Agenda Document Pack - Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum - 01/04/2025
South Lanarkshire Council · 1 April 2025
Back to Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum — 1 April 2025 and its agenda
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Council Offices, Almada Street Hamilton, ML3 0AA Monday, 24 March 2025 Dear Councillor Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum The Members listed below are requested to attend a meeting of the above Forum to be held as follows:- Date: Tuesday, 01 April 2025 Time: 14:00 Venue: Hybrid - Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton, ML3 0AA The business to be considered at the meeting is listed overleaf. Yours sincerely Paul Manning Chief Executive Members Joe Fagan (Chair), Gerry Convery (Depute Chair), John Anderson, Maureen Chalmers, Maureen Devlin, Richard Lockhart, Katy Loudon, Davie McLachlan, Kirsten Robb, John Ross Substitutes Andrea Cowan, Gladys Ferguson-Miller, Martin Hose, Eileen Logan, Margaret B Walker 1
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BUSINESS 1 Declaration of Interests 2 Minutes of Previous Meeting Minutes of the meeting of the Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum held on 4 February 2025 submitted for approval as a correct record. (Copy attached) 3 - 6 Item(s) for Consideration 3 Local Government Benchmarking Framework - 2023/2024 Results and Action Plan Report dated 24 February 2025 by the Chief Executive. (Copy attached) 7 - 52 4 Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 Report dated 4 March 2025 by the Chief Executive. (Copy attached) 53 - 64 5 Accounts Commission's New Approach to the Audit of Best Value – Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Fife, East Renfrewshire Report dated 5 March 2025 by the Chief Executive. (Copy attached) 65 - 72 6 Transformational Reviews - Update Report dated 4 March 2025 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 73 - 82 7 Third Sector Partnership Review Report dated 12 March 2025 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources). (Copy attached) 83 - 92 Urgent Business 8 Urgent Business Any other items of business which the Chair decides are urgent. For further information, please contact:- Clerk Name: Tracy Slater Clerk Telephone: 07385 370 089 Clerk Email: tracy.slater@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 2
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PERFORMANCE AND REVIEW SCRUTINY FORUM Minutes of meeting held via Confero and in Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton on 4 February 2025 Chair: Councillor Joe Fagan Councillors Present: Councillor John Anderson, Councillor Maureen Chalmers, Councillor Gerry Convery (Depute), Councillor Maureen Devlin, Councillor Richard Lockhart, Councillor Katy Loudon, Councillor Davie McLachlan, Councillor Kirsten Robb Councillor’s Apology: Councillor John Ross Attending: Chief Executive’s Service T Little, Head of Communications and Strategy; L Marshall, Finance Adviser; N Reid, Improvement and Community Planning Manager Finance and Corporate Resources J Taylor, Executive Director; A Norris, Administration Assistant; T Slater, Administration Adviser Housing and Technical Resources S Gibson, Executive Director 1 Declaration of Interests No interests were declared. 2 Minutes of Previous Meeting The minutes of the meeting of the Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum held on 19 November 2024 were submitted for approval as a correct record. The Forum decided: that the minutes be approved as a correct record. 3 Audit Scotland Report: ‘Delivering for the future – why leadership matters’ A report dated 5 December 2024 by the Chief Executive was submitted providing a summary of the Audit Scotland report ‘Delivering for the future – why leadership matters’ published in July 2024 on behalf of the Accounts Commission. The audit of Best Value was now integrated into the annual financial audit and, as part of this, auditors were asked to report on a specific thematic issue chosen each year by the Accounts Commission, recognising the risks and challenges councils faced. This theme was ‘Leadership of the development of new strategic priorities’. Information was provided on the findings of the Accounts Commission following its analysis, and improvement actions identified by auditors. Overall, auditors had concluded that councils had set a clear vision and priorities following the local government elections and that ensuring they had the detailed plans to support delivery, effective collaborative working relationships to enable tough decisions and clear performance reporting to support effective scrutiny was key to ensuring the sector could respond to the challenges ahead. 2 3
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South Lanarkshire Council’s position for each of the actions was outlined in the report. The Forum decided: that the key findings, as outlined in the report, be noted. 4 Accounts Commission’s New Approach to the Audit of Best Value – City of Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire and Scottish Borders Councils A report dated 7 January 2025 by the Chief Executive was submitted on the key messages and recommendations from recent reports published under the Accounts Commission’s new approach to auditing Best Value. Towards the end of 2023, the Accounts Commission introduced a new approach to the Audit of Best Value to replace the Best Value Assurance Report (BVAR) arrangements which had run from 2018 to 2023. The approach consisted of brief Controller of Audit (CoA) reports accompanied by, and reflecting on, published annual audit reports. These CoA reports were considered by the Commission in public and reported publicly. Information was provided on the findings and key messages from the recent CoA reports on the following 3 councils:- City of Edinburgh Council Clackmannanshire Council Scottish Borders Council The Forum decided: that the report be noted. 5 Transformational Reviews – Update A report dated 7 January 2025 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) was submitted providing an update on the Transformational Reviews that were part of the Council’s Transformational Change Programme for the year 2025/2026 and beyond. At its meeting on 26 June 2024, the Council’s Executive Committee noted the Transformational Change Programme that was required to drive continuous improvement and efficiencies, and link into the Budget Strategy over the next 3 years. Updates had been provided to previous meetings of the Forum. This report provided a further update and included cross-cutting reviews and Resource specific transformational reviews, to identify savings in the year 2026/2027 and beyond. Information was provided on the following Transformational Reviews:- Charging Procurement Overtime Organisational and Management Structure Loans Fund Fleet Digital Transformation Customer Engagement Property Depot Rationalisation 4
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Third Sector Review Factoring In-house and procured services A Terms of Reference for the review of the Factoring Service was attached as Appendix 1 to the report. The Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) responded to a member’s question in relation to the comparative costs between the use of electric and more conventional vehicles, advising that it was a balanced position and the Council had obligations around moving to electric vehicles. The Forum decided: that the update on Transformational Reviews be noted. [Reference: Minutes of 19 November 2024 (Paragraph 6) and Minutes of the Executive Committee of 26 June 2024 (Paragraph 9)] 6 Transformational Reviews – Forward Reporting Programme A report dated 10 January 2025 by the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) was submitted providing an update on the forward reporting programme of Transformational Reviews. As part of the ongoing Transformational Change Programme for the year 2025/2026, a list of items proposed for consideration at subsequent meetings of this Forum had been prepared. The outline forward programme to 25 November 2025 was attached as Appendix 1 to the report. In response to a member’s request, the Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) agreed to take forward the request for a review of grass cutting, grounds and weed killing for next year’s budget setting process, highlighting that timescales would need to be checked to ensure this was achievable within the timeframe required. The Forum decided: that the outline forward programme to 25 November 2025 be noted. 7 Urgent Business There were no items of urgent business. 5
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Report Agenda Item To: Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum Date: 1 April 2025 Prepared by: Chief Executive Subject: Local Government Benchmarking Framework - 2023/2024 Results and Action Plan 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of this report is to:- provide the Forum with the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) results for 2023/2024 provide the Forum with explanatory narrative for the suite of indicators, including the proposed actions, where appropriate, being taken to address those LGBF indicators where the results are declining and/or are below the Scottish average provide a family group analysis of those LGBF indicators where South Lanarkshire Council’s result is below the Scottish average 2. Recommendations 2.1. The Forum is asked to approve the following recommendations:- (1) that the importance of viewing LGBF measures in the local context, as detailed in paragraph 4 of the report, be noted; (2) that the results, narrative, actions and family group analysis included, following the scrutiny of the 2023/2024 results, be noted; and (3) that the arrangements for the publication of South Lanarkshire Council’s results, in accordance with statutory requirements, be noted. 3. Background 3.1. The core purpose of the LGBF is to make comparisons on spend/cost, performance and customer satisfaction results over several years and also between similar councils. It comprises a suite of performance indicators, collated under the following service headings:- Children’s Services Corporate Services (ie support services) Adult Social Care Culture and Leisure Services Environmental Services Housing Services Corporate Assets Economic Development Climate Change Financial Sustainability 3 7
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3.2. These headings represent approximately 70% of local authority spend. 3.3. Publication of the LGBF results is a statutory requirement set out by the Accounts Commission in the Direction to local authorities as required by the Local Government Act 1992. It is seen as a key part of councils’ commitment to Best Value, public performance reporting (PPR) and continuous improvement. 3.4. This report presents the 2023/2024 LGBF results (on a Service by Service basis) and sets out commentary and improvement actions against those indicators. Of particular interest in terms of continuous improvement are those indicators which are declining and/or falling below the Scottish average. The steps and actions identified in the report will not necessarily show immediate improvements - many are long term plans. 4. Interpreting the LGBF Results: Limitations and Cautions 4.1. Although the LGBF results are available for all councils in Scotland – and therefore can be used to construct council league tables – the Local Government Improvement Service cautions against this approach, emphasising that the purpose of the data is to act as a ‘can-opener’ for discussions about performance and improvement in the context of specific services, taking into account geography, demographics and local council priorities. 4.2. Within this report, South Lanarkshire’s performance trend for the past 3 years is provided, together with the most recent year’s performance relative to the Scottish average. As with the LGBF as a whole, these summary figures are intended to frame a closer examination of the underlying data and context for specific indicators. For this reason, it is necessary to pay close attention to the narrative against each indicator (provided in Appendix 1) when forming a judgement about what the performance means in a South Lanarkshire context. 4.3. All statistics require, for correct interpretation, a knowledge of potential limitations. In particular, the following specific points should be borne in mind when reviewing the LGBF results: Local policy decisions can impact on the LGBF results and interpretation of the data. This is particularly true for cost indicators in the LGBF suite, where lower costs are generally equated with good performance. In these instances, where the Council has opted to invest resources (for example in roads maintenance or in the school estate), costs will appear higher than the Scottish average or for comparable councils, and performance may be assessed as ‘worse’. A number of satisfaction measures within the LGBF are derived from the Scottish Household Survey (SHS). There are important limitations to this data – which the Council has highlighted for several years now. First, the number sampled is very small relative to the population – in 2019, interviews were carried out with 423 adults in South Lanarkshire, equating to less than 0.2% of the adult population. Second, survey respondents are asked how satisfied they are with services even if they have not used the service in question. Third, for these indicators, the Council conducts its own surveys of service users so that it can closely monitor and respond to user experiences. These surveys – of people who have used the services – invariably rate the services more highly than the SHS. (the results of the SHS telephone survey are not directly comparable to SHS results for previous years. This is due to a reduced sample size and a change in methodology due to the Covid-19 pandemic.) 8
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The figures within the LGBF are the result of a wide range of service provision models and data collection processes carried out in each of Scotland’s 32 councils. While the LGBF endeavours to achieve high standards of completeness and consistency, there are inevitably differences between councils and between indicators in terms of what is counted and how it translates into LGBF performance. 4.4. These points are not intended to undermine the LGBF results. Rather they serve to emphasise the importance of looking individually at each service and each indicator to understand the local drivers and determinants of performance. 4.5. The Improvement Service published a new Guidance document to assist Elected Members in Understanding and using the LGBF to help promote a culture of driving improvement. 5. Results and Key Messages 5.1. The report attached as Appendix 1 summarises the recent results for South Lanarkshire Council, indicating whether performance in 2023/2024 has improved (↑) or declined (↓) compared with 2022/2023 results, and if performance is better () or worse (X) than the Scottish average in 2023/2024. It also includes explanatory narrative for the movements in performance between 2022/2023 and 2023/2024. 5.2. The table below summarises South Lanarkshire Council’s performance: Table 1 – Summary of performance of LGBF Results (as at 6 Feb 2025) KEY: Number (%) of indicators 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 South Lanarkshire performance ↑ improving performance in SLC 39 (39%) 53 (52%) 41 (40%) ↓ declining performance in SLC 53 (54%) 36 (35%) 34 (33%) ↔ No change in performance in SLC 3 (3%) 4 (4%) 5 (5%) --- Results/trends not available 4 (4%) 9 (9%) 22 (22%) Comparison with Scottish average ✓ SLC results better than Scottish average 50 (51%) 51 (50%) 44 (43%) X SLC results worse than Scottish average 43 (43%) 40 (39%) 34 (33%) ↔ SLC results same as Scottish average 2 (2%) 2 (2%) 2 (2%) -- Results not available 4 (4%) 9 (9%) 22 (22%) 2021/22 updates results as at 29 Nov 2023 2022/23 results as at August 2024 update 2023/24 results as at 08 January 2025 (06.02.25) 5.3. Across the 102 indicators in the 2023/2024 suite, South Lanarkshire Council’s performance improved against 41 (40%) indicators, remained the same against 5 (5%) indicators, and declined for 34 (33%) indicators. There are 22 (22%) indicators for which the results or trend information is not yet available for 2023/2024, including tackling climate change, looked after children, educational attainment and attendance/exclusions. It is hoped that these results will be available when the 2023/2024 data is refreshed over the coming months. 9
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5.4. In terms of South Lanarkshire’s figures relative to the Scottish results, performance was better than the Scottish average for 44 (43%) indicators and was worse than the average for 34 (33%) indicators. There are 22 (22%) indicators for which the 2023/2024 results are not yet available. 5.5. Following an Audit Scotland recommendation, the Forum (at their meeting on 26 November 2019) agreed to introduce a family group analysis in the annual reporting of the Council’s LGBF results. The family group analysis focuses on those indicators where the Council is performing worse than the Scottish average. Based on the 2023/2024 results, this relates to 34 (33%) indicators. This analysis is attached at Appendix 2. 6. Publication of the Data 6.1. The 2023/2024 data has been shared on the Local Government Improvement Service interactive LGBF Dashboard - Explore the data. The Local Government Improvement Service is due to publish their national overview report in March/April 2025, which provides a high-level analysis of performance both during 2023/2024 and over the longer term. It also sets out the key messages, trends and results from across Scotland as a whole and the challenges facing councils in the context of current funding pressures, growing demand and the cost of living crisis. 6.2. At a local level each council is required to publish its own results at the same time as the official publication by the Local Government Improvement Service. As in previous years the LGBF results information for South Lanarkshire Council will be uploaded on to the Council’s website, together with contextual information about and explaining the indicators. In addition South Lanarkshire’s LGBF Dashboard will be updated for the 2023/2024 results and commentaries. 7. Next Steps 7.1. The actions identified in the comments column in Appendix 1 will be taken forward. 7.2. As noted at 6.1 above, these results are to be considered final, however a refresh of the data is scheduled over the coming months following completion of the Scottish Government final validation process on the financial data, and to allow inclusion of the as yet unavailable results. An updated 2023/2024 results report will be prepared in 6 months’ time, and following approval, will be uploaded onto the Council’s website. A similar update will be made at this time to South Lanarkshire’s LGBF Dashboard. 7.3. The Local Government Improvement Service organise annual benchmarking events, in which colleagues from specific services representing all local authorities are invited to attend, to come together to learn and share good practice for their particular area of operation. The Local Government Improvement Service align these events with existing networks/forum wherever possible, minimising duplication of discussions and bringing together relevant expertise. Following a break due to the Covid crisis in 2020, these events resumed via Teams during 2021. This has proved to be a popular move away from the in person events with more interested ‘performance’ officers able to attend from across Scotland. In South Lanarkshire Council where officers were unable to attend, learning materials from the events can be accessed on the Knowledge Hub. 8. Employee Implications 8.1. There are no employee implications. 10
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9. Financial Implications 9.1. There are no direct financial implications arising from this report. To further the work of the Local Government Improvement Service in relation to the LGBF, each Scottish local authority is requested to make a £3,783 annual contribution for the three year period: 2024/2025 to 2026/2027. This is to be met from within existing budgets. 10. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 10.1. There are no climate change, sustainability or environmental implications as a result of this report. 11. Other Implications 11.1. There are no risk or other implications associated with the content of this report. 12. Integrated Impact Assessment and Consultation Requirements 12.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 12.2. There is also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Chief Executive 24 February 2025 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, effective, efficient and transparent Ambitious, self-aware and improving Previous References None List of Background Papers LGBF results 2023/2024 Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Tom Little, Head of Communications and Strategy Extension: 845 4904 (Tel: 01698 454904) Email: tom.little@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 11
