Agenda item

Members considered a report on proposed performance measures for future progress and delivery reports, and the proposed performance reporting framework for 2020/21.

The Senior Performance Officer introduced the report, and highlighted the following points:

·         The performance measures were reviewed on a yearly basis; officers engage with managers, who attend the Progress and Delivery Working Group.  This year Elected Members were given greater ownership of these measures.

This new process had been explained to members of Overview and Scrutiny Committee in June 2019, after work by the Progress and Delivery Working Group;

·         A series of meetings had been held with managers; this had been a robust process with an adopted approach of a balanced scorecard;

·         The Progress and Delivery Working Group had met in November 2019 to consider and feed into any new performance measures, as well as scrutinising targets;

·         Currently, the Progress and Delivery periods were as follows:

o   Period 1 covered 2 months of the year;

o   Period 2 covered 4 months of the year;

o   Periods 3 and 4 covered 3 months of the year.

This schedule did not allow for correct benchmarking, and did not give an accurate picture of performance.  The proposal in the report was to move to a system of four equal performance reporting periods, which was in line with standard Local Authority practice.

To make this possible quarterly performance reports would be taken to Management Team, an internal management meeting.  Members would be made aware through the Members’ Newsletter;

·         Performance reports would be brought to both the Prosperous Communities and Corporate Policy and Resources Committees, along with the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at the end of the second quarter of the municipal year, and then again at the end of that year.  This would allow for more detailed information; this approach had been acknowledged and supported by the Progress and Delivery Working Group.

Following this introduction, further comment was provided by Members:

·         Having equal quarters for reporting was a positive move;

·         It can be seen as frustrating that some measures have a ‘star’ rating whereas others have a percentage score;

·         There were members of the public who are dissatisfied with certain services of the authority but haven’t responded through feedback;

·         In the opinion of one Councillor, users of Council services were unlikely to give low ratings unless they were really dissatisfied.  A more interesting piece of feedback would be the ‘mid-rating’;

·         Some of the measures contained within the report were contingent on the consultation on the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan;

·         One Member expressed concern that more Members should have been involved, and that there wasn’t enough consultation.  This view was not supported by other Members that had attended, nor the officers that had carried out the work.

·         Other Members expressed that they had difficulty in understanding some of the performance measures; for example the home choices process that resulted in long term accommodation.  Sometimes there was room for simpler performance measures, and it is always best if measures can be understood by all members of the public;

The Senior Performance Officer responded to comments with the following information:

·         Five Members were invited to take part in the Progress and Delivery Working Group; this number was standard for Member working groups across the Authority.  One session was held, lasting two hours, with the Chief Executive present, along with officers from the Programmes and Performance Team.  One Member received a briefing outside of this meeting as he was unable to attend the session.

·         Indicators in the report that don’t have targets attached were income based measures; officers were tied by the budget process.  Targets that have been set would align with financial targets in the budget.

RESOLVED to:

1)    Approve the proposed changes to the performance reporting framework for 2020/21 onwards as follows:

(a)  Reporting periods are realigned to four equal quarters of three months each in line with standard local government practice;

(b)  All Councillors receive a full copy of the quarterly Progress and Delivery report via the Members’ newsletter.  This is a more transparent process that will ensure all Councillors will have the opportunity to review and comment on the Council’s performance;

(c)   Progress and Delivery reports are presented to the Council’s policy committees and Overview and Scrutiny Committee bi-annually (at the end of quarters two and gour) in order to continue to fulfil the Council’s constitutional requirements.

2)    Approve the proposed Progress and Delivery performance measures for 2020/21;

3)    Note the basket of Corporate Plan performance measures which have been updated for the Council’s new Corporate Plan covering the period up to 2023.