Issue - meetings

The report comprised two items:

-                     The Performance Report – which provided details of the key performance measures reported through the corporate performance framework for 2021/22.  The latest performance outturns and targets were reported alongside trend and benchmarking information, where available. The report also included several indicators without targets for this year, that were being monitored to establish a baseline level of performance and monitor trends. A commentary was provided for each indicator explaining what was being measured, explaining the narrative behind each outturn and detailing improvement actions.

-                     The Performance Scorecard – which provided information on four key elements of performance for the Council covering Finance, Customer Service, Performance and Human Resources indicators.  These were arranged in four quadrants.

Within the performance report and performance scorecard, outturns that were performing at or better than target were classified as Green, those that were within 5% of the target were Amber and those that were more than 5% of the target were Red.  At the end of Quarter 4, 93 indicators had outturns reported with a red, amber or green status. Of these, 66 were Green (71%), 7 were Amber (8%) and 20 were Red (22%).  This compared to Quarter 3 where 62 were Green (69%), 12 were Amber (13%) and 16 were Red (18%).

RESOLVED –

(1)               That the Council’s performance for the Quarter 4 period 2021-22 be NOTED.

(2)               That the actions being taken to improve performance, where required, be NOTED.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources, Property and Assets introduced the report which comprised the following two items:

·                The performance report, which provided details of the key performance measures reported through the corporate performance framework for 2021/22. The report also includes several indicators without targets for this year, that were being monitored to establish a baseline level of performance and monitor trends. Commentary was provided for each indicator explaining what was being measured, explaining the narrative behind each outturn and detailing improvement actions.

·                The performance scorecard, which provided information on four key elements of performance for the Council covering Finance, Customer Service, Performance and Human Resources indicators. These were arranged in four quadrants.

Within the performance report and performance scorecard, outturns that were performing at or better than target were classified as Green, those which are within 5% of the target are Amber and those which are more than 5% of the target are Red.  At the end of Quarter 4, 93 indicators had outturns reported with a Red, Amber or Green status. Of these, 66 were Green (71%), 7 were Amber (8%) and 20 were Red (22%).  This compared to Quarter 3 where 62 are Green (69%), 12 are Amber (13%) and 16 are Red (18%).

Cabinet Members then provided comprehensive explanations for the performance marked as red where performance was more than 5% off the target for each of their portfolio’s, these were as follows:

Leader

·                Unemployment Claimant Rate – The indicator compared the Buckinghamshire Claimant Rate with the National Claimant Rate of those claiming 'out-of-work' benefits as a proportion of the working age population. Pre-Covid-19, Buckinghamshire's Claimant Rate tracked at 55% of the National Rate and this had been set as the target for this measure.  Buckinghamshire's Claimant Count Rate was 2.9%, which was lower than the National Claimant Count Rate of 4.3%.  This equated to 67% of the national rate but was above the 55% target. Buckinghamshire’s claimant count rate was one of the lowest in the country (7th lowest of all 38 LEP areas), however, the Wycombe Parliamentary Constituency area had a rate that exceeds the national average (4.4%).  The report included information on the initiatives underway (both nationally led and locally led) to help move people off the claimant count and into work. There was a shortage of labour at the moment in particular social workers and planners for local government, film industry and the hospitality sector.

Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment

·                % of waste collected for recycling, reuse, composting or anaerobic digestion from household sources (household collection and Household Recycling Centres) – target of 60% against a current value of 44.12%.  Performance for Q3 2021/22 showed a drop from Q2 and was lower than the same period in 2020/21.  This was due to a marked drop in organic material (food waste) sent for anaerobic digestion or composting affecting Q2-3, due to disruptions to kerbside collections arising from driver shortages.  While Buckinghamshire’s performance had fallen and was below the South East average  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10