Agenda item

Councillor Steven Kelly, Cabinet Member for Individuals, introduced the report

Cabinet was reminded that at the beginning of this term, ten Strategic Administration Projects had been established to help deliver services more effectively and in new ways.  The Projects were each to be driven by a Member of the Cabinet, working with a select team of officers, representing a diverse variety of disciplines within the Council.

The projects were:

In the last year of this Administration, it was intended that each Project would be reporting back to Cabinet for it to note the achievements attained and the progress made.

The Harold Hill Ambitions Programme remained an on-going 20 year programme that was working with the local community to transform Harold Hill and open up new and exciting opportunities for local people to improve their lives.  The long term ambition for Harold Hill - expressed in the November 2008 Cabinet Report - was to:

·         create more opportunities for local people;

·         to work with the police to stamp out unacceptable behaviour and crime;

·         to build a learning village to provide a centre of educational excellence on Harold Hill;

·         modernise and improve community facilities for everyone;

·         create new housing opportunities;

·         improve health and wellbeing; and

·         provide excellent new sports and recreation facilities.

The Harold Hill Ambitions Programme was drawn up following an extensive initial consultation with the community and key stakeholders during the summer of 2007 when a range of ideas and options were developed.  Progress was reported to Cabinet in February 2008 and in August 2008 the Deputy Leader gave approval to consult the public on specific proposals to address the key priorities and opportunities which had been identified by the community and stakeholders.  The current report set out progress since this date.

The first five years of the Programme had been highly successful in delivering and initiating a complex series of physical change projects which had improved the built environment.  In taking the programme forward it was proposed that delivery of the remaining physical elements continued, while sustaining an even stronger focus on opportunities for local people, particularly through the development of the Community Programme focussing on jobs, education, skills and health.

Reasons for the decision:

Harold Hill Ambitions in its first five years of delivery had successfully delivered investment in its physical environment.  Some of these schemes had been completed, whist other elements were at advanced contractual and development stages.  Improvements to the community had been made, such as improvements to Life Expectancy at Birth and reduction in unemployment. However there was still a need to continue with a targeted approach to delivery in the area and complete the remaining elements of the November 2008 Cabinet Report.

It was envisaged that the next phase of the 20 year programme would focus on improving the life chances of local people whilst continuing to manage the delivery of the few remaining projects outlined in the November 2008 Cabinet report.  As part of this phase the Council would work to support and improve the community of Harold Hill and ensure the new facilities built within the Programme were utilised and value for money is obtained. 

Other options considered:

The Council, as part of its on-going management of the Programme constantly seeks to improve delivery with various options considered throughout the Programme. These include various options considered as part of the initial scoping of the Programme prior to the original November 2008 Cabinet Report.

Cabinet:

Noted the progress made to date on the Harold Hill Ambitions Programme.