Agenda item

The Leader of the Council to submit a report which advises Members

 

(a)  of the current state of performance against the defined performance reporting measures for the priority themes within the Council’s Corporate Priorities for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2018-19;

 

(b)  of the  position at the end of the council year regarding Members’ priorities as set out in the Council’s Corporate Delivery Plan and the steps being taken to develop the corporate delivery plan for the period 2019 to 2023;

 

(c)  the Council’s current Corporate Risk Register. It is important that Cabinet are aware of the significant risks that face the Council and have ownership of the risk management arrangements in place and the activities that are being undertaken to mitigate those risks

 

(1)  Progress against the Corporate Delivery Plan and quarter 4 performance be noted;

 

(2)  The steps being taken to develop the Council’s new Corporate Strategy 2020 to 2024 be noted;

 

(3)  The contents of the Corporate Risk Register be noted.

The Leader of the Council

 

(a)   submitted a report, advising Members

 

·         of the current state of performance against the defined performance reporting measures for the priority themes, within the Council’s Corporate Priorities for the fourth quarter of the financial year 2018/19;

·         of the position at the end of the Council year, regarding Members’ priorities, as set out in the Council’s Corporate Delivery Plan and the steps being taken to develop the Corporate Delivery Plan for the period 2019 to 2023;

·         of the Council’s current Corporate Risk Register. It was important that Cabinet were aware of the significant risks facing the Council and that they had ownership of the risk management arrangements in place and the activities which were being undertaken to mitigate those risks;

 

(b)   commented that the new governance arrangements had presented a ‘big learning curve’ for this Council.  The Chief Executive, Director for Law and Governance and the Leader had experience of a Cabinet/Executive Model of governance.  A Cabinet Model was more Member orientated, enabling Members to take ownership of reports.  Lead Members would present reports at Cabinet meetings and officers would provide any necessary clarification if required to do so;

 

(c)    advised of the purpose of the report, in relation to updating Members on progress against the Corporate Delivery Plan 2018-20, on steps being taken to develop a new Corporate Strategy 2020-24, detailing the outturns for quarter 4 2018/19 Corporate Performance Measures and the Council’s Risk Register, which included ten risks and the mitigating actions being taken against these risks;

 

(d)   commented that performance and risk were the ‘barometer of the Council’.  It was impossible to have all green status items (items which were on track and progressing well).  The performance information for quarter 4 2018/19, as detailed at Appendix 1 of the report (Corporate Performance Measures Dashboard) and the current position of delivery against the Council’s Corporate Priorities was used to inform the Cabinet and assist the formation of policy and oversight of the Council priorities;

 

(e)   provided a summary of the report, highlighting

 

1.    Corporate Performance Measures – Quarter 4 2018/19.  Becoming more transparent and accountable were some of the key reasons for changing the Council's governance processes and the report detailed both positive progress and areas of challenge for the Council, creating a baseline position for the Council’s new Corporate Strategy, which would shape how the Council would respond to local needs over the next four years.  Appendix 1 set out the Council’s performance against measures mapped to the Council's Corporate Priorities.  Appendix 1 includes two years of data (eight quarters).  Key points to note were:

·         Place Priorities.  The Council had aspirations to create a vibrant town centre and it was thriving.  There were few shop vacancies and this was largely due to the Council and other organisations working in partnership.  The Council also aimed to increase the availability of good quality homes and inspire a clean, attractive environment.  The Council showed high/improving performance in a number of areas;

·         People Priorities.  It was important that people in the Borough were encouraged and enabled to achieve their potential.  The Council was committed to tackling inequality and providing support to the more vulnerable in the community.  The Council showed high/improving performance in a number of areas.  However, there were also some areas which were not at the required level and needed improvement, such as Homelessness – number of households in temporary accommodation (applications where homelessness has been prevented (43).  The Council was working on the availability of properties and was engaged in searching for suitable accommodation solutions;

·         Organisational Priorities.  The Council was committed to being a customer focussed organisation and to develop commercially to secure its financial future.  This was very important and a lot of work was being undertaken on this.  The Council showed high/improving performance in a number of areas.  However, there were also some areas which were not at the required level and needed improvement, such as the Number of Ombudsman complaints upheld (1).  The Council has acted upon this by implementing a Corporate Enforcement Policy, detailing the actions which the Council can take when dealing with complaints where enforcement action was an option;

 

2.    Progress against the Corporate Delivery Plan.  Appendix 2 of the report (Projects Year End Position 2018/19) detailed the progress achieved for projects and activities at the end of 2018/19.  Overall, of the forty-two corporate priorities, nine (21.5%) were blue status (completed); twenty-one (50%) were green status (on track and progressing well); nine (21.5%) were amber status (progressing but are a little behind schedule) and only three (7%) were red status (behind schedule).  No council wanted red status items but this was very difficult to avoid completely;

 

3.    Corporate Risk Register.  This had recently been reviewed and updated by the Council’s Senior Leadership Team, to capture significant risks and outline mitigating actions.  Appendix 3 of the report (Strategic Risk Register) detailed all risks identified by the Council and a summary of the top five key risks facing the Council were detailed at paragraph 6.5 of the report.

 

A Member commented that improvements to Attendance at Physical Activity outreach programmes within the community (4,212 attendees) had been achieved despite less funding, which proved that a taking a different approach to these issues was more important than having more money to use on them.  Also, concerning the Corporate Delivery Plan, it was important to look at the direction of arrows, as well as the status colours, as depending on which direction the arrows pointed, improvements even within red status items could be identified.

 

Another Member commented on the outstanding performance shown in housing delivery.  Two hundred and twenty-two new dwellings had been delivered in the last quarter and more improvement would derive through delivery of affordable housing.   Concerning Homelessness, there was a huge opportunity for the Council to work with landlords and letting agents to provide help (like in the Syrian refugee crisis).  Homelessness driven by s21 notices could be mitigated if the Council could gain the confidence of private sector landlords.  Help and support from the Council would result in them being more willing to work with us to help those at risk of homelessness.

 

There being no further comments or questions from Members, Councillor Orson moved the recommendations and Councillor de Burle seconded.  Members voted unanimously in favour.

 

DECISIONS (NON-KEY)

 

(1)   Progress against the Corporate Delivery Plan and quarter 4 performance be noted;

 

(2)   The steps being taken to develop the Council’s new Corporate Strategy 2020 to 2024 be noted;

 

(3)   The contents of the Corporate Risk Register be noted.

 

Reasons:-

 

The performance information for the final quarter of 2018-19 in the Performance Dashboard and the current position with regard to delivery against the Council’s priorities is used to help inform the Cabinet, and assist with regard to the formation of policy and oversight of the Council priorities.

 

One of the key areas for Cabinet, as part of its terms of reference, is to have awareness of the strategic risks that could impact on the Council and to review the risk management arrangements in place and the activities that are being undertaken to mitigate those risks.