Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Executive Director of People

Councillor Lucas, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership has been invited to the meeting for the consideration of this item

The Committee considered a briefing note and received a presentation of the Executive Director of People which informed of the methods in which a Top Ten City could be measured.  Councillor Lucas, Cabinet Member for Policy and Leadership and Councillor Maton, Cabinet Member for Business, Enterprise and Employment attended the meeting for the consideration of this item. The Committee also took into account data for Coventry from the Cities Outlook provided by the Centre for Cities organisation which was tabled at the meeting.

The Committee were informed that there was not a single standardised ranking of cities or local authorities as each of these had a different focus. Consequently, there was scope for the Council to develop what it meant to be a Top Ten City. Reference was made to the Council Plan, the Council’s top level strategy setting out its priorities over the next ten years, highlighting what the Council meant  by being a Top Ten City – a globally connected city working together to improve the quality of life for Coventry people. The Council’s aspiration was a recognition that as England’s 10^th largest city by population it needed aspirations to match its stature.

Whilst there were no single standardised rankings or measures of cities, there were, however, many indices developed by external organisations that allowed places to be compared and contrasted. The briefing note highlighted a number of indices including the name, the organisation that created it, the scope of comparison (country level or city level) and when it was last updated. 

Attention was drawn to the Composite Liveability Measure (CLM). It was possible to utilise methods similar to the indexes from other agencies to develop a CLM based on council priorities. It could be used to compare and contrast prosperity, liveability and sustainability and could potentially be used to measure the city’s progress towards becoming a Top Ten City. Work was currently on-going in the area including working with the University of Warwick to refine and validate the methodology. A poster of the CLM and the Good Growth CLM were set out at appendices to the briefing note.

The members questioned the officers on a number of issues arising from the presentation and responses were provided, matters raised included:

·  Thoughts on what it meant to be a Top Ten City including was it just an academic exercise

·  Concerns that because of all the different measures, many cities could claim to be a Top Ten City

·  The view that it was the opinion of residents that should determine whether Coventry was a Top Ten City

·  The importance in being able to use this aspiration when promoting the city to help attract business and tourism

·  The need to be able to set out what would make Coventry a Top Ten City

·  Concerns about some of the data on the Centre for Cities Coventry Factsheet - positives could be viewed as negatives and vice versa

·  Further information about the work to develop the CLM

·  The importance of including leisure, sport and culture in any indices

·  In respect of developing the city and economic prosperity, a concern that while it was possible to encourage people to come and work in the city, they still wanted to live in Warwickshire

·  A reference to Marmot, providing people with jobs with decent wages and good housing was the key to the city’s success

·  The requirement to address the negatives so that people will want to invest in our city – to increase the numbers of pupils leaving schools with 5 A-C GCSEs, improve the leisure facilities and to be able to reduce the number of food banks

The Board discussed what would be their priority indicators to be included in the Council Plan to meet the Top Ten City aspiration which included being able to address the issue of NEETS (young person not in Education, Employment or Training). In relation to the importance of educational achievements, a concern was raised about the attainment of Local After Children. Regarding economic prosperity, the importance of improving the city’s skills shortage was highlighted including being able to increase the number of apprenticeships on offer.   

RESOLVED that:

(1) Approval be given for the Top Ten City measures to be part of the Council Plan performance management agenda including linkage to the existing half-yearly Council Plan performance report.

(2) Approval be given for an annual all Members’ presentation to discuss the Top Ten City priorities alongside the Council Plan performance report.

(3) Approval be given for the Insight Team to continue to develop the Composite Liveability Measure.

(4) The following be referred to the Cabinet Members for Policy and Leadership and Business, Enterprise and Employment as priority indicators for inclusion in the Council Plan to meet Coventry’s aspiration of becoming a Top Ten City:

a) Young person not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETS)

b) Children leaving school with 5 A-C GCSE’s including Maths and English and also including the attainment of Looked After Children

c) Under the existing Civic Engagement heading, to widen the definition to include information on Culture, Leisure and Sport

d) Increasing the skills of the city’s working age population including increasing the numbers of apprenticeships.