Agenda and minutes

The Committee is asked to approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 15^th April 2024.

The minutes of the meeting held 15 April 2024 were approved as an accurate record with no matters arising.

The Committee received a report detailing the Council’s Performance Management and Improvement Framework year-end report for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The report also provides an overview of performance relevant to the role and remit of this committee.

It was noted that there is an intention to review this over the next 12-18 months.

The key areas for the Committee to note were highlighted as follows:

Challenges include:

·        There have been further academisations during 2023/24 which reduced the scope of Service Level Agreement purchases, impacting the value of services provided by the Council to schools.

·        Of the 82 Chief Executive Reviews that were completed following stage 3 corporate complaints, 49 were upheld.

·        The number of complaints received by the Local Government Ombudsmen has increased from last year, to 29. However, only 3 of those were upheld.

·        The number of employee resignations as % of headcount has increased from 5.11% in 2022/23, up to 8.8% in 2023/24, demonstrating the ongoing issues facing the council regarding employee retention.

Areas of excellence / improvement include:

·        There were fewer total work-related incidents reported by council services during 2023/24 compared with the previous year. We are now seeing more near misses reported than accidents across council services.

·        There has been no enforcement action taken against the council by the Health and Safety during 2023/24.

·        The percentage of overall Council spend with organisations based in Gateshead has continued to increase and is currently sitting at 2.15% more than the baseline.

·        Of the 18 data breaches reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), no complaints were upheld, which demonstrates that none of the breaches required further intervention by the ICO.

·        There has been a small increase in the use of online services. Individually, the online services typically range from 70-90% uptake. We have also seen a 13% increase in online payments compared to the previous year.

Actions include:

·        As we look to develop a positive ‘health and safety’ culture, we would expect to see the percentage of near misses continue to increase next year.

·        Outcome for the Local Area Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Inspection – the local area partnership's arrangements lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with SEND. The local area partnership must work jointly to make improvements.

·        Collate and share the staff survey undertaken in the spring of 2024.

RESOLVED

       i.          The Committee recommended the performance report to Cabinet for consideration.

This item was postponed to the September meeting.

The Committee received a report setting out the Work Programme for 2024/25, including suggestions that had been received to date from elected members and relevant officers.

A request was made to add the following to the Work Programme:

·        Gateshead International Stadium – Decision and Correspondence

RESOLVED

       i.          The Committee approved the Work Programme.