Agenda item

To consider a report by Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill, Lead member for Finance, Corporate Plan and Performance (copy enclosed) presenting an update on the delivery of the Corporate Plan 2012 – 17 as at the end of quarter 1 of 2015/16.

RESOLVED that Cabinet receives the report and notes the progress in delivering the Corporate Plan 2012 – 17 as at the end of quarter 1 of 2015/16.

Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill presented the report providing an update on the delivery of the Corporate Plan 2012 – 17 as at the end of quarter 1 of 2015/16.

The report included three main elements –

·        Corporate Plan 2012 – 17 – members’ attention was drawn to the analysis of key exceptions and an explanation behind the ‘Red’ status of each indicator had been included within the report and elaborated upon further at the meeting

·        National Strategic Indicators 2014/15 – an analysis had been provided of Denbighshire’s excellent performance against national indictors with 20 in the top half and 14 in the top quartile, Denbighshire also had the fewest number in the bottom half.  8 national indicators had declined in performance and an explanation behind the decline had also been provided

·        Corporate Project Register – there were no projects with a ‘Red’ status and only two projects with an ‘Orange’ status with all projects on track.

During consideration of the report the following issues were raised –

·        Outcome 8: Residents and visitors to Denbighshire have access to a safe and well-managed road network – the indicator linked to outcome agreement funding would be removed in future when the funding was subsumed into the Revenue Support Grant.  It was anticipated that budget reductions would have an adverse impact and the need to keep this priority under close review was emphasised

·        National Strategic Indicator: SCC/002: Looked after children changing school – assurances were provided that this indicator continued to be closely monitored.  Given the small cohort of children and valid reasons for school moves in all cases it was not considered a priority for improvement

·        Carbon Emissions – Councillor Thompson-Hill explained that information could not be produced at present due to a major issue with the new British Gas billing system which they were working to resolve.  It was considered appropriate to wait for the full data rather than reporting upon inaccurate partial data

·        Deficit School Places – it was explained that figures related to the number of schools who did not have enough places and there was a general imbalance in that schools in the North of the county tended to be oversubscribed with schools in the South having surplus places

·        Percentage of staff receiving a performance appraisal – this figure had decreased 17% to 67% compared to the same period last year and raised some concern.  Officers explained the decrease was due to staff reorganisations but the figure was expected to increase.  Performance for this indicator would be challenged as part of the service challenge process.

Cabinet welcomed Denbighshire’s excellent performance in the National Strategic Indicators and their track record in that regard.  Whilst recognising it was still early in the process members were also pleased to note the good progress overall in delivering the Corporate Plan.  However it was noted that assumptions were still being made at this stage and it was too early to assess the impact of budget pressures on services.  A clearer picture would emerge later in the year.

In moving the recommendations Councillor Julian Thompson-Hill also acknowledged points raised by members which he would take on board.

RESOLVED that Cabinet receives the report and notes the progress in delivering the Corporate Plan 2012 – 17 as at the end of quarter 1 of 2015/16.