Agenda item

(CSP: BEC, BEC1, BEC2, SLE, SLE1, SLE2, P&S, P&S1, HQL, HQL1, MEC, MEC1)

Purpose: 

(1)          To report quarter four outturns for the Key Accountable Measures which monitor performance against the 2016/17 Council Performance Framework.

(2)          To provide assurance that the objectives set out in the Council Strategy and other areas of significant activity are being managed effectively.

(3)          To present, by exception, those measures that are RAG rated ‘red’ (not achieved) and provide information on any remedial action taken and the impact of that action.

(4)          To recommend changes to measures / targets, as requested by services.

Resolved that:

(1)       Progress against the Key Accountable Measures and the key achievements in all services be noted;

(2)       Those areas reported as ‘red’ be reviewed to ensure that appropriate action was in place. In particular to consider and refer for further analysis at the Overview and Scrutiny Management Commission (OSMC) the results and improvement actions for:

(a)  The percentages of Council Tax and Business Rates collection;

(b)  The timeliness of reviews for the long term adult social care clients and the ‘front door’ pressures for the Adult Social Care service.

(3)       The actions and progress made to reduce the delayed transfer of care from hospital (DTOC) be noted and a decision to be made as to whether this should be scrutinised again by OSMC;

(4)       To task OSMC to assess if additional solutions could be adopted to improve housing affordability in the District.

This decision is eligible to be ‘called-in’.  However, if the decision has not been ‘called-in’ by 5.00pm on 3rd August 2017, then it will be implemented.

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 6) which outlined quarter four outturns for the Key Accountable Measures which monitored performance against the 2016/17 Council Performance Framework; provided assurance to the Executive that the objectives set out in the Council Strategy and other areas of significant activity were being managed effectively; and which presented, by exception, those measures that were RAG rated ‘red’ (not achieved) and provided information on any remedial actions taken and the impact of that action.

Appendix D set out the Key Accountable Measures by Strategic Priority and Appendix E highlighted the Exception Reports. Performance had been good in a number of areas and in particular Adult Social Care, protecting children, bin collection and street cleaning and collecting Council Tax and Business Rates.

Despite the major financial challenges which the Council had faced in 2016/17 the past year’s performance had remained good but some areas in the Council Strategy remained challenging.  However, it was noted that challenging targets had been set from the outset. There were 14 ‘red’ indicators and the actions to improve performance were set out in the Exception reports in Appendix E.

Following a discussion at Corporate Board it was proposed that the following measures which were ‘red’ RAG rated should be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Commission for further review:

·           Council tax and business rates collections – the target was not achieved by 0.6% in relation to council tax collection and actions had been put in to replace the IT servers, increase staff recruitment and support and the drafting of a new recovery and write off policy to collect outstanding debt.

·           Timeliness of adult social care long term cases – compared to the previous year the service had less capacity available to conduct reviews and was planning to adopt a proportional approach (based on the level of need of each client) in terms of the way the reviews were conducted.

·           Enable more affordable housing completions – work continued to support this area however, more solutions were required relating to the housing affordability in the district.

Councillor Keith Chopping stated that it was proposed to amend the wording of recommendation 2.4 so that it read ‘to task OSMC to assess if additional solutions could be adopted to improve housing affordability in the District’.

Councillor Lee Dillon referred to page 39 of the agenda where it was noted that the Ofsted Rating for the Children and Families Service had improved and the service was no longer considered to be ‘inadequate’. Councillor Graham Jones thanked the Portfolio Holder and the Service for all their hard work in achieving a ‘good’ rating. This was the first time an authority had made the jump from ‘inadequate’ straight to ‘good’. Councillor Lee Dillon welcomed the improvements in Children’s Services and also gave her thanks to the team as this was quite an achievement.

Councillor Marcus Franks referred to page 22 of the agenda in respect of the devolution agenda. Following the District/Parish Conference a Parish Council workshop had been delivered to provide further advice and promotion of devolution opportunities. The Parish Portal had been launched and a number of proposals were coming forward. He also advised that the new Multi-agency Building Communities Together Team was working well.

Councillor Lee Dillon agreed with the amendment to recommendation 2.4 as he was in support of greater scrutiny by OSMC as they often came up with solutions for improvement. He recognised that a number of targets had been missed and agreed that some of the targets had been particularly challenging. However, the Affordable Housing outcome of 166 was way below the average annual level of 200 and this was an area where improvement was required. In respect of Communities Helping Themselves there was an issue in respect of long term financial sustainability especial for small rural Parish Councils. He felt that over the next couple of years how the Council worked with Parish Councils would be particularly important.

Councillor Graham Jones confirmed that he was glad that the Council had set itself challenging targets. He agreed that the target around Affordable Housing had been particularly challenging which to some degree was down to market conditions. He stated that the devolution agenda required a mindset change in regard to Parish Councils but it was voluntary and the Council always encouraged the smaller Parish Councils to work together.

RESOLVED that:

(1)       Progress against the Key Accountable Measures and the key achievements in all service areas be noted;

(2)       Areas reported as ‘red’ to be reviewed to ensure that appropriate action was in place. The following areas be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Commission (OSMC) for further analysis and improvement actions:

(a)       the percentages of Council Tax and Business Rates collection,

(b)       the timeliness of reviews for the long term adult social care clients and the ‘front door’ pressures for Adult Social Care service.

(3)       The actions and progress made to reduce the delayed transfer of care from hospital (DTOC) be noted;

(4)       To task OSMC to assess if additional solutions could be adopted to improve housing affordability in the District.

Other options considered: None