Executive Summary

Bournemouth Borough Council will provide community leadership focused on the current and future needs of customers and citizens who visit, work and live in this town. 

• We will engage our communities so they are able to influence and drive forward change and improvement
• We will provide a clarity and sharpness to the shared vision for Bournemouth
• This vision will be achieved by developing ways of closer partnership working
• Promoting equality and valuing the diversity in Bournemouth will underpin all that we do. 

We will achieve this through developing a culture in which people’s accountabilities and responsibilities are clear so they can take informed decisions and manage risks to reach excellence - to provide a consistently better experience and excellent service to the customer.  We will learn from others and from our own successes and mistakes.  We will encourage an “can do” approach and not allow hierarchic structures to stifle initiative.

Our style of providing leadership in the community will actively engage with those who live in, work in and visit, our town and reflect this in a clear, strategic direction for change and improvement. 

• The Cabinet will realise the shared vision by setting key Council priorities and a Corporate Plan to deliver them
• Cabinet portfolios will be aligned to delivery of the priorities
• Cabinet will allocate resources to achieve the targets set for the priorities and will hold senior managers to account for meeting those targets
• Cabinet, on behalf of the Full Council, will direct the Executive Board to provide a clarity and sharpness to the shared vision for Bournemouth, achieved through Council services and partners working together.

Council, Cabinet and partners will need to explore and develop the scope for area working and the implications for Cabinet portfolios and business unit links, and scrutiny functions.

Bournemouth Borough Council will task management to deliver the shared vision and Council priorities through maintaining a strategic and cross cutting focus and supporting the frontline.  Executive Board will hold a clear five year plan for the Council so that it can ensure services work together - and with partners - to achieve real improvements for the people and places in Bournemouth.  Executive Directors will each be responsible for strategic performance management of business unit clusters and also for providing leadership for an area of Bournemouth.  They will demonstrate strategic and lateral thinking that will result in coherence across services and partners to deliver the shared vision for Bournemouth.  Business Unit Heads will, like Executive Directors, be responsible for overall performance management of their business unit.  They will contribute to, understand and implement the Executive Board’s five year plan for the Council and will demonstrate strategic and lateral thinking so that they can ensure their services work together - and with partners - to deliver the shared vision for Bournemouth.  Operational managers and staff are responsible for performance in service delivery and their contribution is essential in developing and delivering the shared vision.

Councillors are Elected Community Leaders, working in neighbourhoods with residents, services, and partners to understand the needs and issues of the community in their wards.  They will be advocates for their wards in shaping the shared vision for Bournemouth.

Scrutiny panels will set their agenda proactively and will regularly review and challenge performance.  They will help to develop policy and will make best use of their individual skills, specialisms and passions to scrutinise the impact of integrated delivery with partners and could be in a neighbourhood, an area or the whole town.

Council and Cabinet will need to further develop clear roles for scrutiny for performance management and policy development as well as the types, number and focus of scrutiny panels.
 
We will develop a consistent approach that genuinely provides all people with the chance to participate in influencing the choice and direction of improvements for communities and neighbourhoods.  Valuing the diversity of people and their views will actively contribute to developing and delivering the shared vision for Bournemouth.

We will challenge all ways of providing services to demonstrate that they effectively support the Executive Board’s five-year plan.  Internal, external and contractual partnerships will become more integral and include the private, public and community voluntary sectors.  The Council will promote appropriate, effective and accountable partnerships - internal and external.  The Council’s involvement will be proportional to the added value in delivering the shared vision.

T-government will be an integral part of a wider communication strategy focusing on improved access to services.  We will develop the ability to share information, including area-based data across services, partners and between authorities.  This will contribute to effective partnership delivery of the shared vision for Bournemouth. The Council will embrace new technologies to help residents and communities to connect and engage with elected community leaders, the Council and each other.