Agenda item

A report that presents Cabinet with an update on the Council’s performance set against the targets contained in the Corporate Plan.

Cabinet Portfolio Holder – Councillor Yousef Dahmash

Councillor Yousef Dahmash, Portfolio Holder for Customer and Transformation, noted that the report summarised the Council’s performance in Quarter 2 against the strategic priorities, and Areas of Focus, set out in the Council Plan 2022-2027. Once again, the wider national context remained a critical frame within which to view the Council’s performance including the legacy impact of the Pandemic, global conflict, and high inflation which all presented specific challenges and impacted the Council’s ability to deliver services. However, the Council was rising to the challenges and doing far better than most.

Of the 105 Key Business Measures (KBMs) detailed in that Performance Management Framework (PMF), 91 were available for reporting in this quarter.  65% of KBMs were reported as On Track and 35% Not on Track with further detail in the report. The remaining 14 were new measures not due for reporting until Quarter 3 or Year End. The overall position was comparable to that reported at Quarter 1 continuing a reasonably consistent, strong performance delivered against the PMF.   Councillor Dahmash highlighted positive elements of the report in relation to performance and noted the key main performance challenges, also as set out in the report.  Turning to HR, Councillor Dahmash noted that vacancies had reduced again since the last quarter, and sickness absence had decreased slightly over the last quarter.  In terms of Risk Management, Councillor Dahmash pointed out that during Quarter 2, a risk working group was convened to review and refresh the strategic risks that face the Council in the pursuit of its priorities.  In conclusion, Councillor Dahmash noted a positive picture with awareness of the challenges being faced and sought Cabinet’s support for the recommendations.

Councillor Jerry Roodhouse noted that paragraph 2.5 of the report discussed the emerging themes of performance and he wished to highlight special educational needs, education and health care plans (EHCP) and associated performance.  He had looked at Power BI in this regard and had concerns that this was an ongoing and pressing area of challenge.  He queried whether it was necessary to review the Terms of Reference of the SEND Members Panel to address the challenges.  His understanding was the focus needed to be on pre-school aged-children in nurseries, early years and family support help as, by the time children were of school age, it was too late for an EHCP.  This demonstrated the cross-over between education and early years and the two chief officers for this area and he considered that the two should be brought together.  As the SEND Members Panel tended to be more education focussed, he considered that expanding the remit would also be helpful.  Due to the challenges and increasing costs involved his view was that the issue needed to be tackled now.

In response, Councillor Kam Kaur, Portfolio Holder for Education, noted concerns about the rising number of EHCPs and the data given on Power BI.  She noted that education and early years colleagues met regularly and were working together under one directorship, in a way that was much improved upon from the past.  It was agreed that Councillor Kaur and Councillor Roodhouse would discuss the issues after the meeting.

Councillor Barbara Brown also noted a growing need in this area, which she considered was likely to continue, and urged a more radical take on a solution which considered the issue more broadly.  

Councillor Secommbe noted the interdependencies that existed across a number of service areas and partnerships and that the Council did seek new approaches to challenges. It was recognised that SEND was a key area of demand and she welcomed discussions on this topic.

Resolved

That Cabinet:

1.     Notes the Quarter 2 2023/24 organisational performance.

2.     Refers the report to Overview and Scrutiny Committees to consider, in detail, the information relevant to their individual remits.