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 2 2023/24 was presented for the Committee’s consideration. The scorecard report portrays the current end of Quarter 2 position against matters relating to customer service, people and financial management and performance management.

The report was presented by Councillor Carwyn Jones, Portfolio Member for Corporate Business and Customer Experience as conveying a positive picture of performance overall at the end of the second quarter of the 2023/24 financial year with 91% of the performance indicators performing above or within 5% tolerance of their targets. A number of areas where indicators have performed well were highlighted including in relation to waste management, highways, Adults’ Services and Children’s and Families’ Services, and homelessness. Although a full analysis of the corporate health performance indicators for the quarter had not been possible, the majority (67%) of the indicators with available data against targets monitored in this section are performing well and are ragged Green or Yellow. With regard to days lost to absence per FTE, the Council’s performance is Red with 4.21 days lost to absence per FTE against a target of 3.82 days mainly due to long-term sickness which equates to 62% of the absence rate for Quarter 2. Areas showing as underperforming in relation to the average days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities grant and the turnaround of lettable units of accommodation in Housing Services and the percentage of planning appeals dismissed are being monitored by the Leadership Team to secure improvements into the future as is the number of FOI requests responded to within timescale because of the lack of available data for the second quarter for this activity. The financial position continues to be challenging with a budget overspend being forecasted for the year end.

In assessing and scrutinising the performance for the Council’s key indicators at the end of the second quarter of 2023/24, the Committee challenged the Portfolio Members and Officers on the following matters –

·         Accepting that 91% of the Authority’s performance indicators either exceed or are within 5% tolerance of their targets at the end of Quarter 2, assurance was sought that the remaining 3 underperforming indicators will improve. Additionally, it was noted that approximately 12 PIs that are currently showing as Green are trending downwards and it was queried whether this was a cause for concern.

·         The absence of any indicator to denote progress with addressing climate change and the Council’s commitment to becoming a net zero organisation by 2030.

·         Noting that there continues to be a reported projected overspend on the Council’s budget at the end of Quarter 2 the Committee sought clarification of the measures being taken to manage budget pressures.

·         That the scorecard reports an increase in the average days lost to absence per FTE. The Committee wanted to know what actions are being pursued to bring the performance of this indicator back on target and whether Covid-19 was still a factor in sickness absence.

·         The actions being taken to minimise the impact of the continuing underperformance of PI 36 (the percentage of planning appeals dismissed)

Officers and Portfolio Members responded to the points raised by providing assurances as follows –

·                     That the scorecard for the end of Quarter 2 is highly positive considering the challenging circumstances both from the perspective of the Council’s workforce and the Island’s communities. However, the three Performance Indicators that are shown as underachieving in relation to Disabled Facilities grants, the turnaround of lettable units of accommodation and planning appeals are reviewed by the Leadership Team on a quarterly basis and are discussed with the relevant Heads of Service to ensure that these areas are given specific attention. All the indicators are distinct with some being within the Council’s control and others capable of being influenced by the Council with market conditions and capacity also being factors. The number of planning appeals is small with two out of three appeals in Quarter 2 having been dismissed added to the two out of five appeals dismissed in Quarter 1. The slippage in turning around lettable units of accommodation is due largely to the extent of the work required to bring properties back to WHQS standards with some in need of major works before they can be re-let which take time to complete. The delivery of Disabled Facilities grants can be a complex process and is dependent on the number of care plans coming through the system and the nature of the adaptations needed with the simple installation of handrails for example being treated in the same way as installing a new bathroom for recording and reporting purposes. The Leadership Team continues to encourage and support improvement in the performance of these indicators whilst ensuring that the quality and level of performance of all the other indicators is maintained. The Leadership Team is also increasingly focusing on the direction of travel of performance indicators and is monitoring those indicators where the trend is downwards.

·                     That the current scorecard is largely historic in that it charts the progress of performance in line with the priorities of the previous Council Plan. A new Council Plan for 2023 to 2028 has since been adopted and a new scorecard is in development that will reflect, and link in with the six strategic objectives of the new Plan which include responding to the climate change crisis and becoming a net zero council by 2030. The aim is to commence formal reporting on the new scorecard in Quarter 1 of the 2024/25 financial year. Members will be kept informed of the progress of this process with a view to their having sight of and input into the new scorecard in Quarter 4 of the current year. The Council is also committed to reporting annually on its journey to becoming net zero by 2030.

