Agenda Document Pack - Audit and Scrutiny Committee - 29/01/2026
North Ayrshire Council · 29 January 2026
Back to Audit and Scrutiny Committee — 29 January 2026 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
North Ayrshire Council, Cunninghame House, Irvine KA12 8EE Audit and Scrutiny Committee A Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee of North Ayrshire Council will be held in the Council Chambers, Ground Floor, Cunninghame House, Irvine, KA12 8EE on Thursday, 29 January 2026 at 10:00 to consider the undernoted business. Meeting Arrangements - Hybrid Meetings This meeting will be held on a predominantly physical basis but with provision, by prior notification, for remote attendance by Elected Members in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003. Where possible, the meeting will be live-streamed and available to view at https://north-ayrshire.public- i.tv/core/portal/home. 1 Declarations of Interest Members are requested to give notice of any declarations of interest in respect of items of business on the Agenda. 2 Minutes The accuracy of (a) the Minutes of the Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee held on 20 November 2025 will be confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 3 2025/26 Mid-Year Complaint Report Submit report by the Head of Democratic Services to inform of the Council's complaint performance and volumes and trends of complaints received in the first six months of Financial Year 2025/26 (copy enclosed). 1
Page 2
North Ayrshire Council, Cunninghame House, Irvine KA12 8EE 4 Our Performance Management Strategy 2023-28 (October 2025 Refresh) Submit report by the Head of Democratic Services to enable scrutiny of Our Performance Management Strategy 2023-28 (October 2025 Refresh) following an update to reflect changes in legislation since January 2024. (copy enclosed). 5 Our Council Plan Progress Report – Mid Year 2025 to 2026 and LGBF Analysis (October 2025 Data Release) Submit report by the Head of Democratic Services to advise on progress in delivering Our Council Plan 2023-2028 as at Mid-Year 2025-2026. (copy enclosed). 6 The Purpose and Use of Glow in North Ayrshire Education Service Submit report by the Executive Director (Education) to provide an overview of the key features of the national education digital platform, Glow, and how it is used in practice across Education in North Ayrshire (copy enclosed). 7 Early Years Development Concerns – Assurance Report Submit report by the Director of Health and Social Care Partnership to provide assurance to the Committee of the focus on early years developmental concerns as a priority within the Children and Families Health Team, through the Universal Health Visiting Pathway and wider service functions (copy enclosed). 8 Food Law Enforcement Actions Audit by Food Standards Scotland Submit report by the Executive Director of Communities and Housing to advise of Food Standards Scotland’s findings in relation to the arrangements in place in North Ayrshire Council to ensure adequate and effective food law enforcement across the Council area (copy enclosed). 9 Internal Audit Reports Issued Submit report by the Head of Finance to inform of the findings of the Internal Audit work completed since November 2025 (copy enclosed). 10 Standing Item of Business: Consideration of future business for scrutiny 11 Urgent Items Any other items which the Chair considers to be urgent. 2
Page 3
North Ayrshire Council, Cunninghame House, Irvine KA12 8EE Webcasting Please note: this meeting may be filmed/recorded/live-streamed to the Council's internet site and available to view at https://north-ayrshire.public- i.tv/core/portal/home, where it will be capable of repeated viewing. At the start of the meeting, the Provost/Chair will confirm if all or part of the meeting is being filmed/recorded/live-streamed. You should be aware that the Council is a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 2018. Data collected during the webcast will be retained in accordance with the Council’s published policy, including, but not limited to, for the purpose of keeping historical records and making those records available via the Council’s internet site. Generally, the press and public will not be filmed. However, by entering the Council Chambers and using the press or public seating area, you acknowledge that you may be filmed and that any information pertaining to you contained in the video and oral recording of the meeting will be used for webcasting or training purposes and for the purpose of keeping historical records and making those records available to the public. In making this use of your information the Council is processing data which is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. If you have any queries regarding this and, in particular, if you believe that use and/or storage of any particular information would cause, or be likely to cause, substantial damage or distress to any individual, please contact dataprotectionofficer@north-ayrshire.gov.uk 3
Page 4
North Ayrshire Council, Cunninghame House, Irvine KA12 8EE Audit and Scrutiny Committee Sederunt John Bell (Chair) Donald Reid (Vice Chair) Eleanor Collier Cameron Inglis Tom Marshall Matthew McLean Davina McTiernan Donald L. Reid John Sweeney Chair: Apologies: Attending: 4
Page 5
Audit and Scrutiny Committee 20 November 2025 At a Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee of North Ayrshire Council at 2.00 p.m. involving participation by remote electronic means and physical attendance within the Council Chambers, Irvine. Present (Physical Participation) John Bell, Cameron Inglis and Donald L. Reid. Present (Remote Participation) Eleanor Collier, Davina McTiernan and Donald Reid. In Attendance D. Hammond, Executive Director; Y. Baulk, Head of Housing and Public Protection (Communities and Housing); C. Cameron, Director of Health and Social Care Partnership; and A. Johnson, Principal Manager (HSCP Business Admin) (Health and Social Care Partnership); M. Boyd, Head of Finance; A. Fenton, Team Manager (Audit); A. Fitzharris, Team Manager (Risk); K. Gray, Team Manager; and H. Ward, Fraud Investigator (Corporate Fraud) (Finance); A. McClelland, Head of Education (Education); T. Reaney, Head of Neighbourhood Services (Place); F. Walker, Head of People and ICT; J. McNeil, Senior Manager (IT Services); and T. Riddick, Team Manager (Customer Services); A. Craig, Head of Democratic Services; S. Wilson, Committee Services Officer, and J. Hutcheson, Senior Communications Officer (Media and Internal Communications) (Democratic Services) (Corporate Services). Chair Councillor Bell in the Chair. Apologies Tom Marshall, Matthew McLean and John Sweeney. 1. Declarations of Interest There were no declarations of interest by Members in terms of Standing Order 11 and Section 5 of the Code of Conduct for Councillors 2. Minutes The accuracy of the Minutes of (a) the Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee held on 28 August 2025 and (b) the Special Meeting of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee held on 23 September 2025 will be confirmed and the Minutes signed in accordance with Paragraph 7 (1) of Schedule 7 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. 3. Audit and Scrutiny Committee Self-Evaluation 2025 Submitted report by the Head of Democratic Services reporting on the outcome of the annual self-evaluation of the Audit & Scrutiny Committee. The 2025 self- evaluation was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. Agenda Item 2 5
Page 6
The Committee agreed to (a) note the findings of the self-evaluation, as set out at Appendix 1 to the report; and (b) repeat the self-evaluation exercise on an annual basis. 4. Corporate Fraud Team: Mid-year Update Submitted a report by the Head of Finance providing an update on the work of the Corporate Fraud Team between April and September 2025. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the work carried out by the Corporate Fraud Team. 5. Internal Audit and Corporate Fraud Action Plans: Quarter 2 Update Submitted report by the Head of Finance advising on the progress made by Council Services in implementing the agreed actions from Internal Audit and Corporate Fraud reports as at 30 September 2025. The ‘Actions due by 30 September 2025 but not started or partially completed’ was attached at Appendix 1 to the report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the current position with the implementation of Internal Audit and Corporate Fraud actions. 6. Internal Audit Plan 25/26: Mid-year Update Submitted report by the Head of Finance providing an update on progress made in delivering the 2025/26 Internal Audit Plan. The Internal Audit Plan 2025/26 Quarters 1 & 2 and Additions to the Internal Audit Plan 2025/26 for Quarters 3 & 4 were attached at Appendix 1 and 2, respectively, to the report. The Rolling Internal Audit Plan was attached at Appendix 3 to the report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to (a) note the current position with the 2025/26 internal audit plan and (b) approve the inclusion of eight additional audit reviews in 2025/26. 7. Strategic Risk Register 2025/26: Mid-year Update Submitted report by the Head of Finance providing an update on the progress with actions related to the Strategic Risk Register attached at Appendix 1 to the report. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the mid- year update on the 2025/26 Strategic Risk Register. 8. IJB Annual Report 2024/25 and Audit Plan 2025/26 Submitted report by the Head of Finance informing of the IJB’s annual report for 2024/25 and the approved internal audit plan for 2025/26. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to note the IJB annual report and approved internal audit plan. 6
Page 7
9. Internal Audit Reports Issued Submitted report by the Head of Finance informing of the findings of Internal Audit work completed since August 2025. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee considered the outcomes from the Internal Audit work completed. 10. Standing Item of Business : Consideration of Future Business for Scrutiny There were no future reports requested by the Committee. 11. Urgent Items There were no urgent items. Exclusion of the Public - Para 1 Resolve in terms of Section 50(A)4 of the Local Government (Scotland) Act1973, to exclude from the Meeting the press and the public for the following item of business on the grounds indicated in terms of Paragraph 1 of Part1 of Schedule 7A of the Act. Non Disclosure of Information In terms of Standing Order 21 (Disclosure of Information), the information contained within the following report is confidential information within the meaning of Section 50A of the 1973 Act and shall not be disclosed to any person by any Member or Officer. 12. Internal Audit Reports Issued Submitted report by the Head of Finance informing the Committee of the findings of Internal Audit work completed since August 2025. Officers responded to Members’ questions and the Committee agreed to the recommendation noted in the report. The meeting ended at 11.15 a.m. The full meeting proceedings can be viewed at https://north-ayrshire.public-i.tv/core/portal/home 7
Page 8
8
Page 9
NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 29 January 2026 Audit and Scrutiny Committee Title: 2025/26 Mid-Year Complaint Report Purpose: To inform the Audit and Scrutiny Committee of the Council's complaint performance and volumes and trends of complaints received in the first six months of Financial Year 2025/26. Recommendation: That the Committee notes the report and the information provided. 1. Executive Summary 1.1 This report details complaint handling performance relating to North Ayrshire Council covering the period 1 April 2025 to 30 September 2025 and is referred to in the report as H1 2025. The detailed report is attached at Appendix 1. 1.2 To allow comparisons to be made the report also details some complaint data relating to H1 2024 and H1 2023. 1.3 Performance is measured through several Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) performance indicators, some of which have national targets. 2. Background 2.1 This section contains statistical information and commentary on key complaint performance indicators. More information relating to the indicators can be found in the attached report. 2.2 Volume of complaints received and closed 2.2.1 A 7% decrease in complaints received and closed is seen when compared to H1 2024 and a 9% decrease when compared to H1 2023. 1,117 1,086 1,012 H1 2023 H1 2024 H1 2025 Agenda Item 3 9
Page 10
12% 34% 44% 10% Upheld Partially Upheld Not Upheld Resolved 2.3 Complaints closed at each Stage H1 2025 Stage One 86% Stage Two 14% 2.3.1 Whilst there is no national target for the number of complaints to be closed under each stage, the Council always seeks to maximise closure at Stage One as complainants receive a quicker resolution compared to Stage Two, reduces the impact on complaint handler time and service delivery and reduces the possibility of SPSO referrals. 2.4 Complaint outcomes Stage One Stage Two 2.4.1 Resolved complaints are where the Council has taken action to address a problem or issue without deciding on whether there were any failings (this would happen where we agree a solution with the complainant at the outset without needing to investigate the complaint). 2.4.2 Most complaints not upheld related to policies, regulations or complaints that were proven unfounded after investigation. 2.5 Average time in working days for a full response at each Stage Stage One Stage Two 2.5.1 The average time in working days for a response under both Stages is better than the SPSO target response timescales for the last three years. An improvement in our performance to this time last year for Stage One complaints should also be noted. 4.1 3.3 3 0 5 H1 2023 H1 2024 H1 2025 Average days to close 16 14.8 15.6 0 20 H1 2023 H1 2024 H1 2025Average days to close 32% 10%18% 40% Upheld Partially Upheld Not Upheld Resolved 10
