Strategic Performance Framework - latest performance results for Business and Digital
North Lanarkshire Council · 1 March 2023
Back to Finance and Resources Committee — 1 March 2023 and its agenda
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref KH/SL Date 01/03/23 Strategic Performance Framework - latest performance results for Business and Digital From Katrina Hassell Chief Officer (Business and Digital) E-mail HassellK@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07903 096 121 Executive Summary Business and Digital comprises two areas of activity that work corporately across the council: • Technology Strategy Solutions, who are responsible for the live delivery and operational management of technology solutions required to support services and schools in delivering front line day to day operations and in progressing activities which facilitate delivery of the council’s strategic place-based ambition. A key aspect of this area of activity is also the development of the technology estate, its solutions, and integrations with third party suppliers. • Business Strategy, who are responsible for driving business change, improvement, and service redesign in order to provide efficient and effective services in line with the council’s, and the North Lanarkshire Partnership’s, strategic aims and plans. This area of activity also includes measuring success against The Plan for North Lanarkshire and ensuring the established frameworks and supporting governance remains relevant and up to date. Business and Digital maintains a range of performance indicators which are monitored in various ways, including subject matter specific monthly review meetings as well as quarterly business management meeting discussions. These meetings make use of the evidence base provided by the performance results to inform discussions around the best use of resources and decide priorities in this respect, as well as to highlight areas requiring improvement. The service’s four weekly risk management meetings also consider the impact of performance achieved within critical areas of the service. For strategic overview and scrutiny purposes, this report provides Members of the Finance and Resources Committee with an update of the latest results for the suite of performance indicators used by Business and Digital to inform service delivery and underpin operational decisions. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Review the high-level performance overview presented in Appendix 1, and the supporting data contained within the linked Excel spreadsheet, and identify where further information is required to understand or investigate performance further.
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1. Background 1.1 There are six inter-related strategic frameworks which are key to assessing the success of The Plan for North Lanarkshire and monitoring delivery towards achieving the overall vision by ensuring each stage is appropriately planned, guided, implemented, and governed. 1.2 The six frameworks focus on ensuring a corporate one council approach in respect of Policy, Governance, Performance, Self-Evaluation, Project Management, and Demonstrating Improved Outcomes for Communities. 1.3 The Strategic Performance Framework comprises performance measurement at three levels (as per the diagram on the right). This aims to collectively provide an overview of performance to help understand the impact of council activities on improving services and outcomes for the people and communities of North Lanarkshire. The measures in this Framework allow for day to day activities, and progress towards achieving the long-term vision set out in The Plan for North Lanarkshire, to be regularly monitored, reported, assessed, and scrutinised. 1.4 The Strategic Performance Framework is aligned to the Accounts Commission statutory direction which places a requirement on councils to report a range of information in terms of (1) improving local services and outcomes, and (2) demonstrating Best Value. Key points of note in this respect are that the Accounts Commission also expect to see: (a) A balance in reporting areas of improvement that have been achieved and not achieved. (b) Reporting that is undertaken in a timely manner. (c) Easy access to performance information for all citizens and communities. 1.5 A Performance Reporting Schedule supports the timely submission of a range of performance information that facilitates Elected Members and senior management to undertake regular performance reviews that inform scrutiny, challenge, and decision making processes. This Schedule, endorsed by the Audit and Scrutiny Panel in February 2023, includes Chief Officer’s individual six monthly Performance Reviews at Service Committees in line with the Strategic Performance Framework. 1.6 This report therefore presents the Finance and Resources with the latest performance results for Business and Digital for Members’ further review and scrutiny. 2. Strategic Performance Framework Finance and Resources Committee responsibilities 2.1 In line with the terms of reference outlined in the Scheme of Administration, the Finance The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement All ambition statements
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and Resources Committee is responsible for monitoring and reviewing performance information for the following Ambition Statements from The Plan for North Lanarkshire: 18. Ensure our digital transformation is responsive to all people’s needs and enables access to the services they need. 24. Review and design services around people, communities, and shared resources. 25. Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning. 2.2 The high-level performance overview in Appendix 1 presents Members with a summary of the latest results for each performance indicator within the remit of the Chief Officer (Business and Digital). 2.3 The information in Appendix 1 comprises the following: • An ideal direction arrow - this indicates whether a higher or lower figure is the preferred direction of travel. • Measurement unit - for example whether the result is a %, a number, a unit cost (in £), or a ratio. • Performance results for the last four financial years (depending on availability of data) along with the latest year’s target and corresponding RAG status (for indicators where it is appropriate to set targets). • The most recent monthly or quarterly results, along with the corresponding target and RAG status. Note the inclusion of this information is dependent on the measurement frequency of the indicator and availability of data as at the time of reporting. • A trend graph - this captures the direction of travel achieved over the four financial years and includes the most recent monthly or quarterly results where available. • Comments - narrative summarising the current position and providing an explanation for any significant variations in performance. Where applicable, this narrative also highlights the effect of the pandemic on service delivery, e.g. any increase or decrease in the volume of transactions or enquiries processed. 2.4 A large volume of data supports the high-level performance overview in Appendix 1. This is outlined in the latest performance results for Business and Digital Excel spreadsheet which is available through the following link for Members to carry out a deep dive and review and scrutinise each performance indicator further. The Menu on the second tab of the spreadsheet contains built in hyperlinks that automatically take the user to a tab for each performance indicator and therefore provides a useful navigation aid to review the contents of the file. • Latest performance results for Business and Digital.xlsx Current context 2.5 The service’s operating environment has changed significantly in recent years and, as such, the performance information presented in Appendix 1 should be considered within the context of the following: A higher figure is better A lower figure is better Key to RAG status Performance is on target and/or within acceptable thresholds Performance does not meet target and is outwith acceptable thresholds Performance surpasses the target and exceeds expectations
