Corporate Plan Update - April to September 2024 - 2025 p2
Key Achievements
Some of our key achievements over the last six months have included:
- Over £300,000 of grant funding awarded to local groups across the borough.
- Platinum Level achieved in the NI Environmental Benchmarking Survey.
- Almost 2,000 items gifted to families across the borough via the School Uniform Scheme.
- ‘Five Gold Anchor Award’ secured for Carrickfergus Marina.
- Nearly 2,000 litres of unwanted paint donated and redistributed to individuals, local schools and community groups through the Community Repaint Scheme.
- 196 participants and 65 jobs supported through start-up assistance via Go Succeed so far this year.
- Almost 5,000 people participated in 100 outdoor recreation activities.
- Secured ISO14001 Environmental Management System accreditation.
- Awarded Council of the Year, in a joint submission with Belfast City Council at the Social Enterprise Awards.
- Successful launch of our first Age-Friendly Strategy and Action Plan.
- Over 600 older residents engaged through the Arts and Older People Programme.
- Larne Skate Park officially launched in October.
- Carnlough, Glynn and Portglenone MUGAs/Kickabouts officially opened following redevelopment and installation of new facilities.
- Over 350,000 trees planted across the borough through the Climate Canopy Project.
- 57 Community arts evens delivered.
- 118 museum and heritage events delivered.
In the Spotlight: EDI Network
Launched in January 2024, the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Network is an internal, cross-departmental initiative established to enhance the progression of our equality and diversity efforts.
The network serves as a collaborative hub, where departments can update each other on their efforts related to our Disability and Equality Action Plans, as well as other key strategies and programmes.
It’s a space for sharing best practice, offering advice, and seeking support from colleagues, fostering a more collaborative and cohesive approach to achieving equality and diversity across the organisation.
The network brings together approximately 30 members from a wide range of Council departments.
This diverse representation ensures that all areas of the organisation are involved in the conversation and that inclusion is integrated across every function.
To ensure our equality and diversity initiatives are aligned with wider regional and national priorities, the network also connects with external stakeholders, including the Elected Member Inclusion & Equality Sub-Committee, the Statutory Duty Network, and the Local Government Equality and Diversity Group.
By breaking down silos, building relationships across departments, and sharing knowledge and insights, the network has quickly become an invaluable resource in supporting our ongoing commitment to a more inclusive and accessible borough for all.
Updates on our progress against delivery of the Disability and Equality Action Plans can be found under the People section within this report.
Our Plan
In striving to achieve our vision, we are delivering our Corporate Plan under the 4 key pillars of People, Place, Planet and Performance.
Performance Summary
We use a series of key performance indicators to help us track our success in the delivery of our strategic objectives. We refer to these as measures.
Our performance against our 61 measures between April and September is summarised below:
- 85% were achieved or on track.
- 12% are delayed but progressing.
- 3% were not achieved.
Detailed performance updates, by pillar, are provided throughout the remainder of this report.