Agenda item

To submit 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 4 2024/25 was presented for the Executive’s consideration.

Councillor Carwyn Jones, Portfolio Member for Corporate Business and Customer Experience presented the final corporate scorecard report for 2024/25, noting that that the report had been scrutinised in detail by the Corporate Scrutiny Committee at its meeting the previous week.

He referred to areas which are being actively monitored by the Leadership Team to support future improvement, as outlined in section 2 of the report. These include the number of children undertaking swimming lessons throughout the year (Môn Actif); delivery of disabled facilities grants, re-letting of lettable housing units, uptake of annual mooring contracts, domestic waste recycling rates and the timeliness of responses to FOI requests. He reported a notable improvement in the fourth quarter in relation to the latter, with only 14 out of 260 FOI requests not responded to within the required timeframe.

Councillor Carwyn Jones also highlighted strong performance in several areas, including   support for businesses developing the Welsh Language via the ARFOR programme, an increase of 50,000 in Môn Actif Leisure Centre visits involving physical activity, a reduction in the number of Year 11 pupils leaving school not in employment, education or training (NEET), high tenant satisfaction with responsive repairs, timely determination of planning applications and positive road condition ratings across  categories A,B and C.

He concluded by stating that performance throughout the year had been consistently steady and he emphasised the value of the scorecard in tracking performance.

Councillor Jeff Evans, Chair of the Corporate Scrutiny Committee was welcomed to his first meeting of the Executive and was invited to provide feedback from the committee’s 17 June meeting. While the committee noted that 82.5% of the monitored KPIs had met their targets in the fourth quarter, it requested assurance on the underperforming indicators and the Council’s capacity for continuous improvement. The issues raised in discussion had included the re-let times for housing units,  Year 11 school leavers not in education, employment or training, carbon  emissions, pupil exclusions and adult protection enquiry timelines. Having reviewed the corporate scorecard for Quarter 4 and following a full discussion, the committee had resolved to note the report including the areas which the Leadership Team is exploring to secure improvements  and  recommend the scorecard and mitigating measures to the Executive. In addition it was agreed that the draft end-of-period analysis of the “Towards Net Zero Plan 2022-2025” be presented to Scrutiny in the autumn and that the Head of Housing Services and Portfolio Member for Finance and Housing be requested to approach other local authorities, for example, Harlow, Rotherham and North Ayrshire on best practices for reducing  the time taken to re-let lettable units.

The Chair thanked Councillor Jeff Evans for reporting back from the Corporate Scrutiny Committee and for the constructive discussion at the 17 June meeting. Executive members addressed underperforming indicators within their respective portfolios.

Councillor Robin Williams, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Member for Finance and Housing clarified that while he intended to engage with the three councils mentioned to learn lessons, regulations concerning void properties differ between Wales and England. He acknowledged the need to review Housing indicator (03) – the time take to re-let lettable units of accommodation, to better reflect the Housing service’s performance -  from the point keys are returned to the department, rather than when a tenancy ends. He noted that delays often occur in cases such as tenant deaths, where there may be a significant gap before the Council can access the property and undertake any necessary works.

The Chair highlighted the importance of shared learning and best practice between councils referencing last week’s WLGA meeting in Llandudno.

Councillor Neville Evans, Portfolio Member for Leisure, Tourism and Maritime explained that Education Indicator  (07) - the average number of children undertaking swimming lessons throughout the year refers exclusively to private swimming lessons and does not account for the 3,845  children who participated in school based  swimming sessions over a 30 week block. The downward trend in private lesson participation is consistent across other local authorities, and the service is investigating the reasons behind the decline. The indicator also omits participation in the Swim Safe sessions organised by Môn Actif for which it has earned national recognition for promoting water safety and swimming education. Over 500 children attended last year’s Swim Safe events.

The Chair expressed appreciation for Môn Actif’s work under the Swim Safe initiative. He also extended his thanks to all officers involved in the ARFOR programme for their efforts throughout its duration. Anglesey was one of the four counties to benefit from the ARFOR funding stream which has now ended. As the interim Portfolio Member for  Highways, Waste and Property he reaffirmed the Council’s commitment to raising the Council’s current 65%  domestic waste recycling rate to meet the Welsh Government’s 70% target. 

It was resolved to agree to the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 4 2024/25 and to note the areas of improvement along with the areas which the Leadership Team is exploring and investigating to manage and secure further improvements into the future. These were in relation to Education (Môn Actif), Housing (delivery of Disabled Facilities Grants, and Housing Voids), Economy (Customer mooring contracts), Climate Change (Domestic Waste Recycling) and Whole Council Health (FOI requests).