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress Children's Services CHN01 Cost per primary school pupil £6,589.00 £7,364.00 £7,363.00 £7,183.00 The cost per primary school pupil has remained nearly the same as in 2023/24, staying below the Scotland average and aligning with the family group median. Cost per pupil focuses solely on financial expenditure and does not account for the quality of education or pupil outcomes in attainment and achievement: see results for indicators below – CHN10,CHN12a, CHN13, CHN14. South Lanarkshire Council’s (SLC) expenditure is strategically aimed at ensuring that our investment in education supports the delivery of high-quality learning experiences and environments for all pupils across South Lanarkshire at every educational level. CHN02 Cost per secondary school pupil £8,230.00 £8,755.00 £8,799.00 £8,936.00 The cost per secondary school pupil in South Lanarkshire has increased, aligning with the family group median but remaining below the Scottish average. This rise is due to several factors, including ongoing investment in the secondary school estate, costs related to our PPP contract commitments, teachers’ salaries and pay awards, and council investments in staffing to support the wellbeing and digital inclusion of children and young people. Cost per pupil focuses solely on financial expenditure and does not account for the quality of education or pupil outcomes in attainment and achievement: see results for indicators below – CHN10,CHN12a, CHN13, CHN14. South Lanarkshire Council’s (SLC) expenditure is strategically aimed at ensuring that our investment in education supports the delivery of high-quality learning experiences and environments for all pupils across South Lanarkshire at every educational level. CHN03 Cost per pre-school education place £10,595.00 £11,177.00 £11,315.00 £11,630.00 The cost per pre-school education place has increased due, in part, to salaries and pay awards. The result remains below the Scottish average. CHN04 Percentage of pupils gaining 5+ awards at level 5 71.0% 70.0% ------ ------ CHN05 Percentage of pupils gaining 5 or more awards at level 6 41.0% 40.0% ------ ------ CHN06 Percentage of pupils 52.0% 52.0% ------ ------ Appendix 1 3 13
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress from deprived areas gaining 5 or more awards at level 5 CHN07 Percentage of pupils from deprived areas gaining 5 or more awards at level 6 21.0% 25.0% ------ ------ CHN08a The gross cost of "Children Looked After" in residential based services per child per week £3,860.00 £4,477.00 ------ ------ CHN08b The gross cost of "Children Looked After" in a community setting per child per week £307.00 £360.00 ------ ------ CHN09 Percentage of children being looked after in the community 90.40% 89.50% ------ ------ CHN10 Percentage of Adults satisfied with local schools 74.70% 72.00% 72.00% 70.70% It is essential to capture some aspect of the quality of children’s services through the opinions of service users. Currently, the only data comparable across all 32 Scottish councils is derived from the Scottish Household Survey. The average satisfaction levels in South Lanarkshire remains consistently higher than the national average. CHN11 Percentage of pupils entering positive destinations 96.2% 96.9% ------ ------ The percentage of pupils entering positive destinations in South Lanarkshire remains consistently higher than both the National Average and the Family Median. CHN12a Overall Average Total Tariff 1,007 981 971 918 The overall tariff level in South Lanarkshire remains above the national level and aligns with the family median. The tariff scale measures the latest and best achievements in each subject area for national qualifications and a range of wider awards. Qualifications are awarded tariff points based on their Scottish Credit and Qualification Framework (SCQF) level. Average tariff scores are calculated from the latest and best achievements of pupils during the senior phase (S4-S6) across a range of awards 14
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress included in a national benchmarking tool. This provides a broader measure of achievement to consider alongside the narrower Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) attainment measures (CHN 4 to CHN 7). This measure can be influenced by national assessments models, curricular models and the selection of more appropriate routes to positive destinations for young people. CHN13a % of P1, 4, 7 pupils combined achieving expected Curriculum for Excellence Level in Literacy 71.0% 73.5% 74.6% 74.0% South Lanarkshire slightly exceeds both the national average and the family median. This metric measures the percentage of pupils in Primary 1, Primary 4, and Primary 7 who have achieved or surpassed the appropriate Curriculum for Excellence level in reading, writing, and listening & talking. The Curriculum for Excellence is designed to develop four key capacities in each child or young person: to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen, and an effective contributor. CHN13b % of P1, 4, 7 pupils combined achieving expected Curriculum for Excellence Level in Numeracy 79.0% 81.6% 81.5% 80.3% South Lanarkshire’s performance in numeracy is above the national average, though slightly lower than the previous year. This metric measures the percentage of pupils in Primary 1, Primary 4, and Primary 7 who have achieved or exceeded the appropriate Curriculum for Excellence level for their stage in numeracy. The Curriculum for Excellence is designed to develop four key capacities in each child or young person: to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen, and an effective contributor. CHN14a Literacy attainment gap P1,4,7 combined - % point gap between the least deprived and most deprived pupils 24.40% 22.30% 21.75% 20.23% Since 2021/22, the gap between the percentage of pupils in Primary 1, Primary 4, and Primary 7 who have achieved or exceeded the appropriate Curriculum for Excellence level in literacy, in the most and least deprived quintiles, has decreased across South Lanarkshire. The Curriculum for Excellence is designed to develop four key capacities in each child or young person: to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen, and an effective contributor. The Scottish Attainment Challenge aims to achieve equity in education by ensuring every child has the same opportunity to succeed, with a particular focus on closing the poverty-related attainment gap. CHN14b Numeracy attainment 18.60% 17.70% 17.38% 17.41% Since 2021/22, the gap in numeracy achievement between 15
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress gap P1,4,7 combined - % point gap between the least deprived and most deprived pupils pupils in Primary 1, Primary 4, and Primary 7 from the most and least deprived quintiles has decreased across South Lanarkshire. The Curriculum for Excellence is designed to develop four key capacities in each child or young person: to be a successful learner, a confident individual, a responsible citizen, and an effective contributor. The Scottish Attainment Challenge focuses on achieving equity in education by ensuring every child has the same opportunity to succeed, with a particular emphasis on closing the poverty-related attainment gap. CHN17 % of children meeting developmental milestones 80.80% 81.90% ------ ------ CHN18 % of funded early years provision which is graded good/better 88.55% 85.70% 94.40% 89.80% There has been a significant increase in the number of early years provisions received good or better inspection outcomes. The 2023/24 percentage is substantially higher than the national average. CHN19a School attendance rate ------ 90.10% 90.50% 90.30% The school attendance rate in South Lanarkshire has improved slightly in 2023-24 and is better than the Scottish average. (Results now collected annually) CHN19b School attendance rate - looked after children ------ 83.20% ------ ------ Results collected biennially - expected for 2024-25 CHN20a School exclusion rates (per 1,000 pupils) ------ 18.10 ------ ------ Results collected biennially - expected for 2024-25 CHN20b School exclusion rates (per 1,000 looked after children) ------ 146.00 ------ ------ Results collected biennially - expected for 2024-25 CHN21 Participation rate for 16-19 year olds 92.31% 93.30% 93.80% 92.70% A young person is deemed to be participating when they are actively engaged with an organisation for the purpose of learning, training or work – work includes volunteering. This annual participation measure reports on the activity of the wider 16-19 year old cohort, including those at school. South Lanarkshire's performance continues to improve steadily and remains above the national average. CHN22 % of child protection re-registrations within 18 months 5.80% 8.50% ------ ------ 16
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress CHN23 % Looked After Children (LAC) with more than 1 placement in the last year (Aug-July) 15.60% 13.90% ------ ------ CHN24 Percentage of children living in poverty (After Housing Costs) 22.8% 23.6% ------ ------ Climate Change CLIM01 CO2 Emissions area wide per Capita 4.54 3.99 ------ ------ CLIM02 CO2 Emissions area wide: emissions within scope of Local Authority (LA) per Capita 3.73 3.26 ------ ------ CLIM03 Emissions from Transport per Capita (New) 18.82 23.34 ------ ------ CLIM04 Emissions from Electricity per Capita (New) 43.78 39.11 ------ ------ CLIM05 Emissions from Natural Gas per Capita (New) 74.14 73.49 ------ ------ Corporate Asset CORP -ASSET0 1 Percentage operational buildings that are suitable for their current use 94.73% 95.30% 95.60% 85.50% The result demonstrates an increase in performance of properties that support delivery of services in terms of suitability, a slight increase on the 2023 result. The result is better than the Scottish average. Continued implementation of the Council's Asset Management strategy and plans has resulted in a clear focus in optimising council buildings to ensure they are suitable. CORP -ASSET0 2 Percentage internal floor area of operational buildings in satisfactory condition 88.12% 88.90% 90.30% 89.80% The result indicates an increase in performance of properties that are in a satisfactory condition, an increase on the 2023 result. The result is better than the Scottish average. 17
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress Despite the current financial climate and reduced funding to Scottish Local Authorities, the figures show that, through programmes of Prioritised Capital Investment, Lifecycle Maintenance, Planned Preventative Maintenance and Rationalisation, performance remains positive for the majority of categories of property. Corporate Services CORP01 Support services as a percentage of total gross expenditure 3.87% 3.90% 4.10% 4.10% There has been a small increase in the cost of support as a percentage of total budget – this is a combination of an increase in support costs and an increase in the total budget. These result in an overall minor increase in the percentage. CORP03 b The percentage of the highest paid 5% employees who are women 56.71% 59.60% 62.30% 59.80% There has been an increase in the proportion of women in the top 5% earners in the council between 2022-23 and 2023-24. This is primarily due to an increase in the number of women appointed to posts within the authority. New appointments of woman during 2023-24 accounted for 62% of all appointments. We continue to work in line with our current policies and processes to ensure that our female employees at that top end (which can shift depending on where the 5% falls), are being progressed appropriately. Our picture is improving year on year and we need to keep a focus on that along with the work that we continue to do in line with our equalities duties. South Lanarkshire Council’s performance in 2023-24 was better than the Scottish average. Actions: We will continue to monitor Equal opportunities information and take action as required. CORP03 c The gender pay gap 4.00% 3.20% 2.70% 1.70% Performance has improved in 2023–24 through continued monitoring of pay and grading and taking appropriate action to address inconsistencies. This includes job evaluation exercises which have resulted in improved rates of pay for some female employee groups. South Lanarkshire Council’s pay gap is higher than the Scottish average. South Lanarkshire Council’s workforce can differ in makeup of other authorities; therefore this will produce different average pay gap results. For example, South Lanarkshire Council figures include large female groups such as facilities, 18
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress whilst other councils may deliver these services through Arms length organisations and therefore the make up of council employed staff may differ. Actions: We will continue to monitor gender pay gap information and act as required. We continue to plan and implement improvements in partnership with trade union representatives in line with the principles of ‘Delivering a fairer future’. CORP04 The cost per dwelling of collecting Council Tax £7.35 £6.72 £6.34 £5.89 The cost of collecting council tax per dwelling in 2023-24 has decreased compared to 2022-23 primarily due to an increase in Scottish Water commission. However, this is more expensive than the Scottish average with the use of e-billing by some councils likely to have reduced their cost of collection. Actions: We will continue to review opportunities to reduce the costs of collection. For 2025-26, this will focus on the costs of billing for council tax. CORP06 a Sickness absence days per teacher 7.24 7.40 8.00 7.60 The number of days lost due to sickness in 2023–24 has increased compared to the previous year, notably an increase in long term absences. Throughout the year, the absence rates were lower month on month than the previous year, apart from January and February, which both recorded an increase. South Lanarkshire Council’s performance has not improved against the Scottish average, however in the recently published SPi indicators, the Council overall ranking has improved from 20 to 17. Actions: There is a cross-council focus on improving absence levels. Case management discussions between managers and personnel ensure actions are being progressed appropriately. CORP06 b Sickness absence days per employee (non teacher) 12.98 13.90 14.40 13.90 The number of days lost due to sickness in 2023–24 has increased compared to the previous year, due to an increase in long term absences. Throughout the year, the absence rates were lower month on month than the previous year, apart from January and February, which both recorded an increase. 19
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress South Lanarkshire Council’s performance has not improved against the Scottish average, however in the recently published SPi indicators, the Council overall ranking has improved from 20 to 17. Actions: There is a cross-council focus on improving absence levels. Case management discussions between managers and personnel ensure actions are being progressed appropriately. CORP07 Percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of the year 96.19% 97.00% 96.40% 95.50% The percentage of income due from Council Tax in 2023-24 has decreased compared to 2022-23. In 2022-23 113,000 households received £150 credited to their council tax account, funded by Scottish Government, to help reduce the burden on them of paying council tax during the cost-of-living crisis. In effect council tax income was boosted by this one-off payment from many households who ordinarily would have had significant arrears. However, South Lanarkshire Council’s performance continues to be better than the Scottish average. Actions: Work to maximise council tax income collection will continue in 2024-25, utilising all available recovery methods CORP08 Percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days 92.94% 91.80% 94.20% 93.10% Invoice processing performance was in a positive position throughout 2023-24, with performance exceeding target and improving on the previous year’s performance. South Lanarkshire Council’s continues to perform better than the Scottish average. CORP09 % of Crisis Grant decisions within 1 day 99.00% 97.80% 100.00% 97.00% Improved processing performance in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23. South Lanarkshire Council continues to perform better than the Scottish average. Actions: Work will continue in 2024-25 to explore ways to improve processing times. CORP10 % of Community Care Grant (CCG) Grant Decisions within 15 days 97.50% 97.80% 96.50% 83.30% Although processing performance is slightly lower in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23, performance is still excellent and well above the Scottish average. Actions: Work will continue in 2024-25 to explore ways to improve processing times. CORP11 The percentage of Scottish Welfare Fund 181.57% 168.40% 131.80% 128.90% The decreased proportion of SWF expenditure in 2023-24 when compared to 2022-23 was due to the additional discretionary 20
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress (SWF) Budget Spent funding allocated by the Council to the SWF from the Local Authority Covid Economic Recovery (LACER) fund in 2022-23. This additional funding was not available in 2023/24 and therefore the SWF budget was substantially reduced. Actions: The administration of the SWF will continue to be monitored closely and reported on a regular basis to ensure effective financial management of the fund. CORP12 The percentage of Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) Funding Spend 101.94% 104.80% 109.00% 101.00% South Lanarkshire continues to spend the budget it receives with performance well above the Scottish average. Actions: The administration of DHP funding will continue to be monitored closely and reported on a regular basis to ensure effective financial management of the fund. Culture & Leisure Services C&L01 Cost per attendance at sports facilities £6.30 £4.75 £3.91 £4.33 In 2023/24, the cost per attendance at sports facilities is less than last year, and below (and therefore better than) the Scottish average. SLC currently ranks 17th across Scotland and fourth in the ‘family group’. Services continue to be operated under very challenging circumstances with reduced resources and aging facilities which require long-term investment, however high standards of service delivery continue to be provided, and attendances are increasing on the previous year. C&L02 Cost per library visit £5.07 £3.82 £3.32 £2.38 In 2023/24, the cost per library visit is lower than the previous year, however we remain slightly above (and therefore worse than) the Scottish average. SLC currently ranks 16th across Scotland and fifth in the ‘family group’. Work continues to operate and realign services to maximise use of available resources, with a steady increase in customers accessing digital services. A high level of service delivery continues to be provided, and overall attendances have increased on the previous year. C&L03 Cost of museums per visit £3.75 £2.61 £1.65 £3.50 Cost per museum visit is less than the previous year, and below (and therefore better than) the Scottish average. SLC currently ranks 6th across Scotland and second in the ‘family group’. Use of available resources continues to be maximised. With a steady increase in customer engagement through digital services, a high-quality service delivery continues to be provided, and attendance has increased overall on the previous year. 21
