Agenda item

To submit a report  by the Head of Profession – HR and Transformation.

The report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation incorporating the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 3 2023/24 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

The report was presented by Councillor Carwyn Jones, Portfolio Member for Corporate Business and Customer Experience as the most positive end of Quarter 3 corporate scorecard since the scorecard was introduced as a performance management tool with 91% of all Performance Indicators performing above or within a 5% tolerance of their targets. He highlighted a number of strong performances for the period in relation to the Welsh Language and schools, NERS indicators, the number of empty homes brought back into use, Adults’ Services, Children and Families’ Services, Homelessness, Waste Management, and the Planning Service. Further work is required to bring the performance with regard to FOI responses, complaints management, delivery of DFGs and the time taken to re-let empty properties to target and these areas are being monitored and examined by the Leadership Team to secure improvements into the future. Although financial pressures continue to be felt and will need to be addressed going forward into the next financial year, the Council’s financial management performance is encouraging and forecasts an end of year underspend which if realised would strengthen the Council’s financial position.

The Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation echoed the comments of the Portfolio Member saying that the scorecard reflects positive performance across the organisation and although there are a few areas where performance can be improved, that endeavour forms part of the Council’s ambition to continuously improve and do better.

Councillor Dyfed Wyn Jones, Vice-Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee reported on the issues raised by the Committee in scrutinising the Q3 Scorecard at its meeting on 12 March 2024. Those included areas where the performance is on target but the trend is downwards, the lessons learnt from complaints and the extent to which those are being used to improve process and practice and the timetable for implementing the new 2024/25 scorecard and its alignment with the Council Plan 2023-28. Having discussed these matters and received assurances from the Officers and Portfolio Members and having recognised the positive performance overall which the Q3 scorecard represents, the Committee had resolved to recommend the Q3 2023/24 scorecard report and the mitigating measures outlined therein to the Executive. 

The Chief Executive commented that securing the level of achievement reflected by the Q3 scorecard has meant a great deal of hard work and he congratulated the Heads of Service and their managers and staff for their commitment. While maintaining and building on the current positive results to achieve further progress and improvement will be challenging, that must be the Council’s aspiration.

The Executive’s Members acknowledged the results of the Q3 scorecard with good performances across services and some standout areas, and they expressed appreciation of the efforts made by staff in achieving such a positive outcome. They noted that the Council had and continues to face external challenges which it seeks to manage and that the period also coincided with intense focus on developing the 2024/25 budget with services working on identifying budget savings which makes the performance all the more commendable. Councillor Gary Pritchard, Portfolio Member for Children, Youth and Housing Services referred to KPI 28 (the average number of days  to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant) which has been the subject of recent discussions by Scrutiny and he was pleased to confirm that the number of days taken to deliver a DFG has reduced and although not yet at target the improvement shows that the mitigating measures put in place are having an effect and movement is in the right direction. He stressed the importance of looking at trends as much as targets and cited the Homelessness service as an example where the indicators are all currently performing well but where significant pressures on the service are driving the trend for one indicator downwards which will be monitored and reviewed.

It was resolved to accept the Corporate Scorecard for Q3 2023/24 and to note the areas which the Leadership Team is exploring and investigating to manage and secure improvements into the future along with the mitigating measures as outlined in the report.