Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive

Presented by the Leader

The Leader presented the report to Members.

He reminded Members that the report provided Cabinet with information on the key Council Delivery Plan progress the third quarter of the financial year. He highlighted that of the actions in the Council Delivery Plan, twenty of the twenty three actions or 87% were on track or assessed as being green, two actions were under control and one was below target. He noted that progress against a number of indicators were detailed in the report, and they were drawn from across the Council's corporate priority areas. The progress was:-

·         30 or 73% of the indicators had been assessed as being "Green" meaning performance was on track or above target.

·         4 or 10% of the indicators were "Amber" which meant they were within agreed tolerances or otherwise under control.

·         7 or 17% of the indicators were "Red" which meant performance was below target. As such those were areas where performance needed to be examined in more detail, and to assist with that the relevant Heads of service had prepared "Intervention plans". Those were detailed in the appendices to outline the measures or explanations being undertaken to raise performance where possible.

He informed Members that the General Fund forecast surplus outturn at the end of the quarter was £1.09 m compared to a budget of £299K and that the self sufficiency reserve stood at £2.77m. In relation to the Business Rates, it was forecast to be £5.05m compared to a budget of £4.86m and the Housing Revenue Account was forecast to be £3.3m by the end of the financial year compared to £3.08m predicted in quarter two.

In relation to the sickness absence, the Leader advised Members that the rate in quarter three was 2.46 days lost per full time equivalent post (FTE) and that if the rate continued through quarter four the end of year rate would be a projected 9.45 days per FTE. He noted that there was a significant increase in the number of absences due to colds and flu during the period and that officers continued to manage long term absences carefully and the completion rate of return to work interviews had increased during the period.

He noted that the report had been considered by the Policy Development Group and their observations were appended to the report.

Councillor T Gillard noted that all five of the business and jobs actions were on target or within tolerance to deliver against the milestones, however two of the four performance indicators had fallen short of the quarter three target. He advised that they had fallen short because two key grant schemes had been on hold whilst they were reviewed and refreshed, and then they would be re-launched in June. He informed Members that planning was underway for regular business seminars, which would help us to share information and opportunities.

Councillor R D Bayliss noted that the number of empty properties target was not on track and the Strategic Director of Housing and Customer Services highlighted that it was due to the delay in the demolition of Queensway and Woulds Court.

Councillor T J Pendleton advised that both NWLDC and LCC were working hard to ensure the impact to the District with HS2 was supported and he noted the completion of the refurbished CCTV system.

It was moved by Councillor R Blunt, seconded by Councillor T Gillard and

RESOLVED THAT:

The Quarter 3 Performance Report (October to December 2018) be noted.

Reason for decision: The report be provided for members to effectively monitor the performance of the organisation.