Page 11
2.6 Complaints closed within timescale Stage One Stage Two 2.6.1 The national target for complaints closed under Stage One is 80% or above. The national target for complaints closed under Stage Two is 85% or above. The Council’s performance in closing complaints timeously was better than the national target under both stages. Further details of complaints not closed on time are contained in the attached report. 2.7 Trends identified from upheld/partially upheld complaints 2.7.1 Key complaint topics for upheld or partially upheld complaints are detailed on page 8 of the attached report. 2.8 Changes or Improvements as a result of complaints 2.8.1 Not all services can implement improvements because of complaints due to several factors, including the feasibility of making changes and resource/budget considerations. That said, improvements were made in some services as a result of complaints received during the period and a selection are noted in page 13 of the attached report. 2.9 Compliments 2.9.1 The Council received some compliments during the period. Some praised specific individuals or teams, some related to more than one service and some were raised by employees complimenting other employees. 3. Proposals 3.1 It is proposed the Committee notes the report and recognises the Council’s complaint handling performance in relation to Section 2 above. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 None. Human Resources 4.2 None. 93% 7% Closed on time Not closed on time 92% 8% Closed on time Not closed on time 11
Page 12
Legal 4.3 None. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 None. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 None. Key Priorities 4.6 The Two Stage Complaint Handling Procedure supports the Council's key priority of delivering more effective and efficient service provision. It demonstrates commitment by identifying trends and focussing on service improvements whenever possible for North Ayrshire residents, customers and visitors. Community Wealth Building 4.7 None. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8 None. United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 4.9 If a young person under the age of 18 makes a complaint, or an adult makes a complaint on behalf of a young person or about an issue that affects them, we will use an enhanced child-friendly complaints process. This process ensures the young person's views are heard and considered and follows the SPSO Child Friendly Complaints Handling Principles and Child Friendly Complaints Handling Process Guidance. Consumer Duty 4.10 None. 5. Consultation 5.1 None. Aileen Craig Head of Service for Democratic Services For further information please contact Darren Miller, Complaint Manager, on (01294) 322988. Background Papers 2025/26 Mid-Year Complaint Report 12
Page 13
Page | 1 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION 2025/26 Mid-Year Complaint Report 13
Page 14
Page | 2 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION Contents Page Introduction 3 1 Volume of complaints closed 4 2 Volume of complaints closed on time at both Stages 6 3 Volume of complaints not closed on time per Directorate 6 4 Key complaint topics 8 5 Average time in working days for a full response 9 6 Extended complaints 11 7 Complaint Outcomes 12 8 Improvements made as a result of complaints 13 9 Compliments 14 10 Glossary 15 14
Page 15
Page | 3 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION Introduction North Ayrshire Council always seeks to deliver the best services possible to its customers and residents but it is recognised that dissatisfaction will sometimes occur. When it does, we want to know what went wrong, why it went wrong and what we can do to make things right. The Council recognises valuable lessons can be learnt from complaints which are defined as being expressions of dissatisfaction from members of the public about actions, or lack of actions, or about the standard of service provided by or on behalf of the Council. The Council’s complaint handling procedure (CHP) has two stages for handling complaints from members of the public:- Stage One complaints (also known as Frontline Resolution) are straightforward, non-complex complaints the Council can address at the initial point of contact or as close to the point of service delivery as possible. The Council has up to five working days to handle these. Stage Two complaints (also known as Investigations) are complaints the Council are typically unable to address at Stage One and require more time to carry out further investigation. This may be because the complaint is complex, serious or high risk. The Council has up to 20 working days to address these. This report details the Council’s complaint handling performance covering the first six months of financial year 2025 (1 April to 30 September) and is referred to in the report as H1 2025. Performance is measured via several Scottish Public Services Ombudsman indicators (some of which have national targets) and complaint data relating to previous years has been included in certain sections to allow comparisons to be made. Reporting complaints is a statutory requirement and is monitored by Audit Scotland. 1 2 15
Page 16
Page | 4 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION 1 Volume of complaints closed 1,005 complaints were received during the period and 1,012 closed. The chart below provides a breakdown of the closed complaints per Directorate: The following tables highlight complaint volumes per Directorate under each Stage: Education Stage One Stage Two Education (HQ) 3 11 Education (Schools) 34 28 Facilities Management 9 - Total 46 39 Communities and Housing Stage One Stage Two Building Services 107 11 Community Facilities 4 - Housing 71 16 Information & Culture 1 - Planning 2 3 Protective Services 10 3 Sport and Outdoor Activity 2 - Total 197 33 Place Stage One Stage Two Property Management and Investment 41 10 Roads 44 6 Streetscene 32 - Transport 2 - Waste Services 322 1 Total 441 17 85 230 458 80 154 Education Communities and Housing Place Corporate Services HSCP Multi-Service (5) 16
Page 17
Page | 5 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION Corporate Services Stage One Stage Two Customer Services 67 4 Finance 1 1 IT 1 - Legal Services 6 - Total 75 5 Health & Social Care Partnership Stage One Stage Two Children, Families & Justice 18 14 Finance & Transformation 11 1 Health & Community Care 69 23 Mental Health 9 7 Support Services 2 - Total 109 45 Multi-Service Stage One Stage Two Complaints involving more than one service - 5 Total - 5 • Although there is no target for the volume of complaints handled under each Stage, the Council seeks to maximise closure at Stage One wherever possible and 86% were handled at this Stage during the period. • Some services handled all their complaints at Stage One. • Whilst 32% of all complaints closed related to Waste Services (the majority relating to missed collections), the service empty over 102,000 household waste bins each week. As this equates to approximately 2.5 million collections during the period, 0.01% of these collections resulted in complaints being raised. • Multi-Service complaints have a table of their own as they are not attributable to a particular service. Year on Year comparison The graph below compares the volume of complaints received over the half year period in the last three years: 1,117 1,086 1,012 H1 2023 H1 2024 H1 2025 17
Page 18
Page | 6 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION • The national target for closing Stage One complaints on time is 80% and above. • The volume closed on time includes extended complaints that met their new due dates. 2 Volume of complaints closed on time at both Stages Stage One Stage Two 3 Volume of complaints not closed on time per Directorate This section provides details of complaints not closed on time under each Stage and includes extended complaints that did not meet their new timescales. Stage One Education Communities and Housing 3 2 Facilities Management Education (schools) 3 9 3 7 Protective Services Housing Community Facilities Building Services • The national target for closing Stage Two complaints on time is 85% and above. • The volume closed on time includes extended complaints that met their new due dates. The two school complaints did not meet timescale due to difficulties meeting/communicating with complainants. For two of the Facilities Management complaints, no reasons were recorded as to why they breached timescale There were several reasons why complaints breached in this Directorate, including resourcing issues, employee availability, administrative errors and complaints being routed to incorrect services initially. 93% 7% Closed on time Not closed on time 92% 8% Closed on time Not closed on time 18
Page 19
Page | 7 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION Place Corporate Services HSCP Stage Two Communities and Housing HSCP 5 1 3 2 8 Waste Services Transport Streetscene Roads PMI 1 2 Legal Services Customer Services 1 2 9 1 Support Services Mental Health Health & Comm Care Children & Families 3 3 1 Protective Services Housing Building Services 1 1 3 Mental Health Health & Comm Care Children & Families The main reasons for complaints breaching in this Directorate were reduced resources and awaiting information from third parties. Some of these complaints could have had their timescales extended or escalated to Stage Two given the difficulties encountered. One Customer Services complaint breached because the complainant could not be contacted to discuss their complaint and the other complaint breached due to a system issue. Both these complaints could have been escalated to Stage Two given the difficulties encountered. The Legal Services complaint related to a resource issue. Various reasons given why these complaints breached timescale, including individuals not being available to progress complaints, complaint complexity (some of which could have been escalated to Stage Two given the difficulties encountered) and system issues. Various reasons recorded as to why these complaints breached timescale. No trends or themes identified. The main reason these complaints breached was due to delays encountered at response approval stage. 19
Page 20
Page | 8 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION 4 Key complaint topics Key topics for upheld and partially upheld complaints for services are listed below. Services will not be listed if there were low complaint volumes that did not allow meaningful analysis. Education Service Key complaint topic(s) Education (HQ and Schools) • Sensitive issues relating to teachers and/or pupils • Service delivery/provision • Employee actions (alleged or perceived) Facilities Management • School Crossing patrols Communities and Housing Service Key complaint topic(s) Building Services • Quality issues • Communication • Employee actions (alleged or perceived) Place Service Key complaint topic(s) Property Management and Investment • Gas Central Heating issues Roads • Parking/parking enforcement Waste Services • Failed bulky uplifts • Missed waste bin collections (all colours) • Missed assisted bin collections (all colours) • Waste bins not delivered (any colour) Corporate Services Service Key complaint topic(s) Customer Services • Employee actions (alleged or perceived) HSCP (Social Work complaints) Service Key complaint topic(s) Children & Families • Employee actions (alleged or perceived) Health & Community Care • Service delivery/provision • Employee actions (alleged or perceived) Mental Health • Service delivery/provision 20
Page 21
Page | 9 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION 5 Average time in working days for a full response The average time in working days to close complaints under both Stages during the period is noted below. Values for previous years have been included to allow comparisons to be made and any complaints that had their timescales extended have been excluded from the calculations. Stage One Stage Two The average number of days to close Stage One and Stage Two complaints within target in the last three years have been consistently surpassed. 4.1 3.3 3 0 5 H1 2023 H1 2024 H1 2025 Average days to close National Target (5 days or less) 16 14.8 15.6 0 20 H1 2023 H1 2024 H1 2025 Average days to close National Target (20 days or less) 21
Page 22
Page | 10 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION . No Stage Two complaints for this service met the 20-working day timescale. Various reasons were provided and no trend or theme was identified. Stag One The bar charts below detail services that did not meet the average time in working days for a response under either Stage. Services that met the target are not listed and any complaints that had their timescales extended have been excluded from the calculations. Housing & Public Protection Stage One One complaint was closed on working day 43, resulting in the target not being met. This was due to an oversight and the complainant being unavailable to assist with the complaint investigation. Stage Two 8 Protective Services Average days to close National Target (5 days) 37.8 Protective Services Average days to close National Target (20 days) 22
