Council Plan

Priority. PEOPLE. Supporting residents to realise their potential

Outcome: Healthy and active communities

Programme: Improving everyone’s health and reducing inequalities.

Description: This programme will deliver interventions to encourage behaviour change to increase healthy lifestyles and impact on the wider determinants of health. This will include:

• developing healthy environments through the council’s planning and policy functions
• embedding ‘make every contact count’ (NHS Health Education England’s approach to behaviour change) across the workforce
• delivery of public health services.

Measures of success:  

1. Rate per 100,000 of self-reported 4-week smoking quitters aged 16 or over (cumulative) 
2. Excess weight in 4 to 5 year olds 
3. Excess weight in 10 to 11 year olds 
4. Breastfeeding initiation 
5. Dementia-friendly settings (cumulative) 
6. Percentage of children and young people achieving a lifestyle improvement as a result of completing a young people weight management service.

Outcome: Resilient families

Programme: Together we can - Children’s Services Improvement Plan

Description: To develop Children’s Services to be a ‘Good’ service and continue to strengthen our early help offer.

Measures of success:

1. The average number of days (over the last 36 months) between a child entering care and moving in with adoptive family (fostering adjusted) 
2. Number of looked after children per 10,000 children 
3. Number of child protection cases per 10,000 children 
4. Average caseloads in assessment teams 
5. Average caseloads in post-assessment teams 
6. Completed initial child and family assessments which started as S47, where the child was visited within one working day
7. Completed initial child and family assessments which started as S17, where the child was visited within 5 working days. 
8. Percentage of children with long-term fostering as a plan, where the child, carer and service have agreed for the placement to last until the child is ready to leave care 
9. Rate of open CIN (child in need) cases per 10,000 
10. The percentage of CSC Audits graded 'good' or 'outstanding' 
11. The percentage of CSC Audits graded RI or higher (good or outstanding) 
12. The percentage of children social care substantive posts not filled by permanent social workers.  

Programme: The best start in life

Description: Support families to give their children the best start in life by developing an integrated approach to our healthy child and early years programmes.

Measures of success:

1. Percentage achievement gap at Early Years Foundation Stage Profile between the lowest attaining 20% of children and the mean
2. Smoking at time of delivery.

Outcome: Older and disabled people living independently in their homes

Programme: Improve support for vulnerable adults by working with partners and communities.

Description: Improve support for vulnerable adults by:

• working with partners and communities to develop integrated care pathways
• maintaining and prolonging independence by using technology-enabled care services in an effective preventative way
• developing and improving local safeguarding arrangements through Medway Adults Safeguarding Partnership.

Measures of success:  

1. Percentage of long-term packages that are placements
2. Percentage of clients receiving a direct payment for their social care service
3. Proportion of adults with a primary support reason of learning disability support who live in their own home or with their family
4. Permanent admissions to care homes per 100,000 population: 18 to 64
5. Permanent admissions to care homes, per 100,000 population: 65+.

Outcome: All children achieving their potential in education

Programme: Raising aspiration and ambition.

Description:

• Raise standards in education across all phases
• Improve the percentage of children in schools that are ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’
• Improve the quality of leadership, governance, and teaching
• Engage young people as active citizens.

Measure of success:  

1. The percentage of children permanently excluded from school (upheld only)
2. Partnership measure: Percentage of all secondary schools judged 'good' or better
3. The percentage of special schools in Medway judged to be 'good' or better
4. The percentage of children who were persistently absent from school
5. The percentage of maintained primary schools in Medway judged to be 'good' or better
6. The percentage of children who achieved the required standard or above in reading, writing and mathematics at KS2
7. The percentage of children who achieve the required standard or above in reading, writing and mathematics at KS2 in maintained schools only
8. Partnership measure: Percentage of all primary schools judged 'good' or better
9. Average attainment 8 score.

Priority. PLACE. Medway: A place to be proud of

Outcome: A clean and green environment

Programme: Enhancing the public realm, street scene, parks and green spaces.

Description: Working with the public and partners to enhance and protect Medway’s high-quality public realm and street scene

Measures of success:

1. Satisfaction with parks and green spaces: direct users Citizens Panel
2. Improved street and environmental cleanliness: litter
3. Satisfaction with refuse collection: Citizens Panel result.

Programme: Replacing Medway’s streetlights.

Description: Increase the energy efficiency of Medway’s street lighting by using LED technology and supporting the SMART Cities ambition.

Programme: Improving air quality in air quality management areas in Medway.

Description: To co-ordinate and monitor delivery of actions contained within the Council’s Air Quality Action Plan.

Programme: Climate change.

Description: Work with partners and the public to minimise emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce Medway’s contribution to climate change to net zero by 2050. Success will be measured by:

• emissions
• air quality
• energy
• transport and housing
• fuel poverty.

