Agenda item

The Committee is asked to consider and comment upon the Quarter 1 2023/24 organisational performance, progress against the Integrated Delivery Plan, and the management of finances and risk.

Mark Ryder, Executive Director for Communities presented this item, which gave a retrospective summary of the Council’s performance at the end of Quarter 1 (April - June 2023) against the strategic priorities and areas of focus set out in the Council Plan 2022-2027. Key sections of the report focussed on:

• Performance against the Performance Management Framework
• Progress on the Integrated Delivery Plan
• Management of Finance
• Management of Risk

In presenting the report, Mark Ryder referred members to the appendices which set out the ‘RAG’ rating of performance against target. He reminded that this was the first quarter report and highlighted the areas on track and those where performance was at risk or not predicted to achieve the target or measure. Additional information and narrative was provided on individual schemes.

Scott Tompkins referred to the finance aspects of the report and a £3.4million projected overspend. Most of this related to home to school transport and was due to additional service demand from students entitled to free school transport, an increase in services for SEND students and inflationary increases. There was a member working group and an improvement project looking at this area. Scott gave a performance summary focussing on those areas where performance was at risk or not predicted to achieve the target or measure. Additional information was provided for each area, specifically around home to school transport, flood risk mitigation and associated works. He highlighted the good performance on highway maintenance contracts with 100% of targets being achieved. He emphasised the supporting key performance indicators which were being achieved consistently by the contractor, Balfour Beatty, in a contract delivered across Warwickshire, Solihull and Coventry. It was subject to close scrutiny by a Highways Maintenance Board which included the portfolio holders of each authority. This service was in the top ten nationally in terms of performance. Tree planting was also highlighted, particularly the need to accelerate tree planting to hit the required target of planting one tree for every resident in Warwickshire.

Discussion took place and questions were submitted as follows:

• The delays in Section 278 developer funded schemes was discussed. Scott Tompkins explained that as soon as the agreement was concluded it was added to the capital programme, but the developer may not complete the scheme for some time, so it showed as a delay. Scott outlined some of the factors which could contribute. In essence this provided a forecast of monies being received that would be spent on schemes. He provided context of the excellent performance for the previous year on the capital programme expenditure and forecast to outturn.
• There were concerns about cuts to the Trading Standards budgets which a member linked to increases in complaints. Members became aware of illegal activity within their divisions, but the service had limited responsive capacity. Comment was sought on the increase in complaint levels, which Scott Tompkins offered to research and a written briefing would be circulated to members. He drew comparison to the significant budget cuts which some local authorities had needed to make to their trading standards services. Warwickshire had managed to maintain its services for a variety of reasons, including the calibration service for fuel pumps, used by many airports. Mark Ryder confirmed that it was an intelligence-led service which focussed on priority areas. He reminded of the historic service areas of Trading Standards and gave examples of the priorities which were now a focus. He had visited the calibration service earlier in the day and this brought in revenue from around the world.
• For the Adult Community Learning Service, there was a decline in income, and this had been the case for the last three quarters. Mark Ryder confirmed this was reported to the Committee but rested within the Education Service. An action was taken to investigate this and provide a report back to members.
• Further discussion about Section 278 (highway) agreements, and Section 106 (planning gain) agreements. It was noted that there could be a lengthy period between when agreements were negotiated and the schemes provided, so was questioned if inflationary costs impacted on the authority or the developer. Scott Tompkins confirmed that there was no opportunity to revisit the sums negotiated through Section 106 agreements. However, for the Section 278 works, the developer paid some monies in advance and then paid a final bill based on the actual costs charged.
• The Chair raised the Transforming Nuneaton scheme and delays, referring to the Bermuda Bridge, its ongoing delivery problems and set out his concerns about delays to works that were scheduled or planned. The delays seemed to be impacting on other schemes which Nuneaton needed desperately. The plans to redevelop Vicarage Street had not been finalised and he quoted other examples about developing the library and business centre. There seemed to be a pattern that impacted on the delivery of many of the schemes.
• Mark Ryder responded, reminding members of the challenges to purchase commercial buildings and then clear the Vicarage Street site. This was progressing but was coupled with a period of massive inflation. This had an impact on delivery of the wellbeing business centre, which remained a commitment. There had been legitimate delays. On Bermuda Connectivity, the bridge scheme was coming to a conclusion, with weekly briefings being provided to members. Mark and Scott Tompkins touched on the significant challenges faced with this scheme, the delays experienced and impacts that it had caused for other projects.
• The Chair appreciated the update, also noting that other projects had been impacted, including the Hospital and College Street Island. There appeared a lack of movement to get these schemes back on track and he asked what options there were to align these schemes with the other delivery schedules. Mark Ryder responded that through the Transforming Nuneaton Programme Board members had the opportunity to see the updates and to provide a challenge.

The Committee noted the delays reported and was concerned to see those delays. The Chair was sure these concerns would be fed back to the Cabinet and Portfolio Holder, to ensure the Committee’s comments were heard.