Members approved Highland Council’s Corporate Plan for 2022-27 at a meeting of the full Council.
The Corporate Plan (CP) provides the Corporate Governance Framework under which the priorities in the Council’s programme ‘Our Future Highland’ and the local authority’s strategic, operational, and improvement priorities will be delivered and monitored.
The new Council Programme was approved at Council in December 2022 along with the draft Corporate Plan.
The latter has now been refined and updated to include performance targets as well as the most recent baseline information for comparison purposes.
The Council Programme sets out Highland Council’s ambition to establish the foundations of a brighter and more sustainable future for Highland communities, particularly for younger generations.
The Corporate Plan, approved by Members, mirrors that Programme by setting out the actions, indicators, and targets that will measure the delivery of the Council Programme under five key strategic priority outcomes:
- A Fair and Caring Highland
- Resilient and Sustainable Communities
- Accessible and Sustainable Highland Homes
- A Sustainable Highland Environment and Global Centre for Renewable Energy
- A Resilient and Sustainable Council
Highland Council Leader, Cllr Raymond Bremner, said:
“The actions and targets set out in the Corporate Plan must be both ambitious and achievable in order to provide a meaningful assessment of the progress the Council is making to deliver its Programme.
“We will keep these under regular review to ensure they drive continual improvement and deliver the Council’s vision of ‘Our Future Highland’.”
Highland Council Convener, Cllr Bill Lobban, said:
“This is certainly a very ambitious, but achievable Corporate Plan, which focuses on making Highland safer, more equitable, and sustainable in the longer-term.
“Our targets for improving housing and roads will be particularly welcomed by our communities.”
On strategic priority ‘A Fair and Caring Highland’, the Corporate Plan sets out ways to improve outcomes including attainment, achievement, positive destinations for all children and young people with a particular focus on literacy, numeracy, and our most vulnerable learners.
On strategic priority ‘Resilient and Sustainable Communities’ the Corporate Plan sets out ways in which the local authority can help Highland communities to be prosperous, sustainable and resilient, making a positive difference to the lives of people.
This will be made possible by developing affordable and reliable public transport, continuing work with partners to develop and promote road and water safety, continue the Council’s expanded programme for improving road condition and maintenance, and a host of other objectives.
On strategic priority ‘Accessible and Sustainable Highland Homes’ among the Corporate Plan aims is to ensure the Council builds quality, affordable and accessible homes, provide warm and energy efficient homes, and convert Council assets for housing use.
On strategic priority ‘A Sustainable Highland Environment and Global Centre for Renewable Energy’ among the aims of the Corporate Plan is to promote active travel infrastructure across Highland, promote greener transport including low carbon public transport and the development of hydrogen hubs throughout the area.
On strategic priority ‘A Resilient and Sustainable Council’ among the Corporate Plan aims is to grow and retain our own talent within the Council, work with the public and private sector to co-ordinate employment opportunities, improve response times in replying to inquiries and service requests and actively redesign service delivery in response to constrained budgets to ensure the local authority’s sustainability.
Full detail of the Highland Council’s Corporate Plan for 2022-27 can be viewed on Highland Council’s website under Item 13.
