Agenda item

Managing Performance Q1 2021-2022

Summary:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Options considered:

The Managing Performance Report attached, as Appendix A, will enable the Council to assess delivery against objectives detailed in the Corporate Plan Delivery Plan 2019-2023 and operational service performance. It gives an overview of progress towards achieving the objectives in the Corporate Plan, assesses the impact that Covid-19 has had on both these aspects of Council performance, and the actions being taken to address these issues and proposes any further action needed.

 

Options considering action regarding performance are presented separately, issue by issue, to the appropriate Council Committee where committee approval is required.

 

Conclusions:

 

With the first six months of 2021 subject to extended national COVID lockdowns and restrictions, Coronavirus has continued to have a significant impact on the Council’s capacity and ability to achieve all of the objectives in the Corporate Plan Delivery Plan 2019-2023.  However, good progress has been made towards the refined list of objectives as agreed by Cabinet at its meeting of the 5th October 2021 during the period April – June 2021 as the Council and other bodies seek to rebuild and recover from the response phase of the pandemic.

 

Recommendations:

 

 

 

 

 

Reasons for

Recommendations:

 

That Cabinet resolves to note this report and endorses the actions being taken by Corporate Leadership Team detailed in Appendix A – Managing Performance.

 

 

To ensure the objectives of the Council are achieved.

 

Cabinet Member(s)

Cllr Sarah Bütikofer

Ward(s) affected

All

Contact Officer, telephone number and email: Steve Blatch, Chief Executive

Email:- steve.blatch@north-norfolk.gov.uk

Tel:- 01263 516232

Minutes:

The Leader, Cllr S Butikofer, introduced this item. She said that good progress was being made against targets and clarified that the report covered the period up until the end of quarter 1 – not the current position.

 

Cllr C Cushing said that six things had been pushed back to the following year yet this was not mentioned in the accompanying commentary. One of them was supporting start-ups, which was a concern. He also commented that the number of calls to the Council appeared to have dropped off and again, this was not reflected in the accompanying report.  He said it appeared that Covid 19 was still being used as an excuse for poor customer service.

 

The Leader replied that the country was facing a major pandemic. She said that businesses had been supported by the Council throughout this period and the Council had received additional funding for hitting its targets. The report did not reflect this either. She said that everyone agreed that the call handling figures were disappointing, adding that the new Customer Services Strategy needed to reflect revised times and targets. She concluded by saying that she was also tired of hearing Covid being used as an excuse.

 

Cllr C Cushing said that there should be specific actions regarding call handling and call times. He added that it would be helpful to have the movement of baseline targets set out clearly in the report. The Leader replied that Cabinet was also frustrated and said that she would look into it. She added that the Council needed to respond to the needs of residents and focus on what could be delivered. If some projects were moved back to accommodate this then so be it.

 

Cllr Cushing replied that open and honest reporting was important. Moving target dates was not helpful. The Leader replied that some officers had been allocated to other work during the pandemic and this was not something that had been anticipated.

 

The Chief Executive reminded members that the corporate plan had been approved in November 2019, with a delivery plan of 90 objectives being approved by Cabinet in February 2020. Following the onset of the pandemic, he had advised Cabinet in August 2020 that they would not be able to deliver all 90 objectives. In October 2020, a revised delivery plan of just 18 objectives was agreed. He added that the situation with the pandemic continued in the first quarter of 2021 – including a third lockdown and this was reflected in the performance report. He said that he was now working with Cabinet to review the 18 priority objectives. It was anticipated that a report would come forwards to Cabinet soon outlining this refocus and to help members understand the journey better.

 

The Policy & Performance Officer said that any change to the due date of an objective required an explanation in the accompanying commentary.

 

Cllr V Holliday said that there were some overlooked key performance indicators (KPI’s) and it was difficult to assess these if there was no target as you couldn’t be sure what the Council was working towards. The Leader replied that Cabinet was aware of the targets and what it was trying to deliver.

 

It was proposed by Cllr S Butikofer, seconded by Cllr L Shires and

 

RESOLVED

 

To note the report and endorse the actions being taken by the Corporate Leadership Team detailed in Appendix A.

 

Supporting documents: