Agenda item

A report of the Head of Strategic Support providing performance information for the first quarter of 2018 - 2019, in respect of the Corporate Plan objectives and key performance indicators together with the 2017- 2018 Annual Report.

A report of the Head of Strategic Support providing performance information for the first quarter of 2018 - 2019, in respect of the Corporate Plan objectives and key performance indicatorstogether with a copy of the Annual Report for 2017-18 was submitted (item 6 on the agenda filed with these minutes).

The Corporate Improvement and Policy Officer and Head of Strategic Support attended to assist the Panel with the consideration of the item and drew the Panel’s attention to the supplementary report regarding sickness.

A typographical error was noted with respect to DES2 PROG (1) (develop a cloud based booking system) whereby the success criteria should state that ‘the system would be implemented and fully operational by July 2018 with 100 transactions taking place by March 2019’.

The Chair requested that the Corporate Improvement and Policy Officer reported to the Panel the amber indicators, but noted that as Cabinet Lead Members and Officers were not usually invited to the meeting for amber indicators, none were present. 

In response to issues raised by the Panel regarding amber indicators, the following comments were made:

·         with respect to SLE2 PR (complete milestones in the Local Development Scheme 2018-2021) revised time scales would be reported to the Project Board in August 2018.

·         with respect to ERM1 RS (1) (undertake range of actions as part of the Food Hygiene Rating scheme) it was slightly behind its predicted target due to other priorities in the Service but it was anticipated to meet its target in Quarter 2.  The increase in food complaints referred to all establishments that were required to meet level 3 of the Charnwood Food Hygiene Rating system.

·         with respect to ERM5 SS (undertake regular satisfaction surveys with members of the public to ensure improvement in the web service they receive) the number of customers surveyed was low in comparison to the total number of users of the Council’s website.  The information was not sufficiently detailed regarding the type of complaints received to determine how to increase the number of responses.

·         with respect to DES2 PROG (1) (develop a cloud based booking system) the ‘Go Live’ date had slipped to September 2018.

·         with respect to DES3 SS (1) (deliver the Digital Democracy project), it might be considered a challenging target for 52 councillors to be successfully using the system; an update would be provided at the next quarter.

It was noted if an indicator was amber for the first two quarters it would be reviewed by the relevant Head of Service whether it should convert to a red indicator.  At Quarter 3 the relevant Head of Service would be requested to predict if an indicator would convert to red at the end of Quarter 4.

The Corporate Improvement and Policy Officer noted that there was an error in the report with respect to the Business Plan Indicators.  There were 11 green indicators (not 12) and 10 indicators not started.

In respect of the red Key Corporate Indicator KI10 (the number of working days / shifts lost to the local authority due to sickness absence) in response to issues raised by the Panel, the Head of Strategic Support and the Corporate Improvement and Policy Officer stated that:

·         the supplementary report as requested by the Cabinet Lead Member for Equalities, Member and Strategic Services had been prepared by Human Resources.

·         if sickness absence data was presented by Service or Directorate, individual members of staff could become identifiable as the Council’s work force was relatively small.

·         it was the responsibility of the Strategic Directors, the Heads of Service and Line Managers to manage sickness absence within their own Services.  It was a matter for the Panel to consider the strategic organisational-wide level of sickness absence.

·         details of the reasons for sickness absence and additional information regarding the stages of attendance management cases were provided in the quarterly performance report and the supplementary report.

·         some customer facing and planning related performance indicators were not included in the Performance Monitoring Report as the Council had agreed to streamline the performance management framework.  These indicators were monitored at Service level in service specific Business Plans and individual Heads of Service could supply further details if requested.

Members of the Panel stated that as the target was not being met for the sickness absence indicator, it merited further investigation.  It was noted that other Local Authorities such as Melton Borough Council and Rutland County Council reported smaller numbers of sickness absence and that understanding the reasons for this could be of relevance to the Panel in their strategic consideration of sickness absence. 

With respect to the Annual report 2017-2018 it was noted that Key Indicator KI12 (reduction in crime) had stayed red throughout the year, whereas linked objectives reported for Quarter 1 2018-2019 were green due to progress on related projects and crime prevention campaigns.

RESOLVED

1.         that the performance results, associated commentary and the explanations provided be noted;

2.         that the Annual Report for 2016 – 2017 be noted;

3.         that the Head of Regulatory Services provides the Panel with further clarification in relation to ERM1 RS1 (undertake actions as part of the Food Hygiene Rating) regarding the prioritisation of a significant number of Food Complaints and the kind of establishment this related to;

4.         that the Head of Customer Experience submits a further report to the Panel at a future meeting in relation to ERM5 SS (undertake regular satisfaction surveys with members of the public to ensure improvement in the web service they receive), to consider the number of responses in relation to the number of hits on the website, why the number of customers surveyed was low, the kinds of complaints received and what could be done to improve the percentage of customers surveyed;

5.         that the Head of Strategic Support submits a further report to the Panel at a future meeting in relation to KI10 (the number of working days / shifts lost to the local authority due to sickness absence) regarding sickness absence data reported by Directorate, and that the Chief Executive’s team be merged with another directorate.

Reasons

1.         To record the information contained in the 2017-18 Quarter 3 Performance Monitoring Information report.

2.         Members of the Panel were satisfied with the information within the Annual Report.

3.         Members of the Panel wished to further understand why this indicator had not met its success criteria / measure and whether the kinds of establishment and the number of complaints were of significant impact.

4.         Members of the Panel wished to further understand how the number of satisfaction surveys completed with members of the public could be increased to drive further improvement in the web service they received.

5.         Members of the Panel wished to further understand why this indicator was red and to consider more detailed information by Directorate.  It was noted that the information should be provided in a manner to ensure that individual members of staff could not be identified and that the Head of Strategic Support submit the report as exempt if its considered to be necessary.