Agenda item

To consider the recommendation from Cabinet, subject to approval on 19 May 2025, that Council adopt the Council Plan 2025-30.

Consideration was given to the report which presented the Council Plan 2025-2030 for approval. The Council Plan had been recommended for approval to Council by Cabinet on 19 May 2025. The accompanying Year Ahead Delivery Plan had been approved at the same meeting.

In January 2022, the Council adopted a Council Plan for 2022-25, including a suite of performance measures. To enable the Council to work towards the Council Plan outcomes and achieve the commitments, annual Year Ahead Delivery Plans were developed, setting out the key activities to be delivered. The Council Plan came to an end in March 2025.

Informed by public consultation, a new Council Plan had been developed for 2025-30 and was attached at Appendix 1 of the report. The Council Plan was a key document which set out the Council’s vision for the borough and priorities for serving residents and communities. The Plan provided the medium-term basis for targeting resources, informing the budget-setting

process and planning cycles and ensuring that residents can hold the Council to account for delivery. The Council Plan included a suite of performance measures and targets for monitoring purposes.

The Council Plan was framed around five outcomes:

• Places are thriving, safe, and clean
• An economy that works for everyone
• Children and young people achieve
• Residents live well
• One Council that listens and learns.
  
  

Three cross-cutting policy drivers ran throughout the Council Plan, informing ways of working and helping the Council to achieve better outcomes:

• Expanding opportunities for all
• Recognising and building on our strengths to make positive change
• Focussing on prevention.

To enable the Council to work towards the Plan outcomes, a Year Ahead Delivery Plan, attached at Appendix 2, had been developed, setting out the key activities to be delivered over the next year (April 2025 – March 2026).

During the meeting Cabinet Members highlighted achievements relating to their portfolios from the previous plan and highlighted the outcomes that would be worked towards as part of the new plan:

Councillor Taylor, Cabinet Member for Transport, Jobs and the Local Economy highlighted the vast improvements to the brought roads, the government investment that had been secured, the opening of the Forge Island development and the success of the Employment Solutions Team. The new Plan would cover the development of Wath Library, Riverside Gardens and Rotherham Market. £300k would be invested in community facilities and work would start on the Health Hub for the Town Centre. Support would be provided for up to 20 businesses to improve shop units in the town centre and on other principal high streets through the new ‘shop units grants’ programme.

Councillor Cusworth, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, highlighted the millions of pounds of investment in Children’s services and the high quality services provided by the Family Hubs network. The Children’s Capital of Culture initiative was well underway and successful. Further, an additional 50 school places had been created for children with additional needs. Councillor Cusworth highlighted some of the activity in the new plan that would support Children and Young People. This included ensuring 90% of families registered their children with the Family Hubs network within 6 months of birth; the completion of the work on the Special Educational Needs and Disability Centre at the Eric Manns Building and the delivery of Independent Travel Training to at least 30 children and young people. Work would also be undertaken to improve play areas, improve the time taken to issue Education, Health and Care Plans and to deliver Baby Packs.

Councillor Allen, Cabinet Member for Housing, noted the ambitious Council Homes Delivery Programme which had achieved over 650 new homes across the borough, against a target of 1000 by 2027. High quality homes had been delivered in the Town Centre. Work had also been done to reduce the number of homeless people staying in hotels. The Council had also received the Northen Housing Award for Best Affordable Housing Development for the East Herringthorpe ‘No Gas’ Scheme. As part of the new Plan, a new Housing Allocation Policy would be agreed, and work would start or be completed on a number of new housing developments.

Councillor Baker-Rogers, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, welcomed the activities and themes within the new Council Plan. Reflecting on the previous plan she noted the success of the Baby Pack initiative and the improvements in Health Visitor checks and Adult Social Care visits. Key activities from the new Plan that were highlighted included supporting 1000 residents to set a quit smoking day; the start of work on the Town Centre Health Hub and improvements to Rothercare. Councillor Baker-Rogers also confirmed that the building work for the Castle View Day Service would be completed in 2026.

Councillor Alam, Cabinet Member for Finance and Safe and Clean Communities, highlighted the activities related to keeping residents safe such as agreeing a new Community Safety Strategy and tackling hate crime and anti-social behaviour. Work would also be undertaken to issue a minimum of 60 fixed penalty notices for fly tipping.

During the debate on the item, Councillor Thorp and Bacon raised concerns around the consultation. Councillor Thorp stated that the questions were put in a way so that the right answer was received. Councillor Bacon said that the consultation should have been more ambitious and should have been sent to more people. He questioned the level of investment in the town centre and why that was no being shared out across the borough. Councillor Bacon also asked if the new Cabinet Member with responsibility for transport would commit to sorting out dangerous roads.

Councillor Bennett-Sylvester stated that there was an error in the Plan. Thrybergh Country Park had not yet been award Green Flag status. Councillor Bennett-Sylvester did support the Plan but wanted to see more empowerment for neighbourhoods and a less risk averse approach to capital projects. He also supported the town centre investments but wanted to see more residential development in the town centre instead of on green spaces.

Councillor Reynolds asked for further information regarding the CCTV investments. The Leader explained that some of the CCTV was monitored by South Yorkshire Police in Doncaster. However all CCTV could be accessed from one location to help with efficient evidence collection.

The Leader confirmed that the reference should have been to Ulley Country Park and that would be corrected in the final version of the Plan. He agreed that lessons had been learnt in terms of capital project delivery and that he wanted to see more movement in that respect. In terms of land for residential development, due to changes in national policy, more land would need to be made available across the borough.

In responding to the comments on the consultation, the Leader stated that responses had been received from every high level postcode in the borough. He also stated that if Members had wanted more responses, they could have gone themselves and asked their residents to complete the consultation. The consultation had been online and through the post. In response to Councillor Thorp’s question about “trade-offs” and whether this was an appropriate way to ask a question, the Leader stated that it had to be presented in this way because that was the way it worked in terms of service provision. The Leader also confirmed that he was proud of the work being done to regenerate the town centre.

Resolved:

That Council adopt the Council Plan 2025-2030.

Mover:- Councillor Read                         Seconder:- Councillor Cusworth