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• The extent to which the service has supported the council in terms of responding to and recovering from the pandemic over the last two years, while resuming business as usual activities at pace. • The changing structure required following approval to insource those services previously outsourced to Wipro (supplier of the ICT service delivery contract), the alignment of service provision following the insourcing of culture, sport, and leisure services (previously delivered through Culture and Leisure NL Limited), and the final steps in the integration of the schools’ technician’s service. • Service specific advancements in terms of the procurement of the Connectivity project in December 2021. • The end of the contract with Agilisys in April 2022 and the ensuing significantly reduced resource available going into 2022/23. • The direction set for the service in the DigitalNL - Year 4 Roadmap report submitted to the Policy and Strategy Committee in September 2022 and the follow up DigitalNL - Next Steps report approved in December 2022. • The development of the Business and Digital Integrated Programme Plan which aims to capture all areas of activity across the service and serve as a guide to support resource planning and operational delivery, as well as the relevant project management and governance controls. Recent performance highlights 2.6 An area of performance which continues to improve on the target (as shown in Appendix 1) is the number of occasions in a month that a priority service (P1) has not been available to users. This continues to show a year on year decrease with 2021/22 and 2022/23 figures to date reflecting a range of targeted work which includes increasing IT infrastructure resiliency, the initial move to home working having a greater but more specific focus on the infrastructure delivering remote working, insourcing of the Wipro service which has led to more accurate recording of P1 incidents, and the removal of legacy systems and many legacy features which restrict the council’s further adoption of cloud. Areas of performance requiring improvement 2.7 An area of activity being kept under review is that in relation to service desk incidents resolved within target. Following the insourcing of Wipro, this indicator was changed to capture all severity level 3 tickets regardless of who resolves them in order to provide a more complete and accurate picture of all incidents that require to be resourced by the service. This has increased the volume of incidents recorded within this indicator and additional information is being analysed monthly in terms of which teams tickets are assigned to, how long tickets remain open, and any recurring issues in this respect. This analytical approach needs to be balanced against the ability to prioritise workloads across the whole service, as opposed to the previous contractually driven model. This allows for a more agile and responsive approach to be taken, balancing development, maintenance, and operational activities. The decision was taken to maintain existing baseline Service Levels Agreement targets; however it is expected these will be adjusted moving forward once a clear picture is available. Managing this workload is also undertaken in tandem with infrastructure developments across the service which, although improvements in the longer term, can often result in an initial backlog of issues which require to be resolved in order to ensure a successful transition to a new approach (e.g. the removal of the extra sign on step when using AnyConnect for remote working). This complete analysis is building up a picture to
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help understand demand and thereby allocate resources accordingly and set a realistic target moving forward; a further update in this respect will be provided in the next six monthly performance report to Committee. 2.8 The complaints handling ratio is also currently under review to ensure that the council continues to be proactive in responding to all routine complaints at the frontline at stage 1 (in line with the national local authority model Complaints Handling Procedure). Historical figures in this respect show that the council has consistently responded to 9 out of 10 complaints received at stage 1. The implementation of the new Dynamics complaints system, combined with a significant increase in the volume of complaints received, has impacted on the figures shown for 2021/22 and further analysis is currently underway to identify the root cause and the actions that need to be implemented to improve this ratio moving forward. Next steps 2.9 As noted in paragraph 1.5, the Strategic Performance Framework is supported by a Performance Reporting Schedule. This sets out the arrangements for service, statutory, and Strategic Performance Framework reporting to committee. In this respect the relevant Committee can expect to receive the following in respect of Business and Digital areas of work during 2023/24. Report Description Committee Committee cycle Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) annual report This report provides an update relating to the responsibilities of North Lanarkshire Council’s Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) and outlines activity and performance related to information governance. It provides assurances that information risks are being effectively managed, what is going well, and where improvements can be made. It complements the data protection annual report by the council’s Data Protection Officer (DPO). Audit and Scrutiny Panel Cycle 1 in 2023 North Lanarkshire Community Planning Partnership - annual report The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 introduced a range of new requirements on local authorities and community planning partners to empower and strengthen community involvement in the design, planning, and delivery of local services. The statutory duty of community planning requires all public sector agencies to work collaboratively in agreeing both strategic and local priorities for their areas to improve outcomes and address poverty and inequalities. Community Planning Partnerships must also annually review and report on their progress. Communities Committee Cycle 1 in 2023 3. Measures of success 3.1 Measures of success include: • Regular oversight and monitoring of performance across the organisation to gain assurances in terms of governance and accountability. • Regular review and challenge processes to scrutinise the performance of the
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council to ensure effective use of resources and that resources are directed in accordance with agreed policy and according to priorities, while ensuring sound decision making and clear accountability for the use of resources in achieving improved outcomes for service users and the local community. • Performance monitoring, management, and reporting arrangements that support the demonstration of improved performance in local services and outcomes, and the delivery of Best Value. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 - High-level performance overview Chief Officer (Business and Digital) 5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Improvements in the presentation of performance information to various audiences is being advanced further in line with the development of the DigitalNL work package for the Business Intelligence Hub. Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? The implementation of the Strategic Performance Framework, and Member’s scrutiny of individual services therein, contributes towards the mitigation of the risks on the Corporate Risk Register for Governance, Leadership, and Decision Making and Managing Strategic Change. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.
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Appendix 1 Business and Digital High-level performance overview - as at January 2023
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