Modern Council

What does this mean?

• Managing Finance: Ensuring that we are achieving good value for money as financial resources become more stretched from year to year.
• Governing the Business: Ensuring that the processes and information we use to manage our business enable us to deliver our services properly whilst fulfilling our legal and statutory duties.
• Involving People: Ensuring that we involve and include customers, community groups, other public services, local businesses and our own staff in making decisions and delivering services.
• Managing Performance: Ensuring that we have chosen the right priorities and are able to deliver them.

Why is this important?

• This theme is important because it supports the delivery of all the services the council provides. Failing to address the matters raised above would result in significant risks to the council. The Modern Council theme focuses on the role of our support services such as IT, Human Resources, Financial Services and Communications without which the council would not be able to operate.

How will we measure success?

What are we going to do?

The following projects are the key pieces of work we are going to carry out over the next three years over and above our general day to day activities.

Managing Finance

• Ensure that the council’s programme of savings is delivered (Ongoing - Finish: Mar 10)
• Deliver the programme of Value for Money (VFM) reviews agreed by the council (Ongoing - Finish: Mar 10)

Governing the Business

• Help develop the East Kent Sustainable Community Strategy (Start: Apr 08 - Finish: Jul 09)
• Help develop a joint service that gives all customers easy access to all council services (Start: Dec 08 - Finish: Mar 12)
• Help develop a joint HR and Payroll service for councils in East Kent (Start: Aug 08 - Finish: Mar 10)
• Help develop a joint Revenues and Benefits service for councils in East Kent (Start: Nov 08 - Finish: Mar 10)
• Finalise and test the council’s Business Continuity Plan (Start Jan 08 - Finish: Mar 10)
• Develop the Local Ethical Framework for councillors (Start: May 09 - Finish: Mar 11)

Managing Resources

• Implement the accommodation strategy reducing the number of buildings used to house staff (Start: Sep 07 - Finish: Dec 10)
• Extend corporate use of electronic document and records management software (Start: Jan 09 - Finish: Mar 12)
• Implement the findings of the Carbon Trust survey, Energy Savings Trust and Internal Audit, in respect of the council’s energy usage (Start: Sep 07 - Finish: Mar 10)
• Develop an Environmental Strategy and action plan for TDC (Start: Sep 08 - Finish: May 09)
• Review the Staff Travel Plan (Start: Jan 09 - Finish: Mar 10)

Involving people

• Review how we serve customers in Ramsgate (Start: May 09 - Finish: Mar 12)
• Attain the “Achieving” standard under the Local Government Equality Framework (Start: Mar 08 - Finish: Oct 09)
• Review and improve communication methods with Members, Residents and Staff (Start: Jan 09 - Finish: Mar 11)

Managing Performance

• Implement the new performance management software package (Start: Jan 09 - Finish: Dec 09)

Previous page: Healthy Communities

• Foreword
• Thanet's Economy
• Safe Neighbourhoods
• Beautiful Thanet
• Quality Housing
• Healthy Communities

Corporate Improvement Manager

Email: mailto:sophie.chadwick@thanet.gov.uk

Tel: 01843 577180