Agenda item

To consider performance against the key activities identified in the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2014/15 for the period 1st July to 30th September 2014.

(Executive Councillors J D Ablewhite, B S Chapman, D B Dew, J A Gray, and T D Sanderson have been invited to attend for this discussion).

(Councillors J D Ablewhite, B S Chapman, D B Dew, J A Gray and T D Sanderson were in attendance for the discussion on this item).

The Panel considered a report by the Policy and Performance Manager (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book), which contained an update on progress against the key activities identified in the Council’s Corporate Plan for the period 1st July to 30th September 2014. Following feedback from the first quarter a number of changes had been made to the format of the report and work was now being undertaken to identify a direction of travel in each performance area and to introduce a more rigorous internal quality assurance approach.

Having welcomed the progress that had been made in performance reporting, Members were informed that work was ongoing to define the ‘acceptable variance’ which meant key actions were identified as Amber.  Members then proceeded to review the actions within the strategic themes that had been allocated to the Economic Well-Being Panel.

With regard to the ‘Strong Local Economy’ theme, Members discussed the action to deliver a programme of themed business information events and the efforts which were being made to encourage local businesses to take part. They were informed that turnout had increased gradually over the course of the last three years and it was the view of the Executive Councillor that these events were well attended.  Consideration could be given to the subject matter and themes of these events further to promote attendance.

In terms of the action to commit to the Enterprise Zone skills strategy group, Members queried the expected output from this action. It was explained that work was ongoing to develop Enterprise Zone skills group activities and that early signs were encouraging. The development of a three year business plan for the skills hub would provide further detailed information.

 In general terms, comment was made as to the absence of any clear measurable targets within this theme that could be used to quantify progress. The Executive Councillor for Strategic Economic Development and Legal was asked to give further consideration to this in advance of the preparation of the report for the third quarter. The Executive Leader explained that success of the Local Enterprise Partnership would be measured through the uptake of business rates and income from these.

In response to a specific question regarding the information that was available for employers who were considering relocating to the Enterprise Zone, the Executive Councillor for Strategic Economic Development & Legal undertook to circulate to Panel Members a web link to this information.

Having noted that the number of vacancies within the Development Management Team had had a direct impact on its ability to provide fast track pre-application advice, Members were assured that progress would be made within the next quarter now that the vacancies had been filled.

In turning to the ‘Ensuring we are a Customer Focused and Service Led Council’ theme, Panel Members asked a number of questions regarding the key actions for 2014/15. In response, clarification was provided on the term ‘Project Management Lean Processes’ and updates were provided on the development of a full business case for previously identified energy reduction projects across the Council estate and on the appointment of a Graduate Trainee within the Corporate Team. The Corporate Director (Services) was asked to provide further information as to how the sample would be selected for the twice year postal survey of customers using the Council’s Call Centre.

The Panel discussed the outcome of the Employee Opinion Survey and Members were advised that the new Corporate Management Team would now be working to address the issues which had been raised. Members welcomed the feedback that had been provided to staff and the positive actions that had now been undertaken in response to the survey.

Members commented on the number of responses that had been received from local residents to inform the 2015/16 Budget process and queried whether this was a worthwhile exercise. Whilst the Authority was encouraged to consult by the External Auditors, the Executive Councillor for Resources indicated that he hoped to do so in a more effective way in future years. With regard to the Facing the Future programme, it was agreed that a copy of the full list would be made available to the Panel in due course.

On the presentation of the information and using the example of the staff satisfaction survey, comment was made that the progress update merely reported that it had been concluded and provided little information about the outcome of this exercise. The Executive Leader reminded Members that the development of the Council’s performance information was an ongoing piece of work and that the identification of outcomes would be the next part of this process.

The Panel discussed the development of the website for consultation and engagement and the absence of a target date for the completion of this activity. Having noted that the development of the website was a longer term piece of work, Members were advised that the issues relating to links between the calendar, database and the website had now been resolved. The Executive Councillor for Customer Services was asked to provide details of the timeframe for the development of the website for consultation and engagement.

Finally, the Panel discussed the mechanisms for removing actions from the performance report once they had been completed. Members were of the opinion that items should not be removed until it had been agreed with the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Panel. Whereupon, it was

RESOLVED

that progress made against the key activities and performance data in the Corporate Plan be noted.