Agenda item

To receive performance management information on the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2016/17, updates on current projects and Financial Performance Monitoring Suite information including an update on the Commercial Investment Strategy.

i.  Considered and commented on progress made against Key Activities and Corporate Indicators in the Corporate Plan and current projects, as summarised in Appendix A and detailed in Appendices B and C of the submitted report;

ii.  Considered and commented on the Council’s financial performance at the end of September, as detailed in Appendices D and E of the submitted report; and

RECOMMENDS TO THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT GOVERNANCE BOARD:

iii.  Removal of the In Cab Systems Project from the list of current projects, as detailed in Appendix C of the submitted report.

The Cabinet considered a report by the Corporate Team Manager and Head of Resources (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book) and commented on progress against the Key Activities and Corporate Indicators listed in the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2016/18 for the period 1 July to 30 September 2016.  The report also incorporated progress on the current projects being undertaken at the Council and financial performance information as at the end of September.

Homelessness was noted as a key action with a red status.  In line with the national picture homelessness was increasing and Officers were delivering short, medium and long-term actions to try to increase the supply of suitable homes and to move homeless households into sustainable homes.

Another key action with a red status was the number of days lost per full time employee due to staff sickness. The target to reduce staff sickness absence was missed as a high level of long-term absence continued in Quarter 2. Managing sickness absence was a key priority for the Senior Management Team and as a result the absence triggers within the Sickness Absence and Attendance Procedure had been reviewed with the informal stage being removed from the Policy. There had been a significant amount of work invested to address this target and the Council remained committed at reducing sickness absence.  It was reported that the Management was confident that for the same reporting period next year there would be an improvement in the target.

It was noted that increased sickness absence was also an issue for the Police Authority who were experiencing a similar number of days lost per full time employee with regard to operational staff.

In referring to Appendix C – Project Performance and those projects with a red status, the Cabinet agreed that the In Cab Systems Project be removed from the list having been informed that the project was unlikely to come to fruition as there was no bespoke system available to replace the existing manual process for logging waste collection issues.  If the project remained on the list it would always be assigned a red status and it was therefore agreed that the project should be removed. 

The Cabinet were referred to Appendix D of the report which detailed the Financial Performance Monitoring Suite information, in particular the Revenue and Reserve Forecast table. It was explained that the yearend forecast outturn revenue position for 2016/17 resulted in a saving against budget of £851,000 and the Appendix also provided explanations for the main variances across all services.

At 7.16pm, Councillor D Brown entered the meeting.

Regarding miscellaneous income debt it was explained that although the 2015/16 debt position indicated a large outstanding amount the majority of the debt was being collected via direct debit and would be paid by the end of the current financial year.

With regards to the New Homes Bonus, at the end of the current reporting cycle the Council was 36 units ahead of the target of 541 completions with a total of 577 new homes having been completed at the end of September. The impact of these additional units would appear in the 2017/18 figures.  However, any growth might be effected by potential changes to the New Homes Bonus scheme that the Government was introducing.

During discussions the Cabinet agreed that although the report was comprehensive it should be revised to reduce the information contained within the report.  A Cabinet Member having attended a recent Overview and Scrutiny Panel noted the time dedicated at the meeting to discussions on the actions with a green status.  Revising the information contained within the report would enable discussions to focus on those actions assigned with either an amber or red status.

In considering the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny (Performance and Customers) Panel the Cabinet agreed that the siting of mobile homes at Alconbury and Wyton could be a potential solution to address the homelessness issue and that this should be further investigated by Officers.

In response to the request from the Overview and Scrutiny Panel that details of the budget proposals be presented to the Panel before the budget was agreed by Council, the Managing Director would discuss the budget with the Panel prior to the final decision being taken in February.

Whereupon it was

RESOLVED

That the Cabinet

i.  Considered and commented on progress made against Key Activities and Corporate Indicators in the Corporate Plan and current projects, as summarised in Appendix A and detailed in Appendices B and C of the submitted report;

ii.  Considered and commented on the Council’s financial performance at the end of September, as detailed in Appendices D and E of the submitted report; and

RECOMMENDS TO THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT GOVERNANCE BOARD:

iii.  Removal of the In Cab Systems Project from the list of current projects, as detailed in Appendix C of the submitted report.