Issue - meetings

This report provides an overview of performance against the priorities set out in the Corporate Strategy delivery plans for the first six months of 2020/21.

The report introduces interactive performance dashboards which are informed by a range of performance measures being collected and reported across the council.

Year one of BCP council was used to collect baseline performance data which has been used to set performance targets and intervention levels.

Current performance, where it is available, is reported against these and informs the RAG ratings for each of the measures.

The report identifies some key improvements and some performance issues.

These are addressed in more detail in exception reports, attached as Appendix B to the report.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:-

(a)          Noted mid year performance;

(b)          Considered exception reports relating to areas of current adverse performance; and

(c)          Advised of any amendments, deletions or additions to the performance indicators set that informs corporate performance.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Leader of the Council

Reason

An understanding of performance against target, goals and objectives will help the Council understand and manage service delivery and identify emerging business risks.

The Leader presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The report provided and overview of performance against the priorities set out in the Corporate Strategy delivery plans for the first six months of 2020/21, and introduced interactive performance dashboards which are informed by a range of performance measures being collected and reported across the Council.

Cabinet was informed that year one of BCP council had been used to collect baseline performance data which had been used to set performance targets and intervention levels.

In relation to this Cabinet was informed that current performance where it was available was reported against these and informed the RAG ratings for each of the measures.

The report identified some key improvements and some performance issues, these were addressed in more detail in the exception reports attached at Appendix B to the report.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:-

(a)          Noted mid year performance;

(b)          Considered exception reports relating to areas of current adverse performance; and

(c)          Advised of any amendments, deletions or additions to the performance indicators set that informs corporate performance.

Voting: Unanimous

Portfolio Holder: Leader of the Council

To consider the following Finance and Transformation related reports scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 13 January 2021:

•   2020/21 Mid-Year Performance Report

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the reports and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Drew Mellor, Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Transformation

The Cabinet report for this item is included with the agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

2020/21 Mid-Year Performance Report - The Leader of the Council presented a report, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'B' to these Minutes in the Minute Book. A number of issues were raised by the Board in the subsequent discussion, including:

• A Board Member queried the reliability of the performance indicators and whether they were fit for purpose in terms of reaching desired outcomes. The Leader of the Council explained that performance indicators were used as a way to ensure that organisations ‘measured up’ to expectations. He added that the council had produced a document which laid out a list of priorities and commitments and so it was important that it measured itself against those commitments to gauge how well it was doing and identify key areas of success as well as key areas where improvements could be made.
• A Board Member agreed that this method of performance reporting was an important tool, particularly when comparing data sets, although he did find some aspects of the report confusing, particularly in relation to why no data had been produced for the first quarter of 2020/2021, as this would have been a helpful comparison. He also raised that some data sets seemed to be measured quarterly and some annually, which could lead to further confusion when reading the report. He added that he had some concerns in relation to the planning department, which had been identified as below target and queried what measures were being taken to ensure that these issues would be addressed promptly. The Leader of the Council agreed that some of the data presentation did appear confusing and would ask that it be rectified ready for when the next report was ready to be presented to the Board. He then moved to explain that the Planning department was in a difficult situation and wanted to ensure that it was recognised that the expertise of officers was not being brought into question and that the difficulties were largely being experienced due to three separate ways of working within teams from the three preceding authorities including; three different pieces of planning software to manage applications as they were received, three separate local plans, each with supporting strategic documents and some with adopted or emerging neighbourhood plans. He acknowledged that there was a great need to fix these issues as a priority and that the portfolio holder was working to ensure that this process was one of the first areas of the organisation, together with children’s services, that would benefit from the transformation programme from an early stage.
• A Board Member stated that he was pleased to hear about the work being undertaken within planning and that this was going to be addressed sooner rather than later. He referred to p48 of the report, which raised the issue of a vacancy within the ASB team, highlighting that it had been vacant for over a year and queried what was being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 124