Agenda item

LIST OF BACKGROUND PAPERS AS REQUIRED BY LAW

(Papers relied on to write the report, which do not contain exempt information and which are not published elsewhere)

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

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

Tel:- 01263 516232

Cllr T Adams – Council Leader introduced the report and informed Members and began by stating that the 163 homes delivered was a good achievement against a target of 100, though he accepted that more were needed to address the numbers still on the housing waiting list. He added that continuing to meet targets would be challenging, given the circumstances presented by issues such as nutrient neutrality. Cllr T Adams reported that an Energy Officer had now been appointed, which was timely given the recent increase in energy costs. On building business growth and sustainability, Cllr T Adams stated that positive investment was being seen in areas such as North Walsham and in hospitality venues across the District. He added that additional investment was being targeted to encourage investment in the west of the District, whilst the NWHAZ project continued in the east. On customer focus priorities, Cllr T Adams stated that the Planning complaints process had been improved to accelerate outcomes, whilst significant progress had also been made on the climate coast and environment priorities, with a substantial number of trees planted toward the Council’s target. He added that on quality of life, the Reef was continuing to exceed expectations, whilst good progress had been made on delivering changing places facilities in North Walsham, Sheringham, Stalham and Holt. It was noted that the Council had also recently hosted the Mammoth Marathon and maintained its blue flag beaches. Finally on financial sustainability, Cllr T Adams stated that 90% of energy rebate payments had now been made, with remaining residents being contacted to register for payments.

Questions and Discussion

      i.        The CE noted that the report focused on performance against corporate priorities, whilst the Benchmarking report would consider national measures against similar and neighbouring authorities.

     ii.        Cllr V Holliday noted that cross-referencing of the Performance and Bench-Marking reports appeared to show interesting differences in performance. She added that affordable housing targets appeared to have been reduced from 183 to 100, and asked whether housing with care dwellings had been counted as part of overall affordable housing numbers. The CE replied that the housing waiting list could be discussed further under item 11, and noted that the Strategic Housing Team would need to provide information on the types of affordable housing delivered. He added that completion of care scheme projects such as Meadow Court in Fakenham would have been captured in performance reports, and that he would seek to determine whether these were included in affordable housing delivery data. Cllr W Fredericks stated that she would seek to provide a breakdown of the type of dwellings included in the affording housing delivery data at the next meeting. Cllr A Brown suggested that there were 63 units at the Fakenham site counted as affordable homes, which may have been removed from the target figure. The CE stated that the reduction from 183 to 165 affordable homes may be a result of a delay in delivery of the exceptions scheme in Southrepps, caused by material supply issues.

    iii.        Cllr C Cushing noted that there were 66 units at Meadow Court in Fakenham, thirty of which were shared ownership. He referred to efforts to make the planning process easier for affordable housing providers, which had a deadline of 31^st March, and asked whether it had been achieved. Cllr W Fredericks stated that the ongoing impact of nutrient neutrality had detracted from officers being able to complete the task, though efforts continued to make the delivery of affordable homes easier for developers. She added that stakeholders were being encouraged to bring forward exception sites, alongside other efforts to support delivery. The CE suggested that it would help to have a standard approach to delivery, but this required further work to establish. Cllr C Cushing asked when a report on this could be expected, to which Cllr W Fredericks replied that she would provide further information at the next meeting. Cllr A Brown noted that most affordable housing schemes would take two to three years to deliver. Cllr J Toye stated that affordable housing scheme delivery was a complex issue with residents often opposed to allocated sites, whilst nutrient neutrality had caused further issues. He added that work continued to simplify the process, but it was difficult to provide a timescale at this time.

   iv.        The ADP stated that the Council had previously won an award for innovation in partnership working with registered social developers and landlords to deliver housing across three different sites in an innovative and more affordable way, and these processes would continue to be utilised going forward.

     v.        The Chairman noted that the report covered an extensive range of issues with various comments often made on the reporting format, and asked whether it would be possible to condense it, potentially with exceptions reporting. Cllr C Cushing stated that he was supportive of condensing the report to focus on outcomes, which he suggested would make it more accessible for scrutiny.

   vi.        Cllr V Holliday stated that it would be unfortunate to lose a level of detail, but accepted that outcome focused reports would help to overcome process reporting that was not particularly useful. The DSM stated that it was considered good practice to use exceptions reporting, and the PPMO added that there were plans to overhaul the reporting framework for the next quarter, with focus placed on key outcomes and issues. It was suggested that this approach would reduce the report to approximately ten to twenty pages. Cllr N Housden suggested that a report summary formed of exceptions would be useful, with more detailed information to follow. The PPMO stated that she would raise the proposals for consideration.

  vii.        Cllr W Fredericks suggested that it was helpful for Members to see what had been delivered, and there was a balance to be struck in future reports. Cllr S Penfold agreed that it was important to know where good progress had been made, but accepted the need to condense the report.

 viii.        It was suggested that a review of new reporting formats could be considered at the September meeting. Cllr V Holliday stated that it would be helpful to see new formats prior to September, to avoid impacting scrutiny of performance at the meeting. Cllr N Housden agreed and stated that whilst there was not a desire to erode the positive work that had been done, the Committee needed to focus on areas of concern.

   ix.        Cllr E Seward noted that the performance reports had previously been checked by the Audit Commission, and whilst this was no longer the case, additional information provided context to performance.

     x.        It was noted that existing workload on officers and the absence of a meeting in August meant that September was a realistic timeframe for consideration of new reporting formats.

   xi.        It was confirmed following a question from Cllr L Withington that a range of options would be presented to allow the Committee to choose its reporting format going forward. The CE added that whilst the InPhase contract was due to end in November 2022, he had requested that the service be extended until at least the 2023 elections, to maintain consistency in the reporting process.

  xii.        The recommendation was proposed by Cllr N Housden and seconded by Cllr C Cushing, alongside actions on revised report format options at the September meeting.

RESOLVED

1.    To note this report and endorse the actions being taken by Corporate Leadership Team detailed in  Appendix A – Managing Performance.

ACTIONS

1.    To revise and present new performance management framework data focusing on outcomes/issues and/or exceptions reporting and present at the September O&S meeting.

2.    To review the new performance management framework and agree on key outcomes/issues or exceptions reporting at September O&S meeting.