Capital Strategy Guidance: A Whole Organisation Approach

Capital strategy is not simply a document, it is a whole organisation approach to effective, long-term planning and investment, with outputs and outcomes that lead to healthy, vibrant, green and resilient communities, businesses, organisations and geographic areas.

Not fully embracing the spirit of the requirement for a capital strategy you, and the population that you serve, will not be benefitting from this important aspect of strategic planning.

The capital strategy guidance is aimed at the strategic leadership of organisations, both political and corporate.

This guidance focuses on a whole organisation approach to prudent, sustainable and resilient local government investment.

The development of capital strategies has been challenging and difficult to implement fully and it is clear from the examples examined that there is still room for improvement for all local government organisations.

The intention of this capital strategy guidance is to learn from what has been achieved to date and to support local government organisations with continuous improvement and refresh. We have identified areas for improvement that may help as a form of checklist.

This guidance has been brought to life by including points to consider and extracts from capital strategies reported in 2020, although we recognise that most were published prior to the more serious impact of COVID-19.