Meeting documents
Cabinet
Wednesday, 4th April, 2007
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Bath & North East Somerset Council |
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MEETING: |
Council Executive |
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MEETING DATE: |
4th April 2007 |
AGENDA ITEM NUMBER |
11 |
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TITLE: |
Council Performance Report for October to January 2007 |
EXECUTIVE FORWARD PLAN REFERENCE: |
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E |
1535 |
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WARD: |
All |
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AN OPEN PUBLIC ITEM |
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List of attachments to this report: Appendix 1(pdf - 475 KB)- Council Performance Report |
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1 THE ISSUE
1.1 Council Performance Report by Executive Portfolio for the period October to January 2007
2 RECOMMENDATION
The Council Executive agrees:
2.1 To note the contents of this report and to consider in light of the corrective actions identified whether additional actions are required to improve performance.
3 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
3.1 Contained within the report
4 COMMUNITY STRATEGY OUTCOMES
Promoting a 'sense of place' so people identify with and take pride in our communities
Celebrating the contributions people from different backgrounds and with different experiences can make, and promoting equality of opportunity
Sharing resources, working together, and finding new ways of doing things
Building communities where people feel safe and secure
Taking responsibility for our environment and natural resources now and over the long term
Improving our local transport
Improving our housing situation for local people
Improving local opportunities for learning and gaining skills
Improving our local economy
Improving our local environment
Improving our local health and social care
5 CORPORATE IMPROVEMENT PRIORITIES
Reducing fear of crime
Promoting independence of older people
Improving life chances for disadvantaged teenagers
Improving the environment for learning
Cultural Development
Reducing Landfill
Increase in Affordable Housing
Improving the Quality of Public Transport/Roads/Pavements and easing congestion
Developing a sustainable economy
Improving the public realm
Improving customer satisfaction
6 CPA LINES OF ENQUIRY
Ambition for the community - i.e. What the council, together with its partners, is trying to achieve
Prioritisation of ambitions
Increasing capacity of the council and its partners to deliver ambition for the Community to ensure we achieve what we say we will
Managing performance of community ambition to ensure we achieve what we say we will
Creating and developing a better quality of life for the area through
o Sustainable Communities and Transport
o Safer and Stronger Communities
o Healthier Communities
Improving engagement with and a range of services for Older People and Children and Young People
7 THE REPORT
7.1 Following introduction of a new performance management system in 2005, this is the second year that the Executive has received quarterly performance reports showing performance against each Executive portfolio.
7.2 This report shows each Executive member's performance divided into a narrative section and a section listing performance progress against all national Best Value performance indicators and key local performance indicators. This section also highlights indicators that the Executive and Directors agreed require focus as "key" indicators by listing them at the beginning of each portfolio & also using the word "Key" in their name.
7.3 The report includes a summary, by portfolio, of key achievements, issues, finance and risk for the period October 2006 - January 2007, plus an accompanying summary of the progress against performance targets, showing whether we are achieving target to date (`green', `amber' or `red') and whether we are improving or deteriorating since the previous quarter( < or ® )
7.4 During February 2007 the Audit Commission has confirmed that we have retained our annual star rating of 3 (out of a possible 4) and our 2006 Direction of Travel shows we are `improving well'. This is an excellent result and the Audit Commission believes the judgement reflects the good work that the Council is doing overall to improve services and its performance. The Council continues to make good progress against improvement priorities and maintain improvements in already high performing services such as recycling and raising education standards as well as generally improving the value for money of its services.
7.5 The overall council performance position this quarter shows that 62% of our PIs are meeting or exceeding their target (green). We are maintaining performance against the indicators that we have identified as "key" with over 66% hitting target (green). A separate exercise is underway with Strategic Directors to review performance indicators identified as key.
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Performance Status |
Q2 figures |
Q3 figures |
Change between Q1 and Q2 |
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Red |
44 |
50 |
6 |
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Amber |
21 |
24 |
3 |
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Green |
134 |
124 |
-10 |
7.6 Highlights of main achievements during October- January include:
(1) The annual external inspection of our Adult social care services by CSCI was announced in December 2006 giving the Council 2 stars which shows an improvement in service delivery to "serving most people well with promising prospects for improvement. This equates to a "3" out of a possible 4 in the government's Comprehensive Performance Assessment ratings.
(2) Our Supporting People service was judged as "Excellent" by Department of Communities & Local Government
(3) The Council's Fostering Services has been judged as providing excellent outcomes for the people who use it, following the recent annual inspection by the Commission for Social Care Inspection. The service met all the required standards and was commended for exceeding two standards.
(4) We have experienced the highest increase in performance for major planning applications in the country, with planning appeals well above the national average and the speed of planning decisions at 67% of government targets.
(5) Following a huge amount of hard work over the last 6 months, the Revenue & Benefits service has successfully achieved Charter Mark accreditation. This is especially deserving given the huge strides the service have already made throughout 2006, and the achievement of a 3 for CPA, and demonstrates once again that Revenue & Benefits continues to sustain its improvement
(6) The Council Connect call centre is performing well. The centre is receiving over 80 planning calls a day, with 80% of these resolved at first point of contact.
(7) The Dial-a-Ride scheme has been expanded to cover Chew Valley, Peasedown, Wellow, Shoscombe, Whitchurch and Saltford, and a pilot scheme has been introduced in Bath using spare fleet capacity.
(8) We are one of 50 local authorities (from 650) to carry out a safety campaign for school children.
(9) Our Zero Waste Week was very successful with a lot of positive national and local media exposure through BBC Breakfast News / website, the Independent, the Guardian, Apex, the Surveyor, Radio Bristol and Bath FM.
(10) The outline planning application for Bath Western Riverside was considered and granted by committee in December
(11) A proposal to licence a small casino in Bath has been recommended to the Department of Communities & Local Government for approval by the Casino Advisory Panel.
7.7 Highlight of key issues and risks identified this quarter:
(1) The improved single status terms will clearly cost the Council more than the previous offer, placing additional pressure on its already stretched Financial Plan. In order to address this problem, the Unions have agreed to work constructively with the Council in order to explore further efficiency savings to meet the funding gap.
(2) The Council overall has financial problems relating to car parking services which is currently subject to review.
8 RISK MANAGEMENT
8.1 The report author and Lead Executive member have fully reviewed the risk assessment related to the issue and recommendations, in compliance with the Council's decision making risk management guidance.
8.2 There is a risk relating to the Council's Comprehensive Performance Assessment score if performance targets, set in line with local and national priorities, are not achieved.
9 RATIONALE
9.1 This report is a key part of the Council's performance management framework
10 OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED
10.1 None
11 CONSULTATION
11.1 Consultation has been carried out with Executive Councillors, Section 151 Finance Officer; Chief Executive; Monitoring Officer and other Strategic Directors through existing meeting schedules.
12 ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN REACHING THE DECISION
12.1 Social Inclusion; Customer Focus; Sustainability; Human Resources; Property; Young People; Equality (age, race, disability, religion/belief, gender, sexual orientation); Human Rights; Corporate;
13 ADVICE SOUGHT
13.1 Directors' Group including the Council's Monitoring Officer (Council Solicitor) and Section 151 Officer (Strategic Director Support Services) have had the opportunity to input to this report and have cleared it for publication in agreement with Executive members.
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Contact person |
Fiona Venton-Harvey 01225 396119 fiona_ventonharvey@bathnes.gov.uk |
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Sponsoring Executive Member |
Councillor Paul Crossley |
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Background papers |
Council Performance Report for July- October 2006 |
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Please contact the report author if you need to access this report in an alternative format |
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