Agenda item

This matter is the responsibility of Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources, Cllr Ross Henley.

The report provides an update on the council’s performance for the first 6 months (April – September) of the 2020/21 financial year.  The report includes information for a range of key performance indicators and also provides an update on progress against the council’s annual plan commitments for the current year.

The report provided an update on the council’s performance for the first 6 months (April – September) of the 2020/21 financial year.  The report included information for a range of key performance indicators and also provided an update on progress against the council’s annual plan commitments for the year. 

As part of the Councils commitment to transparency and accountability the report provided an update on performance for a number of key indicators across a range of council services and also provided progress monitoring for the implementation of the Corporate Strategy, and the delivery of the commitments made in the 2020/21 Annual Plan. 

Impact of Covid-19

There had been a continued impact on the work of the Council as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The last corporate performance report provided a more detailed update on the specific additional work undertaken by the council between April and July. Many of these tasks had continued and the pandemic still had a significant impact on the council’s activity and workload. In addition, there had been further new requirements placed on the council during August and September, such as implementing the grants for people who need to self-isolate having been contacted by Track and Trace. 

Key Performance Indicators

The table in Appendix 1 set out the councils Key Performance Indicators and detailed how the council had performed for the first 6 months of the 2020/21 financial year.  The table also included a “direction of travel” arrow to show whether performance had improved, worsened or stayed the same, since the last corporate performance report which was for the end of July.

For the majority of indicators the target had either been met or in many cases, been exceeded. The direction of travel showed that for many indicators performance had remained at a similar level to that at the end of July. However, there were several indicators where performance had got worse, but in all cases, the fall was slight and the target was still being met. Close monitoring of these indicators over future months would be undertaken to ensure appropriate action is taken where required. For the 2 indicators where performance is significantly below target, and the indicator is rated “Red”, commentary was provided below:

Number of complaints responded to in 10 working days

Further to the analysis undertaken over the summer, a review into the Complaints process was underway.  A number of process improvements have been identified and are in the process of being implemented.  The review has identified a bottleneck within the process.  The process is being changed to remove this bottleneck and to move to a process where complaints are investigated and responded to within the individual services rather than issuing all responses through the Complaints Manager.  This will also allow the complaints manager to spend more time analysing complaint trends, working with teams to target improvements based on this intelligence and supporting Case Managers through training and workshops.  

In addition the Customer Services team are working with the Business Analysts to develop the existing computer system (Firmstep) process so these changes can be implemented.  Training for staff who respond to complaints and workshops on best practice will be developed over the coming weeks and months.  To enable these changes additional resources have been temporarily assigned to the complaints team.

Number of FOI requests responded to in 20 working days

As reported previously, a dedicated case manager was recruited last autumn to manage the FOI process, and a new process for submitting FOI requests has been implemented. This had led to significant improvements in performance but the Covid crisis and the need to divert resource to urgent additional activities has clearly impacted on our ability to respond to FOI requests.  

However, we have reviewed the process for FOIs and are in the process of reconfiguring the system used to manage FOI’s (Firmstep) to reflect the shape of the

Remodelled organisation. This work has been delayed due to Covid but has now been assigned to a project team and is underway.

The Annual Plan contained 28 specific commitments that the Council has said it will deliver in 2020/21. The graphic below provides a summary of progress as at the end of September for each of these commitments, split by the 4 themes of the Corporate Strategy. Each commitment has been rated as either Red, Amber or Green to indicate whether it is likely to be achieved.

During the debate the following comments and questions were raised:-

·        Appendix 1 performance ratings were questioned around Planning performance, the reasons were requested, it was considered if there was a lack of officers in the Planning Department.

·        Vacant areas in The Deane House second floor was queried.

·        Reviewing assets and creating revenue was encouraged.

·        Answers would be provided following the meeting. A future update was requested in the areas of Asset Management and Planning.

·        The definition of complaints followed the definition from the ombudsmen

·        This definition was the expression of dissatisfaction of a service delivered by the organisation. Councillor Casework was included as a complaint where deemed appropriate if it had been raised as a complaint. Guidance to Councillors in how this was approached was encouraged.

·        A two stage complaints process would be a consideration of the complaint followed by an appeal if the decision or response didn’t satisfy the complainant.

·        Officer time and capacity spent on addressing complaints were considered, the reduction of complaints as a result was questioned.

·        Planning applications determined and extension time was considered, a further breakdown and context of figures was requested. The benchmark used was requested, if it was the national or otherwise.

·        Improving business process reengineering and managing of assets was considered. Disposing of costly assets were encouraged.

Resolved:- The Scrutiny Committee noted the report