Agenda item

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report (FPM-011-2014/15).

The Director of Resources presented a report on the Quarter 2, Key Performance Indicators 2014/15.

The Director of Resources reported that pursuant to the Local Government Act 1999, 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 Council’s approach to the continuous improvement duty, a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) relevant to the authority’s services and key objectives were adopted each year. Performance against the KPIs was reviewed on a quarterly basis.

A range of thirty-six Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for 2014/15 were adopted by the Committee in March 2014. The KPIs were important to the improvement of the Council’s services and the achievement of its key objectives and comprised a combination of former statutory indicators and locally determined performance measures. The aim of the KPIs were to direct improvement effort towards services, the national priorities and local challenges arising from the social, economic and environmental context of the District, that were the focus of the key objectives.

Progress in respect of each of the KPIs were reviewed by the relevant Portfolio Holder, Management Board, and Overview and Scrutiny at the conclusion of each quarter. In order to enhance the value of the on-going review of KPI performance, no indicators were subject to scrutiny or performance reporting at year-end only and were now the responsibility of the relevant scrutiny panel.

The overall position with regard to the achievement of target performance for all of the KPIs at the end of 30 September 2014 were that 25 (69%) indicators had achieved the cumulative second quarter target, 11 (30%) indicators did not achieve the cumulative second-quarter target although 2 (5%) of these performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator and 30 (83%) indicators were currently anticipated to achieve the cumulative year-end target. 

The committee were asked to note the second quarter performance in relation to the KPIs for 2014/15.

The Director of Neighbourhoods advised that the Finance Performance Management Scrutiny Panel held on Tuesday 11 November 2014 had not put forward any further considerations for the Cabinet Committee.

Resolved:

(1)        That the performance in respect of the second quarter of 2014/15 in relation to the Key Performance Indicators be noted.

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 services and outcomes delivered.

A number of KPIs were used as performance measures for the authority’s key objectives. It was important that relevant performance management processes were in place to review and monitor performance against key objectives and indicators, to ensure their continued achievability and relevance, and to identify and implement 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 KPI performance and to identify corrective action where necessary could of had negative implications for judgements made about the Council’s progress, and might mean that opportunities for improvement were lost. The Council had previously agreed arrangements for reviewing performance against the KPIs.