Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive.

Committee received a presentation on year end performance for 2016/17 and an update on the performance and delivery of the Council Plan 2015-2020.

Over the last year work has been ongoing to deliver the Workforce Plan, this includes implementation of the new HR and Payroll system; iTrent. Over 100 officers have been trained on the system which provides direct access to sickness management data for managers. In the future the system will also include Appraisal and Developments.

In terms of employee engagement there was approximately 2,000 responses to the Employee Survey, however this is only 40% of the workforce. From the responses positive messages were received including; 88% felt that their managers were approachable, 80% understood the need for change. Internal communications still remained an issue and as a result a Council-wide Employee Forum has been set up, chaired by Roy Sheehan.

The Appraisal and Development (A&D) framework has further been developed based on employee feedback. 45% of staff were not receiving A&D’s and therefore the process has been simplified to make it more flexible. The new system will now rate performance.

Committee previously agreed to support young people leaving care to access Council apprenticeships. There has been one so far and work is ongoing to ensure care leavers are apprenticeship ready, a working group has been set up with Council officers and staff from Connexions.

Council Tax collection has improved to 95.8%, however this remains below the target of 96.6%.  Business Rates collection has fractionally decreased from last year to 97.3%, however this remains above the target of 97%.

In terms of benefit claims there continues to be steady progress, with a fall in the number of days taken to process new claims to 7.75 days. It was acknowledged that the roll out of Universal Credit has changed caseload and will likely impact on performance in the future.  The rate of undisputed invoices paid on time fell from 87.16% last year to 71.44% in 2016/17. This could have a financial impact on the Council therefore work is ongoing to improve the rate.

It was reported that the new Council intranet was launched on 26 April 2017. This was developed following the views of staff being sought through surveys, workshops, forums and testing. Effectiveness is currently being measured and improvements will continue to be made as the system is live.  A one system for all has been introduced for fly-tipping, forms can be completed online which is the same form that customer services would complete when a resident telephones to report fly-tipping. Feedback is provided to the complainant at all stages of the process and it is reported when the issue has been completed. This provides a fully rounded digital process.  Performance dashboards help inform how services can be delivered in the future.

It was questioned whether the system has the capability for residents to send photos of fly-tipping through the system. It was confirmed that there is this facility and GPS detects the location. It is hoped that this can be used for other issues such as pot holes in the future. It was acknowledged that the key is this is a transparent process and residents feel more informed.  It was also noted that there is still options for customers to report through customer services if they do not have digital access so no resident will be excluded.

RESOLVED    -           (i)         That Committee was satisfied with the activities

undertaken to achieve the desired outcomes in the Council Plan 2015-2020.

                                    (ii)        That the report be referred to Cabinet on 18 July 2017

and the views of the Committee be used to inform the Council’s approach.