Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Strategy, Performance and Governance (copy enclosed).

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Strategy, Performance and Governance that required the Committee to undertake a quarterly review of the Thematic Strategies performance, as assurance that performance was being managed effectively to achieve the corporate outcomes as set out in the Council’s Corporate Plan 2021 - 2023, and for recommended changes and improvements to be reported to the Strategy and Resources Committee in January 2022. Appendix 1 to the report provided an overview of performance as of the end of Quarter 1 (April - June 2021).

The Chairman introduced the report and deferred to the Programmes, Performance and Governance Manager to present the detail. She took the Committee through the first Corporate Performance report since the refreshed Corporate Plan was approved by Council in February 2021. The report covered quarter one, which was April- June 2021. This meant that the corporate performance measures for some of the themes had been updated to align to the new outcomes the Council was seeking to achieve, and some of the data collection for these was still in development. The rationale for this was set out in section 3.5 of the report.

Whilst the three theme areas were broadly on track, it was expected that the impact of Covid would still be seen within the performance reporting throughout the year, for example around business benefits and tourism together with school events.  

The Committee’s attention was drawn to section 3.4 in the report that highlighted the  only performance indicator annotated ‘at Risk’, namely, the ‘Five Year Housing Land Supply’ (5YHLS) under the Place Thematic Strategy, and at Section 3.5 those new performance indicators introduced as a result of the refresh that were awaiting data.

The Chairman then moved the recommendations in the report and they were seconded by Councillor Fleming.

In response to issues raised Officers provided the following information:-

·        That the call for sites commenced in April with a deadline of 23 June 2021, 180 sites were due to be reported to Strategy & Resources Committee. The next round of data on the 5YHLS was due in quarter 3 but in the meantime the council had commenced a number of actions to restore the supply including:- the review which will allocate more land; liaison with Parish Councils to prepare Neighbourhood Plans thus boosting local supply; creating relationships with developers to understand the pace of expected delivery etc.

·        That the Action Plan comprised the need to approve plans for housing at a greater rate than at present.

·        That where it states ‘Awaiting Data’ on the appendix this applied to new measures as a result of the Corporate Plan refresh. An example was fly-tipping where information was being sought on officer costs per clearance. That going forward ‘awaited’ or ‘missing data’ would be explained on the Appendix itself as well as in the covering report.

·        That business engagement had been delayed due to staffing issues, however, the number of businesses now engaged in Sense of Place was at 24% equating to 774 businesses. That support for businesses included initiatives like ‘Click it Local/Keep it Local’, training support, recovery activities etc.

·        That the work with Schools in supporting students with mental health issues had been disrupted due to Covid. The Community Lead Officer was now working on a strategy to support this area and data will be available in the next quarter. It was noted that Maldon District Council does not directly fund school initiatives, it sources funding for support programmes and signposts the respective Schools.

·        That Officers would liaise with the Waste Management Team to progress the fly-tipping concerns.

·        That Business benefit through Tourism would be assessed following the results of the Essex Wide Survey.

·        That Intergenerational Projects delivery had been impeded by Covid and would be reported once up and running.

There being no further questions the Chairman put the duly seconded   recommendations to the Committee and they were agreed by assent.

RESOLVED

(i)            That Members reviewed the information as set out in the report and Appendix 1 with priority focus given to the Strategic Outcome level performance;

(ii)           That Members confirmed they were assured through this review that corporate performance was being managed effectively.