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Local Government VictoriaIntegrated Strategic Planning & Reporting FrameworkSection 3: The key components of an integrated framework and how they relateDecember 2020A narrative snapshotThe requirement to develop a Community Vision (s 88) (applying deliberative community engagement processes) is intended to ensure that councils incorporate a long-term view (more than 10 years) of the community’s desired future into strategic planning. Deliberative engagement assumes there will be investment in processes to facilitate and support broad community input with high quality information and time allowed for this to be effectively processed.A Community Vision is a consensus aspirational view of a desired future and community values that should extend beyond the traditional jurisdiction of a Council into areas that might be considered the responsibility and function of other levels of government, civil society, non-government organisations, the private sector, institutions or other entities. It will also consider the role and potential contribution of resources or in-kind effort of these other stakeholders.A Community Vision focuses on the whole community and crosses jurisdictional boundaries. It responds to three key questions:Where do we want to be?Where are we now?How do we get there?A Community Vision should be multi-dimensional, it should consider:A Community Vision can be articulated through a range of different communications media (i.e. not just a document). For example, a Community Vision could be articulated visually, through artworks, literature etc or a combination of these.The Community Vision will articulate the community’s priorities in terms of how it sees a desired future. The Vision will be expressed in high-level terms of the ‘look, feel and liveability’ of the community in which the people live and work. Whilst the Community Vision includes the Council’s role in the community, it is not limited to its jurisdictional footprint and therefore can be much wider in scope.Being essentially an aspirational document, the Community Vision should be ambitious. It should describe a ‘future state’ of the community that is broadly aspired to, without necessarily delving into the detail of how this will be achieved. This can create tension and energy to motivate collaborative action which can then be directed towards achieving major directional change and goals. Recognising the value of ambition, the Vision should also be tempered by a level of pragmatism in terms of overall resource constraints, as well as what might be possible through advocacy, influence, community partnerships, and inter-governmental collaboration. There might not be an expectation that a bold Community Vision will be universally supported by the wider community, but it should be widely understood, embraced and co-owned by the Council and community.The Council Plan (s 90) describes that Council’s strategic priorities and directions in the broader context of the Community Vision and adopted policies, strategies, and plans (including the Municipal Strategic Statement and Municipal Public Health Plan). It is focused on the Council’s role within its jurisdictional footprint but in term of advocacy and seeking to lead broad directions and change, it can be much wider.The Council Plan is a medium-term (at least 4-years), it is adopted and owned by an incoming Council and reflects the ambitions and philosophy of the elected Council. Whilst strongly aligned to and referencing the Community Vision, it is not constrained to this agenda alone: it should incorporate broader and different objectives. The Council Plan is the primary document to reflect the strategic agenda of the Council and it outlines clear strategic objectives, strategies, major initiatives and must contemplate the resources required to support delivery.The Financial Plan (s 91) is developed and adopted by Council to provide a long-term view of the resources that are expected to be available to Council and the proposed/predicted application/use of those resources over a 10 year period. The Financial Plan should cover all aspects of the Council’s role including services/operations and capital investment/assets. It should also describe the proposed sources of funds it proposes to have access to and include all the high-level assumptions under-pinning the Plan.The Financial Plan shows how the viability and financial sustainability of Council will be achieved over the 10-year period. In the shorter term (up to 4-years), it should show the resources required to implement the Council Plan and other legislated responsibilities. The Financial Plan defines the broad fiscal boundaries for the Council Plan, Asset Plan, other subordinate policies and strategies and budget processes. It should include 10-year forecasts across the mandated key financial statements: income statement, cash flow statement, balance sheet, statement of changes of equity, capital works statement and statement of human resources.The relationship between the Financial Plan, the Council Plan, the Asset Plan and all other strategies and plans should be transparent and identified.The Asset Plan (s 92) also has a longer-term outlook (10+ years). It provides a view (both strategic and in financial terms) of how the Council proposes to manage the full portfolio of assets that it owns and controls. It should define the Council’s high-level strategic asset management priorities. It needs to address all aspects of asset management including maintenance, renewal, acquisition, expansion, disposal or decommissioning of all classes of community assets under the control of Council.Effective stewardship of assets assumes that assets (facilities, buildings, roads, paths etc) exist to support the delivery of service outcomes to the community. This implies that Council will develop and adopt functional service level standards across all classes of assets. The Asset Plan should define these functional performance standards for each asset class/type, as well as the necessary investments that will be required to achieve this (i.e. maintenance, renewals, new investment).Assets will be managed through technical processes that consider the age and condition of assets as well as the fitness-for-purpose to deliver against adopted performance standards.Councils must prepare a Budget (s 94) for each financial year and the subsequent 3 financial years. This rolling 4-year budget is to be prepared in the form and include information