Paul Tilsley and Mike Whitby set out their three year Council Plan

6.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 18th Jan 2006

Councillor Paul Tilsley (Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Birmingham City Council and Deputy Leader of the Council) and Councillor Mike Whitby (Leader of the Council) have set out their three year Council Plan. The plan is ambitious and aims to deliver high quality public services whilst keeping an eye on value for money.

Councillor Tilsley said "As a result of our proposed plans to transform the way the Council does its business we will be able to make our existing resources go much further. In consequence we will propose a low Council Tax rise."

The plan aims to:

• make effective use of the Council's resources to get greater value from its staff, property and money;

• strive to provide excellent services, with national and international recognition, and most importantly to improve citizens' rating of our services;

• create a fair and welcoming international city of vibrant urban villages which celebrates and builds on its strength in diversity; and

• work with our partners to secure the future prosperity of Birmingham and confirm the city's place in the world economy.

The immediate task this year was to restore financial discipline and stability, and to make progress around the most pressing service priorities. There have had major success in these objectives:

• Fiscal discipline has been restored with no repeat of the obscene overspends the new administration inherited.

• A major, £50m investment in Social Care & Health which has enabled the service to rise to a One Star assessment with promising prospects.

• Radical shift in the use of capital receipts which will allow us to meet our commitment to tenants of "Birmingham's fourth option" if they so choose.

• Improvements in service outcomes for tenants have ensured Housing was awarded a Fair One Star rating with promising prospects for the future.

• An improvement in the Council's overall rating to two stars despite the harder CPA test, and an acknowledgment from the Audit Commission that the Council is "improving well".

The task for the 2006/7 budget and revised Council Plan is to support a "step change" in performance that will put the Council on the path to becoming excellent. It is proposed to put in place a range of plans, policies and processes which will fundamentally shift the way the Council is run and will deliver excellent services for those that live, work or visit the city. These include:

• A further significant investment in Social Care & Health and a set of modern service delivery strategies that together will transform the quality of support we give to vulnerable children and adults.

• A boost to budgets aimed at cleaning up the city, making it safer for people and improving recycling and similar targets.

• A refocusing of our service delivery models to make much better use of existing assets to enable us to provide more timely, customer focused services to all our residents and service users.

• Continuation of major investment programmes in schools, roads, housing, leisure and other facilities, and most importantly regeneration which will provide the jobs and prosperity on which the city's future depends.

• A commitment to maintain the quality or quantity of services, except where there needs to be improvement to better meet users' needs and preferences.

• A range of support mechanisms to enable our staff to adjust to the rapidly changing needs of the Council, including re-training opportunities, proper recognition, rewards and promotion for staff supporting the Council's objectives, and a commitment to look after staff in return for their support for the change process.