Agenda item

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

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

65.1           The report of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, circulated at Pages No. 11-62, 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 two performance management information.

65.2           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.

65.3           Members had been provided with a summary of the key areas discussed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee which included: concerns regarding the target date being amended for a fourth time in respect of tourism provision in the Borough - the Head of Development Services had provided an update and reminded Members that the action reflected more than just the Tewkesbury Tourist Information Centre but involved a review of the broader service which was currently underway, the outcome of which should be reported back to Members in March 2020; queries about the supply of land to accommodate the five-year requirement, to which the Head of Development Services had confirmed that land supply was calculated on an annual basis and therefore remained the same each quarter which was the reason there was not a Key Performance Indicator for the action –the High Court Judge had decided not to rule on the position deeming it a matter for each decision-maker hence the Council would continue to defend its position; a question relating to the number of affordable homes delivered in quarter two, and why not as many had been delivered compared to quarter one, to which the Head of Community Services had confirmed the Council had little control over this as it was dependent on the timescales on sites; questions in respect of the progress of the programme of working with landlords and the Head of Community Services had confirmed that, whilst there had been delays, the programme was no further behind any of the other Gloucestershire authorities and, there had been development within the third quarter, with the scheme about to be adopted along with the launch event for landlords and agents which was being organised by the new member of the team; Members expressing the view that it was difficult to establish whether the Key Performance Indicators surrounding housing applications and homelessness were performing well or not and the Head of Community Services had confirmed that, following the legislative change, the information could not be compared to last year’s figures so a review of the Indicators would have to be carried out for 2020/21 in the meantime, the narrative for the section would be amended to include more informative information which clearly showed how the Indicators were performing; a Member sought further details as to the issues surrounding delays to the Council Tax paperless billing project and, in response, the Head of Corporate Services had explained that there had been issues around the performance of the supplier which had required One Legal to look at the contract and a new in-house solution was being looked at which  could potentially be achieved by February 2020; and lastly, concerns as to why the performance had slipped for both formal complaints and Freedom of Information requests,  which had led to a discussion which highlighted an opportunity for an extension of time with the complainant if Officers  felt they needed it – the Head of Development Services undertook to remind Planning Officers to negotiate a new deadline if the complaint was complex and required legal advice before a response could be sent. In relation to Freedom of Information requests, the Head of Community Services had explained the volume of work put into answering requests which was incredibly time consuming and that Management Team was now considering what information could be made available on the website to reduce the resources currently being used on answering Freedom of Information requests.

65.4           The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee indicated that the main topic of discussion had been the Garden Town project with Members voicing concerns that the overall masterplan for the Junction 9 area seemed to have been subsumed into the Garden Town project and that the wider Membership had not been properly appraised of the work undertaken to date. The Head of Development Services had agreed that a Member seminar would be arranged in the New Year to address those concerns. In addition, the Chief Executive confirmed that the Tewkesbury Garden Town Member Reference Panel had been of the same view at its last meeting and the Tewksbury Garden Town Programme Director was putting together a work programme for the Panel which would include considering the internal and external communications in respect of workstreams and activities within the project; this would be taken forward in addition to the Member seminar to ensure everyone involved was kept properly informed. The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee also questioned whether there would be improved information provision in respect of the Cyber Central Garden Community. In response, the Head of Corporate Services advised that there would be an action on this within the Council Plan therefore progress would be monitored by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Executive Committee through the performance tracker. In addition, the Chief Executive confirmed that Members had received an initial report to Council some months ago on the governance of that project and Officers were also looking at how to communicate information effectively to Members going forward. To date, there had been a lot of technical work on this project and Members had received a taste of that at the seminar the previous evening.

65.5           Accordingly, it was