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress C&L04 Cost of parks and open spaces per 1,000 population £31,458 £32,304 £25,778 £23,338 In previous years, the costs of the following service areas have been recorded incorrectly in the LFR: golf courses, bowling greens, gravediggers, and the care of garden scheme. This has meant that the cost of parks and open spaces has been overstated in the past. This has been rectified for 2023/24 which as seen performance improve and ranking moving from 27th to 20th overall. The grounds service continues to operate a higher specification than other councils, particularly in relation to grass cutting. C&L05a Percentage of adults satisfied with libraries 67.30% 66.30% 69.00% 67.00% The satisfaction rate for adults satisfied with library services within South Lanarkshire is slightly higher than 2022/23 and above the Scottish average and above the ‘family grouping’ average. C&L05b Percentage of adults satisfied with parks and open spaces 83.00% 86.70% 86.30% 85.00% Satisfaction with parks and open spaces within South Lanarkshire remains above the Scottish average. C&L05c Percentage of adults satisfied with museums and galleries 65.70% 66.30% 70.70% 69.30% The satisfaction rate for adults satisfied with museum and galleries within South Lanarkshire is increasing and is above the Scottish average and above the ‘family grouping’ average. C&L05d Percentage of adults satisfied with leisure facilities 68.00% 69.70% 66.70% 67.00% The satisfaction rate with leisure facilities in South Lanarkshire is slightly lower than 2022/23, and slightly below the Scottish average. However in the context of the ‘family grouping’ South Lanarkshire sits above the group average. Residents completing the household survey may not be users of leisure facilities and are merely giving a perceived view, rather than based on actual experience. SLLC conducted a Customer Satisfaction Survey in 2023/24 to assess actual service delivery which focused on people who use leisure facilities that concluded staff were excellent, scoring 98% and gave an overall satisfaction rate of 94% (combined score for value for money/ cleanliness/ quality of services and equipment). Customers have consistently rated leisure services highly over several years. Economic Development ECON01 Percentage of 22.04% 12.90% 11.80% 12.10% The transformation review of employability has included the 22
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress unemployed people assisted into work from council funded/operated employability programmes roll-out of the Advice Pro client tracking system to all programmes for 2024/25. This new tracking system will ensure all job outcomes are reported accurately. The figure reported here for 2023/24 reflects the position before the use of Advice Pro client and as a result there may be some under-reporting of outcomes. Overall, the total number of jobs is anticipated to increase in 2024/25, and going forward this, combined with the more accurate reporting above, should result in an increase in the percentage of unemployed people assisted into work from council funded/operated employability programmes. ECON02 Cost of planning and building services per application £4,695.00 £5,710.00 £5,588.00 £6,675.00 This measure is calculated on the basis of the overall fee income for planning applications and building warrants divided by the total number of applications received by the council. The overall cost of planning and building services per application for SLC in 2023/24, is lower (and therefore better) compared to the previous year, is tenth lowest in Scotland and is lower (and therefore better) than the national average. Total income across the service fell during the year and there was also a reduction in the number of applications received. In addition, there continued to be a significant turnover in staff which meant the service was not fully resourced at any point during 2023/24. ECON03 Average time per business and industry planning application (weeks) 20.59 Wks 22.90 Wks 16.00 Wks 10.70 Wks The average time for processing business/industrial planning applications in South Lanarkshire improved in 2023/24, however, this remains higher (worse than) the Scottish average. A number of “legacy” applications were decided during this year which impaired the overall processing times. There was significant turnover in staff during 2023/24, however additional resources have been brought into the Planning Service which will positively impact on the processing of planning applications. ECON04 Percentage of procurement spend on local enterprises 18.2% 18.1% 19.5% 30.7% This figure shows an upward trend from previous years. While it is still below the national average, it should be noted that this national average is skewed by the more rural and island local authorities where access to suppliers is greatly reduced and so a reliance on local suppliers is more relevant. 23
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress ECON05 No of business gateway start-ups per 10,000 population 15.71 16.00 12.70 13.60 This reduced figure was delivered by an external Business Gateway delivery organisation. This resulted in South Lanarkshire bringing the Business Gateway delivery “in-house” and this came into effect in March 2024. ECON06 Investment in Economic development and Tourism per 1,000 population £74,111 £72,841 £58,263 £115,357 This downward trend can be explained by business grants paying out £1,332,718 in 2022/23 and £471,390 in 2023/24. This increased spend in 2022/23 coincided with Covid 19 grant funding being available from the Scottish Government. ECON07 Percentage of people earning less than the living wage 12.50% 10.00% 10.60% 10.20% South Lanarkshire’s performance has dropped slightly since last year and remains lower that the Scottish average. The pan Lanarkshire Living Wage Campaign Group continues to meet quarterly and promote the Living Wage on an ongoing basis. A new Action Plan is being worked on which will be submitted to CER Committee in due course, and along with new members, the group will be well placed to achieve and maintain our target of 10% of employees earning the real Living Wage. South Lanarkshire has 180 Living Wage accredited employers with 2,639 employees gaining an uplift in salary. This is the fourth highest Council area in Scotland. ECON08 Percentage of properties receiving superfast broadband 97.00% 97.60% 98.30% 95.90% In 2023/24, there was an increase of properties in South Lanarkshire with access to high-speed broadband and speeds greater than 30 Mbps. This figure continues to rise slowly and remains above the Scottish average. The majority of the properties not yet able to access high speed broadband are located within rural areas. These properties are either included within the Scottish Government's R100 investment programme and projected to receive full fibre connection by 2026, or are too difficult or expensive to connect to an existing network and are therefore eligible for the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme to help find alternative solutions. ECON09 Town vacancy rates 9.85% 14.00% 14.80% 12.30% Whilst the trend appears to be moving in a negative direction, this is substantially influenced by the major changes happening in East Kilbride and Hamilton Town Centres. The rest of the towns continue to perform well with the majority showing vacancy rates at or below the national average. 24
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress ECON10 Immediately available employment land as a % total land allocated for employment purposes in the local development plan 12.73% 12.10% 12.10% 24.50% The reduction in immediately available employment land has been recognised as a challenge which needs to be considered in the drafting of the Local Development Plan 3 (LDP3). This work is underway and through the call for sites process it is anticipated the position can be addressed. ECON11 Gross Value Added (GVA) per capita £19,400 £20,624 ------ ------ ECON12 a Claimant Count as % of Working Age Population 4.7% 3.2% 3.0% 3.1% The rate for South Lanarkshire has improved slightly in 2023/24 and is slightly below (better than) the Scottish average. ECON12 b Claimant Count as % of 16-24 Population 5.30% 3.50% 3.50% 3.50% The rate for South Lanarkshire has remained the same as last year's result and is the same as the Scottish average in 2023/24. Environmental Services ENV01a Net cost of waste collection per premise £86.51 £88.16 £89.16 £78.48 The net cost of waste collection per premises in South Lanarkshire increased in 2023/24. This is higher (worse) than the Scottish average and slightly higher than the previous year. The overall ranking position has fallen from 21st to 25th, the same position as in 2021/22. In 2023-24 the council continued to offer one free special uplift and compostable bags to residents. Composting bags are no longer offered for free to local residents, so in 2024-25 performance is expected to improve. ENV02a Net cost of waste disposal per premise £113.57 £106.24 £121.50 £104.41 The net cost of waste disposal per premises in South Lanarkshire increased in 2023/24 in comparison with 2022/23 and is higher (worse) than the Scottish average. The overall ranking position fell from 15th to 24th. A number of waste disposal contracts saw an increase in 2023/24 and there was also an increase in costs from Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) as well as new costs for the disposal of Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) materials. The net cost of waste disposal per premise is generally higher than the Scottish average due to the fact that the council does not send non-recyclable waste to landfill. Costs to thermally treat non-recyclable waste are higher than sending the material to landfill. It does mean though that the council has a higher landfill 25
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress diversion rate than local authorities that are still in the process of procuring a solution to the forthcoming ban on the landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste. ENV03a Net cost of street cleaning per 1,000 population £17,640.00 £19,632.00 £18,191.00 £16,181.00 The costs associated with street cleaning operations reduced in 2023/24. While this is an improvement with South Lanarkshire moving from rank 28th up to 24th place, the figure remains above (and therefore worse than) the Scottish average. The higher costs associated with SLC street cleaning operations are attributed to the more extensive levels of services that are provided and the specification applied to these operations which is greater than other local authorities: graffiti removal, street cleaning including shifts, fly tipping uplift, fly posting removal, blood spills, hypodermic needle uplift, dead animal uplift and both the large and smaller mechanical sweeping fleet that we utilise. This equipment performs an essential and legislatively required service including the removal of detritus from roads/channels, (COPLAR Duty 2) Since the Litter Strategy was approved in 2022, work has been ongoing with regards to making changes to reduce the impacts and costs associated with fly tipping and general littering. The litter action steering group, which includes service reps across the Council, has continued implementation of the litter action plan to tackle these issues. This is having an environmental impact, and it is anticipated that this will continue to result in a subsequent decrease in spend across the area. ENV03c Street cleanliness score 92.10% 92.30% 91.60% 92.10% The South Lanarkshire street cleanliness score remains close to the Scottish average. ENV04a Cost of roads per kilometre £19,295.00 £17,762.00 £17,772.00 £13,481.00 Spend per kilometre of road has seen a very marginal increase compared to the previous year. The spending figure varies year on year, dependent on the level of City Deal project spend. In 2023-24, South Lanarkshire remained the 11th highest investing local authority per kilometre of road. The level of spend in South Lanarkshire remains higher than the Scottish average, 26
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress reflecting the council’s decision to continue to invest in our road network. Recent high levels of construction inflation combined with static maintenance budgets have significantly reduced the length of road network that can be resurfaced / repaired on an annual basis. ENV04b Percentage of A class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment 23.99% 23.90% 24.90% 28.90% There has been a significant decline in the condition of A class roads in South Lanarkshire. Recent high levels of construction inflation and static maintenance budgets have significantly reduced the length of road network that can be resurface / repaired on an annual basis. However, it should be noted the condition of the A Class network in South Lanarkshire remains better than the Scottish average. ENV04c Percentage of B class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment 25.62% 26.10% 27.80% 32.50% There has been regression in the condition of B class roads in South Lanarkshire however their condition remains substantially better than the Scottish average. ENV04d Percentage of C class roads that should be considered for maintenance treatment 34.91% 35.60% 36.50% 33.40% There has been regression in the condition of C class roads in South Lanarkshire and their condition falls below that of the Scottish average. Our C class road network is fully surveyed every four years and during survey period 2022-24 we observed a regression in its condition. Our road surfacing decision making process takes account of road category and as a result a greater level of investment is targeted towards our more strategic road network (A Class). As a result of rising construction inflation and static maintenance budgets over recent years the amount of resurfacing we have been able to carry out on an annual basis has reduced significantly. Recent survey results for 2023-25 have noted regression in A, B and C road classes but it is hoped that following recent budget announcements that we will be able to stabilise the road condition over the coming years. ENV04e Percentage of U (unclassified) roads that should be considered 29.91% 31.60% 32.60% 36.20% Unclassified roads make up a sizeable proportion of the road network in South Lanarkshire. In 2023/24, it is noted that there has been a further regression in their condition, however 27
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress for maintenance treatment performance remains better than the Scottish average. ENV05a Cost of Trading Standards, Money Advice & Citizen Advice per 1,000 population £3,464.00 £3,088.00 £3,282.00 £7,256.00 The cost of Trading Standards per 1,000 population in 2023/24 increased from the 2022/23 level due the completion of recruitment in 2023. However, South Lanarkshire service costs are still expected to remain well below (and therefore better than) the Scottish average. Despite costs being below the Scottish average, the service provides a good level of protection for local consumers. ENV05b Cost of environmental health per 1,000 population £13,280.00 £12,900.00 £11,690.00 £15,518.00 The cost of environmental health per 1,000 population decreased in 2023/24, compared to the previous year, due to difficulties in recruiting fully qualified officers and continues to remain well below (and therefore better than) the Scottish average. Despite costs being below the Scottish average, the service provides a good level of public health protection for local communities. ENV06 The percentage of total household waste arising that is recycled 40.40% 41.10% 41.00% 43.50% The percentage of total household waste that is recycled decreased slightly in 2023/24 compared to the previous year and is still below the Scottish average. Multi-occupancy properties (flatted developments) make up over 30% of housing stock in South Lanarkshire. The lack of space at these properties means opportunities to provide recycling services are limited. Moreover, when recycling bins are provided often the only option is to provide large communal bins, where contamination rates are significantly higher. It should also be recognised that South Lanarkshire is one of the few councils to still provide a fortnightly residual waste collection, meaning residents have a minimum of 120L of residual waste capacity each week. It is accepted that recycling rates are lower when households receive more residual waste capacity. ENV07a Percentage of adults satisfied with refuse 84.30% 85.30% 86.00% 78.30% The percentage of adults satisfied with refuse collection is taken from the Scottish Household Survey. The figure is higher than the 28
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress collection Scottish average and an improvement on the previous year. It places South Lanarkshire in the second quartile for performance. ENV07b Percentage of adults satisfied with street cleaning 61.70% 61.70% 62.30% 58.00% The percentage of adults satisfied with street cleaning in South Lanarkshire has increased slightly and remains above the Scottish average. Financial Sustainability FINSUS0 1 Total useable reserves as a % of council annual budgeted revenue 14.74% 22.00% 19.60% 23.90% The council has seen a decrease in useable reserves as a percentage of council budget. This reflects a decrease in the level of useable reserves (significantly as a result of reserves used in the 2023/2024 budget to support the Council's financial strategy) and an increase in the council’s annual expenditure budget, meaning that arithmetically, the percentage of useable reserves to annual budget decreases. The important factor to consider is the purpose and use of reserves, and the fact is that the council is clear on what reserves we have, and the purpose of them. The use of Service Concession and Superannuation Reserves will affect the figures for the next few years as they are used to support the council's financial strategy. The key factor is that the reserves are sufficient. FINSUS0 2 Uncommitted General Fund Balance as a % of council annual budgeted net revenue 1.50% 1.50% 1.40% 2.30% The value of the Council’s Uncommitted General Fund balance has not changed from 2019/2020. The council's budget has increased therefore resulting in a minor decrease in the percentage. This is very much an arithmetic impact. Our uncommitted balance has not changed, but the budget has changed due to external factors including government grant ringfenced for specific purposes. The council’s position on reserves is included in the Revenue Budget Strategy. FINSUS0 3 Percentage of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream- General Fund 5.18% 5.00% 3.70% 5.80% This ratio shows a reduction in the General Fund’s ratio of financing costs to net revenue stream. The overall reduction reflects a reduction in financing costs mainly due to a change in how we account for the council’s schools PPP project combined with an increase in income (Council Tax, NDR and Non Ring Fenced Government Grants). The position reflects the product of strategic, sustained capital investment in schools and roads over more than twenty years. 29
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress FINSUS0 4 Percentage of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream- Housing Revenue Account 16.04% 17.20% 7.70% 20.00% This ratio shows a significant reduction in the HRA’s ratio of financing costs to net revenue stream. The overall reduction reflects a reduction in loan charges from the HRA Loans Fund Review combined with an increase in income (rents). The position reflects the product of strategic, sustained capital investment in the council’s housing stock. FINSUS0 5 Actual outturn as a percentage of budgeted expenditure 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 99.60% The outturn reflects that the council reported a breakeven position after all transfers to reserves. The SLC position is consistent across years, but movement in other councils' figures may result in a change to our ranking going forward. Housing Services HSN01b Gross rent arrears (all tenants) as at 31 March, as a percentage of rent due for the reporting year 8.91% 8.70% 8.00% 9.50% Resource target achieved and significantly lower than Scottish average. The strong performance has been secured despite the financial pressures which tenants continue to face due to the economic situation. A range of supports measures continue to assist tenants facing financial hardship. The Council will continue to set affordable rents and provide advice. Performance continues to be routinely monitored with a focus on continuous improvement. HSN02 Percentage of rent due in the year that was lost due to voids 0.60% 0.60% 0.50% 1.80% Performance this year has improved compared to the previous two years. The Resource continues to focus on void management to minimise void rent loss with a number of improvement actions identified. Performance in this area has been consistently among the best in Scotland compared to other Local Authorities. In the past three years we have been the second lowest void rent loss and well below the Scottish average. HSN03 Percentage of dwellings meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards 78.32% 79.70% 83.60% 77.80% While performance improved in the year and is above the Scottish average it continues to remain below the position reported in 2020/21 before the standard was revised to include Fixed Electrical Testing and installation of combined smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. This trend was evident across other local authorities with the Scottish average also decreasing. A revised process is In place to address to improve access to properties to carry out the necessary work /installations. We continue to engage with the Scottish Housing Regulator on a 30