Page 23
Page | 11 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION . . Sustainability, Transport & Corporate Property Stage One A small number of Property Management & Investment complaints were closed just outwith the 5 working day timescale, resulting in the target not being met. One Transport complaint was closed on working day 17 as information was awaited from the complainant. HSCP Stage One One complaint was closed on working day 16 as further information was required from the complainant to progress the investigation. This complaint could have been escalated and handled at Stage Two given the circumstances. 6 Extended complaints • 91 complaints had their timescales extended during the period (74 at Stage One and 17 at Stage Two). The complaints related to multiple services across all Directorates. There were various reasons for extensions, including complainants and/or employees not being available to assist with investigations, reduced resources, additional information having to be sought to support investigations and system issues. 5.3 9 PMI Transport Average days to close National Target (5 days) 8.5 Mental Health Average days to close National Target (5 days) 23
Page 24
Page | 12 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION 12% 34%44% 10% Upheld Partially Upheld Not Upheld Resolved • Of the 91 complaints that had their timescales extended, 78% were closed within their new timescales (84% for Stage One and 94% for Stage Two). 7 Complaint Outcomes The charts below detail the number of complaints upheld, partially upheld, not upheld or resolved under both Stages. Stage One Stage Two *Resolved complaints are where the Council has taken action to address the problem/issue without deciding whether there were any failings (this would happen where we agree a solution with a complainant at the outset without needing to investigate the complaint). **Partially Upheld complaints are complaints that contain more than one complaint element and at least one is upheld. 32% 10%18% 40% Upheld Partially Upheld Not Upheld Resolved • Complaints closed as Resolved* related to multiple services across all Directorates, with one third relating to Waste Services (mainly missed waste bin collections). This indicates those complainants simply wanted their bins collected. • Complaints that were not upheld related to policies and regulations or they were complaints that were poor quality/unfounded. • Complaints that were upheld or partially upheld** related to numerous services across all Directorates. • Complaints that were not upheld were similar to the reasons Stage One complaints were not upheld. 24
Page 25
Page | 13 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION 8 Improvements made as a result of complaints Some improvements/changes were made because of complaints received during the period and a small selection is noted below. What happened What we did A complaint was received regarding a parent’s concerns over the safeguarding of their child while attending school. The matter was investigated and a parental meeting held with the Head Teacher and others to discuss all concerns raised. The parent was happy with the actions agreed and the pupil was taken through all safeguarding procedures. Key Adults, safe places and various supports throughout the pupil’s timetable were shared with a summary card of support actions to be completed by the pupil. The pupil accepted the card and agreed it would be helpful. A complaint was received that a window cleaner working on behalf of the Council asked a tenant in a sheltered housing complex if they could gain access to the inside of the complex via the tenant’s property to clean the windows. It was determined it was a window cleaner from a contracted company and the contract only covers the outside of the windows plus communal areas. The Council now receive a list of dates in advance from the company, stating when they will be carrying out cleaning in each housing complex. We also now have a system in place that they can gain access to the front door (public areas only) of housing complexes without having to call any flats or houses. A resident set up a mygov.scot account but was unable to link two properties to the Council Tax system. The issue was investigated and it was discovered there was a problem within the system that prohibited more than one property being added. This was fixed and the resident was thanked for bringing this matter to our attention. A resident complained that rats were causing damage to their garden and the nest was on unattended waste ground between the resident’s property and a Council property boundary. The relevant services attended the area to ensure access could be gained to clear it and the Council is now reviewing its land ownership plans to make sure maintenance responsibilities are established going forward. 25
Page 26
Page | 14 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION 9 Compliments Many compliments were recorded during the period and of these: • A number were cross-Council, with customers commending or praising more than one service • Some were internal, with employees complimenting other employees • Some related to specific individuals as well as teams Whilst the compliments received cannot all be highlighted in this report, the word cloud below illustrates some of the feedback the Council received from tenants, customers, residents and visitors: 26
Page 27
Page | 15 PUBLIC INFORMATION PUBLIC INFORMATION 10 Glossary Term Explanation Stage One Stage One (aka Frontline Resolution) aims to resolve straightforward customer complaints that require little or no investigation. Any employee may deal with complaints at this stage and they can be resolved via any channel. The main principle is to seek resolution at the earliest opportunity and as close to the point of service delivery as possible. Stage One complaints must be responded to within five working days unless an extension is requested (an additional five working days) and approved by a senior manager or above. The Council should, however, always aim to conclude these types of complaints within five working days. Stage Two Not all complaints are suitable for Frontline Resolution and not all complaints will be satisfactorily resolved at that stage. Complaints therefore handled at Stage Two (aka Investigation) typically require a detailed examination before the Council can state its position. These complaints may already have been considered at Stage One, or they may have been identified from the outset as being complex, serious or high risk and needing immediate investigation. The investigation under a Stage Two should establish all the facts relevant to the points made in the complaint and give the customer a full, objective and proportionate response that represents our final position. Stage Two complaints must be responded to within 20 working days unless an extension is approved by senior manager in conjunction with the customer. Stage Two complaints require a written response, signed by a senior manager or above. Complaint criteria When an expression of dissatisfaction is received the Council determines if the issue falls into one of six complaint categories: • A service the Council should be providing is not being provided (or is not available) • A request for a service was provided but not to an appropriate standard • A request for service has not been answered or actioned within the agreed timescale • A Council employee was rude, unhelpful or unprofessional • A Council employee did not attend an appointment or call-out on a date/time agreed • The complaint relates to an internal or external policy (but only where the complaint relates specifically to the way the matter was administered) If the issue being raised relates to one or more of the above, the matter is considered a complaint and will be recorded and handled as such. If not, it is deemed to be something else and will be actioned under the relevant process. END OF REPORT 27
Page 28
28
Page 29
NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 29 January 2026 Audit and Scrutiny Committee Title: Our Performance Management Strategy 2023-28 (October 2025 Refresh) Purpose: To enable scrutiny of Our Performance Management Strategy 2023-28 (October 2025 Refresh) following an update to reflect changes in legislation since January 2024. Recommendation: For the Audit and Scrutiny Committee to: a) note Our Performance Management Strategy; and b) note it will be published on the council website. 1. Executive Summary 1.1. Our Performance Management Strategy details how we use information to inform our decisions and demonstrate Best Value. It has been refreshed during 2025 to reflect changes in statutory requirements such as the Best Value Thematic Approach, Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 and the newly introduced corporate fraud offence. It also outlines key national initiatives that may impact our performance management in future. 1.2. The strategy demonstrates how our performance management supports a culture of continuous improvement within the council, an area highlighted since our Best Value Audit in 2020 and most recently by the Accounts Commission through our Controller of Audit Best Value Report in October 2025. 1.3. The strategy details the statutory context of performance management and our current arrangements. It is considerably more detailed than previously as it is intended to be an active point of reference for services and core to future training of officers and Elected Members to ensure consistency across the council. 1.4. Though primarily aligned to Council Plan reporting, the Performance Management Strategy details specific techniques to ensure all strategies and plans across the council support continuous improvement and are compliant with the Statutory Direction 2024 and our duty of Best Value. Agenda Item 4 29
Page 30
1.5. It is important to note that the council strategies which support the Council Plan are purely mechanisms to structure the delivery of services, a map not a destination. All strategies must be measured, managed and scrutinised to be effective. 2. Background 2.1. Performance management must always be focussed on the people we serve as well as those delivering services. We must use results to inform decisions for our people and not purely focus on the results or reports themselves. 2.2. As outlined in the strategy “The core purpose of effective performance management is to improve the lives of the people we serve by using high quality information to make decisions”. This purpose directly aligns to our Council Plan aim of “A North Ayrshire that is fair for all” and our mission “Working together to improve the lives of our people in North Ayrshire.” 2.3. Our Performance Management Strategy details how we ensure we are meeting our statutory obligations in terms of demonstrating Best Value through performance management of our Council Plan and wider strategies. Most importantly, it provides a reference point for services to ensure we consistently use the information we hold to inform decisions and drive continuous improvement for our people in North Ayrshire. 2.4. The main legislative updates since January 2024 are detailed in section 3 of Appendix 1. This includes: • Best Value Thematic Approach – How we are audited on our statutory duty of ensuring Best Value. • Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 (and associated guidance): This describes the information that must be published to demonstrate we are meeting our duty of Best Value through reporting across our council. It focuses on, but is not limited to Council Plan reporting. • Failure to prevent fraud corporate offence: Since September 2025 it is a criminal offence to misrepresent or attempt to misrepresent performance information for material or reputational advantage. 2.5. As highlighted above, we actively nurture our culture of continuous improvement and this is described in Section 5 of Appendix 1. Most notably, our now established matrix approach to Council Plan priority management, with designated Executive Directors for each priority, is outlined in detail alongside how this links with supporting our workforce and professional development. 2.6. Our approach to self-assessment is outlined in Section 9, primarily based on the Public Service Improvement Framework, though consideration is being given to the National Framework for Self-Assessment due to be published in early 2026. 30
Page 31
2.7. Next Steps 2.8. An Action Plan is detailed at Section 11 of Appendix 1. This includes details of what success looks like as well as html links to the relevant areas of the strategy. 2.9. Performance management of the strategy will take place through the Policy, Performance and Democracy Team Operational Plan on a quarterly basis and scrutinised by the Head of Service (Democratic). 3. Proposals 3.1. For the Audit and Scrutiny Committee to: a) note Our Performance Management Strategy; and b) note it will be published on the council website. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1. None. Human Resources 4.2. None. Legal 4.3. This strategy defines how we meet our statutory duty of Best Value. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4. None. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5. None. Key Priorities 4.6. Our Performance Management Strategy outlines how we will actively manage the delivery of Our Council Plan priorities. Community Wealth Building 4.7. None. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8. None. United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 4.9. None. Consumer Duty 4.10. None. 31
