Council and democracy

The Strategy & Performance Officer presented the report to Members, highlighting that the End of Year Corporate Performance Report combined the performance against last year’s corporate scorecard presented at Appendix 1 with progress against the related actions/projects as outlined in the Corporate Priority Activity Plan for 2016/17 and was presented at Appendix 2.

It was explained that Appendix 3 highlighted the Corporate Performance Framework 2017/18 which detailed evidence the council would use to monitor the progress and performance against the council’s priorities this year.

Members were advice that Officers from Directors Board were in attendance for any questions within particular directorates.

The Chair of the Committee queried as to the table at 3.1.1 on page 13 of the report and sought clarity that the indicators compared were the full collection of Key Performance Indicators. It was explained to the Committee that there were approximately 50 indicators on the corporate scorecard each year, the makeup of which could change as new indicators were introduced or their descriptions were changed. This meant the year on year comparisons were not comparing exactly the same indicators and also, where new indicators were introduced, these did not have a baseline on which to rate the direction of travel.

It was enquired as to the overall underspend on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). The Corporate Director of Adults, Housing and Health, explained to Members that for the year of 2016/17 there had been a number of vacancies within senior management of the Housing Directorate, however such spend was for the 3 current housing developments within the borough. He continued by stating the situation was a ‘one off’ and he had hoped the developments had reached the Planning stage sooner.

Councillor Gerrish, Chair of the Committee, sought the reason for the failed indicator for the percentage of older people who were still at home 91 days after being discharged from hospital into rehabilitation. Members were informed the Council’s previous performance had been good, however they had set themselves a stretch target over the last year and performance was lower due to the issues within the domiciliary care service.  The Corporate Director for Adults, Health and Housing further explained that three of the home care providers used by the Council were brought in-house and therefore the domiciliary care team were managing the discharges from hospital.

During discussion the Committee raised the following:

•               Street cleanliness was above its target, Members queried the reasoning for this. The Corporate Director of Environment and Place commented that the KPI was slightly higher than its target of 4% at 4.45% ,lower was better). He explained this was down to the different land types within the borough such as main roads, rural roads and main retail and commercial sites.

•               Achievement of Level 2 qualifications at 19 years old was failing. It was sought as to whether the Council was working with other providers to offer support to post 19 year olds. The Strategic Lead, School Improvement and Skills, explained to the Committee that partners such as Palmers College and South Essex College were joining together to offer more to students. He commented that a report on the improvement could be brought back to the Committee if Members wished.

•               It was queried as to the reason complaints regarding social care were not included within the KPI for all complaints. Officers explained to the Committee there were very few complaints received in relation to social care last year and those were due to the issues within the domiciliary care service. Although the figure was higher than officers would like. It was further explained the Council had separate statutory regulations to follow with regards to Health and Social Care. The committee requested these figures separately. It was confirmed that they are included in the Annual Complaints Report,

•               Councillor Duffin enquired as to why the number of new apprenticeships within the Council was low and commented that as the national level was rising why was Thurrock failing. It was explained that this had been impacted by the uncertainty around the implementation of the new apprenticeship levy. It was stated that the Council would be doing more this year to support apprenticeships internally.

•               The direction of travel for the average sickness absence was queried by the Chair. Officers notified Members that HR colleagues were meeting with each directorate to discuss sickness absences. It was agreed to circulate information to Members regarding any further action that could be taken. 

RESOLVED:

1.            To note the progress and performance against the corporate priorities for 2016/17 (Appendix 1 and Appendix 2)

2.            To comment upon the corporate performance framework for 2017/18 (Appendix 3)