Issue - decisions

RESOLVED:

That the Corporate Plan dashboards be approved.

KEY DECISION:

Yes

PORTFOLIO:

Leader

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED/REJECTED:

As set out in the report.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:

None

DISCUSSION:

The Leader presented the report which detailed the performance against the Key Performance Indicators to support delivery of Corporate Plan for first 3 quarters of 2024/25.  The report included feedback from each of the scrutiny panels.  It was noted the good areas of delivery had been highlighted as well as targets which had been missed with a narrative to explain the reasons behind this as well as the proposed action to improve performance.  This was key to how performance was managed to ensure that the council was on track to deliver its key priorities.  

The Performance and Insight Manager further commented that the layout of the performance dashboards had been updated following feedback from the panels, with new headings and colour coding to make them more user friendly.  The review of the Corporate Plan dashboards provides a sense check against the Corporate Plan commitments.   It was noted that following approval the dashboards would be published on the Council’s website.  The dashboards provided very detailed information within them, however, it was summarised that overall there was a pattern of an onward improvement journey which was encouraging to see.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability spoke about ID 25 relating to the number of fly tipping incidents reported in the District, which had received a green RAG rating.  This was positive, however the Portfolio Holder felt that the number of incidents remained was too high and wanted to see it reduced further.

The Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homelessness welcomed the performance dashboards with details of targets and performance.  He reported that work would continue to ensure that the amber targets, in particular were improved.

A non-Cabinet Member acknowledged that the performance monitoring was a tool to drive up improvement but felt that more could be done.  This was acknowledged by the Performance and Insight Manager and it was reported that a Performance Management Framework had been developed with this in mind to ensure that performance was embedded within the organisation.  Against each KPI there was a clear narrative around performance with mitigation controls in place.  The performance was regularly reviewed by the Senior Leadership Team, followed by consideration at the Overview and Scrutiny Panels.

A non-Cabinet Member reported that the figure for the number of businesses in receipt of the newsletters was no longer a KPI.  It was felt that it was important to measure this, particularly with devolution to ensure there was regular contact with local businesses and seek their views on matters of importance.  The Chief Executive responded and explained the investment in the economic development service, which was a discretionary service, would address the Corporate Plan prosperity priority.  A new member of staff, Jeannie Satchell had been appointed as the Economic Development Manager and her wealth of experience was highlighted at the meeting.  She would be supported by another member of staff.   It was therefore felt that the team would be able to ensure that there was good business engagement moving forwards.