Agenda item

(a)  That the Council’s current performance and mitigating actions as measured by the key performance indicators within the corporate management information report and scorecard be noted.

(b)  That the Corporate Performance Report be referred to full Council on a six-monthly basis and to scrutiny on a quarterly basis.

The Leader of the Council introduced a report on the Corporate Performance report.  He highlighted that the Cabinet was determined to take decisions based on evidence and that whilst the levels of performance set out in the report reflected the position inherited by the administration, Lead Members were determined to improve performance and regularly report progress to residents.

The Executive Director, Strategy & Improvement stated that this was the first corporate performance report that the Council had produced for some time.  The Council had been set a Direction to improve evidence-based decision making and implementing a robust, transparent and regular corporate performance reporting cycle was an important mechanism to achieve this.  The report would be presented to Cabinet on a quarterly basis.  The performance measures were aligned to and reported against the relevant priority in the Corporate Plan.

It was noted that of the 59 performance indicators in the report, 17% were rated green, 10% amber and 37% red.  A further 29% were monitored for trends and 7% of the metrics were in development.  Lead Members reviewed and asked questions about several individual indicators and Executive Directors responded on the context, progress and further action being taken.  These included the number of new Education, Health & Care (EHC) plans issued given the significant backlog that had been built up in previous years.  Lead Members were encouraged by the fact that there had been a significant increase in the number of EHC plans issued, although it would take time to address the backlog and bring performance levels up to the required standard.

Members asked about the customer service performance indicators given that it was a high priority for the Cabinet.  It was noted that response times were variable as there were significant peaks in activity, for example at times of Council Tax billing.  A range of service improvements were being worked on including Telephone Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology and improved prioritisation of enquiries within the Customer Service Centre.  Other metrics discussed included the good performance levels reported in determining planning applications; the processing of benefit claims; and the position regarding recycling rates.

The Cabinet was asked to consider whether to refer the performance data to any other member body of the Council.  The Leader proposed and it was agreed to refer the Corporate Performance Report to full Council every six months, starting in November 2023, and that it be considered by scrutiny on a quarterly basis.  The performance report would be particularly useful in informing the scrutiny work programme as it would help identify areas and topics for more detailed consideration.

At the conclusion of the discussion the Cabinet noted the report.

Resolved –

(a)  That the Council’s current performance and mitigating actions as measured by the key performance indicators within the corporate management information report and scorecard be noted.

(b)  That the Corporate Performance Report be referred to full Council on a six-monthly basis and to scrutiny on a quarterly basis.