Agenda and minutes

AGREED – That the minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Performance Panel meeting held on 3 December 2015 be confirmed as a correct record for signature by the Chair.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of any interest

Report of the Chief Executive (enclosed).

Councillor Alistair Bradley Executive Leader and Executive Member (Economic Development and Partnerships) will be in attendance at the meeting to answer questions of the Panel.

Members of the Committee received a report which provided contextual information and initial questions for focus in respect of the town centre including Market Walk and future development plans.

The Chair welcomed Councillor Bradley, Executive Leader of the Council and Executive Member (Economic Development and Partnerships), Councillor Danny Gee, Chair of the Town Centre Team and Chris Moister, Head of Governance to the meeting who attended to answer questions in relation to Market Walk and the town centre.

Achieving a vibrant town centre was a key objective of the Council’s corporate strategy under the priority of ‘a strong local economy’.  Performance in this area was currently strong both across the wider town centre and in respect of the Market Walk shopping centre, which was purchased by the Council in November 2013 and taken into internal management in April 2015.

The majority of key indicators for the town centre were performing above target at the end of quarter 3, 2015/16 (December 2015).  Performance for floor space improved/created and vacant town centre floor space was excellent.  The percentage occupancy of the covered market had decreased slightly compared to last year (95.7% against almost full occupancy of 99% for 2014/15) but remained above target of 95%.

Performance of Market Walk across September, October and November 2015, footfall followed a similar trend to previous years.  However, there had been a significant increase of footfall in December 2015 of 13.5%, which was likely to be a result of a successful programme of creative marketing and PR over the Christmas period.

A range of improvement activity had been undertaken in Market Walk itself which had included new wooden bins, planters PA system and replacement paving in some areas.

It was reported that since coming under Council management in 2015, the centre had continued to generate revenue above anticipated levels and provided an additional income stream for the Council.  A recent management report highlighted one vacant unit out of 35 which equates to 97% occupancy.  However, there were a number of tenants with outstanding or part payments; this applied to approximately 9 units currently showing arrears.

The report detailed town centre marketing and PR for the Christmas period which attracted significant visitor numbers to the town centre due to key attractions including –

·         Chorley’s Christmas lights switch on – 5,000 visitors

·         Santa Express from town centre to see Father Christmas at Astley Hall – 1,900 families

·         Giant Ferris wheel – 10,800 rides

The report posed a number of questions to which answers were received -

Market Walk

How do existing Market Walk tenants contribute towards:

a)    The wider marketing and promotion of the town centre?

There was no central fund for which tenants could contribute towards.  However, tenants had provided prizes/incentives to encourage shopper engagement, and some tenants had also sponsored events.

b)    Improvements and upgrades to the centre such as street furniture?

Tenants did not contribute directly.  The Council, as landlord, provided improvements and upgrades which was usual practice.  The street furniture in Market Walk had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.OSP.15

Report of the Chief Executive (enclosed).

Members of the Panel considered a report of the Chief Executive which provided an update on the performance of the Organisational Improvement Plan 2015/16 which included 18 key corporate priority projects set out in the Council’s Corporate Strategy.  It was reported that overall performance of the Corporate Strategy projects was good with 83% of projects rated green or complete.

The report also provided an update on all the Corporate Strategy and local performance indicators which could be reported at this time.  Performance was good with 83% of the 92 indicators achieving or exceeding their target with a further 9% performing within the 5% threshold; 8% of these indicators were below target and outside the 5% threshold.

The Organisational Improvement Plan for 2015/16 contained all priority improvement activity to be undertaken during the year by the organisation.  This included the key projects as set out in the 2014/15 Corporate Strategy.  The Plan also set out a number of business improvement, budget growth items and neighbourhood priority projects that had been agreed in 2015, and were due to run until the end of the financial year, and in some cases for larger projects into 2016/17 and beyond.

All projects were recorded in the MyProjects system along with detailed milestones and milestone tasks so that progress could be monitored and managed throughout the year.

The Corporate Strategy 2015/16 included 18 key projects.  At the end of January 2016 overall performance of key projects was good with 83.3% of the projects either completed or on track.  Six projects had been completed; nine projects were rated green; two projects were rated amber, and one project had been closed.

One project which was to ‘Deliver Improvements to Market Street’ had been closed off as progress had been made over the past year on the concept design for the town centre public realm to incorporate the Market Walk extension, Youth Zone and High Street projects.

The scope had been widened beyond Market Street to include the whole of the town centre, with Market Street likely to accommodate the Flat Iron market during the redevelopment of the Flat Iron site.  This had been incorporated into a new project to ‘improve the look and feel of the town centre’ which was considered and approved as part of the Corporate Strategy refresh in November.

The report also provided a breakdown of organisational plan projects by Corporate Priority, as of the end of January 2016.  59 projects made up the Organisational Plan for 2015/16, consisting of Corporate Strategy projects, business growth items and business improvement projects.  In addition to these projects was a further 24 neighbourhood priorities.

Data on the current position of projects, not including the individual neighbourhood priorities, as at the of January 2016 showed –

·         14 projects being completed

·         39 projects rated green

·         6 projects rated amber

·         0 projects were rated red

A breakdown of organisational plan projects by Corporate Priority was provided for the Panel. Where projects had been rated amber an explanation about the issue(s) and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.OSP.16