Page 32
5. 5. Consultation 5.1. The Executive Leadership Team considered the strategy in October and Cabinet considered the strategy in December. (Please note, a formatting error on page 28 has been amended since Cabinet review. This does not affect the strategy content or intention.) Aileen Craig Head of Service (Democratic) For further information please contact Isla Cruickshanks, Senior Manager (Policy, Performance and Democracy). Email IslaCruickshanks@north-ayrshire.gov.uk Background Papers None. 32
Page 33
Contents Our Performance Management Strategy 2023 to 2028 (October 2025 Refresh) “Driving continuous improvement for the people of North Ayrshire” Appendix 1 33
Page 34
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 1 of 34 Performance Management Contents 1 Welcome ............................................................................................................................................................... 2 2 Key Objectives ....................................................................................................................................................... 2 3 Statutory Duty and National Context.................................................................................................................... 3 3.1 Best Value ..................................................................................................................................................... 3 3.2 Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024..................................................................................... 3 3.3 National Performance Framework ................................................................................................................ 5 3.4 The Local Government Benchmarking Framework....................................................................................... 5 3.5 Failure to Prevent Fraud Corporate Offence ................................................................................................ 6 3.6 Scottish Government Public Sector Reform Strategy ................................................................................... 6 3.7 Local Government Assurance and Improvement Framework ...................................................................... 6 3.8 Future Considerations ................................................................................................................................... 7 4 Local Context ......................................................................................................................................................... 8 4.1 The North Ayrshire Partnership Plan ............................................................................................................ 8 4.2 Our Council Plan 2023-28 ............................................................................................................................. 8 4.3 Operational and Team Plans ....................................................................................................................... 10 4.4 Personal Development Reviews .................................................................................................................. 10 4.5 Strategic Risks ............................................................................................................................................. 10 5 Maintaining a Culture of Continuous Improvement ........................................................................................... 11 5.1 The “Golden Thread” – Linear Management of Priorities .......................................................................... 11 5.2 Priority Leads – Cross Service Management of Priorities ........................................................................... 12 5.3 The Matrix Approach in Practice ................................................................................................................. 12 5.4 Key Policies .................................................................................................................................................. 13 5.5 Roles ............................................................................................................................................................ 14 5.6 The Continuous Improvement Cycle - Plan Do Learn Act ........................................................................... 15 6 Performance Reporting and Scrutiny .................................................................................................................. 16 6.1 Our Council Plan Performance Management Framework .......................................................................... 16 6.2 Council Plan Progress Reports .................................................................................................................... 24 6.3 Scrutiny of Reporting .................................................................................................................................. 24 6.4 Schedule of Corporate Reporting ............................................................................................................... 25 6.5 Accessibility ................................................................................................................................................. 26 6.6 Council Plan Progress Report Next Steps .................................................................................................... 26 7 Audits, inspections, accreditations and community engagement ...................................................................... 26 8 Benchmarking ..................................................................................................................................................... 26 8.1 Verification of External Returns .................................................................................................................. 27 9 Self-Assessment .................................................................................................................................................. 28 9.1 PSIF .............................................................................................................................................................. 28 9.2 Peer Review ................................................................................................................................................. 29 10 Systems ........................................................................................................................................................... 29 10.1 Pentana Risk ................................................................................................................................................ 29 10.2 Power BI ...................................................................................................................................................... 29 11 Action Plan .......................................................................................................................................................... 30 34
Page 35
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 2 of 34 Performance Management 1 Welcome The core purpose of effective performance management is to improve the lives of the people we serve by using high quality information to make decisions. We believe the impact our services have on our residents, employees, businesses and visitors cannot be demonstrated through charts alone. It requires a balance of quantitative and qualitative information such as real lived experiences and case studies to measure impact, provide context and effectively inform decision making. This approach relies on excellent communication between all teams to share information and is supported by both the Accounts Commission’s Direction 2024 and the Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework. This strategy has been refreshed during 2025 to reflect changes in statutory requirements such as the Best Value Thematic Approach and Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024. It outlines how our performance management supports a culture of continuous improvement within our council to deliver our priorities and provide positive outcomes for our people. It provides an overview of statutory context and our current performance management arrangements. It is intended this refreshed strategy will be actively used as a reference by Elected Members and Officers across our council through integration with performance management training. This assists in evidencing an embedded approach to robust and transparent performance as required within reasonable procedures under The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA). The strategy includes an overview of planned developments to ensure continuous improvement within our performance management up until 31st March 2028 (coinciding with the lifespan of our current Council Plan). Innovation to ensure effective and transparent performance management will be central to our activities. We reviewed the outcomes of our previous Performance Management Strategy and these have informed our approach. This strategy does not attempt to list the vast range of improvement activities currently underway in our council. These are already covered through existing strategies published on our website. Finally, strategies are purely a mechanism to structure the delivery of services, a map not a destination. Our mission remains working together to improve the lives of our people in North Ayrshire, to fulfil our aim of a North Ayrshire that is fair for all. For further information please contact: The Corporate Policy and Performance Team Tel: 01294 310000 Email: NorthAyrshirePerforms@north-ayrshire.gov.uk 2 Key Objectives • Empower and support teams to embed continuous improvement throughout our council. • Establish an effective dynamic performance management framework that reflects our services. • Embed continuous improvement for the people we serve through effective performance management. • Focus on efficient, transparent and robust performance management, minimising duplication and embracing innovation. • Enhance accessibility through relevant, clearly understood publications, available through a variety of channels for our residents and stakeholders. • Collaborate with and learn from teams across our council and beyond. • Encourage and support effective scrutiny at all levels within our council as well as by external stakeholders. • Establish the Corporate Policy and Performance Team as a key point of contact for performance management. 35
Page 36
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 3 of 34 Performance Management 3 Statutory Duty and National Context This section outlines the statutory duty of Best Value and the national context that needs to be considered within Our Performance Management Strategy. 3.1 Best Value Best Value is a statutory duty as set out in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003 and applies to all public bodies in Scotland. Its core purpose is to ensure good governance, effective use of resources and continuous improvement in order to deliver better outcomes for our people. A new approach to auditing Best Value within Scottish councils came into effect during 2022 to 2023. (Note: This approach relates to councils only. The Accounts Commission decided in 2021 not to proceed with Best Value audits of Integrated Joint Boards (IJBs) following a pilot and national policy developments. Broad local and national audits of IJBs will be used instead.) The new annual Best Value Thematic Approach explores a particular area of Best Value each year. The theme covered reflects local government risks and challenges and is determined by the Accounts Commission each year. The Accounts Commission’s work programme can be viewed on their website. All 32 local authorities are audited on the selected theme by their external auditors. The results of the audit are integrated into the Annual Audit of each council in the autumn. In addition, a national thematic report is produced to show a Scotland-wide view of performance. At least once every five years a council’s performance is highlighted to the Accounts Commission by the Controller of Audit through a Section 102 report. This report covers the recent Annual Audit Reports and a summary of the Best Value work and recommendations. Our most recent Section 102 report was presented to the Accounts Commission in October 2025 during a public session. Resulting recommendations were confirmed at a private session and will be considered by Council in December 2025. Section 102 reports activate specific statutory responsibilities such as making the report publicly available, promoting a meeting of Council to consider any findings and the publication of these findings. The final audits under this current programme of Best Value will be completed in August 2027. Where an audit identifies areas for improvement, the recommendations and updates on progress are included in our six-monthly Council Plan Progress Reports, scrutinised by the Executive Leadership Team (ELT), Cabinet and the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Actions are monitored within the audit year by the appointed external auditors (Audit Scotland) on behalf of the Accounts Commission. 3.2 Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 The Accounts Commission has the statutory power to determine the performance information that must be published by local authorities under section 1(1)(a) of the Local Government Act 1992. The Accounts Commission’s Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 came into effect for financial years beginning 1st April 2025, 2026 and 2027. It defines how local authorities should demonstrate they are achieving Best Value for their residents. This includes through the comparison of information over time (at least three years where possible) and with other similar councils (benchmarking, including with councils of a similar budget size, rurality, demographic and socioeconomic characteristics) to support learning and continuous improvement. It also considers how we are working with partners to deliver better outcomes for our people of North Ayrshire, particularly through our Community Planning Partnership (CPP). 36