required by regulations. The budget will outline how resources will be allocated across initiatives, programs, services, and capital works, as well as financing and debt redemption/servicing. It also provides a comprehensive outline of all income derived from rates, fees and charges, grants, and other revenue. Ongoing services and programs should be described in summary form and include prescribed indicators and measures of service performance. New strategies and initiatives flowing from the Council Plan proposed to be implemented in each of the financial years should be clearly described with cost, income and capital estimates provided for each.The budget has an important role to ensure:allocation of adequate resources to deliver the planned programs and services to the targeted quality and cost standardsimplementation of major initiatives and projects aligned with Council Plan and Community Visionclarity on what services, programs and activities Council providesa fully funded and financially sustainable capital works program, andthe overall financial viability of the Council is maintained.A Revenue and Rating Plan (s 93) is also to be prepared and adopted by Council for a 4-year ‘block’ period following each general election. It is to be prepared by 30 June in the year following every election for the subsequent 4-years. The Revenue and Rating Plan establishes the ‘revenue-raising envelope’ within which Council proposes to work. It provides the framework for the setting of rates, statutory charges, service fees and charges and other income sources. To do this, it also needs to define (i.e. make assumptions regarding) the levels of non-controlled revenues that the Council expects to generate over the 4-year period as well (i.e. grants and subsidies, contributions etc.).In addition, it needs to define the amounts of rates to be generated from different ratepayer/property classes through differential rates (or through a uniform rate as the case may be). The Revenue and Rating Plan therefore defines what each source of revenue is, how income will be raised and the policy rationale/assumptions for each, to fund required the proposed expenditure included in the 4-year budget.The Chief Executive Officer is required to prepare a Workforce Plan (s 46(4)) that describes the organisational structure of the Council and specifies projected staffing requirements for a period of at least 4 years. There is no formal requirement for this to be linked to budget or other resource allocation processes, however it would make sense to ensure alignment.Council must prepare an Annual Report (s 98) for each financial year. The Annual Report is a retrospective accountability document that includes:a report on operations and an audited performance statementaudited financial statements and a copy of the auditor’s reporta statement on progress on implementation of the Council Plan (including strategic indicators) and major initiativesperformance against the prescribed indicators of service performanceCouncil must approve performance and financial statements on an in-principle basis prior to audit and must hold a meeting open to the public to consider the Annual Report, at this meeting the Mayor must report to the community on the implementation of the Council Plan (s 100 (1)).Overview and outcomesFigure 1 below provides an overview of the core legislated elements of an integrated strategic planning and reporting framework and outcomes.Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 1: Snapshot - Overview and outcomes Example Integrated Strategic Planning and Reporting Framework41225784022566Note: this shape denotes mandated plans and strategies. 00Note: this shape denotes mandated plans and strategies. -450215126174500Figure 2 begins the process of demonstrating how each element might inform or be informed by other parts of the integrated framework. Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 2 – Outline view of Integrated Strategic Planning and Reporting FrameworkHierarchy, Cycle or Process Flow?A discussion point that often arose during the co-design process was whether the Integrated Strategic Planning and Reporting Framework should be represented as a hierarchy, cycle, process flow or Gantt chart that outlines key activities and timing. The truth is that the framework probably needs to be all of these things and it will be up to individual Councils to determine the appropriate time and place for which type of view.When informing a discussion with the community it would not be useful or advisable to utilise a detailed Gantt chart showing the intricacies of the activities, resources and timing but this would be absolutely necessary for internal governance processes when managing and controlling processes and stages of work to achieve an integrated approach.Hierarchies, cycles, business process flowcharts, time and activity, Gantt charts and strategic triangles are all legitimate ways of reflecting the intent and operation of the integrated framework. The one-year, four-year and ten-year repeating sequences of work lend themselves to translation into a cycle diagram. Again, if this is useful and fit-for-purpose then this is the approach that Council should adopt. 273431013906500Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 3: Schematic Cycle Diagram - ISPRFThe New South Wales Integrated Planning Framework was referenced in discussions during the co-design process. This diagram includes both hierarchical and cycle views in a simple form and could be the basis for development of a similar model through sector-led development processes.Figure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 4: NSW Integrated Planning FrameworkAnnual planning cycle and operating environmentA process view of the integrated planning process might be helpful to assist in communicating both internally and externally the key steps and stages or work and how any strategic planning process is iterative and cyclical.Outlined at Figure 5 below is an indicative example of how an annual planning cycle could be organised, this includes:ensuring appropriate levels of pre-planning and research is undertaken to inform initiation of planning processesin an election year making sure that councillor induction processes incorporate clear guidance on the implications of principles-based legislation and the role and function of Council in relation to the integrated planning and reporting requirements planning community engagement in an integrated manner that is sensitive to the potential