Agenda item

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 done to fill it and indeed other vacancies. The Leader of the Council explained that a recruitment freeze was not the answer to financial difficulties and that there was a need to invest in the right staff where needed. He further explained that investment areas would be identified in the MTFP item which would be considered at a future meeting. He added that as he did not have a specific answer to the ASB vacant post query, he would respond once he was able to.
• A Board Member commented that there were some significant delays in determining planning applications and queried whether there had been any government intervention relating to planning applications bearing in mind that processing had dropped below national intervention levels, or whether this might be looked at once the covid-19 crisis was over. She further queried if members would be able to see an action plan, as there was for Children’s Services, as planning was also a very important part of the Council. The Leader of the Council explained that there had not been any government intervention, but that there needed to be a local intervention in order to turn the situation around, and transformation would assist in doing this. He added that he would appreciate any member involvement, perhaps through the establishment of a working group if deemed appropriate, to assist in addressing the issues raised and welcomed any members to contact him with any suggestions they may have.
• The previous Board Member, having received a response to her queries, suggested that additional staff members be recruited to assist with the backlog of planning applications, even if only on a temporary basis. The Leader of the Council agreed that this was a suitable solution and would be asking for this route to be investigated as it was a priority to fix this issue.
• A Board Member echoed the comments already made, in particular about investment in additional staff and hoped that by resolving the aforementioned issues that it would allow for developers to invest in the area, safe in the knowledge that planning applications would be dealt with in a timely manner.
• A Board Member commented that the past year had been very challenging to all service areas of the Council and that great importance should be given to the management of resources, he therefore queried how the management of resources would be compared with performance of teams to ensure that resources weren’t being managed poorly. The Leader of the Council stated that this would largely be managed by service directors, but members would have oversight through the KPI’s. In relation to poorly performing teams, he added that it would first be a case of establishing what the issues are behind poor KPI’s, before determining what possible actions to take and that transformation was key to the improvement of services.
• A Board Member queried the mandatory training figures, commenting that they did not appear to stack up, in particular noting that the target was 100%, but the actual figure was 2.1% and which was well below the target. The Leader of the Council explained that he had some reservations about the data, bearing in mind that it seemed so far out. The Director of Organisation Development explained that there appeared to be some system issues and that it needed to be modified to send out reminders to staff when mandatory training was due and it was most likely to be ‘renewable’ training modules that was having such an impact on numbers. He added that he would provide Board Members with detailed information setting out the mandatory training topics.
• A Board Member queried if there was any mandatory training for Councillors. The Leader of the Council explained that he was aware that there were ongoing discussions between Group Leaders, the Monitoring Officer and the Head of Democratic Services as to how to progress Member Training. The Director of Organisational Development Manager explained that he would provide this to Board Members as an additional action.

The Chairman thanked Board Members, the Leader of the Council and Officers for their contributions.