The Isle of Wight Council is about to adopt what they call their Corporate Plan.
At a full council meeting starting at 6pm tonight (which VB will be covering live), they will vote on accepting this document that will define what is to be the broad direction for the IWC between 2009 and 2013.
The council describe it as “an essential document setting out the delivery of the Council’s priorities and objectives up to 2013.”
So what’s in the Corporate plan?
Clearly the Corporate Plan (PDF) is an important document for the future of the Island over the next few years, but what’s in it?
In the introduction written by Cllr David Pugh, Leader of the Isle of Wight Council it says, “Whilst the priorities detailed in this plan do not amount to an exhaustive list, they should be taken as the definitive list of where resources ultimately will be prioritised.”
To get a broad outline, we can see the initial paragraph of “The Vision” in the document says, “The Isle of Wight Council’s vision is to see that high quality public services are provided to the taxpayer at the lowest controllable cost, and in doing so improve the quality of life enjoyed by all Island residents, now and in the future.”
All sounds good.
IW Council will not provide all services in the future
Reading on, of note is that “The local authority does not see itself as the sole provider of such services and will determine for each service which model of delivery is most likely to ensure that its strategic vision is met.”
We read this as the council declaring that it won’t be providing these services themselves. This is backed up in the next paragraph, “By assuming a more strategic role, the local authority becomes clearly accountable for delivering services, fulfilling its democratic mandate.”
What are the defined key priorities?
The IW Council has identified seven key priorities as its focus for the next four years, which are based on the political commitments made by the Island Conservatives at the June 2009 elections.
- Schools Reorganisation
- Roads / PFI Scheme
- Transforming Social Care
- Economic Development
- Fire Service Modernisation
- Local Housing
- Delivering Better Services
Hope that made it all a little more accessible. For more details, have a read of the Corporate Plan (PDF).
