Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director of Strategy and Resources (copy enclosed).

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Strategy and Resources 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 2023 – 2027. Appendix 1 to the report provided an overview of performance as at the end of Quarter 1 (Q1) (April 2023- June 2023).

The Chairman introduced the report and deferred to the Assistant Director, Programmes, Performance and Governance (Assistant Director, PPG) to present the detail. She advised the Committee that following a new Corporate Plan for Maldon adopted on 22 February 2023, this was the first presentation of the rebuild of the corporate performance reporting to reflect new key performance indicators (KPIs) that had been mapped to delivery. Some of the performance indicators were under development and the Specialist: Performance had worked hard to complete this rebuild for Q1 reporting, to adhere to the Performance, Governance and Audit (PGA) reporting cycle. It was noted that the new build was informed by the feedback received from the Committee Member Workshop in June 2023.

The data covered quarter one, April- June 2023 and section 3.1 of the covering report highlighted the high level view for each corporate priority. At this stage, work for all priorities was broadly on track, but there were conditional elements currently flagging in:

·                  Supporting our communities

·                  Enhancing and connecting the place

·                  Smarter finances

The full set of KPI data was set out at appendix 1, which informed the priority views.

The Chairperson moved the recommendations, seconded by Councillor Thompson, and opened the debate. Prior to any issues raised Councillor Stilts commended staff on the clear presentation and colour coding of the performance data which was accessible to all, this was echoed by Councillor Stamp. She further expressed thanks to Ms Cable and Ms Corless for the work on the ‘Walking Festival’ project and this was echoed by the Chairperson. 

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

• That data was available for all categories of calls, including those abandoned calls where the caller had ended the call without a response. It was noted that this may not necessarily be because of the wait but that the pre-recorded information available may have answered the query. The data covering this area would be circulated outside of the meeting.

• That the Youth Engagement Programme was being run in partnership with Essex Youth Service with a launch date of October 2023 delivered on a bi-monthly basis. The programme was open to all students with activities including Volunteering, Community Safety, Climate Change and running community events with the support of Essex Youth Service. The end goal was to create the Maldon District Youth Forum to provide a vehicle for young people to have their say.

It was noted that the Essex Forum Youth Strategy Group was now defunct, this had high levels of youth engagement and it was hoped the new programme would attract similar interest. It was further hoped that these activities would engage hard to reach youth and not just be located in a school environment. At this point Councillor Stamp declared an interest as an Essex County Councillor and advised that she was currently engaged with other county councillors in developing a package of support for the district to deliver and fund urgent subjects around knife crime etc. and were also looking at delivering programmes to younger age groups.

It was agreed that details on the inclusive offer in relation to the Youth Engagement Programme would be circulated outside of the meeting.

There being no further issues raised the Chairperson put the recommendations to the Committee and they were agreed by assent.

RESOLVED:

(i)               That Members reviewed the information as set out in this report and appendix 1 with priority focus given to the Strategic Priority level performance.

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