Page 37
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 4 of 34 Performance Management The Direction is more detailed than in recent years and supported by accompanying guidance. This guidance is intended to be published in stages with the next publication due in October 2025. It is important to note that: “The Commission does not seek to instruct or advise councils on how to implement its arrangements for performance management. It is for each council to determine how to meet the requirements of the SPI Direction through its own approach to and procedures for managing and reporting on performance, and each council is wholly responsible and accountable for ensuring its compliance with the Direction.” (Direction 2024 Guidance, April 2025; paragraph 4) Through our reporting we are expected to demonstrate: • How we are working with partners to achieve shared local outcomes. • How we are responding to the needs of our local communities. • How we are learning from best practice elsewhere. • What factors are impacting on our performance. • How are we using data to inform decision-making. • How we measure success. The three criteria of effective reporting are: Balanced, Timely and Accessible. Key focus areas within this Direction include: • Self-Assessment and Peer Review: See Self-Assessment section below. • Accessibility: Our performance reporting is produced to enable our residents to engage with and effectively scrutinise our performance. Accessibility in terms of the Direction relates to the information being engaging and easily understood (referred to in the guidance as “non-technical”) and accessible in terms of equality legislation (“technical”). • Partnership working between the Community Planning Partnership (CPP) and our council and interlinking (not merging) of reporting to ensure the contribution of our council to the shared CPP outcomes is visible. • Financial sustainability and budget transparency. • Utilising the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) information within our Council Plan reporting, Annual Accounts and to inform service delivery. • Timely and balanced reporting: Information should be published in an appropriate timescale, with the Direction outlining maximum timeframes. In addition, where performance is adrift of target, improvement activity and the expected timeframe for improvement must be included. • Audits, inspections, accreditations and community engagement, particularly how our council is responding to ensure continuous improvement as part of our duty to secure Best Value. Ultimately the focus remains on using robust information for transparent and evidence-based decision making to support our priorities and improve the lives of our people in North Ayrshire. This includes informing our transformation activity. Council Plan reporting is the main mechanism for demonstrating Best Value however the Direction is not confined to corporate reporting. The Direction should be considered for all our public facing reporting as this reporting also supports our priorities. “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.” (Direction 2024.) 37
Page 38
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 5 of 34 Performance Management 3.3 National Performance Framework The Scottish Government’s National Performance Framework aims to create a more successful country with more opportunities and better wellbeing for the people of Scotland. It looks to create sustainable and inclusive growth and reduce inequalities by giving equal importance to economic, environmental and social progress and aligns to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Under the Community Empowerment Act 2015 local authorities must have due regard to the 11 National Outcomes within the National Performance Framework. These were considered during the development of Our Council Plan 2023 to 2028 alongside the priorities of our residents. Following the most recent statutory review of the National Outcomes by the Scottish Government, in January 2025 the Scottish Parliament approved a period of reform of the National Performance Framework, of which the outcomes form part. The new framework is expected to be implemented near the start of the next parliamentary session by the new government. The National Performance Framework directly influences the outcomes within Our Council Plan, though our priorities are those agreed with our residents in line with our statutory duty of Best Value under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003. 3.4 The Local Government Benchmarking Framework The Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) is administered by the Improvement Service in partnership with SOLACE. The Accounts 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” (Direction 2024). As a result, many of the indicators are used within our Council Plan. By recording the same indicators as other local authorities across a wide range of themes we can identify opportunities to learn from each other. The Direction 2021 gave scope to focus on the LGBF indicators that directly link to our Council Plan priorities. South Lanarkshire Council took this approach as highlighted by the Accounts Commission in the Local Government in Scotland Overview 2023. As a result, we adopted this approach in 2023 and currently have 33 priority LGBF indicators (see Our Council Plan Performance Management Framework section below). Local authorities with similar traits such as type of geography and levels of deprivation are categorised into ‘family groups’ to enable as close to a like for like comparison as possible. Despite the Direction 2024 directing councils to benchmark based on additional relevant aspects such as budget size and demographic information, the LGBF is not currently segmented in this way. Further work will be undertaken by our council to enable this. Performance can be explored through the LGBF online tool by clicking the image above. Further information is contained in the Benchmarking section of this strategy. 38
Page 39
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 6 of 34 Performance Management 3.5 Failure to Prevent Fraud Corporate Offence The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) came into effect on 1st September 2025. Sections 199 to 206 of the Act introduce a new criminal corporate offence of Failure to Prevent Fraud. This applies to large organisations including our council. Liability occurs when a person associated with the organisation commits a specified fraud offence with the intention of benefiting the organisation. This includes misrepresenting performance information. Benefits include but are not limited to financial and reputational gain, such as providing a more favourable view of performance or withholding information to either gain additional external funding or improve the organisation’s status in national frameworks. It is important to note that the intention of benefiting, rather than realising any benefit, is enough to qualify as an offence. This is an offence of strict liability which means there is no requirement to prove knowledge or consent of senior management. The legislation focuses not on individual, but organisational responsibility for such an offence. Reasonable procedures to prevent such fraud must be in place and actively followed. The Scottish Government outlines six non-statutory principles to assist organisations to help determine reasonable procedures: 1. Top Level Commitment – The Executive Leadership Team and Elected Members must be committed to and encourage the prevention of fraud, including through training. 2. Risk Assessments – Actively identifying the risk of fraud, including by considering the three key elements of opportunity, motive and rationalisation, which may lead to fraudulent activity taking place. 3. Proportionate Procedures – Procedures are tailored to the size, complexity and risk of fraud within an organisation. They must be practical, effectively implemented and enforced. 4. Due Diligence – This must be undertaken when procuring services and working in partnership. 5. Communication and Training – Consistent training to increase and maintain knowledge is essential. 6. Monitoring and Review – Regular reviewing through our own fraud detection procedures as well as considering information from sector investigations elsewhere. This puts an increased emphasis on the importance of transparent performance management. To enable this, clear SMART strategies at every level within our council are essential. A strategy is not effective unless it is being actively measured, managed and scrutinised. 3.6 Scottish Government Public Sector Reform Strategy Informed by the Christie Commission on the Future Of Public Services, the Scottish Government’s Public Sector Reform Strategy ‘Delivering For Scotland’ aims to revisit the findings of the commission and drive improvements within the public sector nationally. The preventative approach identified by the Commission, relying on robust, efficient and effective data to drive evidence-based decisions, as well as improved integration of services, improved scrutiny, and focus on engagement with our people, are elements taken forward at a local level within Our Council Plan. 3.7 Local Government Assurance and Improvement Framework The Local Government Assurance and Improvement Framework maps the complex scrutiny and governance environment of local government. It aims to improve local and the Scottish Government understanding of the scrutiny landscape and ultimately inform more efficient working in line with the Crerar Review. 39
Page 40
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 7 of 34 Performance Management 3.8 Future Considerations 3.8.1 National Performance Framework As mentioned above, a refreshed National Performance Framework is expected to be implemented near the start of the next parliamentary session and new government. This will be monitored and this strategy updated as required. It is likely the new framework will influence our next Council Plan. 3.8.2 Recommitting to Crerar - National Framework for Self-Assessment Informed by The Crerar Review and Public Sector Reform Strategy detailed above, SOLACE and the Improvement Service are leading a project under the heading “Recommitting to Crerar”. This looks to improve the scrutiny and self-assessment landscape between various bodies, local and central government in Scotland. A National Framework for Self-Assessment is due to be published in early 2026 as an initial step, strengthening the approach in a collaborative way nationally. Our council is contributing to this work through engagement sessions open to all local authorities. (See Self-Assessment section below.) 3.8.3 SPI Direction 2024 Guidance The iterative approach to publishing guidance on the SPI Direction 2024 will require close monitoring and action as required. At time of writing (October 2025) the next release of guidance is expected this month. If similar to previous releases, examples of best practice will be included and examined to inform our approach. 3.8.4 Local Government Data Platform The Local Government Data Platform (LGDP) is a significant transformational project initiated by the Improvement Service during 2020 to 2021. The aim is to simplify how local authorities return data nationally, rationalise the data by creating a central point of access for external organisations and increase the use of this data. The discovery phase identified more than 30 public sector reporting duties which in total included over 24,000 data items shared with external organisations per local authority per year (excluding individual level data which resulted in over 3 million items shared). The final phase 2 report on key findings and next steps will be presented to SOLACE and COSLA in late 2025 / early 2026. 40
Page 41
