Histon & Impington On-Line

Three Year Plan

Impington Parish Council is developing a Three Year Plan (in fact, a series of Plans, maintained on a rolling basis) to guide its work. These are currently under initial development. The proposals are:

Proposals

1. The principles of Best Value (see appendix) will guide the actions of the Council (and its Committees and Sub-Committees);
2. All three year plans will be open to public scrutiny and comment, and will be published on the Internet;
3. All plans will identify broad objectives, as well as specific tasks;
4. Plans need be neither long nor complex, giving clear objectives, and an action plan;
5. All Committees and Sub-Committees of the Council will be expected to draw up, and maintain on a rolling basis, a three year plan - at this time this covers: Joint Recreation Ground Management Committee (plan currently in place), Environment Committee (plan being produced), Burial Ground Committee;
6. The Council itself will be responsible for plans on regular agenda items not covered elsewhere, ie:
   • Planning;
   • Highways and Traffic;
7. The Council itself will also be responsible for plans in the following areas:
   • Relationship/consultation/involvement with parishioners;
   • Crime and Disorder (where not covered elsewhere);
   • Administration of the Council;
8. All plans will be reviewed and approved by Council.

The Principles of Best Value

Best Value focuses on outcomes and outputs. It is about securing continuous improvement in the way a council's functions are carried out with regard to economy, efficiency and effectiveness. What matters is what works, and what works will depend on whether services are able to respond quickly and creatively to people's needs.

Local Councils may be familiar with issues of economy and efficiency after Compulsory Competitive Tendering. Effectiveness relies on the quality of service, while the way that service is provided relates to the needs of the local community. This added emphasis acknowledges that the value of service may be dependent of how it is delivered not necessarily the cost of that delivery. A parish council may be the best body to deliver a particular service, even if it could be delivered at a lower cost by another organisation. Best Value gives local councils discretion to decide how services can best meet the needs and aspirations of their communities. Thus Best Value is not about spending as little of your precept as possible. A council may well decide that it is Best Value to raise its precept if this means it can provide more, high quality services to a community that wants those services. Studies have shown that taxpayers are often willing to pay more tax if they can be sure that they will reap the benefits.

In this way Best Value will require a parish council to ask fundamental questions about its priorities and performance. It cannot be "bolted on" to a council's already existing functions, but should permeate every aspect of a council's working. For this reason it is essential to the successful practice of Best Value that it be Councillor led. The elected members must lead the way in setting a council's objectives and ensuring that those objectives reflect the views of local people.

In order to secure continuous improvement Best Value requires parish councils to look at their function in terms of the "4 Cs". These are: -

• Challenge why, how and by whom a service is being provided;
• Compare performance with the performance of other parish councils and organisations providing similar services;
• Consult local people and key partners, including local businesses and voluntary organisations in setting council priorities;
• Use fair and open Competition wherever practicable as a means of securing efficient and effective services.