Agenda item

The Committee considered the report and presentation delivered by the Senior Transformation & Service Improvement Officer which sought to provide Members with an update on the Performance Framework and indicators that were used to monitor and measure the Council’s performance against the Community Plan.  The report also provided the Corporate Planning, Performance Management & Assurance Framework and the refreshed performance indicators.

In considering the report Members referred to comments made previously during discussions on the Housing Repairs & Empty Homes Annual report, specifically in relation to the length of time it took to answer the telephone.  It was suggested that rather than reducing the targets, further work should be undertaken as to how improvements could be made to ensure the current targets were met.  In order to provide clarity for Members, the Director – LGR advised that incoming calls to the Council were dealt with by two separate teams.  The Customer Services team received general calls to the main Council telephone number.  The Housing Repairs team received calls from tenants who wished to report an issue at their property.

In relation to personal appraisals, Members queried whether they were standardised across all business units and also sought assurances that they were carried out and recorded.  In response, Members were advised that new standard forms had recently been introduced and that all appraisals undertaken were reported online to ensure that Personnel could monitor progress.

In referring to KPI Code ECG007B – Newark Town Centre Footfall Count, a Member queried whether this would be expanded to include other areas with footfall counters, namely Ollerton and Southwell.  The Senior Transformation & Service Improvement Officer advised that she would raise this with the relevant Business Manager.

In relation to the delivery of homes by Arkwood Development, a Member queried how the targets were set given the variances year to year.  In response, Members were advised that delivery of homes was largely dependent on external factors, e.g. land availability.

In acknowledging the above comments, the Business Manager – Transformation & Service Improvement advised that Business Plans were developed annually.  Business Managers discussed and agreed targets with their relevant Directors.  Business Plans were then presented to the Senior Leadership Team for approval.  Targets were then incorporated into performance reports which were then presented to PPIC for scrutiny and onward to Cabinet for approval.  However, the Transformation & Service Improvement team continued to hold conversations with Business Managers throughout the year to monitor the targets within their plans.

In closing the debate, the Vice-Chair suggested that the comments made throughout the meeting in relation to telephone waiting times and the re-letting of council houses be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration by the report author.  He further suggested that the concerns of the Policy & Performance Improvement Committee around the proposed easing of current targets or performance indicators be reported to Cabinet with a recommendation that Action Plans be developed to improve the service provision in both areas. 

AGREED     that:

a)           the Corporate Planning, Performance Management & Assurance Framework and refreshed performance indicators be noted; and

b)          the comments and recommendations raised by this Committee be included in the future report presented to Cabinet when considering the Performance Framework 2026/2027.