Agenda item

Discussion paper of the Strategy and Engagement Manager (no decision required)

The Strategy and Engagement Manager introduced the corporate performance report for the first six months of the municipal year (April - September 2015). He reminded members that the Corporate Strategy, which set out commitments for the year, was agreed in March and included milestones, performance indicators and outcomes within an action plan. This report provided members with an opportunity to review performance at this halfway point; make any comments or observations relating to performance concerns or areas where performance has been better than expected and possibly identify areas for further scrutiny. The 2015-16 action plan identified 78 milestones and of these, 8 (10%) had been completed, 50 (64%) were on track to be delivered on time, 20 (26%) were amber, meaning that there were concerns about the deliverability of the project and 0 were red. Of the 15 performance indicators (outcome measures) identified in the action plan, 10 (67%) were green, 2 (13%) were red and 2 (20%) had not been updated by the relevant Service Manager. The action plan identified 15 service measures, which tracked how well an individual service was performing and of these, 4 (47%) were green, 5 (33%) were red and 3 (20%) were not updated.

The Strategy and Engagement Manager gave the following responses to member questions, with help from the Cabinet Member Corporate Services;

• As Chairman of the Joint Consultative Committee, the Cabinet Member Corporate Services, was able to confirm that this group received quarterly reports on sickness which analysed absences by type. He stressed that instances of longterm sickness had a greater impact on the average number of days lost due to sickness absence, because of the reduced number of staff overall at the council (currently only 231 FTE).
• In the past, the Government had imposed national targets in relation to the processing of planning applications and though these had recently been lifted to allow local authorities some discretion, Cheltenham Borough Council had continued to measure against the 91 days set by the Government.
• The Planning process itself had been reviewed as part of the systems thinking work and the process was illustrated on the first floor where it had been set out in full, step by step. Systems thinking aimed to break down each step to make the process more efficient and co-ordinate more effectively between different departments (Planning, Licensing, etc).
• Clearly any amendments to a planning application would increase the number of days it took the council to process an application, and this was why the council encouraged people to undertake the pre-application process, which ensured the quality of an application and therefore made for a swifter planning process, however, this was voluntary.
• The service measure relating to the number of disabled and older persons able to stay in their own homes as a result of Council action and the target of 126 had been set by this council. The change in policy at County level impacted the service that this council could deliver at a local level A briefing note would be produced by the relevant Service Manager outlining the impact of the change in policy and this would be circulated to members outside of the meeting. It was suggested that this could then be the focus of further scrutiny if the committee so decided.
• The issue of food safety was discussed.  The Leader confirmed that a food safety policy report had been considered by Cabinet which set out the need for a risk based approach during a period of under-resource and it was this that had impacted the ability to reach the target. The Service Manager would be asked to produce a short briefing note outlining the current situation for members and this would be circulated outside of the meeting.
• Jane Stovell was the Project Manager for the Pittville Park play area.

Whilst some members were comfortable that the report, as it was currently presented, was easily readable on the iPad, others preferred that it be printed on A3 paper.

No decision was required.