Agenda item

(Senior Performance Improvement Officer) To consider the attached report (FPM-029-2015/16).

The Director of Resources presented a report on the Quarter 3, Key Performance Indicators 2015/16.

The Director of Resources reported that the Council was required to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions and services were exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. As part of the duty to secure continuous improvement, a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) relevant to the Council’s service priorities and key objectives were adopted each year. Performance against all of the KPIs was reviewed on a quarterly basis.

A range of thirty-six Key Performance Indicators (KPI) had been adopted for 2015/16 in March 2015. The KPIs were important to the improvement of the Council’s services and comprised of a combination of former statutory indicators and locally determined performance measures. The aim of the KPIs was to direct improvement effort towards services, the national priorities and local challenges arising from the social, economic and environmental context of the district.

Progress in respect to all of the KPIs was reviewed by Management Board and Overview and Scrutiny at the conclusion of each quarter. Service Directors reviewed KPI performance with the relevant portfolio holder(s) on an on-going basis throughout the year and Select Committees were each responsible for the review of quarterly performance against specific KPIs within their areas of responsibility.

The position with regard to the achievement of target performance for the KPIs at the end of the third quarter (31 December 2015) was as follows:

(a)                       28 (78%) indicators achieved third quarter target performance;

(b)                       8 (22%) indicators did not achieve third quarter target performance,

(c)                       0 (%) of these KPIs performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator;

(d)                       28 (78%) indicators were currently anticipated to achieve the cumulative year-end target;

(e)                       6 (17%) were currently not anticipated to achieve the cumulative year-end target, whilst a further 2 (6%) were uncertain as to whether they would achieve the cumulative year-end target.  

The adoption of challenging but achievable KPIs each year was a key element of the Council’s Performance Management Framework. The continued relevance of the existing KPI set for 2016/17 had recently been considered by Management Board. The current suite of measures was considered appropriate for the ongoing evaluation of relevant performance factors, with some changes and it was proposed that NEI002 - Waste Recycling was deleted and separated out into 2 new indicators which would provide greater clarity around performance.

The Director of Resources advised that RES001(Sickness absence) would not achieve the year-end target but it had improved compared to the previous year and training for all Managers around stress awareness had almost been completed.

The Service Directors had identified provisional targets for each indicator with the relevant portfolio holder(s), based on third-quarter performance and the estimated outturn position for the current year, resulting in some targets being either increased or decreased for 2016/17. Any revisions to targets on the basis of the outturn position would be reported to the Committee and the appropriate select committees in June 2016. The Committee was requested to agree the proposed KPIs and targets for 2016/17.

Councillor D Stallan asked that the wording for RES001 be changed from ‘decreased’ to ‘increased’ so that it was clearer.

Councillor J Philip enquired about the Communities KPIs that had achieved more than 100%. The Housing Portfolio Holder advised that this was due to rent arrears being included within the KPI.

Resolved:

(1)          That the Quarter 3 performance for the Key Performance Indicators for 2015/16 be noted; and

(2)          That the proposed Key Performance Indicators and targets for 2016/17 be agreed.

Reasons for Decision:

The KPIs provide an opportunity for the Council to focus attention on how specific areas for improvement would be addressed, and how opportunities would be exploited and better outcomes delivered. It was important that relevant performance management processes were in place to review and monitor performance against the key objectives, to ensure their continued achievability and relevance, and to identify proposals for appropriate corrective action in areas of slippage or under performance.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

No other options were appropriate in this respect. Failure to review and monitor performance could mean that opportunities for improvement were lost and might have negative implications for judgements made about the progress of the Council.