Issue - meetings

The Committee heard from the Change, Projects and Performance Officer regarding the quarter four and year end performance reporting. It was explained that, as it had been presented to the Prosperous Communities Committee the previous week, and there were several Members who had already had the full introduction to the report, the presentation at this Committee would focus on the data rather than the background information.

Therefore, the Officer presented the report as follows.

Overall Summary of Council Performance. Over 84% of all measures were either exceeding or within agreed tolerance of their targets, showing a strong end to the year.

Performance Improvement Plan. It was explained that this highlighted the measures under target, with the plan adding further context and providing the extra level of assurance that Members had previously requested. This was then scrutinised alongside the P&D report by Management Team before being presented to the committees. This was introduced in October for Quarter two last year and had been well received.

There were eight measures which were included in the plan currently and these would remain going into 2023/24 with the exception of COF02 – average time taken to pay invoices. It was explained that this measure had been amended following approval at committee in February to reflect the contractual payment terms.

The Officer then presented the portfolio summaries.

The first portfolio was Change Management, ICT and Regulatory Services. Out of a possible 18 measures, 16 were above target within the portfolio. The measure below target related to Local Land Charges Market Share, which was included within the Performance Improvement Plan. 

All measures within the Finance, Business and Property Services Portfolio were within target. The Homes and Communities Portfolio saw one measure reporting below target which related to the average days taken to complete a Disabled Facilities Grant. Extra information had been included for DFGs this quarter to round up following inclusion within the performance improvement plan. It was an opportunity highlight the positive work and the impact this had had. The graph within the report detailed the measure compared with the number of referrals received, with the table highlighting the increase in referrals over the past six years.

The Operational and Commercial Services portfolio saw five of its measures reporting above target, with the measures below target relating to average number of market stalls on both a Tuesday and a Saturday, and the recycling weights, all of which were included within the Performance Improvement Plan.

The Planning and Regeneration Portfolio saw all the measures continue to report above target.

On concluding the presentation of the quarterly report, Members were referred to Appendix A, the Year End report. It was explained this was presented annually, in the same format as the quarterly reports, but detailed performance cumulatively over the year rather than the quarter.

The Officer offered to meet with any Member on a 1-2-1 basis to go through any aspect of the report in further detail, and she highlighted that training was to be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7

The Committee heard from the Change, Projects and Performance Officer who provided an overview of performance reporting in general, to set the scene for the report, which would be regularly presented to the Committee.

It was explained that the report was brought for discussion by Members of the Committee due to the links to services and strategies that were set within those services for which the Committee was constitutionally responsible. It was highlighted that the report was publicly available and, following approval by both the Prosperous Communities and Corporate Policy and Resources Committees, would be published on the Council website.

Members heard that each service had a collection of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). For those whose performance was within the control of the Council, the target was allocated based on either baseline performance or statutory requirement (such as planning KPIs) . There were also KPIs where performance was outside of the Council’s control (such as received planning applications) and for those KPIs there were no targets allocated.  

Every year all measures and targets would be reviewed, with the involvement of Members, to ensure the KPIs continued to drive service improvement, remained aligned to the corporate/service priorities, the targets were relevant and stretched, and that they were helpful to Councillors in aiding understanding of service activity and performance.

It was explained that the data within the report to the policy committees was on an exception basis, meaning that only those KPIs whose performance returned as red or green were included. KPIs without targets were also included in the report. In addition, it was clarified that Quarter 2 and Quarter 4 reports were presented to the committees whilst Quarter 1 and Quarter 3 reports were circulated via the Members newsletter. The Committee heard there would be a review of the 2023/24 measures set later this year, which would involve working closely with Councillors via working groups, further details would follow in due course.

The Officer proceeded to detail the specifics contained within the report as follows.

Overall Summary of Council Performance. This section of the report provided an overview of KPI performance, with a breakdown of those exceeding, below or within the tolerance of their targets. Information was presented by Portfolio allowing for a clear overview of Council performance. Quarter four performance was looking positive with over 84% of all measures either exceeding or within agreed tolerance of their targets.

Corporate Health. The Corporate Health Section of the report included a suite of measures related to the overall health of the council, and, as such all measures were included, do not just reporting by exception.

It was highlighted that, due to the figures within the report being estimates, the following update on the financial figure and narrative included in this report was provided:

“COF03 - Overall Council budget forecast outturn (%) -3.72%. The end of quarter four reports a surplus of £564k underspend on the forecast budget, which equates to a -3.72% variance against the revised budget. The variance within this position  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7