Agenda item

The Committee considered the first report on Corporate Performance Monitoring, which would be submitted on a quarterly basis for review, as part of the Council’s

new performance monitoring framework.

The performance monitoring framework had been developed over several months with input from Service Leaders and Corporate Management Team to deliver a robust and effective system to monitor 63 key performance indicators across the Council. The new dedicated Strategy and Performance team had developed the current framework, accompanying process and reporting structure. 

The indicators tracked progress in a variety of service areas as well as presenting some broad ‘health’ of the borough type statistics. The framework would bring increased accountability for delivery of services and strategic priorities. Over time, as more data is gathered, it would be possible to measure the effectiveness of decisions and associated activity and to identify where remedial action might be needed.

Through the Service Planning process, performance monitoring would be at the forefront of Service Leaders’ and Directors’ minds, which would give them an opportunity to celebrate successes and identify trends or issues. 

The corporate performance indicators which would be monitored as part of the new framework had been gathered from across the Council’s service areas and give a breadth of data showing performance in key areas.The indicators had been grouped into four broad themes: Environment, Economy, Community, and Council.  

Feedback from the Committee was sought on how the performance indicators were presented.  The Committee had been invited to submit comments and questions regarding the report itself and specific performance indicators in advance of the meeting, details of which, together the officer response, were included in the Supplementary Information Sheet circulated prior to the meeting.

During the debate, the following points were made:

·       Whether it would be worth considering a performance indicator in respect of prioritising domestic abuse victims in terms of housing.   It was noted that officers already recorded domestic abuse cases that were reported within a different dataset gathered, but it would be possible to look at a possible additional performance indicator in that regard, particularly given the pressures that families had been under over the previous year.

·       It was noted that the significant reduction in the percentage of Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulation requests responded to within statutory timeframes was correct and that the direction of travel indicator was showing an upward direction because the Council’s target response rate was greater than the actual performance.  The use of the direction of travel indicators would be reviewed in future reports where the Council had a particular target to work to.

·       It was noted in relation to the number of net new additional homes (COM16), that data was only available for the first quarter – with quarters 2 and 3 missing due to the migration of data to a new monitoring system.  This performance indicator would provide very important information in the context of the Local Plan and the delivery of the target 562 new dwellings per year.  It was also noted that the total number of households on the housing needs register had increased significantly.

The Committee, having reviewed the report

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report along with the Performance Monitoring Report for 2020-21 quarters 1-3, shown in Appendix 1 thereto, be noted.

Reasons:

To support our new corporate performance monitoring framework and enable the Committee to monitor the Council’s performance against key indicators, as well as review key data relating to the ‘health’ of the borough.