My speech to the Council on the new Corporate Plan.
Having a clear corporate plan and vision is essential to the
success of any organisation; it is where everything starts, how
actions are determined and how results are measured.
Today, I have the pleasure of introducing South Kesteven
District Council’s Corporate Plan which sets out how, over the
next three years, we intend to realise our vision of being the
best district in which to live, to work, and to visit.
Such structure and business planning is important at all times,
but given these uncertain and unprecedented times, when
everything around us is constantly changing and evolving, our
Corporate Plan provides the cornerstone of our promise to
those we serve and clarity for those we work with and those
who work for us.
I would like to thank all members for their contributions to our
Corporate Plan and to all the SKDC staff who have worked on
the plan.
I would also like to pay particular tribute our Chief Executive,
Karen Bradford, for her determination to not let Covid-19
detract from the importance of delivering the SKDC Corporate
Plan.
To say that she has had a baptism by fire, starting a new job
just 21 days before lockdown, is an understatement.
Our corporate vision and five priorities are based on an
analysis of the current performance of South Kesteven both as
a district and as a council, and emerging opportunities and
challenges.
Our priorities are:
• Growth and our Economy
• Housing that meets the needs of all residents
• Healthy and Strong Communities
• A Clean and Sustainable Environment
• A High Performing Council
Under each priority there is a string of actions to enable us to
achieve our goals, including:
• Investment in leisure facilities as part of our leisure
programme
• Commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of the council
• Delivery of the St Martin’s Park project in Stamford
• The regeneration and improvement of all our town centres
• The building of high-quality homes of all types and tenures
in the district
• The implementation of our Covid-19 recovery plan
As well as setting out what our residents should expect from us
over the next three years, our Corporate Plan also provides
clarity for our employees.
It will enable better performance management by developing a
golden thread which runs through from our vision to individual
performance.
Every member of TeamSK has an important role to play in
delivering our Corporate Plan, so it is vitally important that we
are able to develop key performance indicators that can be
monitored and managed transparently.
As part of the performance management plan, in May each
year, we will be presenting a full annual performance review to
Cabinet. This will enable us to review:
• What has been achieved
• What needs to improve
• Any elements of the plan that need amended, for example
in response to external events or grant funding
opportunities
How we will deliver our work is also important.
Therefore, the corporate plan embeds the values we adopted in
May 2018.
In addition, equality in terms of opportunity and service will run
through everything that we do as a council. Ultimately, we want
everyone at the council, and in our communities, to feel
welcome in South Kesteven.
Lastly, we are all aware of the financial pressures councils have
been under, not just from the ongoing impact of Covid-19, but
from the national conversation around central government
funding.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, we were on the
trajectory towards a new way of working and of delivering for
our residents and local businesses.
What our Corporate Plan does is take a pragmatic and
deliverable approach to the challenges we face and our
commitment to those who live, work and visit our district.
Therefore, Madam Chairman, I am pleased and proud to
present this plan to council, and look forward to working with all
members, and with our amazing staff to put our Corporate Plan
into action.