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 8 of 34 Performance Management 4 Local Context This section outlines local context that needs to be considered within Our Performance Management Strategy. 4.1 The North Ayrshire Partnership Plan The North Ayrshire Partnership Plan (Local Outcomes Improvement Plan (LOIP)), is administered by our North Ayrshire Community Planning Partnership. It consists of public, private and voluntary organisations and groups working together with communities through our six Locality Partnerships to make North Ayrshire a better place to live. The Community Plan has three themes, the delivery of which aligns to Our Council Plan priorities: • Wellbeing – Health and Wellbeing – Reducing inequalities by targeted support to improve individual, family and community wellbeing. • Work – Economy and Skills – Addressing the causes and effects of poverty through a strong local economy and skills base. • World – Climate Change – Working more closely and effectively together to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the impacts of climate change. 4.1.1 Locality Plans One of the key methods of participation in North Ayrshire is through locality planning, including the work of the locality partnerships which bring together our Community Planning Partners, Elected Members and community representatives to jointly address local priorities. Locality Plans are created by each of the six Locality Partnerships in North Ayrshire. Though supported by officers within our council, the priorities and plans are led by our communities. As such, priorities vary by locality. Locality Planning is outlined in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 as a way for Community Planning Partners to tackle inequality in a targeted and cohesive manner. North Ayrshire Locality Planning arrangements are established through the North Ayrshire Decentralisation Scheme in terms of section 23 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, as well as complying with Part 2 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. Locality Partnerships are chaired by Elected Members as agreed by our council. Since the alignment of Elected Member wards to locality boundaries in 2019, Elected Members sit on one Locality Partnership. A programme of self-assessment took place during summer/autumn 2024 under the title ‘Locality Planning 2.0’. This received feedback from representatives showing members of the locality partnership felt a high level of involvement and ownership of the partnership. Potential areas for improvement, particularly around meetings, were highlighted and will be taken forward as appropriate. A report on the assessment was approved by Cabinet in May 2025. 41
Page 42
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 9 of 34 Performance Management 4.2 Our Council Plan 2023-28 Our Council Plan 2023-28 is the main strategy for our council for five years. Our vision ‘A North Ayrshire that is fair for all’ is shared with The North Ayrshire Partnership Plan (LOIP). Our mission ‘Working together to improve the lives of our people in North Ayrshire’ demonstrates how working with partners and continuous improvement are embedded within our culture to improve the lives of our people. Our Council Plan outlines our priorities created in partnership with our residents and is aligned to the Partnership Plan. It is the core basis of our statutory performance reporting as required in the Accounts Commission SPI Direction 2024. Every strategy and plan within our council must align to it. The North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership is responsible for the delivery of key areas of our Council Plan through the Integration Joint Board’s Strategic Plan. Delivery of the Strategic Plan is reported separately to the Integration Joint Board, the IJB’s Performance and Audit Committee and through the Annual Performance Reporting to the Council and NHS Board. There is an established performance management framework in place within the Health and Social Care Partnership with progress reported on an integrated basis for delegated Health and Social Care Services. Our Council Plan has four interlinked and interdependent priorities. They are cross service so intentionally do not align to our council directorate structure: 42
Page 43
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 10 of 34 Performance Management 4.3 Operational Plans Operational Plans are reported to Heads of Service and Executive Directors. Operational Plans are informed by our priorities but are more detailed and are part of the delivery mechanism of Our Council Plan alongside other council strategies (see The “Golden Thread” – Linear Management of Priorities below). Operational Plans are also crucial in supporting self-assessment. 4.4 Personal Development Reviews Personal Development Reviews are key to ensuring all employees are aware of how their work contributes to Our Council Plan priorities. They should take place at least once per year in addition to regular discussions about personal and team performance with line managers. Personal Development Reviews are known as ‘Our Time To Talk’ for all non-teaching employees, ‘Personal Review and Development’ for teaching employees and psychologists and ‘Participant Quarterly Progress Reviews’ for Modern Apprentices. Our Staff Values Our Staff Values support a culture of continuous improvement by providing key guidance on how employees are expected to approach their activities. They are central to our recruitment and employee development. For further details please click on the image to the right. 4.5 Strategic Risks We are risk aware, not risk averse. Our council recognises that a certain amount of risk is necessary in order to deliver our priorities. However, we aim to reduce the likelihood and/or impact of risk through effective risk management. This supports decision-making processes, enabling our council to innovate and deliver services more effectively in line with Best Value. The most significant risks are identified through our Strategic Risk Register. These risks are managed through our Risk Management Strategy. To ensure effective risk management we actively mitigate strategic risks through Our Council Plan and Operational Plans. 43
Page 44
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 11 of 34 Performance Management 5 Maintaining a Culture of Continuous Improvement 5.1 The “Golden Thread” – Linear Management of Priorities Every task of every employee within our council contributes to achieving better outcomes for the people of North Ayrshire. This link is referred to as the “Golden Thread”. An overview is shown below: Best Value Duty National Performance Framework Community Plan (LOIP) Council Plan Operational Plans Personal Development Reviews “Our Time to Talk”, “Personal Review and Development” or “Participant Quarterly Progress Reviews” depending on role. Locality Plans Strategic Risks Our Staff Values Focus Passion Inspiration Key Policies (See section below) 44
Page 45
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 12 of 34 Performance Management 5.2 Priority Leads – Cross Service Management of Priorities To reinforce the interlinked and interdependent nature of our four Council Plan priorities, we have appointed Executive Directors as Priority Leads. This section explains how this approach reinforces our culture of continuous improvement. By having oversight both of their Directorates (linear oversight as per the Golden Thread above) and priority (cross- service oversight) this enforces a matrix approach to performance management within our council. The intention is to provide additional oversight and scrutiny of each priority, to identify opportunities for collaborative working, ensure effective and efficient working, as well as enhance and record the cumulative impact of our services in improving the lives of the people we serve to support continuous improvement. Ultimately it is about improving communication, scrutiny, opportunities and outcomes. The priorities have been allocated as follows: • Wellbeing – Executive Director (Education) • Communities and Local Democracy - Executive Director (Communities and Housing) • Climate - Executive Director (Place) • A Sustainable Council – As this is an enabling priority, management is naturally absorbed into the three other priorities. The Corporate Policy and Performance Team has aligned resources to this approach to enhance performance management of Our Council Plan and to strengthen our performance arrangements throughout our council. 5.3 The Matrix Approach in Practice To support the linear and cross service management of priorities, known as the matrix approach, we have established a Priority Framework. This Framework provides a consistent structure within which to promote priorities and realise the benefits of increased communication, scrutiny and opportunities. Leadership Conference Each quarter a Leadership Conference is hosted by the Chief Executive and a Priority Lead (Executive Director) or the Director of the Health and Social Care Partnership. The purpose is to provide a strategic context to our work, provide case studies (including overlap with other priorities) and gain insights into opportunities available through pooling the knowledge within the room (cross-service). Attendees are then expected to disseminate this information across their teams (linear). Chief Officer Leadership Team (COLT) Approximately four weeks after the Leadership Conference, the Chief Executive and Executive Director provide more detail on the priority and areas discussed at the Leadership Conference. This session is attended by Executive Directors and Heads of Service (cross service). The purpose is to provide more detail and obtain specific actions to take forward within services (linear) and identify specific collaborative working opportunities (cross service). Connected Leadership This one-hour online session is hosted by the Executive Director or a representative from their service. This training session disseminates findings and actions from the Leadership Conference and COLT to a wider range of employees (cross service). Personal Development Reviews Personal Development Reviews known as ‘Our Time To Talk’ for all non-teaching employees, ‘Personal Review and Development’ for teaching employees and psychologists and ‘Participant Quarterly Progress Reviews’ for Modern Apprentices, are used to further emphasise the connection between every employee’s role and the ‘bigger picture’ of Our Council Plan priorities and promote our Staff Values of Focus, Passion and Inspiration (linear). Administration Briefings Regular briefings for our Administration are provided by the Priority Leads (Executive Directors), outlining progress so far in delivering our priorities and key future milestones (cross service). 45
Page 46
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 13 of 34 Performance Management Communications Internal communications are utilised to promote the specific priority during each quarterly period. This includes updates in our internal news bulletins ‘News In Brief’ and ‘Spotlight’. Laptop backgrounds are updated to show the appropriate priority logo. (Cross service.) As part of the Corporate Communications Plan, case studies are produced and released in our YouTube channel and other social media. These are used within our Council Plan Progress Reporting. Work is ongoing to further align the resources created by Communications to help inform our performance reporting, including embracing a range of media in an accessible way as per the Direction 2024. (Cross service.) Priority Groups For each priority, the Priority Lead may establish a working group of officers from across our council and partners. The Wellbeing Assurance Oversight Group for example enables a quarterly in-depth analysis of the Wellbeing priority. This includes describing specific work of teams, exploring how this could be further improved through cross service or partnership working, identifying any risks, removing duplication and using this information to inform future services. (Cross service.) 5.4 Key Policies By encouraging linear and cross-service management of performance, this matrix approach is intended to deliver more holistic services through comprehensive non-siloed policy. Our policy landscape is summarised below: National Themes / Policies / Legislation • Best Value and continuous improvement • Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 • Scotland’s Public Service Reform Strategy – Delivery for Scotland • New Municipalism 2025 • Scotland’s Fiscal Outlook - The Scottish Government’s Medium Term Financial Strategy 2025 • Scottish Government Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan • The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA) • Best Start Bright Futures Tackling Child Poverty Plan 2022-26 • The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 • The Promise • Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) • Equality Act 2010 • Human Rights Based Approach • Fairer Scotland Duty • Consumer Duty • Islands (Scotland) Act 2018 • Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019 – Net Zero Scotland by 2045 • Placemaking Approach • National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) • Green recovery and renewal Local Strategies • Community Wealth Building Strategy • The Ayrshire Regional Economic Strategy • North Ayrshire Partnership Plan (LOIP) • Locality Plans • Island Plans • Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan • Education Service Improvement Plan • Child Poverty Action Plan • Fairer Futures Scotland • Collaboration for Health Equity in Scotland (CHES) Programme. • Children’s Services Plan • Children’s Rights Report • North Ayrshire Participation Strategy • Youth Participation and Citizenship Strategy • North Ayrshire Financial Inclusion Strategy • Local Development Plan • Regeneration Delivery Plan • Local Housing Strategy • Capital Investment Strategy • Local Transport and Active Travel Strategy • Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP) • Sustainable North Ayrshire Strategy • Corporate Procurement Strategy • Workforce Strategy • Risk Management Strategy • Digital Strategy • KA Leisure (North Ayrshire Leisure Limited) Business Plan 46
