Agenda item

The Committee received a report that set out the latest performance information for the 2021/22 financial year as measured by the corporate balanced scorecard indicators and an update on the progress of the fifteen projects in the portfolio.

It was noted that the Committee was receiving the report prior to Cabinet, which would consider it on 20^th September, therefore any concerns or issues raised could be referred to the Cabinet meeting.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, no officer from the Strategy & Improvement team was able to be present at the Committee to answer any questions Members may have, but assurance had been provided that answers would be collated and circulated after the meeting.  The Committee expressed its dissatisfaction that there wasn’t an officer to present the report at the meeting and asked that this be recorded.  The Chair had already raised the matter and asked that the Executive Board consider which senior officers should attend in future to answer questions on the report.

Members discussed the report and raised the following questions:

·  Our Futures – a Member queried why Our Futures was not categorised and reported on as a Gold Project given its significance to the Council.  An explanation was requested of the monitoring and reporting arrangements.  Clarification was also sought on the savings the programme had achieved.  This matter had already been raised by the Employment & Appeals Committee.

·  Asset disposals – it was queried why asset disposals was not a Gold Project.  The Committee requested regular updates in the Quarterly Report.  The Director of Finance indicated that it was likely that asset disposals would become a Gold Project and would be regularly reported through Cabinet and Council in any event as part of the response to the s.114 notice and financial recovery.

·  Nova House – a Member stated that given the financial risk and impact on the residents, Nova House should be a Gold Project.

·  Target setting – paragraph 1.5 of report stated that year-end targets had not yet been set for four performance indicators due to Covid-19.  The Committee requested a more detailed explanation of the reasons why targets could not be set for the four indicators (direct payments, temp accommodation, Business Rates collection and Council Tax collection).

·  NEETs (paragraph 1.11.1 of the report) – the data in the report stated the percentages of Slough residents Not in Education, Employment or Training.  Members requested the actual number of people in Slough who were NEET.  As this issue had been raised by Members in the past it was suggested that the actual number be included in future quarterly reports.

·  Project portfolio – the report stated that some projects had been completed or merged and it was agreed that a breakdown of these projects be circulated to Members so it was clear which had been completed and which had been merged.

·  Performance improvements – Appendix A listed 6 indicators where improvements were noted.  These related to child protection plans, direct payments, uptake of health checks, street cleanliness, households in temporary accommodation and the number of licenced mandatory Houses in Multiple Occupation.  The committee asked for more information on the actions taken to achieve these improvements and of any lessons learned to improve performance in other areas.

·  Recycling - Appendix A of the Performance Scorecard showed that the recycling indicator was now ‘red’ rated.  Members asked for more information about the reasons for this and the actions that were being taken to address it.

Speaking under Rule 30, Councillor Sharif commented that ward councillors had not been well engaged in the activity described in Chalvey.  The Committee agreed that councillors should be properly engaged on such initiatives in their wards.

At the conclusion of the discussion it was agreed that the report be noted and that the further information requested by the Committee be circulated as soon as possible after the meeting.

Resolved –  That the Performance and Projects report for the first quarter of 2021/22 be noted.