Agenda item

The Committee considered the report (Agenda Item 7) which outlined the performance of the Public Protection Partnership for Quarters One and Two of 2019/20.

Suzanne McLaughlin, Principal Officer – Governance, highlighted the following points from the performance report:

·         The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Measures of Volume (MOV) had been reviewed. This had resulted in some KPIs/MOV being updated. New KPIs would be reported from Quarter Three.

·         Difficulties had been encountered with recruitment and it had been necessary to fill some posts with contractors/casual staff.

·         A single case management database had been procured.

·         The PPP recently launched its social media profiles to accompany the website.

·         The budget was forecast to be ‘on budget’ at year end.

·         Action plans had been produced where relevant in order to improve performance. For example, a new online scheme had been introduced to collate feedback from residents and businesses. It had been expanded upon to include Trading Standards consumer complaints and business feedback.

·         A ‘RAG’ rating was included for Quarters One and Two which covered all measures by Inter-Authority Agreement Core Priorities:

Councillor Hilary Cole queried progress in achieving individual targets. Paul Anstey explained that this report provided a summary of progress against individual projects and priorities, rather than the very lengthy and detailed report provided previously. An extensive list of KPIs was monitored by the PPP. Councillor Hilary Cole stated that the Committee needed to be aware of the progress being made against targets.

It was anticipated that the core priority ‘Supporting Prosperity and Economic Growth’ would be 100% delivered by year end, but some ‘amber’ and ‘red’ performance was indicated in the above graphs.

Members agreed that additional detail was required. It was felt useful to present areas reporting as ‘green’ to highlight the many areas of good performance. Exception reports were needed for KPIs reporting ‘amber‘ or ‘red’.

Councillor James Cole highlighted that it was useful to note the progression being made between Quarters One and Two, and felt this should be retained in future reports.

Councillor Hilary Cole summarised that further work was needed on the level of detail contained in the report. She did however give thanks for the work undertaken in producing this Q1 and Q2 report.

Paul Anstey proposed to circulate options for Member feedback on how performance would be presented in the future. This would be used to inform the Quarter Three report.

Councillor John Porter queried the cost implication of employing contractors/casual staff. Paul Anstey explained that a Workforce Strategy had been discussed by the Joint Management Board. Permanent recruitment would be progressed, assuming a stable budget was set for 2020/21. Damian James added that this was a difficult industry to recruit to nationally. He praised the successful ‘grow your own’ approach employed in the PPP.

Sean Murphy further added that contractors/casual staff were used for more routine day to day work. Longer term projects were undertaken by permanent members of staff.

Sean Murphy then went on to advise that some posts had gone out to advert, including trainee posts. The PPP would aim to develop some officers via the trainee route which had been successful previously. Officers could progress via career grading. This approach was aided by the Apprenticeship Levy. Apprentices/trainees were being recruited and developed. Paul Anstey added that the responsibility for training and development across the PPP sat with a lead officer.

Councillor Hilary Cole praised the ‘grow your own’ approach.

Councillor James Cole queried how retention compared with other local authorities. Paul Anstey explained that the majority of leavers from the PPP had achieved a promotion to another local authority. Feedback from exit interviews was analysed, with any issues acted upon.

RESOLVED that:

·         The report be approved.

·         Options would be circulated for Member feedback on how performance would be presented in the future. This would be used to inform the Quarter Three report.