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress monthly basis. HSN04b Average number of days taken to complete non emergency repairs 11.76 days 11.60 days 14.50 days 10.00 days Performance in this area has decreased and although above the Scottish average is viewed positively because it is based on an appointment-based system that is supported by tenants and tenants’ representatives. This was expected as a result of the suspension of our non-emergency repairs between June-September 2023. The increase is due to the level of demand on the service when repairs recommenced. Improvement activity within the repairs service continues in 2024-25 to support the reduction of the average time taken although the councils focus will continue to be on quality rather than speed of service. HSN05a Percentage of council dwellings that are energy efficient 98.64% ------ ------ ------ The 2025 and 2032 EESSH Milestones have been suspended as the Scottish Government are reviewing the EESSH2 standards to strengthen and realign the standard with the target for net zero heat in houses from 2045. In advance of the new national indicators, a review of housing stock is underway to determine the additional energy measures required to achieve energy efficiency and carbon reduction requirements within the council’s housing stock. Social Work Services SW01 Home Care costs per hour for people aged 65 or over £30.47 £31.52 £37.10 £33.59 Home Care costs per hour for people aged 65 or over in South Lanarkshire increased in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23, with ranking dropping from 13 to 18. South Lanarkshire had the second highest cost per hour amongst the comparator Family Group, however, costs in the Family Group vary significantly. The number of Home Care Hours used within the calculation for this indicator is inclusive of services provided by different staff-groups or purchased from different agencies. The costs of such services are included whether they are provided by the local authority, purchased from another local authority, or purchased from private or voluntary sector providers. 31
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress Internally, the outcome of a job evaluation within the Care at Home service resulted in increased employee costs following increased salaries for frontline staff. Costs have increased as a result of a number of factors. Nationally, inflation and increased cost of living have impacted more generally on costs. In addition, there were substantial increases to the living wage which resulted in increased rates for Care at Home providers. SW02 Self Directed Support (Direct payments and managed personalised budgets) spend on adults 18+ as a percentage of total social work spend on adults 18+ 3.98% 6.40% 6.40% 9.10% Self-Directed Support (Direct payments and managed personalised budgets) spend on adults 18+ as a percentage of total social work spend on adults 18+, in South Lanarkshire has decreased slightly from 2022-23, resulting in South Lanarkshire’s ranking dropping from 13 to 15. This indicator highlights only the social work spend allocated via Direct Payments, Personalised Managed Budgets and Individual Service Fund (ISF) - options 1 and 2. It does not recognise local authority managed services - option 3, which provide a legitimate choice for individuals or a default position in the legislation for individuals who do not wish to exercise their right to choose. Locally and nationally, the uptake of Options 1 and 2 is likely to be impacted by the changed environment of social care, with providers experiencing recruitment challenges and thus unable to offer pre-pandemic levels of service, alongside a reduction in the availability of Personal Assistants (PAs). In South Lanarkshire, the commissioned information and advice service, Take Control, has noted a reduction in availability of suitable PAs, which in part may be driven by the South Lanarkshire PA pay rate being less competitive when compared with other local employers, however acknowledging it is in line with the living wage and external provider rates. Work was initiated in this period to identify where outcomes of supported people/carers were not being achieved through Option 1, which may have led to individuals choosing to have outcomes met through 32
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress LA-managed services, Option 3. Relevant improvement actions are in place, to ensure that individuals wishing to exercise the choice and control of Options 1 and 2 are supported to do so. Social Work and Take Control have engaged with employability services, local colleges, and Strathclyde University to promote PA vacancies in the South Lanarkshire area to individuals who are interested in pursuing a career in social work/social care. Work is ongoing to upskill the workforce in relation to promoting Options 1 and 2 and ensuring that the right information is available in relation to the benefits and the challenges. Similarly, work continues in relation to improving public-facing information in relation to all the SDS options. SW03a Percentage of people aged 65 and over with long-term care needs receiving personal care at home 61.89% 61.00% 61.80% 62.60% South Lanarkshire performance increased in 2023-24 and is similar to the Scottish average position. South Lanarkshire’s ranking has improved from 19 to 18. However, this indicator excludes individuals who are assessed and waiting for a service which currently accounts for approximately 1,500-2,000 hours each week. The increase is in line with an ageing population and increasing demand for services and the resulting increasing need for personal care supports. The introduction of Home Assessment Teams has played a significant role in maximising the independence of service users and supporting people to learn and relearn tasks following a period of ill health. SW04b Percentage of adults supported at home who agree that their services and support had an impact in improving or maintaining their quality of life 80.00% ------ 63.30% 69.80% Lanarkshire in 2023-24, resulting in national ranking decreasing from 11 to 30. Nationally, there has been an overall decline in performance. These results are drawn from the Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey which asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local health and social care services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. It is important to note that respondents of the survey are selected from a sample of people registered with GPs and a proportion 33
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress are not likely to be Social Work Service Users. Participation in the HACE survey decreased in South Lanarkshire from 25% in 2021-22 (7,457 responses from 29,748 forms sent out) to 21% in 2023-24 (5,552 responses from 26,824 forms sent out). South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership (SLUHSCP) began working with Care Opinion in early 2023, officially launching in December 2023. Care Opinion is an independent platform that allows service users to share feedback on their health and social care experiences directly with services. In Q4 2023-24, 82% of stories received from service users were rated completely positive. Services have access to the feedback received on Care Opinion and the ability to collaborate with service users regarding service changes and improvements SW04c Percentage of adults supported at home who agree that they are supported to live as independently as possible 82.16% ------ 67.20% 72.40% Nationally, performance for this indicator declined in 2023-24. South Lanarkshire also reports a decline in performance and a resulting drop in ranking from 9 to 29. These results are drawn from the Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey which asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local health and social care services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. It is important to note that respondents of the survey are selected from a sample of people registered with GPs and a proportion are not likely to be Social Work Service Users. Participation in the HACE survey decreased in South Lanarkshire from 25% in 2021-22 (7,457 responses from 29,748 forms sent out) to 21% in 2023-24 (5,552 responses from 26,824 forms sent out). South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership (SLUHSCP) began working with Care Opinion in early 2023, officially launching in December 2023. Care Opinion is an independent platform that allows service users to share feedback on their health and social care experiences directly with services. In Q4 2023-24, 82% of stories received from service users were rated completely positive. Services have access to the feedback 34
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress received on Care Opinion and the ability to collaborate with service users regarding service changes and improvements. SW04d Percentage of adults supported at home who agree that they had a say in how their help, care or support was provided 65.58% ------ 55.40% 59.60% South Lanarkshire reports a decline in performance in 2023-24, however, ranking has been unaffected at 27. Nationally there has also been a decline in performance. These results are drawn from the Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey which asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local health and social care services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. It is important to note that respondents of the survey are selected from a sample of people registered with GPs and a proportion are not likely to be Social Work Service Users. Participation in the HACE survey decreased in South Lanarkshire from 25% in 2021-22 (7,457 responses from 29,748 forms sent out) to 21% in 2023-24 (5,552 responses from 26,824 forms sent out). South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership (SLUHSCP) began working with Care Opinion in early 2023, officially launching in December 2023. Care Opinion is an independent platform that allows service users to share feedback on their health and social care experiences directly with services. In Q4 2023-24, 82% of stories received from service users were rated completely positive. Services have access to the feedback received on Care Opinion and the ability to collaborate with service users regarding service changes and improvements. SW04e Percentage of carers who feel supported to continue in their caring roles 28.70% ------ 28.10% 31.20% South Lanarkshire reports a slight decline in performance and a resulting drop in ranking from 20 to 27. Nationally however, performance has increased from in 2023-24. These results are drawn from the Health and Care Experience (HACE) survey which asks about people’s experiences of accessing and using their GP practice and other local health and social care services; receiving care, support and help with everyday living; and caring responsibilities. It is important to note that respondents of the survey are selected from a sample of people registered with GPs and a proportion are not likely to be Social Work Service Users. 35
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress Participation in the HACE survey decreased in South Lanarkshire from 25% in 2021-22 (7,457 responses from 29,748 forms sent out) to 21% in 2023-24 (5,552 responses from 26,824 forms sent out). Contrary to the HACE results, Lanarkshire Carers successfully achieved Carers Trust Excellence for Carers Award in 2023 following rigorous assessment of their services Pan-Lanarkshire. Additionally, there was a 20% increase in the number of new carers identified by Lanarkshire Carers in 2023-24 compared to the previous year, this assists more people being able to access support than would otherwise be the case. SW05 Residential cost per week per resident for people aged 65 or over £755.00 £736.00 £717.00 £723.00 This measure relates to the average net cost to the council. South Lanarkshire had a lower spend per week in 2023-24 compared to the Scottish average. South Lanarkshire’s ranking has improved from 20 to 19. The performance of each council is influenced by demographics and contributions made by service users which mean costs vary significantly. Within the South Lanarkshire LGBF comparative Family Group, the residential costs per week per resident for people aged 65 or over vary by over £500 between the lowest and highest costs. The cost of care also increases year on year with changes to the national care home rate. SW06 Rate of readmissions to hospital within 28 days per 1,000 discharges 106.27 99.90 96.50 103.90 In South Lanarkshire the rate of readmissions decreased further this year and South Lanarkshire continue to perform better than the Scottish average. Information on the six areas of the Health and Social Care Delivery Plan are monitored monthly and formally reported on a quarterly basis to the Social Work Committee (alongside the Integration Joint Board). South Lanarkshire continue to embed the Home First approach across the localities supported by Home Assessment Teams where necessary. This reablement approach optimises independence over a six-week period, enabling people to remain in their own homes, or supporting discharge from hospital with 36
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress the support of health, social care and third sector provision to meet any ongoing needs identified. The intermediate care unit is now embedded, supporting reablement and flow as a step-down option. SW07 Percentage of care services graded 'good' or better in Care Inspectorate Inspections 76.08% 77.00% 79.90% 77.00% In South Lanarkshire, the proportion of care services graded 'good' or better in Care Inspectorate inspections increased in 2023-24. The Scottish average position also increased in 2023-24. This performance has resulted in South Lanarkshire's ranking remaining at 17. During 2023-24, the Care Inspectorate published gradings from 29 inspections within South Lanarkshire care services, 3 of which were local authority services and included a children’s house, a care home for older people and South Lanarkshire Adoption Services; all received grades of 4 – good or 5 – very good. The Council implements improvement actions from inspections and reports on inspection outcomes at each meeting of the Social Work Resources Committee, with further note within the Chief Social Work Officer’s annual report. SW08 Number of days people spend in hospital when they are ready to be discharged, per 1,000 population (75+) 910.36 1,005.00 938.00 846.00 Performance for this indicator has improved in 2023-24. The Scottish average declined and is in line with pre-pandemic performance. South Lanarkshire ranking improved from 22 to 21. The Target Operating procedure has been implemented across all Lanarkshire sites supporting planned date of discharge planning at an earlier stage. The initial work undertaken as part of the Discharge without Delay (DWD) programme has now been subsumed within Operation Flow. Hospital staff and other partners work together closely to establish clear timeframes of when someone will go from hospital to community. The Home Assessment Teams are a key element of this programme and as they embed, they will have greater impact addressing the pressures associated with people who are delayed in hospital by putting the person at the centre of the 37
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Local Government Benchmarking Framework Results South Lanarkshire Council LGBF Results 2023/24 Service LGBF Ref Description 2021/22 Results 2022/23 Results 2023/24 Results Result Trend Scotland 2023/24 Scottish Average Comparison with Scotland: better or worse? Comments/Progress process and allowing for a 6-week period of rehabilitation and enablement on discharge, targeted through a robust assessment and care plan. Early and effective planning improves the benefits for those currently in hospital by discharging home at the earliest and safest opportunity and creates capacity for patients who require admission. The intermediate care unit within Blantyre Life is now also supporting reablement and flow from hospital as a step-down option. 38
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Appendix 2 Family Group Analysis graphs for indicators with results below the Scottish average FAMILY GROUPS For indicators relating to Children, Social Work and Housing services, councils with similar levels of deprivation are grouped together. South Lanarkshire’s family group for these indicators is: • Clackmannanshire • Dumfries & Galloway • Falkirk • Fife • Renfrewshire • South Ayrshire • South Lanarkshire • West Lothian For indicators relating to Environmental, Culture & Leisure, Economic Development, Corporate and Property services, councils with similar urban/rural profiles are grouped together. South Lanarkshire’s family group for these indicators is: • Angus • Clackmannanshire • East Renfrewshire • Inverclyde • Midlothian • Renfrewshire • South Lanarkshire • West Lothian 3 39
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum Date of Meeting: 1 April 2025 Report by: Chief Executive Subject: Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- [purpose] provide the Forum with an overview of the latest Statutory Performance Information (SPI) Direction, as published by the Accounts Commission on 19 December 2024 [1purpose] 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Forum is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- [] (1) that the requirements of the Direction 2024 be noted; (2) to note that the implications arising from the Direction 2024 for South Lanarkshire Council have been considered and will be implemented; and (3) to note that the period covered by the Direction 2024 relates to performance reporting for financial years 2025/2026, 2026/2027 and 2027/2028. [1recs] 3. Background 3.1. The Direction is given by the Accounts Commission under section 1(1)(a) of the Local Government Act 1992, and directs relevant bodies to publish such information relating to their activities which will, in the Commission’s opinion: ‘facilitate the making of appropriate comparisons (by reference to the criteria of cost, economy, efficiency and effectiveness and of securing best value) between:- i) the standards of performance achieved by different relevant bodies in that financial year; and ii) the standards of performance achieved by such bodies in different financial years. 3.2. Local appointed auditors then assess the adequacy of councils’ arrangements for meeting the requirements set out in the Schedule to the Direction as part of their annual audit work. Audit findings from this work will be used to inform the Controller of Audit’s reporting to the Commission on the extent to which individual local authorities are meeting their duty to secure best value – in particular, their obligations in relation to use of resources, continuous improvement and public performance reporting. 4 53
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3.3. In the 2023/2024 Annual Audit Report the external auditors (Audit Scotland) confirmed that ‘the Council’s performance reporting arrangements were satisfactory. The Council’s website covers all the requirements set out in the SPI Direction issued by the Accounts Commission. The Council continues to improve its public reporting of performance information through clear alignment of performance information with its key strategic outcomes. Alongside overarching and service level performance reports the Council publishes Annual Performance Spotlights, 'bite-sized' performance information, per Connect Outcome.’ 4. Background 4.1. The Accounts Commission is clear that it is for councils themselves decide what information they report about performance. 4.2. In developing the SPI Direction 2024, the Accounts Commission consulted a range of stakeholders and, as a result, sought to make the requirements in this new Direction clearer and more specific, to ensure councils receive more clarity about what is expected of them and how to ensure they are complying. 4.3. The new Direction 2024, attached as Appendix 2, continues to require that each council’s reporting still meets the following three criteria:- balanced: in respect of areas in which performance has improved and those in which it has not improved or has declined timely: in the interests of transparency and to enable the council to respond promptly where remedial action is required, it should be possible for councils to publish an annual performance report within nine months – and no later than twelve months – after the year end accessible: able to be easily understood by all citizens and make appropriate use of technology to display performance information in a variety of formats 4.4. In place of SPI 1 and 2 from the previous Direction the new Direction 2024 sets out four keys areas that councils’ performance information should cover, whilst also taking cognisance of their Best Value duties and requirements. 4.5. An overview of the requirements in the Direction 2024 and South Lanarkshire Council’s approach to addressing these is attached as Appendix 1. 5. Next Steps and Recommendations 5.1. The requirements of the new Direction 2024 and implications for South Lanarkshire Council have been reviewed. 5.2. The Improvement Unit in conjunction with officers across the Council has started work to ensure that these implications for South Lanarkshire Council are addressed before reporting the performance results and publications for financial year 2025/2026. 5.3. We will continue to assess the performance information published by the Council and make refinements and improvements as necessary. Including:- performance-related reports and updates which are included in committee papers, could be extracted and summarised on the performance pages of the Council’s website, making them more accessible for customers, citizens and partners 54
