Stratford-on-Avon District Council Cabinet decisions - 7 October 2024

Here are the decisions from today's, (Monday 7 October), Cabinet from Stratford-on-Avon District Council, which included a Notice of Motion to tackle food insecurity and promote food justice proposed by Councillor Perteghella and seconded by Councillor Petrovic, updates on Actions Plans from the LGA Corporate Peer Challenge and Housing, the delivery of homes for people in rural areas and the approval of two new strategies.

• Tackling Food Insecurity and Promoting Food Justice
  Cabinet agreed a number of Recommendations to Council to respond to the Notice of Motion. These include lobbying Government through the 'Right to Food' campaign, enhanced local activity, the development of a more focussed strategic approach, improved understanding through research, promotion of community food production, harnessing the South Warwickshire Local Plan, Licensing Policy and Climate Change Panel to further efforts, enhancing the approach to distribution of surpluses and the improvement of opportunities for children and young people in relation to nutrition and food insecurity/injustice.
  
  
• LGA Corporate Peer Challenge Action Plan - Monitoring Report
  Cabinet received an update on the action plan which was approved following the recent LGA corporate Peer Challenge, that took place in March 2024. All of the actions which were due for implementation by the end of September 2024 have been achieved. A further monitoring report will be considered by The Cabinet ahead of the follow up review on 13 January 2025.
  
  
• Review of the Housing Strategy Action Plan
  Cabinet agreed the revised Sustainable Homes Sustainable Communities Stratford-on-Avon District Housing Strategy 2021-2026 Action Plan.
  
  
• Delivering Local Needs/Local Choice Rural Housing
  Cabinet agreed to continue the existing approach to deliver homes for local people in rural areas with the Rural Housing Enabler (RHE) working with partners to enable local communities to deliver Local Needs/Local Choice rural housing schemes.
  
  
• Proposed Digital Strategy for Stratford-on-Avon District Council 2024-2029
  Cabinet approved the proposed Digital Strategy for the District Council.
  The Digital Strategy is a comprehensive and ambitious plan that will enable the District Council to leverage the power of digital technologies to enhance services, improve efficiency, and better serve the needs of residents. The Strategy aligns with the Council's strategic objectives and has been developed following extensive consultation and evidence-based analysis. It represents a significant step forward in the Council's digital transformation journey, with the potential to deliver substantial benefits for both residents and the organisation.
  
  
• Communications Strategy 2024-2029
  Cabinet approved the Communications Strategy together with the additional funding request.
  The Council Plan included the objective of adopting a Communications Strategy for the Council to ensure that the organisation has a clear understanding of how and what the Council should promote. The Communication Strategy builds upon the existing good practice within the Council and also takes into account the views expressed within the Residents' Survey and the comments made as part of the LGA Communications Health Check. In order to fully implement the Communications Strategy 2024-29 additional funding will be required. This funding relates to the content within the Council's website, the reinstatement of the View Magazine and sustaining the initiatives which have been implemented since the Council employed the Corporate Communications Officer.
  
  

The full agenda for the Cabinet meeting and the webcast can be found here: Agenda for The Cabinet on Monday, 7th October, 2024, 10.00 a.m. | Stratford-on-Avon District Council