Corporate Performance Plan

Message from the Leader

Welcome to the latest and final Corporate Performance Plan to be produced by Fylde Borough Council. Since 1999 the Council has been reporting performance in the form of an annual performance plan but with recent changes to the national performance measures that local authorities are required to report future performance will be reported in partnership with other service providers in the community.

The Corporate Performance Plan outlines how the council has performed over the last 12 months and acts very much as an annual report.  The plan includes all the performance data that the authority is required to report but is also an opportunity for us to outline key achievements and successes throughout the year.  Because of much closer working with partners in the community and the development of the new Sustainable Community Strategy future performance reports will outline the achievements delivered across the borough by the partners responsible for the Sustainable Community Strategy and against the targets set in the strategy.

The last year has been one of the toughest ever faced by the authority in terms of making key decisions that will ensure the long term prosperity of the community. The budget proved very difficult to balance and the council has been required to make some extremely tough and uncomfortable decisions on service provision. One of the toughest decisions made was to stop providing financial support to the two swimming pools in the borough and to consider alternative leisure provision.  Despite all the efforts of the authority it was not possible to find an organization that could operate the swimming pools without financial support from the council.

The two stand alone swimming pools in Kirkham and St Annes cost the Fylde tax payers over £1 million a year. Research showed that less than 6% of the population used the pools and that there is extensive alternative provision in major local hotels, gyms, neighbouring authorities with fun pools or dual use facilities and major holiday centres in the borough. The decision was made to close the two swimming facilities over the next 12 months.

The fact that the two pools are stand alone facilities without any dry side leisure provision contributed to cost of the facility and reduced the opportunity to generate income. The closure of these facilities will result in a significant decrease in the cost of sports and recreation without a significant reduction in the leisure provision across the local community because of the wide range of high quality facilities offered in partnership through the YMCA and by the private sector.  Furthermore, the authority is examining the feasibility of generating capital receipts from the two existing sites to contribute towards additional third sector leisure provision in the community.

The council has had no alternative but to make these very difficult decisions because for too long the policy of setting the cheapest council tax rates possible was in place at Fylde. Central government capping of council tax increases and a reduction in the grant in the grant from central government have led to the council being unable to afford to continue using the tax payers money to subsidise some discretionary services.

A realistic and challenging budget has been set this year that will see a dramatic reduction in both management and administration costs in order to balance the books and deliver additional income to spend on new and improved services in future years. Tough decisions have been made by the authority to make sure the council is a better place for everyone in the future. Every service area has made a commitment to deliver savings, reduce waste and improve efficiency.

The performance measures in this plan demonstrate that again this year the key services of waste, recycling, street cleansing, planning, parks and benefits have all continued to improve. The borough is one of the safest places to live in the country with very low levels of crime and disorder.  However, the fear of crime is high and we are working successfully with our partners in the community to reduce the fear of crime.  The council has become better at working with other service providers to deliver common community objectives and goals. This is evidenced best in the new Sustainable Community Strategy that the various partners have developed in 2008. It will be the performance against this community strategy that will be used to measure the joint success of all the service providers from 2009 onwards.

Shared and joint working is now prevalent across the organisation with a wide range of services delivered in true partnership with other organisations in the community achieving better value for money.  By working together with our partners we can achieve more for the community.

Fylde is widely recognised as one of the leading authorities when it comes to working closely with other service providers. The council has made it a corporate priority to work with others whenever possible in order to achieve better services at no extra cost to the tax payer. Shared service and partnership working has driven up performance across a wide range of services and will lead to further improvements as more and more is delivered in true partnership with better services at less cost.

This performance plan includes a section outlining the comprehensive arrangements that we currently have in place to deliver future improvements at Fylde. The expected outcomes from the improvement arrangements are clearly linked to the corporate priorities and objectives set by the Council. The link to our priorities and objectives is made clear in the corporate performance framework that is included in this performance plan.

We are committed to making sure that this improvement continues by working with the community to make life better. This performance plan also includes details of local performance indicators that measure areas of particular importance to Fylde and which are reflected in our corporate priorities and objectives.

Although a great deal has been achieved at Fylde there is still more to do. Through the hard work and dedication of the employees, elected members and all our partners we will continue to put the customer first and strengthen the local community in Fylde.

Elected members and officers will continue to work closely with partners across the community to improve services even further and ensure that Fylde is a great place to live, work and visit.

• Best Value & Performance
• Comprehensive Performance Assessment
• Corporate Plan - Leaders Message
• Corporate Plan - Outline
• Corporate Plan - The Action Plan
• Council Performance
• Performance and Inspection
• The Corporate Plan
• Value for Money at Fylde

• Sustainable Community Strategy
• The Corporate Performance Plan 2008