Councillor Worrall introduced the report and stated that she was pleased to present the second report on the Council’s Performance Management and Assurance Framework, covering the third quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. The Commissioners highlighted in their recently published report, this framework is a crucial part of our commitment to doing things differently and doing things better. It demonstrates our continued focus on improving transparency, accountability, and delivery for the residents of Thurrock.

Following feedback from our first set of reporting in Quarter 2, a number of key improvements have been made, including:

• Responding to comments from Corporate Overview and Scrutiny, services have continued to review the targets set to ensure they align with our expectations on behalf of residents.
• We have established an internal officer board to provide supportive challenge and drive continuous improvement.
• Scrutiny Committees have identified additional areas for more in-depth analysis. As a result, we have seen a more detailed briefing on the recycling metric presented to Place Scrutiny, and officers are working towards a more outcomes-focused approach for future reports.

Councillor Worral explained that for both Milestones and Metrics, we are largely on track or within tolerance and acknowledged that a quarter of the metrics and a small percentage of milestones are currently off track. The 14 red-rated metrics span all three priorities of the Corporate Plan, and the full report, included in appendix 1, provides a detailed breakdown of the actions being taken by services to address these challenges.

Councillor Worral summarised that whilst there is always more work to do, she is confident that the report demonstrates an overall positive direction of travel in meeting the strategic objectives set out in the Corporate Plan.

Councillor V Holloway stated that the amber for her portfolio is likely to be turning green as figures come in later this month.

Councillor Morris Cook stated that she had a couple of ambers, there had been a delay with the communities in action but for the right reasons and the report will be going to cabinet in June. Councillor Morris Cook stated that the ‘Ask the Council’ events had been successful, there have been two already and the next one will be in Tilbury.  She stated that the administration want to build trust and accountability.

Councillor Muldowney stated that it was a useful document to help keep them on track. Councillor Muldowney stated that in relation to the red for agency staff this remained a challenge and local government reorganisation was having a dampening effect. Councillor Muldowney highlighted that audit and risk management was making good progress but this did stall due to a staff members departure but they now had a good interim in place.

Councillor L Watson stated that they were working at pace to clear the backlog and are now having conversations with developers to steer them through the process. The Place Strategy is amber, it is in draft and will go to Place Overview and Scrutiny Committee first and then on to cabinet.

Councillor Hopper noted there were some reds in his portfolio for tenants satisfaction and feeling safe and to have better engagement with officers and officers are working on both of these issues.

RESOLVED:

2.1Cabinet noted the quarterly performance update report and progress made up to the end of the third quarter of 2024/25 in delivering the Year 1 priority milestones and metrics of the Corporate Plan.

2.2Cabinet considered recommending any areas of concern within the remits of the Corporate, Place and People Overview and Scrutiny Committees to the chairs of those respective committees.

Reason for the decision: as outlined in the report

This decision is subject to call-in