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more annual reports prepared and uploaded onto the Council’s website by Resources/Services could be identified and listed/signposted on the website’s performance pages 6. Employee Implications 6.1. There are no direct employee implications. 7. Financial Implications 7.1. There are no direct financial implications. 8. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 8.1. There are no direct climate change, sustainability and natural environment implications arising from this report. 9. Other Implications 9.1. Considering the detail of the report and identifying actions as appropriate contribute towards effective risk management. 10. Integrated Impact Assessment and Consultation Requirements 10.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 10.2. There is also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in this report. Paul Manning Chief Executive 4 March 2025 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes • Accountable, effective, efficient and transparent • Ambitious, self-aware and improving Previous References • None List of Background Papers • None Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Tom Little, Head of Communications and Strategy Ext: 4904 (Tel: 01698.454904) E-mail: Tom.Little@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 55
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Appendix 1 Requirements in the Direction 2024 and South Lanarkshire Council’s approach to addressing these: Direction 2024 South Lanarkshire Council’s Approach - For 2025/2026, 2026/2027, 2027/2028 reporting Each council will report information about its performance in a way that enables that council, other councils, the Accounts Commission, local residents and communities, and any other interested parties to draw comparisons and make judgements in relation to: i) that council’s performance over time, (at least 3 years) and ii) the performance of different councils in a given period of time. (councils and data must be comparable and complemented by narrative context, where appropriate) The Commission expects councils to maximise the use of the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) as a primary means of facilitating comparisons, alongside or in conjunction with other locally appropriate measures of performance. Councils should be transparent as to why specific measures have been chosen for local benchmarking and performance reporting purposes, particularly where they have chosen not to use LGBF indicators. In satisfying the requirements set out in this Schedule, the Commission requires each council to ensure that its reporting meets the following three criteria: • Balanced: both improving and declining performance • Timely: annual performance info should be published with 9 months and no later than 12 months after the year end. Councils should be updating and The Public Performance Reports (web content) will continue to publish trend performance information, with comparisons, where appropriate, and the LGBF results, to report performance to the public. Also, South Lanarkshire Council (SLC) is always looking to see what other performance info is published by Resources/services, so that it can be linked to the Performance pages on the website. The Commission is clear that it is for councils themselves decide what information they draw upon from the LGBF. SLC reports on a strategic sub-set of measures linked to the Council Plan Outcomes, available in SLC LGBF Dashboard. In addition all of the LGBF indicators are reported locally in either Resource Plans, Annual Performance Spotlights (APSs), Public Performance Reports (PPRs) or to Committee and also the full results report on the website. New for 2023/2024 – Dashboard and Results to be updated mid-way through the following year to reflect additional results released since the first publication date in March. • Continue to show good and poor (to be improved!) performance results in APSs -> balanced reporting. In 2023/2024 we published an Areas for improvement page on the website to supplement the Annual Performance Spotlights to show the council’s improvement journey (as suggested by in the Annual Audit Report 2024) • Timely: Annual Performance Spotlights are published 6 months after financial year end, with full PPR material being available by 31 March (12 month) deadline. 56
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reviewing information on their performance on a quarterly basis (or otherwise as determined by data availability or reporting cycles), and where possible making that information public. • Accessible: able to be easily understood by all citizens eg: publish summaries to communicate key messages and make appropriate use of technology to display performance information in a variety of formats The ‘quarterly’ issue is satisfied in SLC: Connect progress reports are prepared, monitored and reported to committee and published on the council’s website every 6 months (at Quarter 2 and Quarter 4). Resource Plan progress reports are prepared and monitored internally on a quarterly basis. Quarter 2 and 4 reports are presented to individual Resource Committees. (within Committee papers) • Accessibility – Digital First approach using internet/web content and social media. (Web content can be accessed via any device which supports internet browsing, including tablets and smartphones) Councils’ performance information reporting shall cover the four key areas whilst taking cognisance of current statutory guidance on Best Value 1: Using resources effectively to address strategic priorities Councils’ performance reporting should highlight the impact of activities that are relevant to the priorities and objectives articulated in their council plan (or equivalent). Key indicators should be identified with set targets against which performance can be measured and progress reported. Where performance info indicates progress is NOT on track, explanatory narrative including mitigating actions and timescales should be included. South Lanarkshire Council already publish: • Performance pages on the Council’s website, including • Public Performance Reports (PPRs) – service delivery areas plus Direction-specific topics • Annual Performance Spotlights (APSs) – aligned to Connect Outcomes • Connect Quarter 2 and Quarter 4 reports: measures, results and progress aligned to Connect Outcomes • Resource Plans progress (to Committees) at Q2/4: measures, results and progress aligned to Connect Outcomes • Full suite of LGBF results on the website: grouped by LGBF service area • LGBF SLC dashboard of strategic indicators 2: Working with partners and communities to achieve shared outcomes Recognising the statutory role of councils in relation to community planning councils’ performance reporting should show how they and their community planning partners are working together to address the priorities, targets and actions set out in their local outcomes improvement plans (LOIPs) and locality plans. Aligning their performance reporting with these plans should show how council actions are contributing to the delivery of locally agreed shared outcomes. SLC has a specific PPR Working with communities Also, the Community Empowerment Team publish an annual report outcomes improvement report Community Planning Partnership (CPP) Annual outcome improvement report on their own website. The CPP Manager confirmed that the requirements listed in the new Direction are covered in information published on the CPP website and we can signpost to Performance pages on SLC’s website 57
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Where performance info indicates progress is NOT on track, explanatory narrative including mitigating actions by the council and/or its partners and timescales should be included. 3: Financial sustainability and budget transparency Elected members and local communities should be able to understand their council’s overall financial position and the choices it must consider when setting a budget. Councils should publish information pertaining to relevant indicators – particularly those in the LGBF – that enables comparative assessment of key aspects of their current and future financial position. Councils should also be able to provide information requested by the Commission to inform its reporting on councils’ financial sustainability. This is a new requirement in the Direction 2024. Discussions have begun with Finance (Strategy) and the plan is to create web content using the budget reports and Committee papers prepared annually for this exercise plus the LGBF indicators. 4: Use of data and assessments to support improvement and transformation Councils should be able to demonstrate how they are assessing and interpreting data about their performance and using that analysis to inform decision-making and any required transformation of service delivery. Councils should carry out self-assessment and make use of third-party feedback mechanisms and opportunities to learn from others (such as peer review), to evaluate their own performance over time and relative to other councils and identify factors contributing to that performance as well as opportunities for improvement. Councils should also show how they are using and responding to the findings and recommendations arising from any self- assessment work, audit assessments, reviews undertaken by other scrutiny or inspection bodies, and engagement with service users, to drive continuous improvement in the context of resource constraints – as part of their duty to secure best value. This was introduced in Direction 2021 for which SLC created a new PPR Assessment and review There is much Transformational work happening across SLC’s Resources and is this included in the above PPR report. From 2024/2025 the corporate Transformational programme is being publicly reported via PRSF reports. The plan will be to summarise the salient information from reports included in the existing Assessment and review PPR which has a Transformation section. Reference to SLC’s annual Self-assessment horizon scanning exercise is included on Improvement and how we compare page. There is a link under Other performance information taking web visitors to the Complaints performance page, which includes a summary of some of the ‘You said, we did’ stories for the year 58
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Accounts Commission Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 Foreword by the Chair of the Accounts Commission I am pleased to present this latest version of the Accounts Commission’s Statutory Performance Information (SPI) Direction, which takes effect during a critical period for local government. A combination of ongoing financial constraints, growing demand for services, workforce challenges and a complex policy landscape is continuing to put councils under extreme pressure, forcing them to make difficult decisions about how services are delivered, including the need for transformation. In this context, clear, balanced and effective reporting to the public on how well services are performing has never been more important, enabling citizens to understand the reasons behind decisions that can have a significant impact on their lives. The better informed people are, the more they feel able to engage in the decision-making process. The Commission has a statutory duty to direct councils to publish information that will: • enable comparisons of performance between councils and over time, and • show how well they are improving local outcomes with community planning partners in their area. Complying with the SPI Direction is fundamental to councils fulfilling their duty to secure best value – a duty that focuses on improving lives and services for local people alongside using resources effectively. The Direction reinforces the importance of councils being transparent through reporting to their local communities on how well they are meeting this duty. Rather than prescribing in detail the information councils should publish, we remain fully supportive of a sector-led approach to benchmarking and improvement. Developed for and with councils, indicators from the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) should be used, as this is the most effective and comprehensive means of enabling comparisons to be drawn by councils themselves and by the public. Appendix 2 4 59
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Accounts Commission Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 | 2 We recognise that each council has its own strategic priorities, determined in accordance with local needs and appropriate data, and we expect these priorities to guide decisions about use of resources. We understand that the choices made by councils will impact on performance across a range of areas. How councils plan for, manage and report on these impacts is a key area of focus in our audit work, particularly on best value. Information on performance over time and in comparisons to others is a crucial tool for continuous improvement and transformation. Through their public performance reporting, councils should be able to demonstrate: • how they are working with partners to achieve shared local outcomes, • how they are responding to the needs of their local communities, • how they are learning from best practice elsewhere, • what factors are impacting on their performance • how they are using data to inform decision-making, and • how they measure success. Councils being clear and transparent in this way will help communities to understand the reasons for changes in the delivery and performance of local services. In developing this version of the SPI Direction, we have consulted a range of stakeholders and reviewed evidence about councils’ performance reporting collected through our best value audit work. We have heard that the Direction continues to be highly valued across local government as a statutory underpinning of existing approaches but also that councils want more clarity about what is expected of them and how to ensure they are complying. For that reason, while it remains generally high-level in nature, we have sought to make the requirements in this new Direction clearer and more specific. I hope these revisions are helpful. We will review how this Direction operates in practice no later than the third year in which it applies, and we would welcome any feedback either as part of this review process or via our audit colleagues. Jo Armstrong Chair, Accounts Commission December 2024 60
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Accounts Commission Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 | 3 Local Government Act 1992: The Publication of Information (Standards of Performance) Direction 2024 1. This Direction is given by the Accounts Commission for Scotland (“the Commission”) under section 1(1)(a) of the Local Government Act 1992, which requires the Commission to direct relevant bodies to publish such information relating to their activities in any financial year or other specified period as will, in the Commission’s opinion: “facilitate the making of appropriate comparisons (by reference to the criteria of cost, economy, efficiency and effectiveness and of securing best value in accordance with section 1 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003) between – i) the standards of performance achieved by different relevant bodies in that financial year or other period; and ii) the standards of performance achieved by such bodies in different financial years or, as the case may be, other periods.” 2. Such information is also to facilitate the drawing of conclusions about the discharge of those bodies' functions under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 (in essence, carrying out community planning for the “improvement in the achievement of outcomes”). 3. This Direction is given to all local authorities, as defined by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, and amended by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. 4. Each local authority shall, in accordance with section 13 of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 and associated regulations and guidance from Scottish Ministers, publish the information specified in the Schedule to this Direction for all activities which are carried out by the body. 5. The periods for which the information in the Schedule must be published are the financial years beginning 1st April 2025, 2026 and 2027. 6. Local appointed auditors will assess the adequacy of councils’ arrangements for meeting the requirements set out in the Schedule to this Direction as part of their annual audit work. 7. Audit findings from this work will be used to inform the Controller of Audit’s reporting to the Commission on the extent to which individual local authorities are meeting their duty to secure best value – in particular, their obligations in relation to use of resources, continuous improvement and public performance reporting. 61
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Accounts Commission Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 | 4 Schedule 1. Each council will report information about its performance in a way that enables that council, other councils, the Accounts Commission, local residents and communities, and any other interested parties to draw comparisons and make judgements in relation to: i) that council’s performance over time, and ii) the performance of different councils in a given period of time. 2. For the purposes of (i) above, reporting against a particular indicator or set of indicators should include a time series that is appropriate for the particular indicator/s chosen, typically covering a period of at least three years but taking account of: • internal factors such as council plans and other strategic or budget decisions, and • external factors such as national policy changes and any extraordinary events. 3. For the purposes of (ii) above, councils should ensure: • comparisons are made against councils that are similar in relevant respects, such as budget size, urban/rural classification, and demographic or socioeconomic characteristics, and • their choice of indicators – including whether they have adopted LGBF or other indicators or a combination – and their performance data are robust, consistent and comparable, and complemented by narrative context where appropriate. 4. The Commission expects councils to maximise the use of the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) as a primary means of facilitating comparisons, alongside or in conjunction with other locally appropriate measures of performance. Councils should be transparent as to why specific measures have been chosen for local benchmarking and performance reporting purposes, particularly where they have chosen not to use LGBF indicators. 5. In satisfying the requirements set out in this Schedule, the Commission requires each council to ensure that its reporting meets the following three criteria: • Balanced, in respect of areas in which performance has improved and those in which it has not improved or has declined. It is important to avoid reporting in a way that is, or could reasonably be perceived as being, selective, misleading or biased. • Timely, in the interests of transparency and to enable the council to respond promptly where remedial action is required. It should be possible for councils to publish an annual performance report 62
