Where are we now?
Councils can ensure greater commitment to the corporate plan by ensuring the appropriate people are actively involved in its development. Now is also an appropriate time to reach agreement on a consistent approach to the terminology, format and content of the corporate plan.
To be effective, the corporate plan also needs to be developed as part of council’s overall planning framework.
Key steps
Recommended resources
Case studies | |
Toolbox | |
Training resources | |
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Step 1.1 Identify who should be involved
Councils face a major challenge to ensure that the corporate plan has the commitment of elected members and council officers alike. Unfortunately for many local governments, the corporate plan is regarded simply as a document, often with no apparent relevance to those involved in its implementation.
A planning process that is built solely on producing a document is not going to gain the level of ownership and commitment needed to make it work. For example, where staff consultation does not occur, the opportunity for them to have an impact on priority setting is missed, with the result that many council officers will ignore the corporate plan entirely, or "go along for the ride" because they are expected to conform.
Successful councils encourage staff at all levels to contribute to the process so that they can ensure the plan is realistic and become motivated to support and implement the plan.
For a checklist of team participants in the planning process, refer to Toolbox 11 - Checklist - Planning Teams. (
PDF 43 kB)
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Step 1.2 Agree on corporate plan terminology, format and content
Refer to Toolbox 15 - Reference - Corporate plan terminology, format and content ( PDF 359 kB) for guidance for councils about acceptable standards for corporate plans in Queensland local government.
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Step 1.2.1 Agree terminology
The terminology currently used by Queensland councils varies widely. The terminology used in these Guidelines to describe the strategic planning process incorporates, among other sources, the descriptions referred in Section 2.2 Local Government Finance Standard 2005 (LGFS) - at a glance.
Refer to Toolbox 13 - Reference - Corporate plan terminology ( PDF 72 kB) for comparisons of the terminology used by Queensland councils to describe the various components of the strategic planning process.
The LGFS 2005 introduces standard terminology as it is considered desirable for Queensland councils to be consistent in their approach. In the transition provisions of the LGFS (s 96), councils may continue to use the terminology, jargon or terms that are currently contained in their planning documentation and are familiar to elected members, council officers and the community.
Important note: The provisions of LGFS 2005 apply to a replacement corporate plan that is prepared by the local government after 1 July 2005. For consistency, the terminology introduced in the LGFS 2005 would be expected to carry through to the operational plan for the financial year beginning 1 July 2006 and subsequent operational plans.
The continued use of different terminology is not the main issue. It is more important for councils to adopt a consistent framework that provides logical linkages between planning processes, budgets and reporting mechanisms. As an example, the terminology "outcomes" is compared with that currently in use by Queensland councils in the following table:
Process question | LGFS 1994 | Terminology in LGFS 2005 | Traditional and existing terminology |
What do we want to achieve? | Objectives | Outcomes | - Corporate objectives
- Strategic issues and objectives
- Objectives
- Goals
- Business goals
- Strategic priorities
- Program objectives
- Long term objectives
- Outcomes
|
Refer to Case study 13 - Outcomes - Queensland councils ( PDF 86 kB) for examples of the terminology and format used by councils to describe outcomes statements.
Refer to Toolbox 14 - Reference - Guide to developing outcomes ( PDF 59 kB) to examine ways to develop outcome statements that reflect the benefits to the community.
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Step 1.2.2 Agree format
The format of corporate plans that suits particular councils varies greatly and is a matter of choice by individual councils.
Many local governments use their corporate plan as one of their main marketing documents. Consequently, they invest significant amounts of thought and resources into creating a document that is "eye catching" and reflective of the unique nature of their area. On that basis, the corporate plan is an integral part of their economic development, tourism and investment attraction initiatives.
This usually means that the visual impact of the plan is a major feature, compared with councils that take a more functional approach, with a focus on ensuring that the information is "technically correct" in its presentation. This "marketing" approach is often reflected in the quality of paper, elaborate graphic design, extensive use of photographs and a variety of desk top publishing and font styles.
For example, Cairns City Council Corporate Plan 2000-2005 reflects the many facets of its area on the following cover page that makes use of high quality photographic images:
In this age of information and technology, most councils make their corporate plan available to the public as a free download from their website (usually in PDF format). This approach is recommended as standard practice for all Queensland councils.
Many Queensland councils have requested an explicit guide concerning the format and content that would constitute an acceptable standard for a corporate plan for Queensland local government. It is difficult to do this without stifling creativity and individuality that clearly, many councils prefer.
However, in response to the requests, a guide has been prepared that attempts to provide:
- An explanation of what must be included under Queensland legislation
- Advice on professionally acceptable sequencing of information - a plan outline, and
- A sense of how much detail would normally be included.
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Step 1.2.3 Agree content
A Table of contents is recommended for all corporate plans to guide the reader to areas of interest. Sample contents pages are presented in Toolbox 15 to assist councils to determine the plan outline that best suits their needs.
