Agenda item

To consider the attached report (FPM-002-2018/19).

The Head of Transformation presented a report on the Corporate Plan 2018-2023 including the benefits maps, performance indicator set and target and progress reporting.

The new Corporate Plan runs from 2018/19 to 2022/23 and lays out the journey the Council would take to transform the organisation to be ‘ready for the future’. This plan links the key external drivers influencing Council services, with a set of corporate aims and objectives, grouped under three corporate ambitions.

The success of the new Corporate Plan would be assessed through the achievement of a set of benefits, focussed on what the Council achieves for customers. These benefits in turn were evidenced through a set of performance indicators, with each indicator having a target and amber tolerance threshold. A Corporate Specification for each year details how the Corporate Plan was being delivered through operational objectives, with these in turn linked to annual business plans and projects and programmes from the Transformation Programme.

A combined quarterly report, containing the benefits maps, performance indicator set, Corporate Specification and Transformation Programme Highlight Report was proposed, to supersede these separate reports. The report gave an overview of performance across the Corporate Plan using benefits maps and Red-Amber-Green traffic light status indicators.

The Cabinet Sub-Committee discussed the Corporate Plan benefits maps and performance indicator set which they felt required further work, to provide a clearer understanding of what the proposed targets were for each year as a measurement  and that the commentary referred back to background documents.

The following comments were made regarding the Performance Indicators 2018/19 – Proposed Targets;

·         M1.1 – Delivery of the Epping Forest Health and Wellbeing Strategy – that the target 2018/19 needed to be clearly defined;

·         M1.3 – Percentage of Independent Living Homes in the district – that the target for 2018/19 did not match the target commentary and should be nil for 2018/19;

·         M1.4 – Cost of Bed & Breakfast accommodation for homeless people – that the target should be reduced to reflect when the pods become available and that the amount of the budget be reflected in the target not the savings;

·         M2.1 - Number of safeguarding concerns – that the target should be on the action taken rather than the amount of incidents reported;  

·         M2.3 – Compliance checks on housing council tax support benefit – that the target be amended to 20% of claims checked per year;

·         M3.1 - Number of community leaders and volunteers – that the target be reflected as a number not a percentage;

·         M3.3 – Cultural activity attendance – to define whether the cultural activities or increasing attendance at cultural events was the target;

·         M3.4 – Number of reported crimes – that the target should reflect the outcome or action taken, as this was not in the Councils control;

·         M4.4 - What percentage of our district had unacceptance levels of little – to correct a typo in the title to litter;

·         M5.1 – Number of new dwellings completed in the district – that the target was unrealistic and should be set in between historical data and what the Council would like to achieve;

·         M6.3 – Maximisation of Business Rates Tax Base – that the title be changed to ‘Increasing of Business Rates Tax Base’ and the target required clarification;

·         M6.5 – Visits to the Council’s ‘Visit Epping Forest’ Website – that the target should be number, not a percentage;

·         M7.2 – Customer first contact resolution – that the description needed to include details on the information being collected and whether first contact had resolved the issue or if it was a follow up call;

·         M7.3 – Customer complaints resolved – that target was a number and not a percentage;

·         M8.1 Cabinet Structure and M8.2 – Council Structure  – that the target should be based on the decision not whether the structure changed;

·         M8.5 – Turnout for Youth Council elections – that the target should relate to the number of young people nominating themselves for election;

·         M8.6 – Delegated authorities for officers – that no target should be set until the Constitutional review had taken place;

·         M9.1 Workforce operational costs – that there was consistent between the target 2018/19 and commentary and the target was a number not a  percentage;

·         M9.7 Successfully delivered projects – that the target should be reflected as a number not a percentage;

·         M10. 3– Staff workstation to head ratio – that a change to the title be made  ‘Staff desks to head ratio’;

·         M10.4 – Income from commercial leases – that the description reflect the increasing in total income which included new leases and the removal of ‘and contracts’ from the description.

The Chairman advised that the corporate plan in its entirety should be brought back for consideration and that officers should report back to the Cabinet and Management Board meeting before it was brought back before members for a decision.

Resolved:

(1)          That, minor amendments to the Corporate Plan 2018-2023 authorised by the Leader of the Council in consultation with the Chief Executive, be noted;

(2)          That a combined quarterly report, containing the benefits maps, performance indicator set, Corporate Specification and Transformation Programme Highlight Report, which supersede these separate reports, be agreed; and

(3)          That the Performance Indicators 2018/19 – Proposed Targets be reviewed by the Management Board joint meeting with Cabinet.

Reasons for Decisions:

The Council has ambitious plans for the future and a clear corporate plan was essential. The Corporate Plan sets out a clear and cohesive view from strategic drivers, through aims and objectives, to benefits which measure real improvements for customers. This plan would enable the Council to focus on what was most important to our stakeholders – what ‘good’ looks like. The Corporate Plan included a set of benefits maps which show how the success of the plan would be measured, and collectively indicate how well the Council was delivering the benefits to the customers. These arrangements demonstrate how the Council secures the management of change and continuous improvement, having regard for economy, efficiency and effectiveness. A set of performance indicators and benefits measures was agreed each year, with targets.

The Corporate Plan 2018-2023 was adopted by Council in December 2017. It was agreed that the four Select Committees – Communities, Governance, Neighbourhoods and Resources – be consulted on the draft benefits maps and performance indicator set. This consultation ensures that the benefits maps had both the style and the content which the Select Committees found most useful in undertaking their scrutiny of Council performance. Final benefits maps and performance indicator set profiles would be agreed by the Finance and Performance Management Cabinet Committee, in consultation with the Head of Transformation.

A combined report, bringing together the performance of the Council against the Corporate Plan would supersede the current Key Performance Indicator, Corporate Plan Key Action Plan, and Transformation Programme Highlight Reports. This combined report would give ‘clear line of sight’ for performance across the Council via the new benefits maps.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

The Committee could, in consultation with the Head of Transformation, agree that specific components of the proposed performance indicator set, targets and/or benefits maps be further reviewed, amended or removed, or new components be considered and included (Report to Cabinet, 7 December 2017).

The Committee could ask for specific components of the Corporate Plan to be further reviewed, amended or removed, or new components to be considered and included, as authorised by the Leader of the Council in consultation with the Chief Executive (Report to Council, 21 December 2017).