Agenda item

That the Board note progress on the further development of the Corporate Performance Management Framework, note the Q1 monitoring reports, and note the Strategic Risk Register (SRR).

The Director of Business Strategy and Change presented the Performance Management Framework update for Quarter 1 to the Board.

In April 2022, Council approved a corporate Performance Management Framework to address the recommendations of the Governance Value for Money Review by Grant Thornton as a key element of the Council’s Improvement Plan.

In total, there were four key components to the Corporate Performance Framework:-

·      Improvement

·      Customer Experience

·      Organisational Health

·      Financial Performance

Improvement

Progress was highlighted against the Corporate Plan Performance Management Framework (PMF). Since its approval, there were 170 measures across seven strategic outcomes. Work had been undertaken with each directorate to refine the measures and how they could be applied. Each measure would be given a RAG rating to easily track and adapt to changing targets.

Customer Experience

The framework covered a wide range of Key Performance Indicators such as Contact Centre performance, Contact Channel reviews, customer feedback and information requests. Understanding the performance would help enable refinements to be made to ensure that the Customer Experience is efficient and effective and meets the demands required. Ensuring that the Council’s service was accessible was a key point to consider.

Due to additional demands as a result of the re-introduction of Council Tax recovery, performance was below target for the Revenues and Benefits contact centre. Administration of the energy rebate as well as staff vacancies were also contributing factors to the underperformance.

Work was being taken to address the backlog of Subject Access Requests (SARs) and Freedom of Information requests (FOIs). A number of actions were being monitored to increase the response times to meet performance targets.

Organisational Health

Performance indicators in relation to Organisation Health focused mainly on the composition of Sandwell Council’s workforce to improve equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI). The newly established EDI team were working to achieve the EDI actions captured within the Council’s Improvement Plan.

Sickness absence, which was at an average of 2.74 sick days per employee for quarter 1, was short of reaching the goal of 2.24.

This was an increase of 0.84 days when compared to the outturn of Q1 2021-2022. It was stated that absence review panels and directorate action plans would be in place to help address these concerns.

Data obtained from the most recent employee engagement survey had been collated; the last survey that had been undertaken was in 2018. Overall, 61% of staff responded to the survey. The results were currently being considered and appropriate action plans were being created to mitigate any concerns where possible.

Financial Health

A summary regarding the Financial Health aspect of the Performance Framework was provided. Issues were highlighted with underperforming in relation to retrieving Council Tax. Business Rates collection was exceeding expectations due to the recent COVID Relief Fund.

Sandwell Children’s Trust had experienced a slight increase of the number of children in care and therefore, as a result, had been impacted financially. Staffing issues were the main cause of concern; recruiting and retaining Social Workers had been difficult.

The Council’s contract with SERCO had been reviewed. Key Performance Indicators had been put in place to help monitor areas of concerns.

In response to questions from the Board, the following details were confirmed:-

·      The delays in Council Tax collections were not unique to Sandwell and many other authorities were experiencing similar issues. Collections were in line with the goals set out in the previous year, however, the target increase had meant that collections were now slightly behind;

·      Any issues in relation to late payments for voluntary groups should be raised to the Director of Finance for investigation;

·      Sandwell Council’s Welfare Rights team would help assist and signpost residents accordingly;

·      Key Performance Indicators, which were benchmarked against industry standards and other local authorities, would evolve with the financial climate to ensure reliable and effective service is top priority;

·      Digital and paper copies of the staff survey were available; anonymity was prioritised throughout the process.

The Board agreed that Sandwell’s approach to tackle the cost of living crisis would be added to the work programme.

Resolved that the progress on the further development of the Corporate Performance Management Framework be noted.