Agenda item

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report.

The Select Committee received a report from the Assistant Director (Development Management), regarding the Key Performance Indicators 2017/18 – Quarter 2 Performance.

The Local Government Act 1999 requires that the Council 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 services and key objectives, were adopted each year by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee. Performance against the KPIs was monitored on a quarterly basis by Management Board and Overview and Scrutiny to drive improvement in performance and ensure corrective action was taken where necessary.

A range of thirty-two (32) Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for 2017/18 were adopted by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee in March 2017. The KPIs are important to the improvement of the Council’s services and the achievement of its key objectives and comprised of a combination of some former statutory indicators and locally determined performance measures. The aim of the KPIs were to direct improvement effort towards services and the national priorities and local challenges arising from the social, economic and environmental context of the district, that are the focus of thekey objectives.

The overall position for all 32 KPIs at the end of Quarter 2 were as follows:

(a)         25 (78%) indicators achieved target;

(b)         3   (9%) indicators did not achieve target,

(c)         4   (13%) indicators performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator; and

(d)         26 (82%) of indicators were currently anticipated to achieve year-end target, 3 (9%) were uncertain whether they would achieve year-end target and a further 3 (9%) were anticipated not to achieve year-end target.

There were 5 KPIs which fell within the Governance Select Committee’s areas of responsibility. The overall position with regard to the achievement of target performance at Q2 for these 5 indicators were as follows:

(a)             4 (80%) indicators achieved target;

(b)             1 (20%) indicators did not achieve target;

(c)             0 (0%) performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator; and

(d)             4 (80%) indicators were currently anticipated to achieve year-end target and a further 1 (20%) indicator is uncertain whether it would achieve year-end target.

The ‘amber’ performance status used in the KPI report under agenda item 7, appendix 1, identified indicators that had missed the agreed target for the quarter, but where performance was within an agreed tolerance or range. The KPI tolerances were agreed by Management Board when targets for the KPIs were set in March 2017.

The Select Committee was requested to review Q2 performance for the KPIs within its areas of responsibility. The full set of KPIs was also considered by Management Board on 15 November 2017 and the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee on 16 November 2017.

Councillor N Avey advised that he had concerns regarding GOV008 and the percentage of planning applications refused by Council Members against the recommendation of the planning officers and were then granted permission on appeal. He stated that this needed to be looked at more closely by the Select Committee and requested that a report including examples of recent appeal decisions issued by the Planning Inspectorate be brought to the Select Committee at its meeting on the 27 March 2018.

S Hill, Assistant Director, Governance advised that he was writing a report regarding a review of the planning processes due to the Local Plan which would go to a future meeting of the Constitution Working Group.

            RESOLVED:

(1)             That the Key Performance Indicators 2017/18 for Quarter 2 Progress Report be noted; and

(2)             That a report of the Planning Appeals Performance be brought to the Governance Select Committee at its meeting on the 27 March 2018.