Leader's Announcements
To receive such announcements as may be made by the Leader.
Minutes:
The Leader of the Council, Councillor Rachel Bailey, spoke on the following:
Cultural Review – referred to the Executive Summary of the report which recognised the difficult journey which the Council had been on over the last 8 years to embed culture in the new unitary authority. She thanked Sarah Messenger of the LGA for her work, and also staff for the manner in which they responded. The report gave the Council a platform to move forward with and refresh the values of the organisation.
Member Led Council – referred to the need to understand what being a member led Council meant, with Members providing a democratic mandate to the Council and setting the policy framework and officers putting the policies into effect.
Constitution – made reference that in the Cultural Review report staff felt that the adoption of the new Constitution was a positive step forward.
Growth – reported that there had been significant progress with a programme of economic growth. Housing was a key economic driver but the current housing mix did not meet the requirements. There was a requirement to ensure there was affordable housing for young professional so as to attract a skill set which in turn would drive economic growth.
Budget – made reference to the very significant financial challenge faced by the Council with a reduction in grants of £12.8m from central Government and an increasing demand for services, along with rising costs as a result of the increases in the national minimum wage and national pay offer for local government. The recent announcement of the additional £900,000 grant for adult social care was welcome but still a long way short of the funding required to meeting the needs of an increasing aging population. In the MTFS there were proposals for £2 million for community priorities over the next 2 years funded from the New Homes Bonus Community Fund, with scrutiny presently working on how the funding would be delivered.
Work of Scrutiny – referred to the recent consideration of the removal of the second fire engine in Crewe and how this showcased how scrutiny could draw together information, which enabled cross party Fire Authority representatives to safeguard services in the borough.