Issue - meetings

To receive a report from the Corporate Office containing details of the Council’s performance against its priority objectives.

Noted the progress made against key activities and performance to date in the corporate plan and agreed to replace the measure of “time taken from first visit to completion of work on Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) with a value of over £1,000 (weeks)” by “average time (in weeks) between date of referral to practical completion for minor jobs up to £10,000”.

Further to Minute No 13/82 and with the assistance of a report by the Policy and Performance Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) the Cabinet considered the Council’s performance against key activities identified in the Council’s Corporate Plan for the period 1st April to 30th June 2014. The report had been considered by all the Overview and Scrutiny Panels whose comments were relayed to the Cabinet.

In referring to the layout of the report Executive Councillors endorsed the presentation of the performance information as it was easy to understand and could be traced back to the Corporate Plan.  However, Members felt that the document would benefit from the inclusion of a named contact officer and Portfolio Holder for the corporate performance and contextual indicators.

Having been advised of a change to the performance indicator for the measuring of Disabled Facilities Grant which has arisen as a result of the work being undertaken by the shared HIA service, the Cabinet

RESOLVED

(a)  that the progress made against key activities and performance to date in the corporate plan be noted; and

(b)  that the measure of “time taken from first visit to completion of work on Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) with a value of over £1,000 (weeks)” be replaced by “average time (in weeks) between date of referral to practical completion for minor jobs up to £10,000”.

To consider a report by the Policy and Performance Manager containing details of the Council’s performance against its priority objectives.

(Councillors J D Ablewhite, Executive Leader of the Council and Councillor D B Dew, Executive Councillor for o for Strategic Planning and Housing, were in attendance for this item).

With the assistance of a report by the Policy and Performance Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book), the Executive Leader, Councillor J D Ablewhite, presented the performance framework which would be used to measure progress against key activities and performance targets identified in the Council’s Corporate Plan. Members’ attention was drawn to the new data presentation format, which in due course would include an action column for each key action. It was hoped that this format would be easier for elected Members and members of the public to understand.

It was explained that the performance information had been split by Strategic Themes and allocated as appropriate to the Overview and Scrutiny Panels. The Environmental Well-Being Panel would be responsible for monitoring the ‘Enable Sustainable Growth’ theme. It was anticipated that performance reports for quarter two would be submitted in November 2014. Members were informed that it was the intention that Executive Councillors would attend future Panel meetings to respond to questions that might arise on services within their respective portfolios. It was also expected that further information would be available regarding the forecast and predicted outturns at this time.

In welcoming the new format of the report, Members commented that it was easy to understand and could be readily traced back to the Corporate Plan. However, it was recommended that future reports should identify where targets had not been achieved and include comments on what was to be done to make improvements, whether the level of performance was to be accepted and the implications of not achieving the target.

In terms of the actions within the Panel’s Strategic Theme, Members noted that work to update the Buildings at Risk Register was scheduled to commence in October and that the update to the Council’s Design Guide was nearing conclusion. In response to a question by Councillor Mrs B E Boddington, the Executive Councillor for Strategic Planning and Housing outlined the steps he had taken to encourage the provision of affordable housing through the development of rural exception sites. Whereupon, it was

RESOLVED

  that the contents of the report be noted.

To consider a report by the Policy and Performance Manager containing details of the Council’s performance against its priority objectives.

(Councillors J D Ablewhite, Executive Leader, and J A Gray, Executive Councillor for Resources, were in attendance for this item).

The Panel considered a report by the Policy and Performance Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) updating Members on progress against the key activities identified in the Council’s Corporate Plan for the period 1st April to 30^th June 2014.  A revised copy of the Appendix was circulated at the meeting.

The Executive Leader explained that following the production of the Council’s Vision and 2014/16 Corporate Plan, this was the first attempt to provide performance management information. Members’ attention was drawn to the new report format which, in due course, would include an action column for each key action.

The Corporate Team Manager explained that the first quarterly report contained the key actions and performance indicators within the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2014/16. Performance information had been split by theme and allocated to Overview and Scrutiny Panels accordingly. It was the expectation that Executive Members would attend to present future reports and answer questions on performance within their areas of responsibility,

Members were generally content with the layout of the information presented, subject to the inclusion of an action column for each of the key actions at a later date. Comment was made on the importance of identifying a direction of travel in each performance area.

Members then reviewed the actions within the strategic themes that had been allocated to the Panel. In response to questions regarding specific actions, the Panel was advised that the business case for previously identified energy reduction projects across the Council estate would be subject to the normal approval process and that the outcome of the staff satisfaction survey would be presented to the Employment Panel in November 2014.

In response to a question regarding the rate of Council Tax that had been collected and whether any change might have been caused by the welfare reforms, the Executive Councillor for Resources indicated that collection figures were buoyant and it appeared that the Council had pitched Council Tax at an appropriate level.

RESOLVED

that the contents of the report be noted.

To receive a report from the Corporate Office containing details of the Council’s performance against its priority objectives.

20 Minutes.

(Councillor J D Ablewhite, Executive Leader of the Council, was in attendance for this item)

With the assistance of a report by the Policy and Performance Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book), the Executive Leader, Councillor J D Ablewhite, presented, for the first time, the performance framework which would be used to measure progress made against key activities and performance targets identified in the Council’s Corporate Plan.

It was explained that the Overview and Scrutiny Panels would receive quarterly performance reports ordered by strategic themes and that it was the intention that Executive Councillors would attend Panel meetings in future to respond to questions that might arise on services within their respective portfolios.

Whilst commending the format of the report, the Panel was of the opinion that the District Council should continue to measure the Home Improvement Agency service and monitor how the partnership with Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire District Councils was operating.  It also was the expectation that a measure relating to waste minimisation and street cleansing should be included given the importance and profile of both services to the public.  In response, the Head of Operations explained that the previous standard for street cleansing had been measured at significant cost but he would consider the use of a targeted indicator directed towards key hotspots for instance.  In terms of waste minimisation, it was explained that RECAP undertook performance monitoring on behalf of the District Council and compiled comparison data from other authorities and reported on an annual basis.

In conclusion, the Panel noted that quarter two performance reports would be submitted in November, that the process would be reviewed after one year’s operation and that all performance reports would be made available on the Council’s website.