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Accounts Commission Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 | 5 within nine months – and no later than twelve months – after the end of the respective year. In addition, councils should be updating and reviewing information on their performance on a quarterly basis (or otherwise as determined by data availability or reporting cycles), and where possible making that information publicly available. • Accessible, and able to be easily understood by all citizens. For example, councils should publish summaries to communicate key messages, produce easy-read versions of reports wherever possible, and make appropriate use of technology to display performance information in a variety of formats whilst adhering to statutory requirements in relation to equalities. 6. Councils’ performance information reporting shall cover the four key areas set out in the remainder of this document. In meeting these requirements, councils should take cognisance of current statutory guidance on Best Value. 1: Using resources effectively to address strategic priorities 7. Councils’ performance reporting should highlight the impact of activities that are relevant to the priorities and objectives articulated in their council plan (or equivalent). This includes indicators specified in a performance management framework, and any other information or activity that is relevant to addressing the council’s priorities or fulfilling its statutory duties. 8. Councils should identify key indicators and set targets against which their performance in addressing their priorities and achieving their objectives can be measured, and report on their progress towards reaching those targets. 9. In doing so, councils should be able to demonstrate how the priorities they have set are driving decision-making about their use of resources and in turn how those decisions are impacting on performance in different areas – over time and relative to other councils. 10. Where performance information shows that a council is not on track to achieve a particular target or objective, the council should explain the factors that have contributed to this, and what actions it is taking to respond and improve its performance in that area, including an expected timeframe for that improvement. 2: Working with partners and communities to achieve shared outcomes 11. Recognising the statutory role of councils in relation to community planning, councils’ performance reporting should show how they and their community planning partners are working together to address the 63
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Accounts Commission Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 | 6 priorities, targets and actions set out in their local outcomes improvement plans (LOIPs) and locality plans. 12. Aligning their performance reporting with these plans should show how council actions are contributing to the delivery of locally agreed shared outcomes. 13. Where a target is not on track to be met, the council should explain any factors that may have contributed to this, and what actions are being taken by the council and/or its partners to improve performance in that area, including an expected timeframe for that improvement. 3: Financial sustainability and budget transparency 14. It is vital for elected members and local communities to be able to understand their council’s overall financial position and the choices it must consider when setting a budget, and the subsequent impact of the decisions the council makes. 15. Councils should publish information pertaining to relevant indicators – particularly those in the LGBF – that enables comparative assessment of key aspects of their current and future financial position. 16. Councils should also be able to provide information requested by the Commission to inform its reporting on councils’ financial sustainability. 4: Use of data and assessments to support improvement and transformation 17. Councils should be able to demonstrate how they are assessing and interpreting data about their performance, and using that analysis to inform decision-making about their use of resources and any required transformation of service delivery. 18. Councils should carry out self-assessments, and make use of third- party feedback mechanisms and opportunities to learn from others (such as peer collaborative improvement), to evaluate their own performance over time and relative to other councils, and identify factors contributing to that performance as well as opportunities for improvement. 19. Councils should also show how they are using and responding to the findings and recommendations arising from any self-assessment work, audit assessments, reviews undertaken by other scrutiny or inspection bodies, and engagement with service users, to drive continuous improvement in the context of resource constraints – as part of their duty to secure best value. 64
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum Date of Meeting: 1 April 2025 Report by: Chief Executive Subject: Accounts Commission's New Approach to the Audit of Best Value – Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Fife, East Renfrewshire 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- [purpose] advise the Forum of key messages and recommendations from recent reports published under the Accounts Commission’s new approach to auditing Best Value [1purpose] 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Forum is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- [] (1) that the key messages and recommendations within the report be noted. [1recs] 3. Background 3.1. Towards the end of 2023, the Accounts Commission introduced a new approach to the Audit of Best Value to replace the Best Value Assurance Report (BVAR) regime which had run from 2018 to 2023. 3.2. The approach consists of brief Controller of Audit (CoA) reports accompanied by and reflecting on published annual audit reports. These CoA reports are considered by the Commission in public and reported publicly. 3.3. The CoA reports are intended to offer a BV-focused reflection on the Council’s annual audit report. In line with the previous practice of bringing BVAR findings to the Forum to highlight good practice and place our own activities in context, the findings from the recent CoA reports are summarised below. 4. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (published 26 February 2025) 4.1. The report for The Comhairle focuses on its workforce planning and the link to performance and other strategic and operational plans. Auditors note that there needs to be greater alignment between plans and monitoring and reporting arrangements need to be strengthened. The Comhairle has just over 2,000 employees, more than half of whom are over 45 years old. Given the projected decline in working age population in the Western Isles, workforce planning will be a huge challenge. 5 65
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The Comhairle’s Corporate Workforce Plan 2023-2027 draws upon an extensive range of workforce and demographic data. However, it does not clearly set out the Comhairle’s overarching outcomes for its workforce or explicitly link with other key strategies and plans. The Comhairle did not engage with employees or Trades Unions when developing the plan, partly due to local representatives not being in place. The Comhairle is at the early stages of digital adoption compared to other councils. The cyber-attack is providing an opportunity to update its systems and processes. The Comhairle needs to demonstrate workforce benefits and productivity gains made through the use of digital technology. Around 50 per cent of the Comhairle’s office-based staff work in a hybrid manner. The Comhairle is exploring the impact of hybrid working on employee wellbeing through its employee survey. There is scope for its relationships with Trades Unions to develop. The Comhairle has adopted a wide range of approaches to address its workforce challenges, including a well-established apprenticeship programme that demonstrates positive outcomes. The Comhairle has some formal arrangements in place for sharing services with partners to create workforce benefits. It is limited in sharing services with other councils by its commitment to employing people living in the Western Isles to ensure a sustainable population. The Comhairle has developed both corporate and service-level action plans for workforce planning. Annual monitoring is in place at corporate level but the monitoring and reporting of progress against service-level action plans could improve. It has not set out how it intends to assess its overall performance in workforce planning and what metrics it will use. 4.2. The Commission puts forward the following action points for Comhairle nan Eilean Siar:- The Comhairle should ensure its Corporate Workforce Plan aligns with its key strategies and plans and sets out explicitly how workforce planning will support it achieve its strategic priorities. The Comhairle should develop corporate-level strategic workforce planning outcomes, linked clearly to its action plan, to demonstrate a clearer understanding of how the actions it is taking forward are contributing to its strategic vision for its workforce. The Comhairle should ensure that priorities and actions from the Corporate Workforce Plan are reflected in the next round of its service workforce plans in addition to service-specific actions. It should provide more guidance and/or tools to support services develop service workforce plans. The Comhairle should demonstrate and quantify what workforce benefits and productivity gains are made through its use of digital technology. The Comhairle should put plans in place to support the development of its relationship with Trades Unions. The Comhairle should ensure that the actions from the Corporate Workforce Plan 2023-2027 and the Organisational Development Strategy 2024-2030 are clearly aligned. At corporate level, the Comhairle should set out how it intends to assess its performance and what metrics it will use to measure the impact of its workforce planning and initiatives. The Comhairle should set out its arrangements for monitoring and reporting on progress against actions in and across service-level workforce plans. 66
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5. Fife Council (published 25 February 2025) 5.1. Fife Council received a mixed report, with strengths in its approach to its workforce and its culture of cross-party working. Auditors identified a number of significant challenges impacting on the council’s finances and highlighted the need for these challenges to be taken into account in financial plans. Fife Council has demonstrated competent financial management over the years and has achieved a positive outturn position without having to make significant savings. But the council has reached a turning point and is now managing significant in-year pressures and forecasting a cumulative gap of £46.5 million by 2027/2028. The Commission was particularly concerned about a number of issues highlighted in the annual audit report, including:- The Fife Strategic Assessment shows that the region continues to face key challenges including worsening inequalities; and slowing performance improvement has been identified in areas such as children’s services and adult social care despite limited savings. There were large overspends in Fife’s Integration Joint Board (IJB) in 2023/2024 and the same is being projected for 2024/2025 due to ongoing and increasing demand-driven spend. The Housing Revenue Account is under pressure with urgent plans now required, in consultation with tenants, to meet financial gaps and enable future investment in much needed affordable housing. Significant levels of reserves were utilised in 2023/2024, and uncommitted general fund balances dipped below the council’s rolling three-year target of two per cent. These issues will continue to impact the council’s finances, so it is now critical for its Medium-Term Financial Strategy to set out how it will respond. The council is demonstrating awareness of these issues and the work it must do in partnership to address not only the ambitions in the ‘Plan for Fife’, but the immediate service pressures in areas like health and social care. All services are now preparing three-year change plans (due by end March 2025) focused on longer-term financial sustainability. The Commission regards these plans as especially important in providing clear evidence that the right leadership, culture and capacity (including in relation to digital) are in place to significantly accelerate the scale and pace of delivering the transformation and change now required. The Commission expects the council’s Medium-Term Financial Strategy to be updated to take into account the impact of the change plans, and to provide transparency about future intended use of reserves. The Commission is encouraged to see improvements in performance reporting arrangements in response to challenging audit recommendations in 2022/2023. The next key step is robust evidence of how the council is using this improved reporting framework to drive continuous improvement. The council should evidence that its new change plans are having a positive impact on services performance and outcomes for communities. 67
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The Commission welcomes the minority party’s leadership in fostering the joint arrangements required to make effective decisions. As well as a range of structures to support strong cross-party working, mandatory training has been developed for elected members to support their work on boards and committees. A range of tools and techniques are embedded to engage with communities, including area committees and well-established processes around community asset transfer, although further work is needed to encourage and support groups to manage assets in the most deprived areas. The council will need to ensure that these engagement structures support meaningful conversations between elected members and communities on the challenging fiscal reality, ensuring that they are equipped and able to take the tough decisions that lie ahead and implement the necessary service changes that have been delayed up until now. The council should be commended for innovative work in relation to its workforce, much of which is driven by recruitment, retention and capacity challenges. Its ‘Life Chances’ model (focused on employability and poverty reduction), apprenticeships, ‘Grow your Own’ schemes (in areas like environmental services), and a focus on flexible working and wellbeing are all initiatives that should be shared with other councils. While processes are in place for tracking implementation of its workforce strategy, the Commission expects evidence of regular reporting to be prioritised to measure the impact of initiatives and maintain a focus on continuous improvement. 5.2. The Commission puts forward the following action points for Fife:- The council should identify the neighbourhood plans for priority areas that it intends to complete and a timetable for this work. The council should extend its improvement methodology on raising educational attainment in deciles 1-3 to a broader range of young people. The framework for managing performance against the Plan for Fife should be finalised as early as possible. The council should develop a range of delivery plans to support the identified actions and wider ambitions outlined in the Plan for Fife. These actions should be measurable, with clear deadlines. The council should continue its new approach to managing sickness absence rates. The council should work with Fife Health and Social Care Partnership (FHSCP) and NHS Fife to accelerate the redesign of adult health and social care services and mitigate medium-term financial pressures. As a partner in the FHSCP, the council should seek early agreement over roles and responsibilities, so that the management and governance arrangements of the FHSCP support the significant service redesign challenges it faces. The council’s new programme board should ensure alignment between the aims of the Plan for Fife and service change plans. It should develop a focus on outcomes rather than being led by budget changes. 6. East Renfrewshire Council (published 06 February 2025) 6.1. East Renfrewshire received a positive report, with particular mention being made of good practice in cross-party working, budget planning, and community engagement. Auditors commend the council for strong Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) performance and a data-driven and focused approach to transformation. 68
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The Commission is impressed by the consistently strong performance of East Renfrewshire Council across a broad range of corporate and service areas, against the context of recent leadership changes. Notable examples of good practice include cross-party working, budget scenario planning (despite single year settlements), relationships with health and other key partners, community engagement, strategic planning and performance management. This is a good example of a small urban council delivering high-quality services to its residents, despite financial constraints. The council has the building blocks in place in relation to long-term financial planning – early engagement with communities, a cross-party budget strategy group (including a representative from its Integration Joint Board (IJB)), identification of challenges, budget scenario planning and outline revenue financial plans up to 2030. The Commission would now expect to see the council develop detailed income and savings plans for the years ahead to ensure the council can meet its strategic objectives. Tough decisions linked to transformation now need to be taken to secure the council’s financial sustainability over the longer term. The Commission notes the prudent approach to financial management adopted by the council. The Commission is keen to see further work on in-year budget monitoring to ensure elected members get the most accurate and timely information, including in relation to additional income sources, to support them in making key decisions during the year. The council has taken an incremental approach to the transformation of service delivery over recent years, including through its digital transformation programme and investment in data analysis. This analysis has enabled a deeper understanding of East Renfrewshire’s communities and has allowed services to be targeted towards the most vulnerable. Given its size and scale, likely future demand and Commission findings 5 financial constraints, the council will need to build on its strong track record and relationships with the IJB and community planning partners to drive the innovation and scale of change required in its next phase of transformation. The Commission is particularly encouraged to see that the council’s performance is extremely strong, even when compared to other similar councils in its Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) ‘family group’. This includes performance in key areas like education, emissions, hospital admissions and affordable housing. The impact of financial challenges and savings plans including within the IJB will need to be monitored closely, and the council and IJB will need to ensure it fully understands the impact on outcomes for service users. In relation to its workforce, the council has taken proactive steps including a refreshed People Strategy and workforce planning approach, a Health and Wellbeing programme, and benchmarking against other Scottish councils in relation to its hybrid working policy. Despite these initiatives, the Commission is concerned about the low response rates to the staff wellbeing survey. Given the importance of having an engaged workforce, the Commission expects the council to continue to use key metrics such as absence rates and turnover to monitor and scrutinise employee engagement, ensuring a return on its investment and a positive impact on staff. 69
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6.2. The Commission puts forward the following action points for East Renfrewshire:- The council should continue its development of a realistic and costed medium- term financial plan that supports the delivery of strategic objectives while recognising significant future uncertainty The Council should consider how best to broaden awareness of key workforce planning issues to elected members. The 2025/2026 budget process needs to address the funding of the digital transformation programme. Performance discussions are a critical process for any organisation to ensure that employees continue to fulfil their roles effectively and develop throughout their career. The Council should take steps to improve participation rates and value of Quality Conversations across the Council. The Council must take steps to increase the response rate to the employee survey. 7. Next steps and recommendations 7.1. Officers of the Council will continue to review the Controller of Audit reports as they are published to learn any lessons for the council. Reports on any significant findings and key messages will be brought to the Forum for information. 8. Employee Implications 8.1. There are no direct employee implications. 9. Financial Implications 9.1. There are no direct financial implications. 10. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 10.1. There are no implications for climate change, sustainability or the environment in terms of the information contained in this report. 11. Other Implications 11.1. Considering the detail of the report and identifying actions as appropriate contribute towards effective risk management. 12. Integrated Impact Assessment and Consultation Requirements 12.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 12.2. There is no requirement for consultation on the content of the report. Paul Manning Chief Executive 5 March 2025 70