Page 47
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 14 of 34 Performance Management 5.5 Roles Everyone is responsible for performance, every task undertaken in the working day contributes to our ‘bigger picture’ outlined by Our Council Plan (as detailed in the sections above). However, roles have specific responsibilities in terms of performance management. Accounts Commission The Accounts Commission is the independent public watchdog for local government, they report directly to our residents. North Ayrshire Council North Ayrshire Council is responsible for approving Our Council Plan which sets out our vision and direction for five years. North Ayrshire Council's Audit and Scrutiny Committee The Audit and Scrutiny Committee has oversight of a range of functions including the preparation of a strategy for performance review; ensuring that Chief Officers establish and implement arrangements for reviewing service performance against objectives; monitoring the performance of our council towards achieving policy objectives and priorities; and reviewing the implementation of Our Council Plan. North Ayrshire Council Cabinet Cabinet is the main decision-making body within our council. It is responsible for the setting of the vision and direction of our council, scrutiny of performance and approving the submission of performance reports to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Executive Leadership Team (ELT) The Executive Leadership Team has strategic responsibility for Our Council Plan, scrutinising performance and agreeing action and resources to address areas of underperformance. Executive Directors Executive Directors are responsible for the strategic direction of their directorate and ensuring it is inline with Our Council Plan. They have overall responsibility for the performance of their directorate and are directly involved in finalising the priorities and content of Our Council Plan. As Priority Leads, they work collaboratively cross-service to identify opportunities for improvement within their assigned priorities. Heads of Service Heads of Service are responsible for managing and scrutinising the performance of their teams through Council Plan reporting, Operational Plans and self-assessment. In addition, they scrutinise and approve the release of information to external regulators. They also identify opportunities to learn by benchmarking performance with others (not limited to other local authorities). Corporate Policy and Performance Team The Corporate Policy and Performance Team leads the delivery of the statutory duty to demonstrate Best Value as set out in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 2003. This includes supporting the Executive Leadership Team in the creation, management and reporting of Our Council Plan and other performance frameworks, contributing to national performance networks and collaborating with all teams within our council to achieve continuous improvement. Senior Managers and Team Managers Managers are responsible for managing the performance of their team and supporting their team to deliver overall objectives in Our Council Plan. In addition, Senior Managers are responsible for Operational Plan creation including setting objectives and targets, self-assessment and may be involved in updating Council Plan performance. They also identify opportunities to learn by benchmarking performance with others (not limited to other local authorities). All Employees We all contribute to Our Council Plan through delivering the tasks agreed in our team plans and personal development reviews. As a result, we all contribute to improving the lives of the people we serve. 47
Page 48
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 15 of 34 Performance Management 5.6 The Continuous Improvement Cycle - Plan Do Learn Act Performance management and performance reporting are very different. Performance management is using the information available to us to effectively plan, undertake activities and learn from the results. We then act on this learning to inform future planning to meet the needs of the people of North Ayrshire. This is known as “The Continuous Improvement Cycle” or “Plan, Do, Learn, Act”. Performance reporting is a method within the “Learn” part of this cycle to show what has been achieved so progress can be effectively scrutinised and this evidence used to inform our decisions (in the “Act” and “Plan” stages). This could result in improved activity or a new activity that will improve outcomes. This is a continuous improvement cycle with its complexity and timescales tailored to the strategic level, scale or risk of a plan, project or activity. It is key to effective performance management throughout our council. For further details on creating performance measures and setting targets to effectively manage performance, please see sections below. Focus on: The outcomes we are wanting to achieve; Who else we can potentially compare to and learn from (benchmarking); Resources available and how we will undertake activity; How we measure progress and effectiveness using SMART indicators such as performance indicators and actions; and target setting. Use the results of the “Act” stage to inform future approaches to achieving outcomes. Carry out the activity. • Report and scrutinise the outcomes of the activity by using measures, case studies and/or feedback. Did we achieve what we set out to? (Target setting at the “Plan” stage is essential to answer this question and provide the evidence needed for effective scrutiny.) • Has anyone else achieved better outcomes and could we learn from a better performing team / authority / organisation (benchmarking)? Use the insight generated at the “Learn” stage to determine what we should do differently; what we should do again and how we could develop further. This could result in an improved or new more effective activity. The Continuous Improvement Cycle 48
Page 49
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 16 of 34 Performance Management 6 Performance Reporting and Scrutiny We have a statutory duty under the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 and Local Government Act 1992 (SPI Direction) to report our performance in a balanced and timeous way. In addition, the process of reporting our performance ensures effective scrutiny by peers, Elected Members and ultimately our residents. This process ensures our performance reporting is balanced, accurate and transparent. It is essential to support an open and transparent culture whereby should an error be found, the relevant team can contact the Corporate Policy and Performance Team for guidance. There is a process in place to ensure that where an error has been published, any issues and corrections, particularly where a status may be affected, are reported within the next available performance reporting period to Cabinet and The Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Any approved changes are recorded in the notes section of our performance management system for auditing purposes. 6.1 Our Council Plan Performance Management Framework Within our previous Council Plan 2019 to 2024, sub actions were introduced and sourced from existing strategies. Though intended to strengthen the golden thread between the Council Plan and teams, this resulted in approximately 100 specific actions within our Council Plan making effective scrutiny challenging. Our Council Plan 2023 to 2028 Performance Management Framework (PMF) takes a more strategic approach, where actions are higher level but mapped to existing strategies, not specific strategy actions. More than one team may be assigned an action to avoid a siloed approach. Relevant teams are then able to provide a fuller update, focussing on the performance of that strategy as well as associated activity. This intends to support more effective scrutiny and cross team working, promoting a whole system approach to our delivery for the benefit of our residents. There are 47 actions within our Council Plan Performance Management Framework, with one of these delivered directly by the Health and Social Care Partnership. Performance Indicators are also mapped to existing strategies and returns where possible. There are 26 PIs within Our Council Plan, a mix of direct performance and contextual information to enable effective scrutiny. Within these 26 PIs are nine LGBF PIs. These nine LGBF PIs form part of the 33 Priority LGBF PIs (LGBF PIs that directly link to Our Council Plan priorities) which we actively benchmark with similar local authorities (see The Local Government Benchmarking Framework and Benchmarking sections). Separately from the PMF, we refer to the Wellbeing Economy Dashboard created by our Economic Policy Team. This contains a suite of indicators recording local level data across wellbeing economy themes. Measures are aligned to Our Council Plan for consistency but are not limited to purely council performance. The Wellbeing Economy Dashboard provides essential context to our council’s performance and will be used increasingly as part of performance scrutiny, particularly via Priority Lead work (see Priority Leads – Cross Service Management of Priorities section above). As part of the previous PMS an extended deadline for updates of three weeks from quarter end was introduced. This was to allow for potential delays due to school holiday periods. However, though initially this was well received, “deadline creep” has been identified. As a result, the two-week deadline for updates has been reinstated. Any requests for an extension must be made in advance of the deadline and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. 6.1.1 Performance Indicators (PIs) Performance Indicators are viewed as ‘traditional performance’ in that they are numerical measurements of performance used to create charts and benchmark performance over time or with other local authorities and organisations. For Our Council Plan, where practical to do so, PI reporting frequencies are quarterly in addition to annual reporting, with a minimal lead in time where possible. This frequency may vary for supporting strategies and Operational Plans. 49
Page 50
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 17 of 34 Performance Management There are two main types of PI, output and outcome. Output relates to specific measurements, such as ‘the number of people attending events about democracy’. Outcomes relate to the impact of activity, such as ‘percentage turnout at a local election’. I.e. Output tends to be the foundation activity to support an outcome. Importantly, measures are only put in place if they are needed on a statutory, strategic or operational basis, i.e. The purpose of information is to actively inform decision making, not because it is possible to measure or it, is something “we have always done” or is “nice to have”. Failure to rationalise what is recorded leads to a high quantity of updates but lower quality as a result, resulting in ineffective scrutiny. An important note, performance indicators should always be objective and not narrative based. For example, ‘Increased percentage turnout at local elections’ might be an objective, but it is not a measure. The word ‘increased’ needs to be removed in order for it to be measurable and avoid issues during scrutiny. I.e. If the figure decreased over time, yet it was reported as ‘increased percentage turnout’, this would cause significant confusion. It is also worth considering that not all elements of our work can be distilled into figures, indeed sometimes it is not practical or useful to condense outputs or outcomes into numerical data. Our services and the impact they have on our people of North Ayrshire can be far more complex than this. As a result, all PI updates must be accompanied by a note describing the activity undertaken to achieve that level of performance. Additionally, teams may wish to explore alternative methods of capturing impact (see Creativity and Innovation section below). SMART Indicators In summary, the creation of PIs must meet these standards: • Specific – Precise in what we are trying to measure. • Measurable – Realistic in terms of how we can measure the indicator and how practical it is to source this data when needed. If the effort of sourcing the data outweighs its value, then an alternative measure could be a better choice. How a PI is measured including source data should be described and saved on file. • Achievable – Ambitious but realistic targets. • Relevant – The measure relates to our priorities, will tell us what we need to know to make a decision and relates to the overall aim. • Time-bound – There are timeframes for achieving goals. It is important to make a distinction between SMART indicators and other sources of information such as real lived experiences which are invaluable in informing policy and demonstrating impact. A blend of PIs, actions and real lived experience is essential to inform decision making. Targets Where possible, targets should always be set for at least the next financial year and quarterly if possible. Sometimes it is not appropriate or ethical to set targets for some indicators and trends are used to determine whether performance is improving. This is however the exception rather than the rule. Reasons for lack of a target may include a new indicator (meaning there is no historical data to base a target decision on), fluctuating operating environment and some wellbeing related indicators. Where a target is intentionally not set, this indicator is set as “data only” within our performance management system. Targets may be based on statutory criteria, historic trends, percentage increases related to a similar percentage increase in resources, benchmarking and stretch targets. (Stretch targets are very challenging yet achievable targets given the ideal environment.) A method of judging whether a target is appropriate is by asking “if our services didn’t reach a particular figure, would this cause concern / result in action being taken somehow?” If so, adjust the target to the point where it is challenging but achievable, yet if it is not reached that status would inform a decision. As we are committed to continuous improvement through the Best Value legislation, ideally improvement would be shown each year in increasing trends (or decreasing trends if it is an area we wish to minimise such as CO2e Emissions). However, the operating environment must be considered as sometimes maintaining performance shows considerable improvement. In such cases, context within the notes is essential. 50
