Agenda item

            The Committee considered the following report:

 

“1.0      Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

 

1.1       The purpose of this report is to provide members with an update on the work undertaken in regard to Corporate Performance Improvement and to present the draft Performance Improvement Self-Assessment 2023-24 for Committee approval and publication.  

 

2.0       Recommendations

 

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

 

i.     approve the draft Performance Improvement Self-Assessment 2023-24 (Appendix 1) and;

 

ii.   authorise its publication on the council’s website by the statutory deadline of 30 September 2024, subject to formal ratification by the full council on the 1 October 2024.

 

 

3.0       Main report

 

3.1       Background

 

            Part 12 of the Local Government (NI) Act requires councils to agree improvement objectives on an annual basis and publish these in the form of a Performance Improvement Plan, to be published by 30 June. The Act also requires that progress is regularly monitored against the improvement objectives and reported in an annual Self-Assessment of performance, to be published by 30 September.  

 

            In 2021-22, the Northern Ireland Audit Office (NIAO) recommended that we should consider ways to ensure that ‘Self-Assessment reports’ provide a comprehensive and useful overview of how the council has performed across its wider corporate activities’.

 

3.2       Performance Improvement Self-Assessment 2023-24

 

            Committee will note that Appendix 1 fulfils both requirements above providing a holistic review of performance and assessing the council’s performance against five agreed performance improvement objectives. A series of improvement milestones and indicators had been set out against each objective to enable success to be measured.  A summary of the assessment is set out below.

 

·        All 5 improvement objectives have been achieved.

·        Milestones – all 66 milestones have either been achieved (85%) or partially achieved (15%).

·        In total there are 28 performance indicators – 8 statutory and 20 self-imposed indicators.

·        Of the 28 performance indicators:

 

o   75% (21) of performance indicators were on target or exceeded target (within 1% or better);

o   7% (2) were slightly adrift of target (between 1% and 5%) and these are:

 

§  Number of adult and junior leisure centre monthly prepaid memberships (including swim school); and

§  Amount (tonnage) of council collected municipal waste arisings (reduce).

 

o   18% (5) were adrift of target (5% or more) and these are:

 

§  Percentage of corporate complaints resolved within timeframe;

§  Number of participants or businesses supported;

§  One Million Trees Programme - number of trees planted per annum;

§  Average (weeks) processing time for major planning applications; and

§  Average (weeks) processing time for local planning applications.

 

·        Of the 28 performance indicators:

 

o   57% (16) showed a positive change from previous years.

o   25% (7) showed no significant change or maintained a similar level of performance as previous years, and these are:

 

§  Number of parks and green spaces with green flag accreditation;          

§  Number of jobs promoted through the ‘Go For It’ programme [statutory performance indicator];

§  Number of participants or businesses supported;

§  Carbon disclosure project (CDP) score;

§  Northern Ireland environmental benchmarking survey rating;

§  % of household waste collected that is sent for recycling (or prepared for re-use) (increase); and

§  Number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and companies directly engaged in the Smart District programme.

 

o   18% (5) showed a negative change from previous years and these are:

 

§  Percentage of corporate complaints resolved within timeframe;

§  One Million Trees Programme - number of trees planted per annum;

§  Amount (tonnage) of council collected municipal waste arisings;

§  Average (weeks) processing time for major planning applications; and

§  Average (weeks) processing time for local planning applications.

 

            A rationale has been provided within Appendix 1 where targets have not been met or there has been limited or no improvement.  Key factors impacting on the delivery of targets include regional issues and delays, council resource constraints as well as dependency on external factors including market forces and regulatory changes.  Where targets have not been achieved or there has been no improvement, where relevant these have been carried forward to the 2024-25 Performance Improvement Plan.

 

            Members will note that the draft Performance Improvement Self-Assessment report 2023-24 attached at Appendix 1 had been considered and endorsed by the Audit and Assurance Panel on 16 September 2024.  If the Committee agrees, the intention would be to publish the Self-Assessment on the council website by the statutory deadline of 30 September 2024 albeit subject to formal ratification by the full council on the 1 October 2024.

 

3.3       Performance Improvement Plan 2024-25

 

            At the June committee, members were presented with a draft Performance Improvement Plan.  Following this meeting, the Improvement Plan 2024-25 was:

 

·        formally approved by the full council;

·        submitted to the NIAO;

·        published on our website prior to the end of June in accordance with Part 12 of the Local Government Act; and

·        circulated internally to all responsible and updating officers in July 2024.

 

            Committee will note that following approval of the Corporate Delivery Plan (2024-25) at Strategic Policy and Resources Committee on 23 August 2024 the target for the % of invoices paid within 30 calendar days has been revised from 95% to 90%.  The published web version of the 2024-25 Performance Improvement Plan will be updated accordingly following full council approval.

 

            The first update on progress against the 2024-25 Performance Improvement Objectives will be presented to the Committee in December 2024. 

 

3.4       Financial and Resource Implications

 

            None

 

3.5       Equality or Good Relations Implications/ Rural Needs Assessment

 

            There are no equality or good relations implications associated with this report.”

 

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.