Agenda item

Joint report of the Head of Economy, Enterprise & Skills and Director of Transformation & Business Services (EES/23/3), outlining a proposed Corporate Performance Management Framework and proposal for a LGA Corporate Peer Challenge, attached.

RESOLVED

(a) that the development and introduction of the corporate performance management framework described in this Report be agreed and commended to Council; and.

(b) that the proposal for a Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge in June 2024 be endorsed.

(Councillors Biederman, Brazil, Dewhirst and Whitton attended in accordance with Standing Order 25(2) and spoke to this item).

The Cabinet considered the Joint report of the Head of Economy, Enterprise & Skills and Director of Transformation & Business Services (EES/23/3), which outlined a proposed Corporate Performance Management Framework and LGA Corporate Peer Challenge, circulated prior to the meeting in accordance with regulation 7(4) of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012.

The Cabinet noted that in July 2023, the Council reaffirmed the commitment to, and support for, the “Best Place” Strategic Plan 2021 – 2025 and agreed its six areas of focus for the Corporate Plan for the next 12 months. In addition, service area plans would be developed over the next three months linked to the: Strategic Plan 2021-2025, areas of focus, key risks and the People Strategy – ‘People First’.

The Report set out proposals for the introduction of a corporate performance framework and the carrying out, in June 2024, of a Local Government Association led corporate peer challenge (LGA CPC).

The Report gave an overview of performance management, including the duties and responsibilities under the Local Government Act 1999 requiring Council services to be responsive, of high quality and cost-effective, and fair and accessible to all who needed them as well as a duty of best value. It further outlined the role of the Office for Local Government (Oflog) to provide authoritative and accessible data and analysis about the performance of local government and support its improvement.

The Council’s current performance management reporting was outlined as well as the mechanisms of this, noting that a wide range of data was gathered, analysed and interpreted to assess the performance of the Council’s services, of which some was required by central Government.

Information about the performance of the Council’s services and activities was also published in various forms and formats, but the Cabinet did not currently receive regular reports on the performance of the Council’s services or progress against the “Best Place Strategic Plan 2021-2025”.

The proposed performance management framework was outlined in section 3.4 of the Report as there was a need to draw together existing data and information into a corporate framework to enable information about outcomes and the performance of the Council’s services to be collated, interpreted, reported and shared. It was proposed that the corporate performance management framework was introduced with three levels:

·       Strategic performance.

·       Directorate/service performance.

·       Change and improvement plans and programmes.

The diagrams included in the Report described what would be measured at each level.  Appendix 1 also provided some examples of different types of long, medium and short term outcomes and performance indicators that could be measured through the proposed corporate performance management framework.

The next steps were, over the next 6 months, regular reporting to Cabinet from April 2024 onwards, an annual performance report to Council on 23 May 2024, Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge (w/c 10 June 2024) to review progress and also ensure staff appraisals were linked to the Council’s key performance indicators.

Stages following these steps would be the use and reporting of performance indicators and metrics to assess progress with Directorate plans and using a digital performance dashboard to complement the risk management dashboard.

In relation to the LGA Peer Challenge the government funded a programme of improvement support, primarily via the Local Government Association, that included a wide range of sector-led support activities, including peer challenges.

The Corporate Peer Challenges were delivered by experienced Member and Officer peers and covered areas such as local priorities and outcomes, organisational and place leadership, governance and culture, financial planning and management and capacity for improvement. There was an expectation that all Councils having a corporate peer challenge would commit to publishing the feedback and action plan in response within three months and complete a progress review within a year. The last LGA CPC visit to DCC took place in 2016, therefore it was timely to invite the LGA to organise a CPC during the week commencing 10 June 2024.

In summary, the introduction of the proposed corporate performance framework and carrying out of the LGA CPA would help to ensure that the Council met its statutory best value duty and deliver efficient and effective services.

The matter having been debated and the options and alternatives and other relevant factors (e.g. financial, sustainability and carbon impact, risk management, equality and legal considerations and alignment with the Council’s Strategic Plan) set out in the Director’s and Head of Services’ Report having been considered:

it was MOVED by Councillor Hart, SECONDED by Councillor McInnes, and

RESOLVED

(a) that the development and introduction of the corporate performance management framework described in this Report be agreed and commended to Council; and.

(b) that the proposal for a Local Government Association Corporate Peer Challenge in June 2024 be endorsed.