Issue - meetings

To receive and respond to the findings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee‘s review of the quarter four performance management information. 

That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s comments on the Performance Management Report for Quarter Four of 2017/18 be NOTED.

18.1           The report of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, circulated at Pages No. 15-60, asked Members to review and, if appropriate, take action on the observations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee following its review of the 2017/18 quarter four performance management information.

18.2           Attention was drawn to the observations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, attached at Appendix 1 to the report, to the Council Plan Performance Tracker, attached to the report at Appendix 2, and to the financial information circulated at Appendices 3-5.

18.3           The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee explained that, as part of the ongoing review of the effectiveness of Overview and Scrutiny, an external trainer had recently provided an overview of the national picture regarding scrutiny and the Chair had found it pleasing to note that the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee demonstrated a lot of the traits she had mentioned; however, the one key area where the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s effectiveness could be enhanced was the challenge it gave to the Executive Committee. He thanked those Members that had attended the session, as he felt it had been helpful for both Overview and Scrutiny and Executive Committee Members to be present, and indicated that Executive Committee Members may be asked to attend his Committee to present reports in future, just as he did at the Executive Committee. His Committee Members had also challenged him to be more robust when making his presentations on performance management to the Executive Committee and he had undertaken to meet that challenge.

18.4           In terms of the review of performance management information, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had noted the information and key actions delivered which included: the excellent performance of the Council’s commercial property investments; the appointment of a Growth and Enterprise Manager and a Growth Hub Navigator in readiness for the introduction of the growth hub; the delivery of affordable homes which, at 233, had exceeded the target of 150; adoption of the Public Space Protection Order and the more proactive approach to enviro-crimes which had been seen; and the success of the garden waste ‘sticker’ project which had now sold 17,094 stickers and generated income of £769,000. The Committee had also recognised that some actions had not progressed as envisaged and had raised particular concern about the review of trade waste and the fact that delivery of the project had slipped for the third time from its original target of April 2017 – the Committee had felt that the positive approach to the garden waste project could be translated to the trade waste service so that it was commercially exploited to the fullest extent. During the recent review of Overview and Scrutiny it was generally accepted that the information reported to it was open and transparent but, in relation to trade waste, there had been references made to an Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) report which Members were yet to have sight of. The Committee had also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18