Issue - meetings

Report from the Assistant Chief Executive.

Recommendations:

That Cabinet:

1.    Note the overall position in relation to the Year Ahead Delivery Plan activities.

2.    Note the Quarter 3 2022-23 data for the Council Plan performance measures.

3.    Agree the revised Council Plan performance measure targets and the Year Ahead Delivery  ...  view the full agenda text for item 155

Consideration was given to the report which was the fourth progress report on the Council Plan 2022-25 and the Year Ahead Delivery Plan. As of 27 February 2023, the activities within the Year Ahead Delivery Plan are as follows:

·            65% (60) complete

·            22% (20) were on track to be delivered  ...  view the full minutes text for item 155

To consider a report which focused on the progress made on the activities in the Year Ahead Delivery Plan and Council Plan performance measure data for Quarter 3.

Cabinet Portfolio: The Leader

Strategic Directorate: Assistant Chief Executive

The Vice-Chair welcomed the Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive and the Head of Policy, Performance and Intelligence to the meeting. Also in attendance was the Assistant Director of Streetpride and Community Safety.

The Board considered a report providing an update of progress made on the activities in the Year Ahead Delivery Plan and Council Plan performance measure data for Quarter 3 (October – December 2022).

The Council Plan 2022-25 was a key document which outlined the Council’s vision for the Borough and priorities for serving residents and communities and was informed by public consultation. The Plan provided the medium-term basis for targeting resources, informing the budget-setting process and planning cycles, and ensuring that residents could hold the Council to account for delivery.

To enable the Council to work towards the Council Plan outcomes and achieve the commitments, the Council Plan performance measure targets were reviewed annually, and the Year Ahead Delivery Plan was also updated. These were attached as appendices to the report.

The Vice-Chair invited the Leader to introduce the report. The Leader highlighted that 87% of actions were on track or completed, with examples given of initiatives such as use of the Towns and Villages fund; additional universal youth work and development of social supermarkets. Of the delayed actions, seven would be completed before the end of the performance year, with five moved to the next year. The delays and mitigations in respect of Thurcroft library and housing growth programmes had been discussed at previous meetings. In respect of the Early Help strategy, it was noted this had been paused in light of the Government’s Family Hub initiative but would be reviewed in due course. It was noted that further work was being undertaken in respect of local labour agreements.

With regards to performance measures that had declined, the Leader provided clarification about how engagement with domestic abuse services was to be improved. It was noted that in respect of the measure to process new housing benefit claims, changes would be made to the way data was collected to ensure that the measure focussed on the areas of Council responsibility. Changes would also be made to the apprenticeship measure to ensure that this captures new starters.

The Vice-Chair invited questions from the Board and a discussion on the following points ensued:

Clarification was sought regarding the target for issuing Community Protection Orders. It was outlined that the intention was to intervene early to prevent the necessity of issuing enforcement notices. The Assistant Director highlighted that a high proportion of issues were resolved at the warning stage and the service was considering how this type of activity could be captured in future performance measures. It was noted that the service had introduced more qualitative measures to assess street cleanliness.

Clarification was sought if staffing changes had affected enforcement activity in respect of litter, fly-tipping and untidy gardens, with examples given to illustrate the concerns raised at a ward level and perceptions that that residents were not seeing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 176