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Cabinet considers the Council’s positive annual progress

Published: 16/06/2017

Cabinet Members will be asked to consider a report which covers performance and achievements against the measures, milestones and risks set out in the Improvement Plan for 2016/17 when they meet on Tuesday, 20 June. Flintshire County Council has performed well during the last financial year and proves once again that it is a high performing Council. This is another positive report with 100% of agreed actions being assessed as making good progress and 82% likely to achieve the desired outcome. Leader of the Council, Councillor Aaron Shotton, said: “Through our Improvement Plan, we prioritise areas and services that are important to our community. It is monitored throughout the year to assess whether we are going to hit our targets. Despite these unprecedented and challenging financial times, this Council continues to be a high performing organisation, and I am pleased that we have many achievements to be extremely proud of.” Some of those achievements include: · Successful establishment of a Local Authority Trading Company to deliver services to schools, residential care homes and other Council services with the ability to trade in the wider commercial market – NEWydd Catering & Cleaning. · Completion of the first 12 council houses built in a generation in Connah’s Quay and the expansion of the programme to other areas in the County. · The 21st Century Schools programme continued with the opening of the new Holywell Learning Campus and the Deeside 6th campus, along with the announcement of a major development of Connah’s Quay High School and a brand new junior school being built in Penyffordd to replace the current infant and junior schools. · Overall 2016/17 has seen 181 new business enquiries resulting in the creation of 1,480 jobs of which 572 have been within Deeside Enterprise zone and 12 in the social enterprise sector. The proportion of business enquiries converting into investment continues to remain high, showing that Flintshire is a great place to do business. · Secured 285 properties for shared equity for local first time house buyers. · Set up a Corporate Safeguarding Panel with clear responsibilities to address safeguarding. · 63% (2130) of housing enquiries handled at first point of contact. · 2016 Flintshire outcomes for KS2 are the highest in North Wales and an expected 5th position out of 22 Councils in Wales. · Successful outcomes of welfare rights interventions generated additional benefit income of £1,579,380 for Flintshire households. · Reduction of occurrence and impact on environmental crime with work to introduce a Public Space Protection Order and Fixed Penalty Notices for littering and dog fouling. · Eleven Community Asset Transfers supported to date, including Holywell Leisure Centre and Cambrian Aquatics in Connah’s Quay. · Securing funding for a new Household Recycling Centre (HRC) to serve Flint and Connah’s Quay and improvements made to other HRCs in the County. · Rationalisation of the use of corporate accommodation, saving 31% of running costs. Resources continue to be challenging but, despite this, the Council has been able to set a balanced budget for 2017/18 by applying the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) solutions and taking a balanced risk approach to managing cost pressures and fluctuations during the year. Performance across the Council continues to be strong; over 66% of measures met or exceeded targets and half of all indicators which could be measured against last year remained stable or continued to improve. Flintshire County Council’s Chief Executive, Colin Everett, said: Despite intense funding pressures, and reductions in national funding, Flintshire has been creative and successful in achieving its aims for another year. Some projects are finished, some are on-going and will move into next year but the important thing is Flintshire is continuing to reach and surpass its targets and continues to show improvement year on year.”