Outcome: Put Medway on the map

Programme: Medway, a great place to live, work, learn and visit.

Description: Built around our culture, tourism and regeneration strategies. By building on what makes Medway unique - the river, our heritage and sporting legacy - Medway on the Map promotes our area as a great place to live, work, learn and visit.

Priority. GROWTH. Maximising regeneration and economic growth - growth for all

Outcome: A strong diversified economy

Programme: Inward investment and business growth.

Description:

• The development of Innovation Park Medway (maximising the benefits Enterprise Zone status brings) and commercial premises across the area to provide the right infrastructure for business success
• Ensure Medway’s regeneration agenda delivers economic growth, increasing high value businesses and high-quality employment and creating jobs and inward investment
• Continue to progress and then implement a strategy suite refresh, covering skills and employability, town centres, innovation and the Medway wide 2037 strategy
• Continue to encourage and help facilitate the growth of all business in Medway, via development of the new Business for Medway group, participation in town centre forums, support for Creative Medway Compact and the Town Centres Cabinet Advisory Board
• Support the resilience and recovery of our high streets and town centres, including participation in the High Streets Taskforce support scheme.

Measures of success:

1. Percentage of square footage let at Innovation Centre Medway (ICM)
2. Percentage of square footage let in council-owned business units
3. Growth Value Added (GVA) per job – Medway.

Outcome: Residents with jobs and skills

Programme: Jobs, skills, and employability.

Description:

• The Medway Skills Board, established in 2017, is to champion skills development to all ages. The Skills Plan for Medway was adopted by Cabinet in March 2019. This plan incorporated the objectives of the 16 to 19 Strategy, alongside interests such as apprenticeships, degree apprenticeships and internships to support lifelong learning
• Create job opportunities for Medway residents including Innovation Park Medway, Lower Thames Crossing and across Medway
• Medway Adult Education learning programme to boost local skills level for those furthest from employment. It's currently being refreshed, taking into account changes due to coronavirus (COVID-19) and local and national policy.

Measures of success:  

1. Percentage of 16 to 17 year olds who are not in education, employment or training or whose status is ‘not known’
2. Percentage retention rate
3. Achievement rate (pass rate)
4. Number of jobs created and safeguarded (cumulative).

Outcome: Preventing homelessness

Programme: Preventing homelessness.

Description:

• To prevent homelessness through a council-wide approach
• To continue to deliver the priorities of the rough sleeper initiative.

Measures of success:  

1. Number of households living in temporary accommodation
2. Number of households with dependent children in B&B who have resided there for 6+ weeks at the end of the quarter
3. Number of private sector properties improved as a result of the council’s intervention.

Outcome: Delivering new homes to meet the needs of Medway’s residents

Programme: Delivering new homes to meet the needs of Medway’s residents.

Description:

• Progress the development of Medway’s Local Plan in order to meet our housing need up to 2037
• Work with landowners and developers to promote the delivery of appropriate housing on identified sites in Medway, to meet our housing requirements and support Medway’s future growth
• Deliver the Housing Infrastructure Fund Bid.

Measure of success:

1. Net additional homes provided.

Outcome: Getting around Medway

Programme: Tackle congestion hotspots by transport and public realm improvements.

Description:

• Achieve Level 3 status for Highway Asset with Department for Transport (DfT)
• Transport and public realm improvements for the Medway towns
• Support the implementation of the Chatham package programme, made possible via successful Levelling Up Fund bid. 

Measure of success.

1. Average journey time along 5 routes across Medway (minutes per mile).

Financial resilience

We will deliver efficient and effective services for Medway residents, businesses, and visitors. We will ensure that robust financial systems and processes are in place to manage financial risks and opportunities, and to secure a stable financial position that enables us to operate for the foreseeable future.

Measure of success:

1. Unmodified value for money (VFM) conclusion from external auditors.

Digital enablement

We will use digital as an enabler of everything we do by transforming the way we provide services, the way we work and the way we communicate. We will reach out to residents and businesses who lack the skills, infrastructure, and confidence to go online by providing them with support and assistance.

Measure of success:

1. Digital take-up.

Creativity and innovation

We will create a culture of creativity and innovation establishing a legacy of local pride, improving diversity and inclusion, and identifying new ways of providing services around the needs of our residents.

Working together to empower communities

We will work together and in partnership with everyone that has an impact on the lives of our residents and businesses.

We will strengthen collaboration between members of our communities, businesses, universities and the voluntary sector to maximise resources and knowledge.

Tackle climate change

We will take action to tackle the local and global threat of climate change, both internally and in partnership with local organisations and residents, and to minimise its environmental impact by cutting carbon, waste, and pollution.

Child-friendly

We will improve the lives of children by ensuring their voices, needs, priorities and rights are an integral part of our strategies, policies, programmes and decisions.