Agenda item

Consideration was given to the Progress and Delivery report for quarter two 2023/24 (July-September).

The Change, Projects and Performance Officer introduced the report and explained that it set out performance across the period July to September 2023. It was advised that there had been some slight changes to the overall summary with a view to making the information clearer and more accessible. The content of the report was detailed, and it was noted that the Council budget forecast outturn position needed to be updated to minus 1.83%.

The performance improvement plan was also outlined for the Committee. Information regarding markets in the district was highlighted and clarification was given that the performance in terms of average weekly number of stalls took into account farmers' markets and events held throughout the quarter, and where it referenced stalls, one trader could have more than one stall.

A number of indicators and their respective ratings against the agreed targets were highlighted particularly in respect of crematoriums. The performance of individual portfolios including Change Management, ICT and regulatory services, Finance, Business and Property Services, Homes and Communities, Operational and Commercial Services and Planning and Regeneration were detailed.

Debate ensued, Members acknowledged the significant work that had been undertaken in recent years to improve the quality of the performance reports.  Given that a number of measures were to be reviewed shortly, a Member sought indication as to whether the ultimate goal was to have performance information accessible, almost real time information, in a dashboard format available to Members.

In responding, Officers welcomed the acknowledgement of the improvements which had been made to-date.  The primary objective over the ensuing year was to ensure the new processes and systems were working effectively and robustly.  Further developments to reporting would be considered and whilst daily reporting may be a way, off monthly dashboards accessible to Members were something which could be considered going forward.

Members indicated such a development would be of great assistance to them in the future. Others expressed caution that viewing measures on a daily basis could indicate pressures that weren't truly there.

Members noted the pleasing position the report indicated but in doing so sought further information as to how targets were set and whether these were stretching enough. In response, Officers advised that measures were set in a variety of ways, some in line with Government targets, such as the planning measures, a number in line with service level agreements and others were set locally.  All targets and measures were scrutinised with the next suite of measures looking to be renewed and approved in February 2024 with the involvement of Members.

Referencing the corporate health measures and the information contained within the report about surveys, Members suggested this information offered them little insight, given there was no departmental split, complaint themes or information that could be used to inform future policy setting.

In responding, Officers advised that a more detailed report regarding complaints, outcomes and the information to which Members had referred was routinely reported to the Governance and Audit committee in detail. The intention of the P&D report was to give the high-level information regarding the service and its measures.  Officers undertook to include a link and reference to those more detailed reports in future performance and delivery reports going forward.

RESOLVED that the Committee had assessed the performance of the Council’s services through agreed performance measures and had indicated areas where improvements should be made, having had regard to the remedial measures set out in the report.