Issue - meetings

The panel has asked to review the corporate performance reports and Council performance in several key services. This report is based on a basket of strategic performance indicators, which are used to allow the Council to monitor and report on its performance and progress against its Corporate Strategy.

The report to be reviewed at this panel meeting is the Quarter 3 Performance report for 2020/21, which was reported to the Cabinet on 10th February 2022.

The Chair invited Steve Harman, Head of Corporate Governance and Business Insight, to introduce the report. He explained that when he reported to the Panel in Autumn 2021, there had been around 260 KPI’s which had now been whittled down to 22. These are contained in a quarterly report to Cabinet.

Panel Members raised the following points and asked the following questions

Councillor Singleton stated that it was great to see the KPI programme coming along and asked if Panel members could see the 260 KPI’s so that they could have some input and help shape the basket. He stated that the system needs to be robust and stand up to scrutiny. The officer explained that he would send the KPI’s on but had not brought this to the Panel meeting as it would take too much time. He explained that officers work with the relevant Cabinet Members on this.

Councillor Hodge asked the following questions (officer responses shown in italics):

·  The access along the bottom of the document could be emphasized. The officer explained that this aspect is emphasized more when the system is viewed live.

·  Regarding the reablement service – the figures for 2018-21 are shown, there is a sudden drop away from the target recently, can you explain.

·  Regarding the Adult Safeguarding 20% of enquiries, the risk was not reduced. What does this mean. Inquiries will be made to the relevant officer on the questions above and Panel members informed.

Councillor Duguid commented that some dates show 31^st December 2021 and other dates are from 2020 – does this mean management are looking at old data. The officer explained that some KPI’s have annual indicators, so they are only collected once a year. Where possible we try to use quarterly or monthly figures.

Councillor Davis commented that children’s EHCPs are going up but how does this compare with those wishing to be assessed. The officer explained that he would ask the relevant officer about this and inform the Panel member.

Councillor Hounsell stated that it was important that all data available is accessible to the Panel. He commented that a small number of Council’s are in special measures and in a bad financial state, the point of the Scrutiny Panel is that this does not happen here. Clear and independent scrutiny is important. The officer stated that Directors, Head of Service and Cabinet Members are updated regularly so there is confidence that there will not be any surprises. The recent Ofsted report in Children’s Services praised the data.

Councillor Hughes asked if the statistics break down into ‘Bath’ and ‘North East Somerset’. The officer explained that most are at BANES level but some are broken down.

Councillor Hodge asked about the Department of Transport indicator and how the average was arrived at. The officer stated that he will check and inform the Panel members.

It was RESOLVED that the Panel note the performance of the Council against its basket of Strategic Performance Indicators and gave feedback  ...  view the full minutes text for item 94