·                     That the £368k projected overspend on the Council’s 2023/24 budget is not overly significant in the context of a net annual budget of £175.5m. Whilst the level of overspend has reduced from that forecasted in Quarter 1, the approaching winter months may impact on expenditure as adverse weather and colder conditions could drive demand upwards as well as affecting roads and other infrastructure. The services most under pressure are Adults’ Social Care and Children’s’ services and although the position of the former has improved, the deficit in the Children’s’ services budget is forecast to increase by year end with expenditure in both areas being heavily influenced by the nature, number and cost of care packages and placements. Any overspend will be met from the Council’s balances which in turn will reduce the options with regard to the 2024/25 budget. Whilst the aim is to manage expenditure and to keep over expenditure to a minimum doing so in practice is difficult as the Council has commitments which it cannot change mid-year. Although services have been advised to review non-essential expenditure and to defer new expenditure and appointments to vacant posts where possible no formal directive in that respect has been issued to date.

·                     With regard to improving attendance and managing sickness absence whilst the target for 2022/23 has been retained for 2023/24 it now also includes Covid related absences which inevitably have an impact on the statistics. Managers and Heads of Service are committed to applying sickness absence policies which has led to a figure not reflected in the current report whereby the number of long-term sickness absence cases has reduced; this is an ongoing process as the winter months has historically proved challenging in terms of sickness absence. Additionally it needs to be noted that 30% of long-term sickness absence cases are acute and involve medical interventions. A range of support measures are in place to help staff return to work and these include occupational health, counselling and physiotherapy services which are accessed via the Council’s internal processes. In Covid cases many staff are able to continue their work from home unless they are frontline staff whose work involves contact with vulnerable clients. The Council compares well with other councils currently with regard to the number of Covid cases. It is a matter of continuing to apply the policies and utilising the measures available to help staff return to work.

·                     That in relation to the percentage of planning appeals dismissed it is important to set the data within context which is three appeals for the second quarter from over 300 planning applications. Whilst the performance of the indicator has improved there will always be some variation due to the nature of the appeals process. Appeal decisions will continue to be scrutinised and monitored for any emerging pattens that require a different interpretation of policies. A programme of training for the Planning an Orders Committee’s members is also planned.

In discussing the underperformance of Indicator 29 (the average number of calendar days to let lettable units of accommodation excluding DTLs) it was proposed by a member of the Committee that a task and finish group be established from among the Committee’s members to review the performance of this indicator in greater depth than the Committee’s schedule allows with a specific view to improving performance by reducing the number of days  taken to re-let void properties and to report back to the Committee on the findings. A number of online sources were cited where the turnaround of void properties was shown to be more efficient and where improvements had been successfully achieved, and it was suggested that lessons could be drawn from such sources as well as from other local authorities in this regard. It was further proposed that in parallel with the above an officer group undertake a task and finish project with regard to Indicator 28 (average number of calendar days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities grant) to analyse the underperformance for this indicator and report back to the Committee in March 2024 with proposals for improvement. Both proposals were seconded and were subsequently supported by the Committee.

The Chief Executive advised that he could see no reason why the proposals could not be supported and that it was important that members be given an opportunity to have an input into and influence areas of activity where the evidence suggests that a more detailed examination might be advantageous. He further advised that given the constraints on capacity and the existing demands on scrutiny resources, the administrative arrangements in terms of whether the elected member group should sit under Scrutiny or the Programme Boards would need to be confirmed.

The Head of Democracy advised that scrutiny capacity had recently been increased and that a review of scrutiny arrangements is planned particularly in relation to the support provided to the three existing scrutiny panels to establish good practice it being therefore possible post-review that sufficient scrutiny capacity is available to support a task and finish group.

The Head of Housing Service welcomed the proposals which would allow members to gain a better understanding of the challenges in managing the turnaround time for void properties with the proviso that any benchmarking undertaken should be against local authorities in Wales as the legislation and requirements are different for local authorities in England.

Having reviewed the Corporate Scorecard for Q2 2023/24 and having noted the responses of Portfolio Members and Officers to the issues raised it was resolved –

·                To note the Corporate Scorecard report for Q2 2023/24 including the areas of improvement outlined along with the areas which the Leadership Team is exploring and investigating to manage and secure further improvements into the future in relation to FOI requests, DFGs, time taken to re-let lettable units of accommodation and planning appeals.

·                To recommend the scorecard report and mitigating measures outlined therein to the Executive.

·                That a task and finish group be established from among the Committee’s members to review the performance of Indicator 29 (the average number of calendar days to let lettable units of accommodation excluding DTLs) in greater depth with a brief to improve the performance of the indicator by reducing the number of days taken to re-let void properties and to report back to the Committee on the findings and in parallel with the above –

·                That an officer group undertake a task and finish project with regard to Indicator 28 (average number of calendar days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities grant) to analyse the underperformance for this indicator and report back to the Committee in March 2024 with proposals for improvement.