Agenda item

(CSP: 1, 2, 3, 4 & 9)

Purpose: To report Q2 outturns against the key accountable measures and activities contained in the Council’s performance framework, and to report by exception those measures/activities not achieved or behind schedule and cite remedial action/the impact it has had.

Resolved that progress against the key accountable measures and activities contained in the Council’s performance framework be noted.

This decision is not subject to call in as:

·      Report is to note only

therefore it will be implemented immediately.

The Executive considered a report (Agenda Item 8) concerning Quarter 2 outturns against the key accountable measures and activities contained in the Council’s performance framework and which reported, by exception, those measures/activities not achieved or behind schedule and cited remedial action being taken and the impact it had had.

In introducing the report, Councillor Roger Croft explained that across this reporting framework as a whole, 48 key accountable measures were captured. Of these, 11 were annual measures – reported once a year. Therefore, the Council was able to report against 37 outturns.

Of these 37, 30 were reported as green – on track for meeting target by year end and 7 were reported as amber – behind schedule but still intended to reach intended outturn by year end.

The report began with contextual measures concerning the State of the District and Councillor Croft made particular reference to:

·               the fall in domestic burglaries of 32%

·               a 24% drop in the number of ‘working age’ Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants compared to Quarter 2 last year

·               the fact that unemployment in West Berkshire was 1.3%, which was an indicator of the vibrant economy in West Berkshire

·               a 39% drop in youth unemployment bringing it down to 264 people or 2.5% compared to a South East claimant rate of 3.6%.

The report then considered measures of volume indicators for Council services and some changes had been made to the report to illustrate volume indicators in a graphical format. Councillor Croft highlighted the following points from this section of the report:

·               A 22% drop in clients aged over 65 in receipt of a community based service.

·               A 19% drop in safeguarding referrals received.

·               A 21% increase in Looked After Children cases going up from 127 in the same quarter last year to 154 this year.

·               A 32% increase in Freedom of Information requests.

Councillor Croft then turned to the section which considered performance against the Council’s main strategic priorities and highlighted the following points:

·               Caring for and protecting the vulnerable had 23 reported measures, 17 green and 6 amber.

·               Promoting a Vibrant District had 7 reported measures, 6 green and 1 amber.

·               Improving Education had 3 reported measures, all reporting green.

·               Protecting the Environment had 3 measures, all reporting green.

Councillor Croft commended the report and asked the Executive to note the report and the explanatory notes.

Councillor Alan Law referred to the low number of JSA claimants which he believed demonstrated his view that while West Berkshire had been affected by the economic downturn, it was now leading the country in improved employment figures. He also pointed out that during the course of the last year, the number of young people claiming JSA was down by 39%.

Councillor Roger Hunneman made reference to the 4 measures reported as amber which related to vulnerable older people and adults, and stated that he would like to see more action being taken to improve performance in this area. This was an area he would continue to monitor.

Councillor Hunneman also referred to the 15% reduction in the number of social care assessments and reviews completed in the last 12 months, and queried what action was being taken to improve performance in this area. Councillor Joe Mooney responded by pointing out that the situation was unchanged from when he last updated Councillor Hunneman on this point only recently. He did however confirm that additional resource was being assigned to this work and the need to increase resource on a permanent basis would be reviewed in March 2014. Councillor Mooney assured Councillor Hunneman that he too would closely monitor performance in these areas.

Councillor Jeff Brooks questioned the reasons behind the downward trend in the number of unique visitors to the Council’s website. Councillor Hilary Cole responded to this point by advising that there was no single answer to this question. She acknowledged that there was currently a lack of central content management which made the website difficult to navigate, but this was being addressed and the website was being brought up to date as part of the Choose Digital programme. This involved the launch of 2 Council websites which aimed to improve the website experience of its visitors and was scheduled for May 2015. It was hoped that this would result in an increased number of unique visitors.

Councillor Brooks queried if a user panel would be formed in order to consider the feedback of website users on the new design of the Council’s websites. Councillor Cole confirmed that this would be taken forward by the Customer Focus Programme Board. Nick Carter added that the new websites were in the process of being tested and a group of members of the public, regularly consulted with by Strategic Support, were involved in this.

Councillor Gordon Lundie gave his agreement to the concerns raised about the current website and added that it was an important area to improve upon. Councillor Cole gave her view that people would be delighted with the new websites.

Councillor Brooks then asked for confirmation of the process for reviewing the Council’s measures and whether these were the most appropriate etc. Councillor Croft explained that the process for setting the measures was due to commence between Heads of Service and Officers in Strategic Support who, in consultation with Portfolio Holders, would propose measures for 2014/15. The next stage of the process would be to share these measures with a scrutiny task group for comment. Targets would be set once outcomes for the current year were known.

Councillor Tony Vickers expressed concern at the steady increase in the number of Looked After Children cases and the number of young people subject to a Child Protection Plan. Rachael Wardell acknowledged that these were not good outcomes for young people, but the view had been taken that they were in need of protection and would be safer away from home, although it was the preference to keep children in their own home wherever possible. There had been an increase in the number of Looked After Children and Rachael Wardell explained that this was partly due to more focused Child Protection practices being put in place since the Children’s Services Inspection in the Summer of 2012. It was also the case that the most significant recent increase was due to a small number of unaccompanied asylum seeking children arriving in West Berkshire. This area of activity was continually monitored to ensure actions taken were the most appropriate.

Rachael Wardell then referred to the measure which reported the number of children becoming the subject of a Child Protection Plan for a second or subsequent time. This area was monitored particularly closely and performance, which was currently at a very low level and was lower than in previous years, did not suggest that children were removed from their families and then returned unsafely. However, looked after children were returned to their families and children were removed from child protection plans when it was considered appropriate to do so.

Councillor Vickers queried whether there was felt to be any link between the stress being felt by some low income families and the increase in Looked After Children. Rachael Wardell confirmed that close attention was given to the pressures that could be felt by families and the impact this could have, i.e. in terms of domestic abuse. However, it was unclear if there was a correlation between debt/unemployment issues for families and increased numbers of Looked After Children.

Councillor Dominic Boeck highlighted the good performance in maintaining the proportion of household waste recycled/composted/reused and in the percentage of household waste sent to landfill. This was evidence of the good work undertaken with Veolia and the willingness of residents to recycle their waste.

RESOLVED that progress against the key accountable measures and activities contained in the Council’s performance framework be noted and those areas reporting as “amber” be reviewed to ensure that appropriate corrective or remedial action had been put in place.

Reason for the decision: This framework compiles and monitors progress in relation to the objectives laid out in the Council Strategy distilled from the Council’s individual service plans. In doing so, it expresses the purpose and ambition of the Council and by extension the Council’s main focus of activities and key measures of success against which we can assess ourselves and publicly report progress.

Other options considered: N/A.