Meeting documents
Cabinet
Wednesday, 2nd November, 2005
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Bath & North East Somerset Council |
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MEETING: |
Council Executive |
PAPER |
14 |
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DATE: |
2nd November 2005 |
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TITLE: |
PSA Performance Report |
EXECUTIVE FORWARD PLAN REF: |
EWP_01166-PU |
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WARD: |
All |
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AN OPEN PUBLIC ITEM |
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List of attachments to this report: |
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1 THE ISSUE
1.1 This report provides updated information about progress made on the Council's Public Service Agreement (PSA) which was agreed with the Government in August 2003. The PSA includes 30 "stretch" targets which, if achieved by March 2006, trigger performance reward grants to the Council. The Government also provides upfront funds to assist achievement.
2 RECOMMENDATION
The Council Executive is asked to:
2.1 Note the progress reported in Appendix A.
3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
3.1 The agreed PSA funding is as follows:
Total Pump Priming money £919,613
Total Unsupported Credit Approvals £1.072m
Performance Reward Grant £3.578m maximum
Note: services and other agencies have also agreed to contribute a further £1m to achieve these targets.
3.2 Pump priming money is being used to enable services to meet stretch performance targets and will be used over the 3 year PSA period as a contribution towards the extra costs involved.
3.3 Unsupported Credit Approvals (UCA) have been included in our approved capital programme.
3.4 Details of the pump priming and UCA funds allocated to each individual PSA target are set out in the performance report attached.
3.5 If services achieve 100% of all the stretch targets the Council will receive an extra £3.578m in total Performance Reward Grants (PRG) after 2006. This is calculated as equivalent to 2.5% of the Council's 2002/03 net budget requirement (£143m). The total grant is divided equally amongst the 12 targets. If less than 60% of any stretch target is achieved then there will not be any PRG award for that target.
3.6 The latest progress report ,attached as Appendix B, suggests that we will obtain £2.290 million (64%) of the £3.578 million available but from an analysis of previous outcomes against forecasts we know that estimates tend to exceed the final outcome by about 10%
3.7 There are two targets which attract an interim performance reward grant. These are improving the quality of life and independence of older people (3) and improving health through sport and leisure (10). We did not achieve any of the four interim targets for older people, however we did achieve the two interim targets relating to sport and leisure and the service are in the process of submitting a claim to the ODPM for £60k.
It should be noted that if we have not met both of the `improving health' targets by the end of the PSA, we will need to repay any money that we have claimed. Current figures show that performance has slipped and we are only hitting one of the two targets.
3.8 The Council is now into the last six months of the first PSA and has only spent £468,593 (51%) of the £919,163 available for pump-priming. We have been assured the remaining sums will be spent this year.
4 THE REPORT
4.1 The PSA is a contract between the Council and the Government to "stretch" performance beyond that which would be expected from "normal" improvement activities.
4.2 In order to facilitate this, the Government has agreed to provide additional funds that will allow services to develop beyond budget constraints. These funds are in the form of Pump Priming and Unsupported Credit Approvals, as set out above, under section 3 of the report.
4.3 This is the sixth progress report on the PSA targets. Appendix A shows the final targets for 2005/06, current progress and issues arising. As well as being reviewed by the Executive, this performance report will be reviewed by the Corporate Issues and Partnerships Overview and Scrutiny Panel.
4.4 This agreement is part of the Government's first wave of PSA agreements. The Government has already started on a second wave of PSA. The PSA provides a valuable source of additional funds and the Council is preparing to negotiate a second PSA linked to a Local Area Agreement which will support actions for improvement identified in the Community Strategy and Corporate Plan. This is predicted to start in April 2007.
4.5 The Executive considered previous PSA reports in February, July and November 2004 and March and July 2005. In its first report the Executive resolved to (1) note the progress made and (2) to provide an incentive to those services, individually or jointly, achieving the stretch target in 2006/07, from the PSA award money.
5 RISK MANAGEMENT
A risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations has been undertaken, in compliance with the Council's decision-making risk management guidance. The following key risks have been identified:
(1) The PSA provides considerable amount of extra funding to services, some of which are related to the Council's improvement priorities. Failure to reach the `stretch' targets will result in loss of income for these priorities, which in turn may reduce the Council's capacity to achieve Corporate Plan objectives.
(2) It is a condition of this grant that it must be spent during the PSA agreement period in accordance with the agreement. Should services not carry out the work then there is a risk that this grant will have to be repaid. The funding of capital expenditure in the PSA is made by the Council, not the Government. Therefore this risk does not apply to capital.
(3) There is a risk that services will employ staff using PSA funds without on-going funding being identified.
(4) There is also a risk that services are developed using the funding without an exit strategy.
In both 3 and 4 above, it has been made clear to services that there is no commitment from the Council to continue funding beyond that available in the 2003-2006 PSA.
6 RATIONALE
6.1 The PSA is an important source of extra funding for the Council and the regular reporting on progress allows the early identification of areas of concern.
7 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED
7.1 None.
8 CONSULTATION
8.1 Copies of this report have been issued to Trades Unions; any comments received will be reported to the meeting
8.2 Consultation regarding the project plans for each PSA agreement has been wide and various during the PSA agreement negotiations, and has been reported as follows:
(1) Reports to the Council Executive in November 2002, January 2005 and April 2005. Next consultation to be held in November 2005.
8.3 Reports to the Corporate Issues and Partnership Overview
& Scrutiny Panel in March and November 2004 and February 2005.
Next consultation to be held in November 2005.
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Contact person |
Peter Rowntree, Operations Director, 01225 394453 Fiona Venton Harvey, Head of Corporate Performance Unit, Corporate Performance Unit, 01225 396119 |
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Background papers |
Bath & North East Somerset Public Service Agreement 2003-2006 Final Agreement |