Performance Reporting Update
Argyll and Bute Council · 20 June 2023
Back to Audit and Scrutiny Committee — 20 June 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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1 ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL AUDIT AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE CHIEF EXECUTIVE 20 JUNE 2023 PERFORMANCE REPORTING UPDATE __________________________________________________________________ 1. SUMMARY 1.1 The Performance and Improvement Framework (PIF) sets out the process for presenting the Council’s performance reports. 1.2 The paper identifies the performance reporting activities that have occurred during the reporting period and outlines the planned activity for Performance Management and Reporting commencing 2023/24. It is recommended that the Audit and Scrutiny Committee: 1.3 Note that this report presents Council performance reporting arrangements across all services; 1.4 Note that the Strategic and Area Committees have responsibility to scrutinise operational performance; 1.5 Note and agree the planned activity for Performance Management and Reporting during 2023/24 onwards. Pippa Milne Chief Executive
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2 ARGYLL AND BUTE COUNCIL AUDIT AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE CHIEF EXECUTIVE 20 JUNE 2023 ___________________________________________________________________ PERFORMANCE REPORTING UPDATE 2. SUMMARY 2.1 The Performance and Improvement Framework (PIF) sets out the process for presenting the Council’s performance reports. This is under review. 2.2 The paper identifies the performance reporting activities that have occurred during the reporting period and outlines the planned activity for Performance Management and Reporting commencing 2023/24. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS It is recommended that the Audit and Scrutiny Committee: 3.1 Note that this report presents Council performance reporting arrangements across all services; 3.2 Note that the Strategic and Area Committees have responsibility to scrutinise operational performance; 3.3 Note and agree the planned activity for Performance Management and Reporting during 2023/24 onwards. 4. DETAIL 4.1 The Performance and Improvement Framework (PIF) was approved by the Council in September 2017. The PIF sets out the agreed framework for planning, monitoring and reporting the Council’s performance. 4.2 To support scrutiny of performance by Elected Members and Senior Officers in September 2020 the Performance Excellence Project (PEP) commenced. The following is a summary of the project outputs to date. As part of this project the PIF will be updated to reflect the outcomes of the project. 4.3 A suite of 47 high-level indicators aligned to the Corporate Outcomes have been identified and developed. These 47 indicators are known as the Corporate Outcome Indicators – COIs. The full list of the 47 Corporate Outcome Indicators is attached (Appendix 1).
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3 The COIs will be included in the Council Annual Report 2022/23 and presented to this committee prior to publication later in the year. 4.4 Reporting to the 4 Area Committees on a quarterly basis has continued. These reports focus on area level operational performance measures. The format of the report has been amended to fully comply with the Public Bodies Accessibility Legislation. 4.5 Working with the Corporate Programme Co-ordinator, a quarterly reporting template is currently being trialled. The purpose of the template is to ensure a succinct summary of the Transformational, Project and Strategic level activity is captured. The report will be presented on a quarterly basis to the Executive Leadership Team and Strategic Committees ensuring that quarterly monitoring and reporting will continue on a quarterly basis. 4.6 The Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) consists of 104 indictors across a range of services. There are 6 indicators that relate to Housing Services. As the Council does not provide this service we contribute to 98 indicators. The Improvement Service manages the presenting of the data and analysis at a Scotland-wide level. As all Scottish Councils participate we can compare our performance alongside other authorities as well as within a family group of authorities with similar characteristics such as geography or affluence. Importantly this also enables all authorities to explore improvements to service delivery and share good practice. Out of the 98 indicators 56 (57%) have seen performance improve; 10 (10%) have seen performance remain the same and 32 (33%) have seen performance decline. The data can be explored through the Improvement Service website. The Improvement Service are currently developing more interactive reporting tools and are also working towards earlier publishing dates for the data. We are actively engaging with the Improvement Service to work with them with a view to improving the integration of the LGBF indicators within our performance reporting framework. 4.7 The long-standing performance management system ‘Pyramid’ has now been decommissioned as agreed. Working closely with senior officers all valuable historic data has been identified and where appropriate extracted for future use.
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4 4.8 Work and upskilling within the PEP team and the Data Advisory Group has progressed well. Particular focus is being given to balancing the richness that this new technology brings with our duties to meet the Public Bodies Accessibility Legislation. 4.9 A customer satisfaction survey containing 22 cross-cutting questions and a final ‘we welcome your comment’ box has been developed and will be issued later this year. The findings of the survey will feed into one of the COIs as well as providing important operational customer satisfaction findings that can be fed into service improvements or re-design. The survey will be repeated annually to help illustrate an overall picture of customer satisfaction with service delivery. 4.10 The Councils’ 4-year Change Programme will be delivered through Service Re- design. This long-term programme will be informed through the results of self- assessments. An initial self-assessment pilot has been performed with the results currently being analysed prior to roll-out. 4.11 Historically the Service Annual Performance Reviews (SAPRs) have been undertaken during April – July each year. The outputs from these large pieces of work would feed into the Council Annual Report. To avoid duplication and work efficiently the SAPRs are being replaced with a lighter-touch review. This review will focus on the main strategic successes and challenges facing Services. These outputs will contribute to the Council Annual Report, and going forward outputs from the completed self-assessments as noted above will also be included in the Council Annual Report. 4.12 The Council Annual Report 2023/23 will be published later in the year. The report will contain case studies as noted above, the performance of the Corporate Outcome Indicators (COIs), a summary of notable Council activities and challenges and the high-level cross cutting management information such as absence, risks, complaints and budget. 4.13 A Council-wide Business Plan is being developed which will align to our Corporate Plan, and the renewed Argyll and Bute Outcome Improvement Plan (ABOIP). This will replace the previous Service Plans which were not renewed for 2022/23. 4.14 The above notes the reporting arrangements and schedule of reporting Council activity. The regular reporting of Risks, Complaints and Budget will continue to
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5 be reported to the appropriate committees. It is proposed that going forward the Council 6-Month Performance Report that has been presented at this committee is replaced with the Council Annual Report containing the information as outlined above. 5.0 CONCLUSION This report updates the Audit and Scrutiny Committee on planned changes to the PIF in line with the Performance Excellence Project and other key strategic aims. 6.0 IMPLICATIONS 6.1 Policy: None 6.2 Financial: None 6.3 Legal: None 6.4 HR: None 6.5 Fairer Scotland Duty: None 6.5.1 Equalities - protected characteristics: None 6.5.2 Socio-economic Duty: None 6.5.3 Islands: None 6.6 Climate Change: None 6.7 Risk: This report sets out key challenges to the organisation and actions in response to these. 6.8 Customer Service: None For further information contact: Stuart Green, Corporate Support Manager stuart.green@argyll-bute.gov.uk Sonya Thomas, Performance and Improvement Officer sonya.thomas@argyll-bute.gov.uk APPENDICES Appendix 1 - Suite of 47 Corporate Outcome Indicators Pippa Milne, Chief Executive – Argyll and Bute Council 22 May 2023