burden placed on the community – engagement is cyclic, each episode builds on the previous stage through feedback loopsbuilding from a strong baseline of assumptions and planning parameters that are established early but then reviewed through the cycle based on feedbackensuring there is sufficient time for Council to consider and synthesise inputs and community feedback and to incorporate these transparently into decision making and plan / budget developmenttransparency in terms of process and timing but also in relation to information that underpins decision-making throughout the process – building legitimacy and trust by being open and directincluding adequate time for formal adoption processes which might include consideration of written and verbal submissionsFigure SEQ Figure \* ARABIC 5: ISPRF - Indicative schematic of process viewCommunity at the centre- informing, shaping and legitimising the ISPRF Each Victorian council must develop and adopt a community engagement policy by 1 March 2021 (Section 55 of the Local Government Act 2020) that gives effect the community engagement principles (Section 56 of the Local Government Act 2020). The following are the community engagement principles—(a)a community engagement process must have a clearly defined objective and scope;(b)participants in community engagement must?have access to objective, relevant and?timely information to inform their participation;(c)participants in community engagement must?be representative of the persons and groups affected by the matter that is the subject of the community engagement;(d)participants in community engagement are entitled to reasonable support to enable meaningful and informed engagement;(e)participants in community engagement are?informed of the ways in which the community engagement process will influence Council decision making.The policy must outline how council intends to engage with its community on:strategy and policy developmentthe development and adoption of key plans, budgets & elements of the ISPRF, anda range of other mandated activities – e.g. making a local law, ward boundary review, amending governance rules, acquisition or sale of land MUNITY AT THE CENTRE OF AN INTERGRATED FRAMEWORK- Key considerationsA critical issue for councils will be to ensure that engagement is planned effectively to avoid duplication, minimise the burden on the community and ensure quality input into the planning or development process.Deliberative engagement processes should be designed to work across and inform the development of the Vision, Council Plan, Financial Plan and Asset Plan in an integrated manner.The indicative Annual Planning Cycle in Figure 5 above outlines three broad opportunities for community engagement:Late January and into February – opportunity for community engagement (including deliberative processes) on Vision, Council Plan, Financial Plan and Asset Plan and potential for engagement on budget and the rating and revenue plan – this phase is could be about seeking broad inputs and testing already identified issues.March and April – feedback and information gained in the first round of engagement has been synthesised and incorporated into planning and the results fed back into (deliberative) engagement processes – this might be about testing options available to Council or priority setting between competing challenges.July and August – a final round of (deliberative) engagement on the three key plans (Vision, Council Plan and Financial Plan) before formal adoption processes. Note that Figure 5 outlines an indicative process and is just one way in which the annual planning cycle could be organised.Beyond s223 – Right to Make a SubmissionThe 1989 Act included s223, a universal requirement supporting the rights of citizens and interested parties to make a submission on matters before Council. s223 was a mandated requirement for a broad range of matters under the Act and supporting regulations, this included:Adopting the budget, Council Plan etcExercising powers related to traffic, transport, and roadsSetting fair rates and valuation systemsReview of allowances and creating local lawsLease, sale, or exchange of landMany Councils also applied the process to a broader range of activities and processes (powers under local laws, developing strategy and policy and other matters).The right to make a submission under s223 was considered fundamental to good governance, transparency, and open decision-making and many councils applied the requirement to decision processes well beyond the mandated minimum standards.The 2020 Act in many parts has essentially replaced s223 with reference to Council’s community engagement policy which begs the question of the framing and structure of this important policy. The 2020 Act also requires Council in its Governance Rules to:S60(2)(b) institute decision making processes to ensure that any person whose rights will be directly affected by a decision of the Council is entitled to communicate their views and have their interests consideredKey question for Councils in relation to engagement, transparency and good governance include:is there a need for integration of coordination between the Community Engagement Policy and Governance Rules under the new Act?how do the overarching governance principles and public transparency principles engage with community engagement and decision-making processes?Council can consider its risk appetite in the closing loop process to community engagement. Figure 5 is one option, but council will decide when and how community engagement and deliberative engagement will be undertaken prior to adoption of key plans.how do submissions processes for activities and requirements mandated under s223 in the 1989 Act roll over or transfer to the operating environment of the 2020 Act, if at all?should a comprehensive Community Engagement Policy developed under the 2020 Act incorporate:a ‘typology’ that defines the forms of community engagement that Council will use and when and how they will be applied?a framework for how engagement or public submissions processes might be linked to Council decision-making?a risk-based assessment of processes and activities that will require engagement and/or submission processes?where and when Council will provide public notice of opportunities related to key planning processes and other activities?a schedule outlining the specific matters where Council will receive, hear, and consider submissions? ................
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