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 Self-Assessment 2021/2022 was presented for the Committee’s consideration.

Councillor Robin Williams, Portfolio Member for Finance, Corporate Business and Customer Satisfaction presented the Isle of Anglesey County Council’s first Corporate Self-Assessment report which had been prepared to fulfil the new duty placed on councils in Wales by the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 to keep their performance under review through self-assessment. Under the Act, each authority is expected to consider the extent to which it is exercising is functions effectively; it is using its resources economically, efficiently and effectively and whether its governance is effective for securing the two aforementioned matters, and it must publish a report setting out its conclusions for each financial year. The report for the Isle of Anglesey County Council 2021/22 reflects the output of the corporate planning and performance management framework at the Council and is the end of a process that brings together several different aspects of the framework. Councillor Robin Williams said that having considered the evidence provided in the form of the service performance reviews; performance reports; Annual Governance Statement; external reviews; staff survey and stakeholder engagement the Council is satisfied that overall its performance management, its use of resources and its risk management are “Good” and reflect many strengths. Notwithstanding, the self-assessment has also highlighted areas where things can be improved and these issues are brought together at the end of the report and the source of assurance for each issue is noted.

The Chief Executive reported that the self-assessment report being the first of its kind for Anglesey under the new performance requirements introduced by the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021 is positive and encouraging but recognises also that further progress can be made with regard to certain aspects of performance. He stressed that the Council has been able to fulfil the duty placed upon it by the Act without having to introduce any new performance management approaches - the processes, procedures and arrangements that form the basis of the self-assessment are already well established within the Council. He hoped that this conveyed the message to all the Council’s stakeholders, partners and regulators that the Council is operating from a sound base and that many of the Act’s expectations in respect of performance are already embedded in the Council’s day to day work. He believed that there was much to be proud of in the report and that the Council could be satisfied that the arrangements it has in place help build improvement without adding additional bureaucracy. Performance management is part of the Council’s culture and continues to mature; the management and use of resources while challenging is supported by robust arrangements and risk management forms an integral part of the Council’s day to day operations and decision-making. Areas that have been identified for improvement will form part of an action plan and will be monitored for progress by the Leadership Team and reported through the established democratic channels.

The Committee considered the report raising the following points –

·       Welcomed the report overall as a positive assessment demonstrating a number of strengths, and highlighted the staff survey as a strong measure reflecting well on the Council.

·         Referred to the use of resources and questioned whether with the introduction of hybrid working practices the Council has considered its plans for the future given that it may find itself in a positon of having more office space than it needs.

The Chief Executive advised that the Council had already undertaken a buildings rationalisation exercise during the years of austerity which had resulted in its retaining two central offices in Llangefni the one being the main Council Offices and the other the Anglesey Business Centre. As hybrid working arrangements are at an early stage, staff safety remains a priority meaning there is a limit on the number of staff that can be present in each building at any one time. This is to create confidence and an environment in which staff feel comfortable and are able to perform to their best within the Office. Whilst he therefore thought it premature to be thinking about office planning the Chief Executive said that he did not foresee that the Council would be in a position to lease or reduce the space in either of its two main buildings; it would be a challenge to accommodate staff were they all to be physically present at the same time. The Council and the community needs to better understand the long term projections in connection with a hybrid workforce and whether the part office, part remote model is here to stay which should then inform the Council as to whether there are any financial and economic benefits to be derived from further rationalisation.

·         Referred to people management, questioning whether the staff turnover rate of 10% on average can be broken down further to highlight any specific areas where turnover is higher/more acute requiring particular attention and/or scrutiny.

The Chief Executive advised that staff turnover is counterbalanced to some extent by a high number of people joining the Council. Staff turnover while it applies to all categories is more especially felt in lower income, lower skilled sectors because of the competitive labour market. While the monitoring work undertaken by the Council shows it to be no different to the broader labour market, the Council is keen to improve its systems to provide a greater level of granularity that can be easily transposed into reports providing detailed information and data about staffing that can be accessed quickly.

The Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation said that a staff turnover rate of 10% on average compares well with the industry average for staff turnover of 15.5%.Turnover varies across services and posts particularly with regard to grant funded posts where the term may be limited if grant support ends leading staff to look elsewhere. The Council regularly monitors the situation and is currently focusing on its recruitment strategy. Evidence does however suggest that a number of staff who have left to work in other sectors have returned to the Council after a period of time which is encouraging in what it says about the Council’s employment practices and working standards.

·      Referred to the three self-assessment categories, noting that one of the reasons cited for the Council assessing its use of resources as “Good” was the “increased levels of reserves”. The Committee suggested that as it stands the statement could be interpreted positively or negatively as the Council being in a strong financial position or just sitting on funds with no plans for their use which could be regarded as an ineffective use of resources. The Committee thought that the statement needed to be expanded to provide clarification of the purpose of holding a high level of reserves.

Likewise with reference to the schedule of identified improvements, the Committee thought that being a public document it would be helpful if some concrete data could be included e.g. by what percentage is the Council aiming to improve the waste reused, recycled or composted. It was suggested that the more quantative rather than qualitative analysis the report contains, the better.

The Director of Function (Resources)/Section 151 Officer in acknowledging the point made about having a high level of reserves being seen negatively if the rationale for holding them is not clear said that the statement would be reworked to better reflect the situation. He clarified that the 2021/22 financial year had been exceptional with a significant amount of additional funding being provided by Welsh Government – some of it very late in the financial year – to deal with the ongoing effects of the pandemic which had contributed to the Council being underspent on its budget. The pandemic had also been a significant factor in the underspend on the capital budget. The point being made in the report by reference to a high level of reserves is that no monies have been lost in not being used which applies especially to grant funding, and that they remain available to be used in the current financial year. The quarterly budget monitoring reports to the Executive confirm that budgets allocated to services have been spent in accordance with expectations.

The Chief Executive advised that while the details in terms of targets, timescales and how those will be achieved etc.  will be reflected in the action plan on the areas for improvement, the point made about the inclusion of more specific  data would be considered in preparing next year’s self-assessment report.

·         Suggested that to counter any perception that the report may not be objective or that the Council may be complacent it its evaluation of its own performance, the self-assessment report should be subject to Internal Audit appraisal.

The Head of Internal Audit and Risk while confirming that Internal Audit has been working with the Corporate Performance Team on the document and has reviewed it as part of that work, said that Internal Audit’s involvement could be formalised should the Committee so wish.

The Chair thought that the fact that it has been reviewed by Internal Audit should be acknowledged in the Self-Assessment report.

The Chief Executive advised that although it is possible for organisations to mark themselves favourably he believed Anglesey’s self-assessment to be a balanced and fair reflection of the Council’s position. The involvement of both the Council’s political leadership and opposition in the process provides that assurance. Also, the Act requires that the self-assessment be produced annually and that further the Council must arrange a panel performance assessment once every five years. The panel must consult with local people and businesses on whether the Council is meeting its performance requirements and report on its conclusions with recommendations for improving performance if necessary thereby providing an additional independent layer of assurance.

·      One suggestion was made that some of the infographics within the report could be toned down to make the document easier to read.

Having reviewed the draft Self-Assessment, it was resolved –

• That the Governance and Audit Committee agrees with the contents of the self-assessment report for 2021/22  subject to consideration being given to the comments made about :

-       Expanding for clarification purposes, on the retention of a high level of reserves

-       The inclusion for the future of more quantative data especially in relation to areas for improvement

-       Acknowledgment that the report has been reviewed by Internal Audit

• To delegate authority to the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation in consultation with the Portfolio Holder to make further minor amendments to the Self-Assessment prior to its submission to the Full Council.