Agenda item

That the 2013/14 Annual Performance Report be approved for publication.

The Chief Officer (Streetscene & Transportation) introduced the draft Annual Performance Report 2013/14 seeking approval for publication prior to the statutory deadline, to meet the requirements of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009 (the Measure).  He thanked the Policy & Performance Manager and her team for the level of work involved in collating and preparing the report whilst stressing the importance of its contents.

The Policy & Performance Manager thanked the Performance Team Leader for her contribution to the report and delivered a presentation on the key points.  Whilst the report detailed performance in achieving the Council’s improvement priorities, it also gave a balanced view to reinforce success and highlight areas for improvement.  ‘Good’ and ‘satisfactory’ levels of progress had been made on the eight priorities in the Council’s Improvement Plan 2013/14, with ‘high’ and ‘medium’ confidence levels on achieving outcomes.  Where there were borderline levels, the view had been taken to allocate the lower level status so that improvement could be sought in that area.  A revised page 43 of the Annual Performance Report was circulated for the sub-priority ‘Modernised and High Performing Education’ which reported an improvement in the percentage of learners achieving GCSE Grade C or above in English (72.7%) from the previous year.  During the presentation, Members were reminded of the importance in recognising that performance indicators were only part of the whole picture.

A summary of overall performance stated that 65% of improvement targets had been met or exceeded whilst the majority of the remainder had missed by an acceptable margin.  National rankings indicated that Flintshire had performed better than the Welsh average in 51% of indicators and was ranked top in six indicators and bottom in one.  In comparison to 2012/13, overall quartile performance had declined slightly, however 61% of Flintshire residents surveyed said that the Council provided high quality services, which was above the national average percentage.

Following endorsement of the Annual Performance Report by Cabinet on 15 October 2015, approval was sought from Council to publish within the statutory deadline of 31 October.  The Wales Audit Office would subsequently issue a Certificate of Compliance based on the published report which it was hoped would be equally as positive as the Certificate received earlier in the year.

In moving the recommendation in the report, Councillor Aaron Shotton thanked the team for facilitating the report and spoke of the combined effort by different departments in collating information and scrutiny by Members of the quarterly updates.  He referred to the areas of achievement noted in the presentation which were equally as important as those areas not currently meeting the Council’s ambitions and which required a greater level of emphasis.  He went on to refer to the financial pressures ahead for all Councils in this time of austerity and the challenges for public services.

On the list of highlights in the Executive Summary, Councillor Nigel Steele-Mortimer congratulated the Chief Officer and Cabinet Member for achievements on Skills and Learning.  When asked about plans for the 21^st Century School Programme, the Chief Officer (Education & Youth) said that a statement had been made publicly available stating the reasons for a pause in the review on the John Summers High School capital project to allow further work on verifying data to establish whether there was a resilient business case for Welsh Government funding approval.

In drawing attention to other highlights, Members paid tribute to successful outcomes on the Llys Jasmine extra care scheme and the promotion of Deeside Industrial Park.

Councillor Richard Jones commented on the need for future targets to remain at the same level or higher to ensure improved outcomes.

In response, Councillor Chris Bithell said that discussions with the Chief Officer on some of the more challenging education targets had resulted in agreement that high aspirations were needed.  He reiterated that Flintshire had achieved the highest overall satisfaction rate with education by a Council in 2013/14 and had been ranked the highest in Wales on the percentage of pupils who had achieved the Level 2 threshold including a GCSE grade A-C in English/Welsh (as a first language) and Maths.

In welcoming the establishment of North East Wales Homes, Councillor Mike Peers asked which other ‘key areas’ of the county would benefit from the development of new homes and felt that all areas should be included.  The Chief Officer (Community & Enterprise) explained that subsequent to the production of the report, agreement had been reached by Cabinet on a range of sites, however this list was not exhaustive.  Cabinet approval had been granted on the procurement exercise and affordable housing range of sites funded through the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and Council Fund.

Councillor Helen Brown, Cabinet Member for Housing, referred to a recent report submitted to the Housing Overview & Scrutiny Committee and a workshop planned to consult with all Members on the provision of new homes and outcomes from the garage site review.

In response to comments from Councillor Peers on conflicting statements in the report on progression with the Town Centre capital programme, the Chief Officer said that this was reflective of the approaching end of the European Regional Development funding programme and the future challenge to fund different projects which had been in place previously.

Councillor Robin Guest thanked all those who had undertaken the work resulting in the performance achieved and suggested alternative wording for missed targets on the performance overview.

During discussion on food waste recycling, Members commented on the availability of waste bags for residents.  The Chief Officer (Streetscene & Transportation) explained that the reduction in the tonnage of food waste recycling was replicated across the country and was felt to be due to a greater level of awareness of food wasted by households.  He added that food waste bags were issued to residents on request, with a regular stock maintained on the refuse vehicles.

Councillor Kevin Jones, Cabinet Member for Waste Strategy, Public Protection & Leisure, spoke of the need for meaningful targets to be set that the Council could aspire to achieve.  He went on to refer to a change in the approach to food waste and encouraging residents to continue with this.

Councillor Carolyn Thomas reiterated concerns that she had raised at other meetings on the repairs and maintenance backlog of schools.

Councillor Hilary McGuill drew attention to the list of implemented collaboration projects and asked how these would be progressed in the event of a merger with a neighbouring Council.

Councillor Aaron Shotton said that the stance taken by Wrexham County Borough Council on the prospect of an early voluntary merger was respected and that there was a need to continue with shared services.  He said that Flintshire should be proud of its ambitions in rising to the challenge of providing affordable housing and Council homes and had recognised the need for affordable housing in rural areas.

RESOLVED:

That the 2013/14 Annual Performance Report be approved for publication.