Improvement Plan 2008 / 2009

Welcome to Wrexham County Borough Council’s 2008/09 Annual Improvement Plan. This is the Council’s key performance and service delivery document, outlining our vision and commitments for 2008/9 and comprehensively detailing our performance during 2007/8.

The local authority agenda continues to be dominated by tighter budgets and subsequent inevitable efficiency savings, but Wrexham County Borough Council is well equipped to work within such parameters and still provide an effective and efficient service to the people of Wrexham. The local elections were held in May 2008 and have impacted the make up of the Council and will continue to do so whilst the priorities of the newly elected members continue to emerge. Fortunately Wrexham is renowned for having active and engaged members, and it is anticipated that this will continue and will help drive forward service improvement over the next year.

In 2007/08 we maintained our high level of performance, exceeding the improvements realised in 2006/07. Most notably our highest level of priorities (Corporate Priorities) where additional resources and efforts are directed, have all been evaluated as ‘on track’ for 2007/8. Some of the most notable key achievements are summarised below:

Key Achievements

100% of Households served by a kerbside collection via the ‘recycle with Michael’ scheme
The successful launch and delivery of Streetscene – Pride in your street initiative, which gives customers one single contact for all services associated with highways, streets and open spaces.
Our Children and Young People service was given a highly commended award at the Excellence Wales awards, whilst our Development of communities bid was also commended.
19.2% reduction in Anti-social behaviour crime in 2007, compared to the same period in 2006.
An improvement on previous years on all performance indicators for key stage 4 results.

Coupled with these key achievements, is the necessity to build upon our success and look beyond the horizon to ensure that Wrexham is continually improving. Our key commitments below highlight some of the headline priorities for 2008/9

Key Commitments

Implement an effective and efficient one stop shop service.
Increase the % of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSE passes at grades A*-C to 55%
Decrease the number of reported incidents of anti-social behaviour by 6% in 2008/9
Recycle, reuse or compost 65% of the waste received at household recycling centres.

Strategic Directors have commissioned departments with the outcomes they wish to see in 2008/9. Only the dedicated work of departments along with member support will ensure targets are attained and continuing progress is maintained. Partnership working will continue to play an important role, with colleagues from the public, private and voluntary sector all making significant contributions. This collaborative approach to the challenges ahead will no doubt ensure that 2008/09 is another successful year.

Improvement Plan Feedback

We welcome comment on the Improvement Plan. Please send any comments or requests for a copy of this document in large print, other languages or an alternative format, to the contact details below:

Performance and Improvement Manager
Finance and Performance Department
Wrexham County Borough Council
Lambpit Street
Wrexham
LL11 1AY

E-mail: finance@wrexham.gov.uk
Telephone: 01978 292259.

Improvement Plan 2008/2009