Agenda item

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

That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s comments on the Performance Management Report for Quarter One of 2019/20 be NOTED.   

42.1           The report of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, circulated at Pages No. 15-68, asked Members to review and, if appropriate, take action on the observations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee following its review of the 2019/20 quarter one performance management information.

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

42.3           In the absence of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the Head of Corporate Services explained that, as part of the annual review of the Council Plan, a number of actions within the plan were being refreshed. Being the first quarter, it was still early days for a number of actions and Key Performance Indicators to come to fruition. Any areas where actions or Key Performance Indicators were not progressing as smoothly or quickly as envisioned, were highlighted within Paragraphs 2.4 and 3.3 of the report. Some key areas that were discussed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee were set out within the report. In terms of the Battlefield Society, Officers had extended the target date to March 2021 to incorporate ongoing discussions between Officers and stakeholders to develop the heritage offer and concept for the battlefield to be part of the 2021 celebrations; however, due to not having direct control of the target date, it was agreed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee that it would receive a progress report in 12 months’ time. Referring to Healings Mill, Members were advised that this had been an Agenda item in its own right at the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, and Members had been provided with an update on progress made to develop the site; it was noted that the Council had limited direct influence on the project, and that there were a number of complexities in respect of the site, it was resolved that a report should only be brought back to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee when there was significant movement and a high-level overview would instead be provided through the performance tracker. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had congratulated the Environmental Health Team on the work it had carried out on the enviro-crimes strategy and it was noted that positive feedback had been received following Parish Council meetings which had been encouraged by the approach being taken and the difference that was making. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee had discussed paperless meetings after a Member had questioned why there had been no progress made in that regard now that Members had their new ICT equipment; it had been explained that the main driver behind the new equipment was to standardise and provide consistent support to Members – if Members then chose to stop receiving hard copy papers this could be accommodated. A Member had raised concerns about the increased levels of sickness absence and asked if there was any link to the employee savings shown at Page No. 62 of the papers potentially resulting in pressure on the workforce; Officers had reassured the Committee that the workforce was extremely valued and the Council carried out various sessions under the wellbeing action plan to support staff on issues such as mental health and stress awareness – with regard to the increased number of sick days, this was attributable to long-term absences. The Committee had been impressed with the achievements of the Benefits team in reducing the number of days to process new benefit claims by half due to new ways of working. In respect of recycling, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had been advised that the residual household waste collected per property had increased due to recycling being spoilt and the change in processes at the Materials Recovery Facility; Officers were going to carry out an educational campaign on recycling and Ubico was being more forceful about not emptying bins if they saw any contaminated waste. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee Chair had wanted the Executive Committee to note that the broad coverage of Agenda items naturally generated a lot of questions and actions; therefore, at each meeting he ensured that actions were agreed and the relevant Officers allocated an appropriate timescale – those actions were then proactively monitored by himself, the Corporate Services team and the Member Services Officer to ensure they were appropriately followed-up.

42.4           A Member drew attention to Page No. 16 of the report and expressed disappointment that, given the recent declaration of the Climate Change Emergency by the Council, the environmental implications section of the report had been completed stating ‘none directly associated with this report’. He was of the view that the tracker covered enviro-crimes, climate change and waste management. In addition, he questioned whether the Council collected any details about food waste since there was a drive to try and ensure people wasted less food. In response, the Head of Community Services indicated that this was a performance report, so he felt the environmental implications section was completed correctly; if it was a report about pool cars there would be implications but there were not implications in terms of the performance report itself. In respect of food waste, the Head of Community Services explained that the Council did have statistics which could be incorporated into future reports – it was already included in the general recycling figures – and, whilst he agreed that all waste needed to be reduced, it should be remembered that the Borough’s food waste was now turned into gas.

42.5           Accordingly, it was