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Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes • Ambitious, self-aware and improving Previous References • None List of Background Papers • None Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact:- Tom Little, Head of Communications and Strategy Ext: 4904 (Tel: 01698 454904) E-mail: Tom.Little@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 71
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Report Agenda Item Report to: Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum Date of Meeting: 1 April 2025 Report by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Transformational Reviews – Update 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of the report is to:- provide an update on the Transformational Reviews that are part of the Council’s Transformational Change Programme for the year 2025/2026 and beyond 2. Recommendation(s) 2.1. The Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- (1) that the update on the Transformational Reviews be noted. [1rec 3. Background 3.1. In June 2024, a report titled 2025/2026 to 2027/2028 Revenue Budget Strategy was presented to the Executive Committee. This report highlighted the need for Transformational Change to manage the significant Budget Gaps facing the Council over the next 3 years. The Transformational Change Programme drives continuous improvement as well as efficiencies and feeds into the Budget Strategy to deliver savings for 2025/2026 to 2027/2028. 3.2. An initial paper titled, Cross-Cutting Reviews – Update, was presented to the Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum on 27 August 2024. As a result of these reviews, savings totalling £2.680 million were approved by Council on 26 February 2025 as part of the 2025/2026 budget setting process. These are summarised in Table 1. Table 1: Cross-Cutting Savings 2025/2026 Saving Reference Saving Proposal Saving Value Approved (£m) M&O01 Procurement 0.941 M&O02 Overtime 0.364 M&O03 Management Structures 1.000 COR01 Council Charges 0.375 Total 2.680 6 73
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3.3. Updates to this forum on 19 November 2024 and 04 February 2025 detailed the progress of these Cross-Cutting reviews as well as Resource specific transformational reviews, to identify savings in the year 2026/2027 and beyond. This report provides a further update to these Cross-Cutting reviews (Section 4) and Resource specific reviews (Section 5). 4. Transformational Change Programme: Cross-Cutting Transformational Reviews 4.1. Each review is taken in turn with a summary of their current status. 4.2. Charging: The following proposals were consulted upon as part of the budget consultation and agreed by the full Council on 26th February 2025, delivering a saving of £0.375 million for 2025/2026. 4.3. Since the last report to this Forum, the outcome of the budget consultation was reviewed, and the charges are now set, based on the approved saving (section 4.2). Moving forward, it is envisaged that non–statutory charges will be increased by year- on-year annual inflation and presented to members as part of the Budget process. 4.4. While this review has substantially concluded, Services will continue to report on any further identified charging opportunities outwith this Charging review and the findings will be presented to this Forum as they become available. This may involve identifying opportunities for new charges in future years. 4.5. One area specifically being pursued by Finance (Transactions) is the accepted payment methods for charges (e.g. the removal of cheques). Finance (Transactions) will review payment methods as part of the Customer Engagement review. 4.6. Procurement: Following the Council’s approval of procured spend savings totalling £0.941 million in the 2025/2026 Budget, this review remains ongoing to ensure the maximum level of efficiencies is delivered and to identify cashable budget savings. 4.7. Three opportunities totalling £0.285 million have been identified to date: Area of Opportunity Efficiency Saving (£m) Purchase Card Rebate a collaborative contract to increase the rebate percentage available on transactions for all Scottish councils using purchase cards 0.055 Homeless Property Cleaning an opportunity to transfer the cleaning for homeless void properties from the current supplier to the Council’s contracted cleaning supplier at a more competitive rate 0.090 Housing Property Cleaning and Clearance a new contract with improved commercial terms for the cleaning and clearance of housing void properties 0.140 Total 0.285 4.8. In addition, a pilot phase trialling a new supplier of two-wheeled bins for plastic and glass has commenced, with the opportunity to deliver £0.060 million savings per annum. Bin performance will be monitored for up to a year and a recommendation will be made following the conclusion of the pilot. This review is ongoing, and any updates will be provided to the Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum as the review progresses. 74
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4.9. Overtime: This review of overtime practices and spend will look to reduce expenditure and remove / reduce associated risks to employees. Following the Council’s approval of savings totalling £0.364 million for the 2025/2026 budget, the agreed budget reductions will be implemented, and this review will remain ongoing to identify further savings opportunities for 2026/2027 and beyond. This includes a focus on looking to reduce the need for overtime though recruitment, and also consideration on out of hours service requirements. 4.10. Revised overtime information packs are being circulated to Resources on a four- weekly basis to support the progress and delivery of Resource Overtime Action Plans. Any updates will be reported to the Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum as they become available. 4.11. Organisational and Management Structures: This is a review to ensure correct balance between management and the staff they oversee. This review refers to the Organisational Structure Models which were agreed and implemented formally in 2009/2010 and considers how closely aligned the current structures are to the agreed preferred operating models (POM). The 2025/2026 savings pack contained a proposal to increase the spans of control for these service areas and generate savings totalling £1.000 million. This was approved by the Council on 26 February 2025. 4.12. This review is ongoing in order to identify further savings opportunities for 2026/2027 and beyond. Phase 2 of this exercise will look to identify further savings in both Grade 4 and above posts within structures that do not meet the POM requirements and in any layers/tiers that can be streamlined as per the POM. Work on Phase 2 has commenced and outcomes are expected by the summer. Implementation timeframes will be considered as part of the Review. Any updates will be reported to the Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum as they become available. 4.13. Fleet: This review sets out the Fleet principles that Services should consider as part of their ongoing workstreams in order to lower operational expenses and extend the lifespan of vehicles. A Terms of Reference detailing the scope and outcomes of this review was presented to the Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum on 27 August 2024. Work remains ongoing to consider the number of vehicles used by Resources and rightsizing the Council’s fleet and an update on this work will be presented to this Forum on 17 June 2025. 4.14. Digital Transformation: This review of the use of technology impacts on all Reviews and focuses on how the Council and its customers interact. Three key areas are being considered: Business Systems & Processes: projects and improvements to key corporate and line of business applications. Workforce Productivity: focus on enabling and empowering staff to maximise their effectiveness and digital literacy. Customer Engagement: clear & consistent Council-wide customer engagement. 75
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4.15. An action plan has been developed covering several related streams, to ensure that work is progressed in parallel where feasible. In addition, work is progressing to form a Digital Transformation team within the IT Service with a range of expertise and skills. A new activity has also commenced to aid a more rapid approach to delivering change. Using work done previously by the Digital Office, a draft capability map has been produced. This will allow Resources to quickly develop high level designs for change or new services using ‘building block’ technical or business capabilities which the Council already has, driving re-use of technology to leverage existing investment. 4.16. A mid–term review of the Digital Strategy 2022–2027 will be undertaken in 2025 to further develop the Council's digital vision. A fuller report will be brought back to this Forum in June 2025. 4.17. Customer Engagement: This review is closely aligned with the Digital Transformation review and will see the development of a Council Customer Engagement Strategy to improve digital engagement, accessibility and create efficiencies. The review will identify opportunities for service improvement, cycle time reduction and cost saving through transformation of customer contact processes in the main customer facing Resources and will consider the introduction of new technologies and processes to deliver efficiency-led, customer services and engagement. 4.18. A working group has been set up comprising representatives from Finance (Transactions), IT Services, and from each Resource. The working group has completed a SWOT analysis and is currently considering the specific actions required to address the weaknesses and threats. To support this, a risk register has been completed with top risks and a series of control measures have been identified to mitigate or reduce the risks. An update report will be presented to this Forum on 17 June 2025. 4.19. In–house and Procured Services: A review of the costs of inhouse service provision compared to the cost of procuring these same services from external marketplace has now commenced. 4.20. The Council currently uses external suppliers to deliver works and services. There can be a number of reasons for external provision, and these can include instances where it has not historically been best value for the Council to deliver the service internally, or where there are capacity / capability issues which have limited the Council’s ability to carry out required service. In addition, there may be situations where the Council is not permitted/licensed to carry out the Service. 4.21. Any services contract with a total annual value exceeding £0.250 million and which is expected to come to an end within the calendar years 2025 – 2027 is currently within the scope of this review. Resources have been asked to review this expenditure with suppliers and to give consideration as to what activities have the potential to be delivered internally by the Council. Current contract terms as well as factors within the Resource / Service such as capacity and capability to deliver the service(s) in–house, will be considered. 4.22. A Terms of Reference has been prepared for this review and is attached in Appendix 1 for information. This details the extent of the review and what it intends to achieve. It also includes timescales for delivery. 76
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4.23. A flowchart which allows initial consideration of current contracts is attached in Appendix 2. 5. Transformational Change Programme: Resource Specific Reviews 5.1. Each review is taken in turn with a summary of their current status. 5.2. Third Sector Review: This review will look at the relationship between the Council and the Third Sector, building on the Council motion on the Keeping the Beat Alive initiative and the Fair Funding Charter. This will include consideration of the collaborative relationship between the Third Sector and the Council, building on current relationships to ensure a continued strong working partnership between the two. As part of this review, we will also look to update the internal processes and guidance for the provision of grants for the Third sector. A separate report on this is included in the Agenda pack for this Forum. 5.3. Factoring: As reported previously, this is a full review of the Factoring Service currently provided by Housing and Technical Resources to owners of former Council Housing Stock. This service is currently provided to 8480 owners within Rutherglen and Cambuslang, East Kilbride and Hamilton localities. 5.4. The review is in two phases. The first phase is an examination of the strengths and weaknesses of the current factoring arrangements, and an appraisal of alternative service models, taking into account potential changes in the legislative framework and considering the risks and benefits of each. APSE have been appointed as a consultant to assist with the review. The outcome of this review will be presented to the Housing and Technical Resources Committee and then on to this Forum for information. 5.5. The second phase will incorporate consultation with stakeholders and service users on viable and sustainable options. 5.6. Long Term Estate Strategy: Previous reports to this Forum have included this review under the title of ‘Property.’ This review looks to promote a strategic and outcome focussed methodology to Asset Management with a 10-year Estate Strategy that will inform and guide future land/property decisions on the investment, rationalisation, co- location, and disposal of assets, taking account of community, financial and service considerations. The process of estates assessment will be ongoing and iterative over the lifetime of the Strategy. 5.7. The Estate Strategy aims to: effectively support public service delivery in the future and helps us to deliver people and place-based objectives explore opportunities to work collaboratively with other public sector bodies inform and guide future land/property decisions on the investment, rationalisation, co-location, and disposal of assets direct investment into a reduced, but higher quality and energy efficient core estate facilitate the transition to net zero for our smaller, higher quality estate promote community asset transfer where this is appropriate help manage the financial pressures facing the Council and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC) 77
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5.8. Estate development is split into three inter-related phases, where Phase One comprises an initial data review, and the development of a clear assessment criteria. Using the criteria noted by the PRSF in August 2024, the main output from Phase One will be an initial scoring of all properties within the estate. Phase Two utilises the data gathered in phase one and explores and identifies potential funding sources that could fund aspects of delivery, alongside alignment with internal capital budgets. It will create a prioritised real estate/project pipeline against each potential funding source, based on availability and achievability. Phase Three comprises the development of the Estate Strategy and an associated 10-year Delivery plan, which will aim to address the requirements discussed above. 5.9. An interim update on this review was presented to the Executive Committee on 12 March 2025. 5.10. South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture (SLLC) Commissioning Plan: This review addresses the need for clarity in terms of the relationship between the Council and SLLC, and its role as a provider of services to the Council. This need for clarity has been further exacerbated in recent years given the financial challenges faced by both the Council and SLLC, and it is therefore vital that consideration is given to a longer- term, more sustainable approach to how the Council and SLLC work together. 5.11. A progress update was presented to the Executive Committee on 12 March 2025 and the draft commissioning plan can be viewed here. 5.12. Property Services – Efficiencies and Income Generation: This review is focussed on identifying areas of efficiencies and income opportunities across Assets and Estates, Consultancy Services and Building Services. Running costs, performance of workstreams, fleet assessment, depot locations and renewable technology are being considered as part of this review, in addition to consideration of management and organisational efficiencies alongside the Personnel led review noted earlier in this report. An update report will be presented to this Forum on 17 June 2025. 6. Employee Implications 6.1 There are no direct employee implications from this report. 7. Financial Implications 7.1. The financial implications are summarised within the report. 8. Other Implications 8.1. The main risk associated with the Council’s Revenue Budget is that there is an overspend. The risk has been assessed as low given the detailed budget management applied across the Resources. The risk is managed through four weekly Budget Monitoring Meetings at which any variance is analysed. In addition, the probable outturn exercise ensures early warning for corrective action to be taken where appropriate. 8.2. The main risk associated with the Council’s Capital Programme is that there is an overspend. The risk has been assessed as low given the detailed project management plans prepared and monitored for each project. The risk of an overspend is managed through four weekly Investment Management Meetings. 78
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8.3. There are no implications for sustainability in terms of the information contained in this report. 9. Equality Impact Assessment and Consultation Arrangements 9.1. This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy and, therefore, no impact assessment is required. 9.2. There is also no requirement to undertake any consultation in terms of the information contained in the report. Jackie Taylor Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 4 March 2025 Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, Effective, Efficient and Transparent Previous References Executive Committee, 26 June 2024 Cross-Cutting Reviews – Update – Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum 27 August 2024 Transformational Reviews – Cross-Cutting – Update – Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum 19 November Transformational Reviews - Update – Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum 04 February 2025 List of Background Papers 2025/2026 to 2027/2028 Revenue Budget Strategy Contact for Further Information If you would like to inspect the background papers or want further information, please contact: Lorraine O'Hagan, Head of Finance (Strategy) Ext: 2601 (Tel: 01698 452601) lorraine.o'hagan@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 79
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APPENDIX 1 Transformational Review – Terms of Reference 1 Review Title Bringing Contacts In – House 2 Identified Issues The Council currently has external contractors operating within each Resource in order to assist with a range of services and works. These include areas such as Home Care, road works, construction works, early years and counselling services. The Council is facing unprecedented financial pressures and it is now more vital than ever that the Council utilises all resources at its disposal to ensure best – value is being delivered when procuring a service; this may include internalising delivery by bringing contracts in – house. Identified Outcome(s) With the Council facing unprecedented financial pressures, it is vital that the Council utilises all resources at its disposal to ensure best value is being delivered when procuring a service. This may include internalising delivery by bringing contracts in-house. This will include an understanding of where and why the Council procures external contractors with regards to cost / capacity / capability and the development of medium to long term Service plans to bring identified opportunities in – house. 3 Scope of Review A review of ledgered and procured spend across all Resources will be carried out to identify areas of high spend with suppliers Alongside input and consideration from Executive Directors, areas of high spend with suppliers will be reviewed with a view to identifying which contracts have the potential to be delivered in – house at a net benefit to the Council. 4 Resources affected: - Community and Enterprise Education Finance and Corporate Housing and Technical Social Work X X X X X 5 Financial overview (£m) to be completed by finance where appropriate – will be confirmed when the scope of the review is determined. CER EDR FCR HTR SWR Employee costs Property costs Supplies and services Transport charges Admin costs Payments to other Bodies Payments to Contractors Finance charges Total expenditure Fees and charges 80
