The Making Stevenage Even Better Corporate Plan sets out the Council’s priorities for the next three years. It provides a framework for our thinking, decision-making and resource allocation in the shape of five priorities and three cross-cutting themes.

To ensure focus we have included the outcome that we want to achieve under each priority. By concentrating on outcomes, we can be transparent about the actions that we will take, and by doing so improve accountability and aid ongoing engagement and co-production with residents, partners, local businesses, and community groups.

The strategic priorities in the plan are underpinned by the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy and Capital Strategy. These key documents set out our financial priorities and commitments for the year and are reviewed annually. These are supported by a  number of Council Strategies and Policies within the Council’s Strategic Policy Framework. The Policies and Strategies with the Framework set out the Council’s position on a  number of important issues, including town planning; housing allocation; community safety; climate change; arts and leisure; and equality, diversity and inclusion.

Integral to the successful delivery of our priorities are our external partners. As a Council we have strong links with our partnership colleagues across the county, who each share in our ambition to collectively see Hertfordshire thrive.

Colleagues from District and Borough Councils, the County Council, and the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership are central to our ambitions to grow the economy, provide more affordable housing, tackle climate change, and invest in infrastructure such as roads, rail, schools and healthcare facilities. Through our links into the Hertfordshire Growth Board, the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Development Board, and the Hertfordshire Climate Change & Sustainability Partnership, we can continue to make strong representation to our partners for the benefit of Stevenage residents.

In partnership with the Stevenage Development Board, we will continue to deliver projects allocated £37.5 million funding through the Towns Fund. The Board includes members from public sector organisations, private businesses, not-for-profit organisations, government agency partners and more, and is a key component of the wider £1bn regeneration of Stevenage Town Centre.

Nationally and regionally, we will also continue to forge strong links with Government departments such as the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department of Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, and the Department for International Trade, to ensure that we have a voice in the development of the local and national policy agenda.

We will continue to build upon the strong links that we have with educational institutions such as the University of Hertfordshire and North Herts College to make sure that we can jointly develop a skills and training package that fulfils our residents’ aspirations and makes a real difference to their futures.

We will continue to value and work collaboratively with local Voluntary, Charitable & Social Enterprise (VCSE) groups, such as the Citizens Advice (Stevenage), Mission 44 and many, many, more, in the acknowledgement that they make a meaningful difference to the lives of residents. We will continue to identify shared objectives and outcomes through the Stevenage Together Partnership to ensure that opportunities for collaboration are coordinated and utilised effectively.

To ensure that our approach to delivery of the Making Stevenage Even Better Corporate Plan is clear, each of the five strategic priorities and cross-cutting themes will be presented as a Plan on a Page (PoaP), please see Annex A. Each PoaP is underpinned by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)and Milestones that we will use to monitor and track performance.

The first set of PoaP documents covering the period 2024-25 will be published in July 2024, and an example of More Social, Affordable & Good Quality Homes is included in Annex B. These will be reviewed annually, so that we can monitor delivery and make timely changes where required. This will be accompanied by the Council’s Annual Report which sets out the Council’s achievements for the previous year.

To ensure transparency and to keep residents up to date on progress, the KPIs and Milestones will be reported to the Council’s Executive and published on our website at the end of every financial quarter.