Agenda item

To present the report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation.

The report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation incorporating the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 3 2020/21 was presented for the Committee’s consideration and scrutiny.

Councillor Dafydd Rhys Thomas, Portfolio Member for Corporate Business introduced the report highlighting that during Quarter 3, Wales was put into a 2 week national firebreak on the 23 October, 2020 and also into a national lockdown (level 4) on the 19 December, 2020; these lockdowns have had, and continue to have an impact on Council services. However, it is encouraging to note that 88% of the Corporate Health Performance indicators monitored are continuing to perform well against target and are ragged Green or Yellow with a standout performance in staff absence management - 4.69 days lost to absence per FTE in the period against a target of 6.91 days lost to absence per FTE.  All indicators under the digital service shift subheading have seen performances that have surpassed previous annual results during the pandemic. The importance of Social Media in communicating messages and positively influencing behaviours during the pandemic cannot be underestimated – the Council’s social media channels have seen an increase of 8,500 followers from the end of Qtr.3 2019/20. There are currently 15 Performance Management indicators (33%) for which the collection of the data has either been cancelled by Welsh Government or are currently not being collected because of the redeployment of resources to deal with the pandemic – details of the areas affected are provided in section 4.2 of the report. For the remaining indicators reported in Q3 (27 indicators), 74% are performing above target or within 5% tolerance of their targets. Eight indicators are underperforming against their targets and are highlighted as Red or Amber on the scorecard; these are in relation to Public Protection, Children and Families’ Services, Housing Service and the Planning Service. Explanatory information is provided in the report along with proposed mitigations. It should be noted however,  that feedback from local planning agents indicates that Anglesey’s Planning Service is the only one in the region that is currently continuing to provide a near to normal service as possible.

The Head of Profession (HR) AND Transformation referred to the key role of the Council’s Communications Service during the pandemic and clarified that a number of factors have contributed to the improved performance with regard to staff absence management e.g.  increased hygiene awareness and observance due to  Covid-19 regulations resulting in the reduction of “bugs and viruses” as seen in the near eradication in 2020/21 of the flu. The Programme, Business Planning and Performance Manager said that the report covers the most unstable period which saw two lockdowns and increased numbers affected by Covid 19.It is especially encouraging therefore to note that the Q3 trend in the majority of the areas ragged Red is one of improvement from Q2.

In discussing the report and acknowledging the contribution made by staff in maintaining performance in very challenging times, the Committee raised the following points to which the Officers and Portfolio Members responded with further information and clarifications –

•           Assurance was sought with regard to the level of public risk going forward in relation to Indicator 10 – the percentage of high risk businesses that were subject to planned inspections that were inspected to ensure compliance with Food Hygiene legislation (ragged Red with a performance of 13% against a target of 80% which is an improvement on the 10% undertaken in Q2). The Interim Head of Regulation and Economic Development clarified that food inspections have been suspended by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) during the pandemic in recognition of the need to prioritise the response to Covid 19; consequently the Council’s Public Protection capacity has been redirected to this priority. The programme of inspections is expected to resume and additional capacity has been put in place to support this work; the Service is confident that as Covid related pressures ease, further capacity will be released to focus on business as usual.

•           Reference was made to the suspension of homelessness indicators from the Welsh Government and clarity was sought as to why the number of homeless and/or those at risk of becoming homeless cannot be measured. The Committee further asked for an overview of how the Housing Service is managing homelessness at this time. The Head of Housing Services confirmed that the Service continues to monitor homelessness cases on a weekly basis; it is aware of the number of people at risk of becoming homeless within 56 days as well as the number of individuals who through the Service’s intervention, have been prevented from becoming homeless. The Service also keeps abreast of the number of people in emergency accommodation at any given time.

In acknowledging the response and taking assurance from the Service’s commitment to managing homelessness the Committee thought it important that it be provided with some analysis of the homelessness situation locally to provide further clarity on how the Service is addressing what is an important issue and it asked for a report to that effect for the next meeting.

•           Reference was made to the improving performance with regard to staff absence management which exceeded the target and which it was acknowledged could partly be accounted for by the different way of working which responding to the pandemic has necessitated as well as other factors as noted in the discussion. The Committee sought assurance that in moving to the new normal lessons would be taken from what has worked in responding to the pandemic and that there would not necessarily be a reversion to pre-Covid practices particularly with regard to post-Covid working arrangements. The Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation confirmed that the impact of Covid on working practices including considerations of the well-being and mental health of all staff  to ensure a balance between office and home working will be one of the areas considered in planning for recovery and the new normal. Attendance at work levels are closely monitored and service managers are encouraged to hold regular conversations with staff to ensure that any issues can be quickly addressed. Any actions/measures that can contribute to improving attendance at work will be looked at carefully.

Having considered the report and the updates provided by Officers at the meeting, the Committee resolved to accept the report, to note the areas which the Senior Leadership Team is managing to secure improvements into the future and to recommend the mitigation measures as outlined to the Executive.

ADDITIONAL ACTION PROPOSED: The Housing Service to provide data on managing homelessness to the Committee’s next meeting