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Other income Total income Net expenditure 6 Key aims of/outcomes from project Service/operational • Generate efficiencies by ensuring contracts are delivered at best value. • An understanding of where and why the Council uses external suppliers for Service delivery o Cost / Capacity / Capability • Service plans / timelines for contracts to be delivered in house (where net benefit has been identified) Employee • Utilise current workforce to deliver services at best value. Other n/a 7 Key milestones • January 2025 - Terms of Reference presented to CMT Efficiencies • February 2025 - Review of ledgered and procured spend, with areas of high spend identified (to be reported on 04 March). • March 2025 - Executive Directors to review areas of spend and identify potential opportunities to bring contracts in–house (by end April 2025). • May to August 2025 - Service Plans created for transition towards bringing contract in– house. 8 Monitoring and reporting arrangements • CMT Efficiencies – Initial Report and Terms of Reference (21 January 2025) • CMT Efficiencies – Interim Report (04 March 2025) • CMT Efficiencies – Final Report (April 2025) • Updates to PRSF o 01 April 2025 o 17 June 2025 o 19 August 2025 o 25 November 2025 9 CMT Sponsor / Lead Officer Sponsor – Jackie Taylor Lead Officer(s) – David Booth, Anne Donaldson, Stephen Gibson, Soumen Sengupta 10 Project resourcing Services / personnel involved in review: • Finance (Transactions) • Finance (Strategy) • PMO • Resource representatives as required – depending on agreed scope of review. 81
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Appendix 2 Flow Chart – Decision Making re Delivering Services In–house 82
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Report Agenda Item To: Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum Date: 1 April 2025 Prepared by: Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) Subject: Third Sector Partnership Review 1. Purpose of Report 1.1. The purpose of this report is to:- set out the Terms of Reference for a Third Sector partnership review that will take forward discussions between South Lanarkshire Council and the local Third Sector seeking to improve their relationship and how it operates 2. Recommendation(s): 2.1. The forum is asked to approve the following recommendation(s):- (1) that the content of this report and Terms of Reference, attached at Appendix 1, be noted. 3. Background 3.1. In a report to Executive Committee on 11 December 2024, South Lanarkshire Council responded to the Third Sector’s Keep the Beat Alive (KTBA) campaign, providing an action plan to support improvements on some of our processes around funding and making a commitment to improve our partnership with the local Third Sector. 3.2 The three key ’asks’ of the KTBA campaign are: 1. Recognise the sector’s value. 2. Smarter more sustainable funding practices. 3. Meaningful engagement between the Third Sector and decision makers. 3.3 Voluntary Action South Lanarkshire (VASLan) is the Third Sector Interface (TSI) for South Lanarkshire. There is one TSI in each local authority area and they undertake four key functions: building capacity source of knowledge connecting partners voice of the sector 3.4. VASLan’s 2024 Impact report, highlights there are more than 1,400 Third Sector organisations operating across South Lanarkshire, providing support and services in health and wellbeing, connecting communities, support at home and working in community education and employability fields, and more. 7 83
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3.5. The Council’s Chief Executive met with VASLan’s new leadership team in December 2024 and the Third Sector Chief Officer’s Group in January and February 2025, to further understand and define the issues to be addressed through a review. 3.6. The management of services procured from the Third Sector is already covered under the Standing Orders on Contracts but further discussion on ways and support to make procurement more accessible to the local sector will be on-going. 3.7. The Third Sector includes community groups, charitable service providers and not- for-profit social enterprises operating in South Lanarkshire. 4 Purpose of the Review 4.1. The review will improve understanding of the role and the value of the local Third Sector’s contribution to local strategic outcomes, better demonstrating its role in expressed strategic aims across a range of policy areas including, but not limited to, community wealth building, fair work, tackling poverty and inequality, and increasing community empowerment. 4.2. The review aims to identify actions which could make South Lanarkshire the best environment for the local Third Sector to operate in Scotland, acknowledging the financial environment in which the Council and the Third Sector operate. 4.3. The review will build on the Keep the Beat Alive action plan, approved by Executive Committee in December 2024, and will produce a collaborative Third Sector agreement that will define and outline the guiding principles, standards and courses of action for engaging Third Sector stakeholders in both strategic and operational planning and ensuring the visibility of their contributions to outcomes for South Lanarkshire’s residents. 4.4. The Review will define the responsibilities of all stakeholders in this relationship and differentiate between the Third Sector’s ‘professional strategic partner’ relationship and it’s ‘delivery partner’ relationship and pertinent conduct in both relationships for all contributors and how these different roles should impact on our financial relationships. 4.5. In particular, the Keep the Beat Alive campaign dialogue picked up several actions in the Fair Funding Charter relating to grant provision, decision-making and their management that requires further investigation and collaboration with stakeholders before this can be clarified in procedural guidance. 4.6. This Third Sector Review will therefore also seek to establish a fair, open and transparent policy for the provision and monitoring of grants, and a small number of Third Sector payments made through other mechanisms other than grants or procurement, from South Lanarkshire Council. It will consider the need to define any high-level strategic priorities specifically for the Third Sector in a grant policy. 4.7. As one specific aspect, the review will investigate if South Lanarkshire Council should mandate the payment of the Living Wage with the provision of grants and other payments to the Third Sector. It will also consider if greater use could be made of the procurement route for some services. 84
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4.8. Other stakeholders would have an interest in participating in developing any of the provisions of the Fair Funding Charter as it relates to grants and other payments to the Third Sector not directed through formal procurement. These include elected members and the local Third Sector, and therefore a co-design approach will be undertaken. 4.9. The terms of reference in Appendix 1 outline the scope and topics for discussion through a Third Sector Review and its intended outputs and outcomes. 5 Review Process 5.1. An initial presentation and discussion was held with the Third Sector Chief Officers Group to agree a process of workshops and Fair Funding Topics for engagement in January and February 2025. 5.2. Deliberative workshops and events will take place between April and May 2025. Engagement reports will be produced and shared. 5.3. Drafts of a Third Sector agreement and a draft grant policy and initial impact assessment will be prepared throughout June and July 2025, with a final report to be provided to Executive Committee on 24 September 2025. 6 Employee Implications 6.1. There are no direct employee implications. 7 Financial Implications 7.1. There are no financial implications at this stage. 8. Climate Change, Sustainability and Environmental Implications 8.1. There are no direct climate change, sustainability and natural environment implications arising from this report. 9. Other Implications 9.1. Recommendations include improvement work across a range of services that provide grants and other payments to the Third Sector not directed through formal procurement. 10. Integrated Impact Assessment and Consultation Requirements 10.1 This report does not introduce a new policy, function or strategy or recommend a change to an existing policy, function or strategy, and therefore no impact assessment is required at this time. 10.2. As indicated in this report and the terms of reference, the Third Sector will be involved in co-designing the new approach. There is no requirement to undertake any other formal consultation in terms of the information contained in this report at this time. Jackie Taylor Executive Director (Finance and Corporate Resources) 12 March 2025 85
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Link(s) to Council Values/Priorities/Outcomes Accountable, effective, efficient and transparent Fair, open and sustainable Priorities Inspiring learners, transforming learning, strengthening partnerships Thriving business, fair jobs and vibrant town centres Previous References None List of Background Papers None Contact for Further Information If you would like further information, please contact: Jen Kerr, Community Engagement Manager E-mail: jennifer.kerr1@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 86
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Appendix 1 Transformational Review – Terms of Reference 1 Review Title South Lanarkshire Council (SLC)/Third Sector Partnership Review The Third Sector encompasses a diverse range of organisations, including voluntary and community groups, charities, social enterprises, co-operatives, and other not-for- profit entities operating in South Lanarkshire. These organisations play a vital role in supporting communities, delivering essential services, and driving social change through collaborative partnerships with SLC and other stakeholders. 2 Identified Issues VASLan launched the Keep the Beat Alive (KTBA) campaign in Spring 2024 and a Council motion requested officers consider the degree to which SLC could meet the Fair Funding Charter featured in the campaign. A report to Executive Committee on 11 December 2024 provided an action plan to support improvements on some of our processes around funding and made a commitment to work in partnership with the local South Lanarkshire Third Sector through a Third Sector Partnership Review to further define the nature and terms of our strategic and financial relationship around the three key “asks” of the KTBA campaign: 1- Recognise the sector’s value. 2- Smarter more sustainable funding practices. 3- Meaningful engagement between the third sector and decision makers. Recognising that we build on many local positive examples and foundations across these three key asks, the review will focus on clearly co-defining a set of values and principles against which Third Sector and SLC partners consistently adhere to in our relationship. The review will acknowledge the Third Sector’s role as a key pillar in South Lanarkshire’s public service ecosystem, alongside statutory bodies, and seek ways to maximise opportunities to work together to best meet shared outcomes for our communities. We share a need to define the meaning of “equal partners” and to develop a relationship characterised by honesty, trust and integrity for, and from, all parties. Subsequent meetings between the Council and both VASLan and the Third Sector Chief Officers Group in December 2024, January 2025 and February 2025 helped inform the issues and the scope of this review. This terms of reference outlines the range of actions to consider taking forward in discussions between South Lanarkshire Council and the local Third Sector, and seeks to improve this relationship and how it operates. 87
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Issues identified through Keep the Beat Alive dialogue and ongoing engagement with third sector, include: • A challenging financial situation for both Third Sector and SLC and the risks this brings to our organisations and the communities we jointly serve. • Instability and a high risk of closures in local Third Sector expected in the coming years. • Recognition of the need to improve SLC’s strategic and financial relationship with the sector. • The need for a clear corporate approach to increase stakeholder engagement in service and strategic planning. • A desire for improved notice and timescales in our financial relationship to assist with planning and management in the Third Sector. • Explore other ways to enhance the sustainability of third sector organisations, including workforce development, capacity building, and long-term strategic partnerships with the Council. • Requirement for clear, open and transparent grant processes, procedures and policy. • Further need to make procurement more accessible to the local Third Sector. • A need to improve the understanding of the sector’s work, its value and to attribute its outcomes to a whole system approach to public service through shared outcome frameworks. • Explore how to create sustainable conditions within all partners’ financial constraints to be able to implement fair work principles, ensuring that commitments to the Real Living Wage and employment standards are achievable, affordable and planned for, so as to be sustainable for organisations operating within financial constraints. • A need to explore, agree and recognise a Third Sector mechanism for representative engagement. Fair, open and transparent mechanisms for including third sector professional perspectives should be embedded as early as possible in the design of policy and decisions made against it. This review will produce a co-designed South Lanarkshire approach that will outline how we will reset the relationship between SLC and the local Third Sector and what the new relationship will look like. Options including the development of a Third Sector Agreement to make clear the commitments of all parties. This review will consider the impact of short-term funding agreements on financial stability and long-term service planning for Third Sector organisations. The review will also co-design a grant policy and supporting guidance, for fair, open and transparent grant processes across all of SLC funded programmes which allocate the Council’s own funds, and in some cases where we are distributing funding from other sources using our own processes. 88
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VASLAN will provide support to ensure that the Third Sector across South Lanarkshire is informed, included and enabled to contribute. The review will address the relevant points of a Fair Funding Charter Topics outlined in the action plan. Identified Outcome(s) Aim: To identify actions which could make South Lanarkshire the best environment for the local Third Sector to operate in Scotland, acknowledging the financial environment the council and the Third Sector operate in. This review will produce: 1- A South Lanarkshire Third Sector Agreement outlining the guiding principles, standards and courses of action for engaging local third sector stakeholders in both strategic and operational planning and ensuring the visibility of their value and contributions to outcomes for South Lanarkshire’s residents. a. This document will outline the responsibilities of all stakeholders in this relationship and differentiate between the third sector’s “professional strategic partner” relationship and its “delivery partner” relationship and pertinent conduct in both relationships for all contributors. b. It will develop procurement skills and practice to increase local third sector ability to bid for local contracts. c. And it will develop corresponding practice guidance and training for council officers to implement the resulting policies and agreements. 2- A fair, open and transparent policy and process for the provision and monitoring of grants from South Lanarkshire Council based on the Fair Funding Charter and Keep the Beat Alive Action Plan. 3 Scope of Review and Outputs to Report The scope of the Third Sector review will include our relationship throughout all services of South Lanarkshire Council, including those delivered through the Health and Social Care Partnership. The grant review element will include all of SLC grant programmes which allocate the council’s own funds, and in some cases where we are distributing funding from other sources using our own processes. Outputs will include- • Stakeholder engagement workshops and reports. • Update reports for Corporate Management Team (CMT). • A draft local Third Sector Agreement. • A draft Grant Policy • Guidance and ongoing support for officers to implement. • Fair, open, transparent, third sector engagement mechanisms. 89
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4 Resources affected: - All Resources Community and Enterprise Education Finance and Corporate Housing and Technical Social Work X X X X X 5 Financial overview (£m) to be completed by finance where appropriate The data below includes the 2023/24 grants and non-procured payments to 3rd sector organisations paid through Payments to Other Bodies. Any other payments to 3rd sector organisations through other budget lines will be identified as part of the review work. CER EDR FCR HTR SWR Employee costs Property costs Supplies and services Transport charges Admin costs Payments to other Bodies 0.038 0.004 1.059 - 4.318 Payments to Contractors Finance charges Total expenditure 0.038 0.004 1.059 - 4.318 Fees and charges Other income Total income - - - - - Net expenditure 0.038 0.004 1.059 - 4.318 6 Key aims of/outcomes from project Service/operational Clear corporate vision and guidance for an improved and sustainability-focused Third Sector relationship that creates the best environment for the local third sector to operate in. This vision will value and leverage the local third sector’s professional expertise, local relationships and third sector sources of funds to contribute to agreed, shared local strategic outcomes. A fair, open transparent policy and corresponding guidance on grant funding and how it operates throughout South Lanarkshire Council. Employee Increased support for officers involved in decision-making on strategic and operational planning and the delivery and monitoring of Council grants. Other Provide fair, open and transparent guidance for local Third Sector partners when applying for SLC funding. Further development of SLC’s approaches to stakeholder engagement and collaborative relationships with the local Third Sector. 90
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7 Key milestones 1. Performance and Review Scrutiny Forum 1 April 2025 2. Deliberative Workshops & Reports: Elected Members and Third Sector: April- May 2025. 3. Policy drafting and initial impact assessments: June 2025 4. Report to Executive Committee 24 September 2025. 8 Monitoring and reporting arrangements • Interim updates to CMT at key milestones • First drafts of Third Sector Charter/ commitment and policy draft report in July 2025. • Informal engagement event reports. Audiences: CMT, third sector and members in May 2025. • Executive Report 24 September 2025 9 CMT Sponsor / Lead Officer Jackie Taylor- CMT Sponsor Tom Little – Lead Officer 10 Project resourcing ▪ Community Engagement Team Manager and Community Project Development Officer will undertake the coordination of the project. ▪ An internal steering group will be established to support the development of both policies. Membership to be agreed. ▪ Further input and oversight at all stages from CMT, Finance and Legal will be required for the development of recommendations. ▪ VASLan will support the hosting of third sector workshops and facilitate the input and oversight of the third sector’s collaborations and contributions. 91
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