Agenda item

(Director of Governance) To consider the attached report (FPM-004-2015/16).

The Senior Performance Improvement Officer presented a report on the outturn performance for the Key Performance Indicators adopted for 2014/15.

The Performance Improvement Officer reported that the Council was required to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions and services were exercised, having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. As part of the duty to secure continuous improvement, a range of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) relevant to the Council’s service priorities and key objectives were adopted each year. Performance against all of the KPIs was reviewed on a quarterly basis and had previously been a focus of inspection in external assessments and judgements for the overall progress of the authority.

A range of thirty-six Key Performance Indicators (KPI) was adopted for 2014/15 in March 2014. The KPIs were important to the improvement of the Council’s services and the achievement of its key objectives and comprised a combination of former statutory indicators and locally determined performance measures. The aim of the KPIs was to direct improvement effort towards services and the national priorities and local challenges arising from the social, economic and environmental context of the district, that were the focus of thekey objectives. Progress in respect of all the KPIs had been reviewed by Management Board by the Select Committees with that area of responsibility at the conclusion of each quarter and service directors reviewed KPI performance with the relevant Portfolio Holder(s) on an on-going basis throughout the year. No indicators were subject to scrutiny at year-end only.

The position with regard to the achievement of target performance for the KPIs at the end of the year (31 March 2015), were that 26 (72%) indicators had achieved the cumulative end of year target; 10 (28%) indicators had not achieve the cumulative end of year target, although 1 (3%) of the KPIs performed within the agreed tolerance for the indicator.

The Senior Performance Improvement Officer advised the Cabinet Committee that the two KPIs within the Resources Directorate that had missed the end of year target were the (RES002) (Invoice Payments) and (RES001) (Sickness Absences). The corrective action proposed;

(a)  (RES002) - to review and improve processing times for invoices with the addition of correctly marking up of disputed invoices; and

(b)  (RES001) - HR were reporting figures monthly to Directors, with information on the trigger levels and processes to follow, which would then be reported to the appropriate Select Committee and Management Board.

The Committee was requested to note outturn performance for the 2014/15 set of KPIs.

Resolved:

(1)        That the Outturn Performance for the Key Performance Indicators for 2014/15 be adopted.

Reasons for Decisions:

The KPIs provide an opportunity for the Council to focus attention on how specific areas for improvement would be addressed, and how opportunities would be exploited and better outcomes delivered.

A number of KPIs were used as performance measures for the Council’s key objectives. It was important that relevant performance management processes were in place to review and monitor performance against the key objectives, to ensure their continued achievability and relevance, and to identify proposals for appropriate corrective action in areas of slippage or under performance.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

No other options were appropriate in this respect. Failure to review and monitor performance could mean that opportunities for improvement were lost and might have had negative implications for judgements made about the progress of the Council.