Examples can be accessed from the following sources:
- Logan City Council - Corporate plan 2001-2005:
http://www.logan.qld.gov.au/NR/rdonlyres/44B26DAB-96BA-4F56-B46D-C0E41E35388B/0/Corporate_plan.pdf ( PDF 485 kB) - Noosa Shire Council - Corporate plan 2003-2007:
http://www.noosa.qld.gov.au//AboutCouncil/Publications/CorporatePlan.shtml - Cambooya Shire Council - Corporate plan 2001-2006
http://cambooya.qld.gov.au/doccorporateplan.php - Mackay City Council - Corporate plan 2006-2010
http://www.mackay.qld.gov.au/News_publications/publications/corporate_plan
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Step 1.3 Examine council's current planning framework
To ensure the corporate plan is developed in conjunction with other activities such as preparation of revenue policy, annual budget, revenue statements and grants, refer in these Guidelines to Stage 4 - Develop the operational plan and budgets.
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Step 1.3.1 Consider Quadruple bottom line (QBL)
The QBL framework is recommended as the most appropriate planning and reporting format for local governments1.
Examples of councils that have adopted the QBL approach to their corporate planning are set out in these Guidelines. Refer to Section 3.4 - Quadruple bottom line (QBL).
Refer in these Guidelines to the training resource Training Kit 3 - Corporate plan - Annual review for insights into the QBL framework and how it can be introduced as a revised format for council’s corporate plan.
The integration of QBL as a framework for an integrated planning, decision-making and reporting process requires a significant commitment of resources over time. While councils are encouraged to embrace QBL concepts, many will find that it is necessary to implement QBL in an incremental way.
As a starting point, councils that currently identify their services and activities under functional areas may initiate discussions to compare the existing structure with the four QBL headings. This is illustrated in the following matrix taken from the Mirani Shire Council planning workshop 2005:
Function | Development Services | Water and Sewerage | Health and Environmental Management | Corporate management | Culture, recreation and community | Transport infrastructure | Tourism and Economic Development |
Environmental | | | | | | | |
Social | | | | | | | |
Economic | | | | | | | |
Governance | | | | | | | |
The heading across the top row are indicative of the functional categories that are used in Mirani Shire Council to describe areas of responsibility. This matrix was used to compare desired outcomes and the related strategies in the corporate plan to the four elements of the QBL (Environmental, social, economic and governance).
In this example, Mirani Shire Council preferred to retain the existing functional approach to their corporate plan structure for the coming year. However, during the next financial year, consideration will be given to a review of council's accounting and reporting systems with a view to modifying them to support adoption of a QBL approach at a later date.
Refer to Plan and Deliver- 2nd Edition Guidelines for information about the advantages of using QBL and explanations about how QBL works in local government.
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Step 1.3.2 Consider council jurisdiction
The LGA (S511) provides that a council’s exercise of power must be consistent with the jurisdiction that it has specified in the corporate plan. In other words, a council should only be engaged in services and activities that are covered in its current corporate plan.
It follows from the LGA (S511) provisions that only those services, programs or activities which contribute to the achievement of outcomes and strategies laid down in the corporate plan should be allocated funding under council's budget.
Councils may find it useful to refer in these Guidelines to Stage 4, Step 1.1 Align the operational plan and budgets to consider the planning framework through the more detailed activities such as preparation of the budgets and revenue statements.
Rather than being just an obligatory response to legislation, councillors, management and staff will do better if they regard the corporate planning process as a key to conducting the business of council. Everything a councils does is ultimately expressed through their corporate plan, operational plan and budget. This sensibly provides a framework for ensuring that the broader strategic direction stated in council's corporate plan is enacted through their annual operational plans.
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Step 1.3.3 Examine planning linkages
The development of a corporate plan does not happen in isolation. It is clear from Template 10 - Corporate planning diary (
PPT 3,210 kB) that a number of activities need to be completed within the same or overlapping timeframes.
Generally there is a logical order to the elements of a strategic planning process, with planners having to complete one element before moving on to the next. However, there are often occasions when they need to move back and forth, making modifications to earlier steps and adjusting their plans accordingly. At other times, responsibility for completing various elements may fall to more than one member of the planning team and will need to be coordinated or completed in parallel timeframes.
The following diagram illustrates the overall linkages between the plans and the budget processes:
As this diagram illustrates, the outcomes and strategies that are identified in the corporate plan are carried forward to the operational plan.
From a legislative perspective, Section 29 of the LGFS - Requirements for corporate plan - Act, S507 and Section 30 of the LGFS - Requirements for operational plan - Act, S510 provide that both corporate and operational plans must include a statement of outcomes about the issues affecting its area, and strategies for achieving those outcomes.
From a practical perspective, outcomes are designed to be achieved over a period of a minimum of four years (the corporate plan) while strategies to achieve the outcomes can span one or more 12 month periods. For example, if council has a project covering several years, it can be included as a strategy in the corporate plan and broken down into a series of projects in annual operational plans covering the life of the project.
For examples of how Toowoomba Shire Council and Redland Shire Council ensure linkages between their corporate and operational plans, refer to Case Study 20 - Planning framework - Queensland councils ( PDF 104 kB).
For practical examples of how to ensure linkages between corporate and operational plans and budgets, refer to the training resources Training Kit 3 - Corporate plan - annual review (
DOC 5,546 kB) and Training Kit 4 - Corporate plan - concepts and directions ( PPT 3,210 kB).
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Footnotes
1 For a detailed explanation, refer to the website http://www.iclei.org/
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