’s Education service and Schools are working hard to reduce digital inequality, to support disadvantaged pupils and young people during this very difficult year. 

Well-being Objective 2 (To promote economic growth and regeneration whilst protecting the environment)

 

·         Continuous regeneration of the City through the support and delivery of schemes such as the Chartist Hotel, Indoor Market, Market Arcade, Mill Street Post Office building, Transporter Bridge Visitor Centre and now the Information Station.

·         Implementation of the new smaller binsacross households in the City, contributing towards improving the Council’s recycling rates making Newport one of the best performing Council’s in Wales and the UK.

·         Introduction of Civil Parking Enforcement has seen over 19,000 tickets issued and improvements to the City’s streets and behaviour of motorists.

·         Continuous delivery of various bio-diversity and green projects to improve the City’s environment.  This includes the installation of solar panels across 21 sites to reduce the Council’s energy consumption.

·         In the Council’s response to the Covid-19 crisis, Newport Council has administered over £19 million of rates relief to over 1,000 businesses and over £30 million of business grants to 2,250 eligible businesses.

The Leader stated this is a very difficult and challenging time for the City’s economy with Covid-19 restrictions and the uncertainty surrounding the UK’s relationship with the EU.  This is why it is important that we support the City’s economy and ensure Newport continues to attract new investment and opportunities.

 

Wellbeing Objective 3 (To enable people to be healthy, independent and resilient)

 

·         Despite the continuing demand on the Council’s Social Services, both Children and Adult Services have continued to innovate and deliver new initiatives. The Leader gave personal thanks to all colleagues across the council in social care for their outstanding commitment and service.

·         The Baby & Me initiative demonstrates how collaborative working with organisations such as Barnardos and involvement of service users improve the opportunities and break down barriers for young people.

·         The continued success of Rose Cottage to provide stability and safe environments for children can help them build confidence and actively support their development. 

·         The Council’s First Contact teamin Adult Services enabling people to signpost and access the services they need to continue to live independent lives.

·         The Council’s Active Travel schemes delivered at St David’s Primary school, Fourteen Locks and Coed Melyn are providing alternative approaches to travelling around Newport. 

·         Adoption of the Sustainable Travel Strategy by Newport Council and its Public Services Board partners to encourage the move towards alternative/cleaner transport, use of more public transport, support infrastructure changes to enable safe routes and promote engagement across schools and communities.

·         The Council’s Social Services throughout Covid-19 have continued to deliver their services and the work of Community Connectors and Neighbourhood Hubs have been vital to ensure vulnerable people are able to access food parcels and the support they needed. 

·         The new funding to support the City’s Active Travel schemes across Newport which will contribute towards Newport being a greener and healthier city in the future.

Well-being Objective 4 (To build Cohesive and sustainable communities)

 

·         Providing access to good quality affordable and safe housing remains a priority.  During 2019/20 the Council supported the delivery of housing developments at Durham Road, Cot Farm and the former King’s Head Public House site.  Also the former Hillside Resource Centre, Centurion Public House, Tredegar Court Sheltered Accommodation and Central View.

·         Ringland Community Hub renovation and the implementation of the four community hub model in the city to provide multi- community services. 

·         The role of the Safer Newport group to tackle ASB and provide diversionary activities.  Involving local communities and residents to tackle ASB and find solutions.

·         Participatory budgeting in Ringland and Alway to help support community activities through grant provision.  Local people being involved to decide which bids received funding.  Successful bids included Newport Samaritans, Gwent Police Cadets, Ringland Radio and Alway Boxing Club.

·         Supporting rough sleepers and homeless into accommodation, collaborating with the Police and other support services. Supporting people presenting at risk of becoming homeless and finding long term solutions.

·         Working with Registered Social Landlords to obtain funding to develop more affordable accommodation.

·         Supporting BAME and marginalised communities that have been disproportionately impacted by Covid -19.  Working with communities and local groups to deliver food packages.

·         Undertaking Community Impact Assessment to understand the impact of Covid-19 and lockdown measures on communities in Newport.

The Leader was pleased to provide this overview of the range of activities and progress made as she felt there is a need to highlight this progress against the plan, because in spite of the pandemic, the city has been kept safe and the Council has maintained essential service provision and delivered against the corporate plan.  The Leader thanked everyone for this collaborative endeavour.

 

The Leader invited her Cabinet Members to speak to the report:

 

Councillor Jeavons referred to Objective 2 and the recycling rates that are being achieved.  He thanked the residents of Newport whose efforts mean that Newport may well be the best recycling city in the whole of the UK.  He also referred to the recently purchased electric refuse truck, the first of its kind for any local authority, and the ultra-low-emission camera car – all of which is contributing to reducing Newport’s carbon footprint

 

Councillor Davies referred to Objective 3 and the long term commitment to sustain green spaces – she welcomed the work by the PSB to make sure this happens.  She was pleased that Newport has been recognised as a bee friendly city, and the biodiversity officer is working with schools to encourage children’s interest in this.  The walk to school campaign is going well and St David’s primary school have shown great results.  It is the Council’s intention to be carbon neutral by 2030 and part of that commitment is to work with energy co-op.  In addition, she welcomed the electric charging points that are being installed across the city by City Services to help residents to reduce their carbon footprint. 

 

Councillor Giles commended the Education Service for the great achievements made.  Secondary schools are performing better than expected, primary schools achieving, reducing the gap between minority groups, raising achievement.  She referred to the significant changes since February in particular the huge shift to technology.  The council had provided Childcare hubs, meal vouchers, 1300 devices provided for school children.  She referred to the recovery aims noted in the report and highlighted the success of schools in maintaining really good attendance rates; secondary schools’ attendance 93.9%, primary schools’ attendance 94.8%, Free School Meal attendance 92.4% and work is ongoing to increase these percentages.

 

Councillor Mayer welcomed the report – he was proud that a lot of his portfolio covers areas to enable all other services to operate successfully, in particular IT and the community hubs.

 

The Leader reflected on the digital work within the Council and the commitment that has enabled officers and members to work from home so quickly in order to continue to deliver essential services.   

 

Councillor Harvey welcomed the introduction of electric buses by Newport Transport which will help to reduce emissions and assist with Newport’s reduction of its carbon footprint.  

 

Councillor Cockeram applauded social services for everything it has achieved, in particular the Baby and Me initiative – a wonderful initiative started 2/3 years ago in partnership with Barnardos; Welsh Government is now hoping to push this initiative across the whole of Wales.  He also referred to Rose Cottage where a social worker had tested positive for Covid-19; that member of staff and other colleagues had agreed to stay at the Cottage to self-isolate for two weeks – selfless action that he applauded.

 

Councillor Rahman referred to Objective 4, page 64 of the report, Asset Management, in particular the community asset transfer for the Maindee triangle as this is a much needed asset which will benefit the community.  As the Council’s BAME champion he welcomed the work being done to promote diversity in the work place and equality in the community, although there is still lots more work to be done.   

 

The Leader invited the Chief Executive to say a few words who reiterated the Cabinet Members’ comments, and was personally very proud to see what’s been achieved in 2019/20 and to see a number of projects and programmes that were started at the beginning of the plan coming to fruition.

 

The Leaderwelcomed the comments made by her Cabinet colleagues and for the report to be endorsed for publication.

 

Decision:

 

Cabinet voted and unanimously agreed the report and for it to be published at which time it will also be provided in Welsh.