Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Committee supports levels of progress and confidence in the achievement of priorities as detailed within the Council Plan 2022/23;

(b)       That the Committee supports overall performance against Council Plan 2022/23 performance indicators/measures; and

(c)       That the Committee is assured by explanations given for those areas of underperformance.

The Chief Executive presented the monitoring report to review year-end progress against Council Plan priorities identified for 2022/23.  Overall this was a positive report with 77% of activities showing good progress and 62% of performance indicators (PIs) having met or exceeded their targets.  Following previous feedback, the report had been reviewed to provide more clarity on identifying areas for improvement.  The exception-based covering report highlighted six outstanding actions and 25 PIs which had not been achieved, alongside explanations, some of which involved external factors.

The Internal Audit, Performance & Risk Manager responded to a question from the Chair on reporting arrangements including the annual refresh of the 5?year Council Plan.  She went on to say that target dates for priorities could be 12 months or longer term, including milestones where required, and would feedback to the Performance team to ensure that targets were clearly defined in the document.

In response to comments from Councillor Bernie Attridge, it was confirmed that each Overview & Scrutiny committee considered quarterly performance reports relating to their terms of reference and were able to raise specific areas for further review on their respective forward work programmes.

The Chair said that whilst this committee should not duplicate the role of other Overview & Scrutiny committees, areas of concern should be referred as appropriate.

Councillor David Healey highlighted the alignment of the Plan with well-being objectives.  Under Child Poverty, he praised the 100% completion rate on ‘Working with partners to ensure children in areas of social deprivation have access to food, exercise and enrichment schemes during school holidays’, asking whether the offer had been extended into the summer of 2023.

The Chief Executive advised that schemes were available and that more specific detail would be shared.  Councillor Healey suggested sharing the response with all Members.

Whilst noting actions under the remit of other committees, Councillor Alasdair Ibbotson he said it was important for this Committee to have oversight of missed/extended targets to consider the in-year financial implications and impact on the Medium Term Financial Strategy.  On the Social Housing sub-priority, he asked for more detail on the PIs relating to new Council homes, affordable housing and Registered Social Landlord homes under construction.

The Chief Executive advised that response times to disabled adaptations had improved over the years with changes made to the process, however some legacy issues affecting larger adaptation schemes were negatively influencing performance.  On social housing developments, the overall target was 50 units per year as reflected in strategic reports, however the lack of progress on a scheme involving partners had affected performance outturns.  Reference was made to the potential for additional funding to meet increased demand for social housing.  Members’ attention was drawn to recent detailed reports to the Community & Housing Overview & Scrutiny Committee on these matters.

Councillor Bill Crease thanked officers for the covering report which helped the Committee to focus on relevant data.  His comments were endorsed by the Chair.

The recommendations in the report were moved and seconded by Councillors Gina  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25