| Care in the Community | Sustainable Communities | A Clean Environment |
| A Planned Culture of Enterprise and Growth | A Skilled and Confident Highlands |
| Arts, Heritage, Culture and Sport | Gaelic Language | Improved Transport and Connectivity |
| Children and Young People | Corporate Objectives for The Highland Council |
Delivering a More Responsive and Better Value Council
The Council wish to support the greater involvement of Highland residents in shaping the future of their communities and will support the efforts of voluntary and community organisations which enable people to contribute to strong and vibrant communities. We aim to deliver a more responsive and better value Council over the coming four years. To involve parents more in shaping the future of their communities, we need to find the right ways for communities to be engaged in decisions which affect them. Different approaches can be used for different issues to ensure that everyone can have their voice heard. Finding ways to involve people more likely to suffer discrimination or disadvantage will help us to adapt our policies and procedures to make them truly accessible to everyone in the community. Community Councils provide a local voice for communities and the Council provides advice, information and annual funding of £206,000 for a network of 152 Community Councils.
Supporting the Voluntary Sector
We fully appreciate the importance of volunteer agencies in the Highlands and we will develop a five-year concordat with the voluntary sector in the Highlands governing our £14 million investment. Currently we support a network of nine independent advice providers, who offer general advice, welfare rights and money advice services. Six of the nine are Citizen’s Advice Bureaux and the remaining three will become CABs next year.
Separately, we provide money advice services and encourage take-up of benefit entitlement. We also provide broader consumer advice and consumer protection to individuals and businesses.
Delivering Services More Efficiently
With tighter financial settlements expected and the need to protect front-line services across the dispersed population of the Highlands, we have an increasing focus on finding efficiencies in our operations. Our approach to efficiency includes: rationalising processes and offices; procuring strategically and electronically; managing assets better (e.g. schools estate and reducing energy use in buildings); reducing staff numbers and vacancy management; developing shared services with other organisations; reducing total costs and unit costs. In 2006-7 we achieved efficiency savings of £6.52m.
Providing Best Value
Best value means continuously improving services while paying regard to economy, effectiveness, efficiency, equalities and sustainability. Councils are now subject to a comprehensive audit of their statutory duty to achieve Best Value every three years. We were audited in 2005 with the report and improvement plan made available in 2006. The audit recognised strengths in the Council’s performance and identified 13 improvement areas. These were areas we had identified in our own self-assessment of performance. Over the past year, the majority of the improvement actions has been completed.
Modernised Working Conditions
We will work with trade unions to deliver modernised working conditions and a single status workforce by next year. Equal pay, job evaluation and harmonised terms and conditions remain key priorities for this Council.
Ward Forums
The Highland Council comprises 80 elected members, representing 14 four-member wards and 8 three-member wards. As well as serving on strategic committees and area licensing and planning meetings, they attend ward forums, which meet six times each year and enable the public and community representatives to be informed of and to scrutinise Council activities and service delivery. They provide a forum for community planning. A 20-minute slot is included at the end of two-hour meetings for the public to ask questions of Ward Members and Council officials. Ward Forums are administered by a team of Ward Managers. Each of the 22 wards has a discretionary budget of £56,000 for local service enhancements.
Spending review
A full review of the Council’s spending priorities will be needed by 2009 to ensure the budget is properly aligned to the priorities set. The Scottish Government has indicated a freeze of the 2007-8 Council Tax levels and the Council awaits its share of additional funding from the Scottish Government.
How Do We Perform?
Our public performance survey showed that the top 5 aspects which are most important to you are:
1. Maintaining good quality local services.
2. Listening to local people.
3. Providing value for money.
4. Being aware of people’s needs.
5. Involving people in how we spend our money.
The majority (88%) of participants said they found it easy to contact the Council. Satisfaction has increased for all aspects of contact with us. More effort will be made for private interview space to be located where this is required.
Our survey indicates that 27% of the Highland population volunteer in some capacity, with over half of them volunteering in more than one activity and taking part more than once a week.
From 168 Council buildings which deliver services to the public, 61.3% are now more accessible to people with disabilities. We aim to have all accessible by 2009 |