Page 51
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 18 of 34 Performance Management Determining the Status of a Performance Indicator The performance status is also known as RAG status due to colour coding used to show progress (red, amber or green). Within our performance reporting the status of a PI or action is determined as follows: Status Description On target Slightly adrift of target (typically this represents a variance ≥ 1% and < 5% from the target). Significantly adrift of target (typically this represents a variance ≥ 5% from the target). Data only (PIs only) – this is where a target has intentionally not been set, usually due to the indicator being a new indicator or where we can only partly contribute to the outcome. Data not available / status unknown - (PIs only) the status is not available either due to data not being available or no target being set. Where a PI is adrift of target, as per the Direction 2024, reasons for this status and how this will be addressed including a timescale for this to be resolved must be included in the PI update and recorded within the performance management system and Council Plan reporting. When calculating the percentage of indicators with each status for a period within covering reports, the most recent available status is used up to the previous financial year end. For example, Quarter Two 2023 to 2024 uses statuses up to 31st March 2023. This ensures any data with a time lag is reported, yet information older than this is given the status of “data not available” for this calculation to ensure past performance does not impact on the scrutiny of current performance. Indicators set as data only or with no data available are excluded. For example: Red status percentage = Number with red status X 100 Number of red + amber + green status Positive and negative trends are shown within our reporting. In terms of Our Council Plan these are defined as: • Short-term Trend: Comparison with previous year (two data points). • Medium-term Trend: Comparison with three years previously (four data points). • Long -term Trend: Comparison with more than three years previously (minimum five data points). Performance Indicator Information Sheets (Meta data) To ensure the consistency and robustness of our data, PI Information Sheets are produced for all the PIs within Our Council Plan. This includes information such as an explanation of why the indicator is useful to measure, the methodology for the calculation of the PI, source material, rationale for the targets set and any other comments as necessary. For national returns, such as the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) the metadata (which outlines the calculation methodology) from the requestor (Improvement Service) is cross referenced within the information sheets with any additional information added. All sheets are signed by the Senior Manager responsible for providing the information, stored corporately and uploaded to our performance management system / intranet pages for ease of reference. 51
Page 52
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 19 of 34 Performance Management This approach will be encouraged for all strategies across our council for audit purposes, to support reasonable procedures relating to The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (see Failure to Prevent Fraud Corporate Offence above). Ensuring Transparency On the rare occasion the Corporate Policy and Performance Team is notified of a historical error in the data or targets held, the corrections are presented to ELT, Cabinet and the Audit and Scrutiny Committee for full transparency and noting as part of the next cycle of Council Plan reporting. For clarity, targets will not be amended if the time period has passed or is in progress to prevent any perceived influence on the status. The only exception to this is where the target has been publicly published elsewhere prior to the reporting period and previously approved by Cabinet. Any amendment must be accompanied with an explanation for the error, details of prior publication and approval if relevant and steps being taken to prevent it happening in future. Creativity and Innovation Creativity and innovation is welcomed when considering how to show information in a robust and objective way to enable scrutiny. There are two elements to this: Information and presentation. This is crucial as performance management depends on clear communication of accurate and relevant information (at the right time). Effective presentation methods vary depending on the complexity of data, information available, audience, accessibility and media used. One of the greatest challenges within performance is to demonstrate the cumulative impact of our work, particularly when considering a person-centred approach. Case studies and real lived experience can be very powerful and informative. However, to capture then benchmark cumulative impact with others/over time to show continuous improvement can be very difficult. Creativity can be used to present information in a holistic way - considering a complex area such as child poverty for example. To determine the cumulative impact on a person or family, services may explore developing profiles based on the six priority families (families identified by the Scottish Government as being at most risk of experiencing poverty). These profiles can then be used to discover what support and benefits they may be entitled to, from clothing grants to employability support, in the same way any family contacting our council would be supported. This same family can be ‘frozen in time’ and used to calculate this information in past and future years, creating trend data and helping to identify any gaps in provision. Going a step further, it could be used to benchmark against provision in other areas, resources allowing. This information could then be presented visually to encourage scrutiny but also encourage families to relate to them and contact our council and partners for support. Alternatively, where a particular area is difficult to measure, proxy measures can be introduced to measure the secondary impact of activity. I.e. If it’s not possible to measure the core issue, related elements surrounding it can be measured and collated. This in itself can produce meaningful evidence to drive decision making. Various methods can be explored and piloted. A note of caution, the impact on our people must never be distilled into numerical measures alone; a range of different categories of information is essential. 52
Page 53
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 20 of 34 Performance Management 6.1.2 Actions How actions are written fundamentally affects the quality of performance scrutiny. Actions are narrative updates (not numerical), an explanation on the activities being undertaken to deliver our priorities, supported by a red (significantly adrift of target), amber (slightly adrift of target) or green (on target) RAG (red, amber, green) status. However, they are very much based on evidence and the statuses can be used to create a trend of performance over time. Ideally every action should be linked to a performance indicator to provide full context and further evidence of performance. Confusion often arises in terms of whether ‘business as usual’ actions should be included within strategic and Operational Plans. Our council approaches this differently and includes actions based on their relevance to our priorities and associated risk. An action is included as long as it relates to our priorities and needs to be actively managed if it impacts on any of the following categories: • Statutory obligations • Our residents, visitors or businesses • Finances or other resources • Corporate risks (all levels) • Reputational risk (which could impact future resources) This approach helps to inform the status of an action as detailed in the ‘Determining the Status of an Action’ section below. SMART Actions Similar to PIs, the creation of actions must meet these standards: • Specific – Precise in what we are trying to measure. It is important to determine ”what success looks like”. • Measurable – Measuring actions is usually based on milestones, key moments in the action’s timeframe when specific outputs can be evidenced. Linking to PIs is recommended in this situation to strengthen the information if possible, however other outputs may be project stages, the groundbreaking ceremony of a new build, engagement sessions being held etc. and may not lend themselves to being PIs as a result. • Achievable – Ambitious but realistic. • Relevant – The measure relates to our priorities, will tell us what we need to know to make a decision and relates to the overall aim. • Time-bound – All actions have a completion date. Timescales Traditionally corporate performance management and reporting coincided with financial years, however with long- term developments such as the Ayrshire Growth Deal as well as recognising that some services, such as Education, work to different reporting frequencies and timescales such as academic years, this was reviewed as part of our previous strategy. In April 2021 we introduced a more dynamic form of performance management that reflects the activity rather than the financial or academic year. This ensures: • Education performance is captured using term time frequencies and academic years where appropriate within our corporate reporting. (I.e. Academic year end is captured in Quarter Two / Mid-Year Council Plan reporting.) • Large scale projects are reported at a level where the full project, milestones or relevant project stages are reported – preserving the context, project governance and providing a holistic view of performance and impact. As actions for specific areas end, potential replacement actions are identified if appropriate. These are approved by the Executive Leadership Team and Cabinet when Council Plan performance is presented for scrutiny and approval 53
Page 54
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 21 of 34 Performance Management (at Quarters Two and Four). Rationale for any replacement actions is based on Council Plan priorities, performance and operating environment rather than like for like replacements (‘The Continuous Improvement Cycle - Plan Do Learn Act’ above.) Our Council Plan Annual Performance Report remains aligned to financial years and captures all performance progress within that year. It cross references to the more detailed six-monthly Council Plan Progress Reports and LGBF reporting. Determining the Status of an Action Actions provide an update on planned activity over a certain time period. For this reason, action updates are explanations of performance, including what is going well and, if an activity is behind schedule, what is being done to address this and when this will be resolved by. The actions within Our Council Plan summarise activity undertaken through existing key strategies. As the Council Plan relies underlying strategies as the delivery mechanism and to inform Our Council Plan status, it is crucial all underlying strategies and Operational Plans contain SMART actions. The status of an action is determined by considering “what success looks like” and the following: 1. If the action has not yet reached its due date, an informed decision is made by the action owner on whether they consider the action to be on target, slightly adrift or significantly adrift of where it should be at that time. This can be informed by the following, however teams must provide early identification of issues to allow early intervention: a. Time – Is delivery currently delayed? This is informed by project plans and strategy milestones within teams. Any current delay will inform the status, not whether it is hoped to be resolved in future. b. Cost – Whether increasing costs have been identified (whether or not this breaches approved budgets at this stage, any increase needs to be reported in order to enable early intervention to prevent an overspend) or a delay in funding sources. c. Quality – Has the quality of the delivery of the action been affected? Such as a change in engagement approaches, build quality or repair timescales, or processes to deliver the outcome. d. Benefit - Are there any early indications that the outcomes may be different or not as impactful as expected for our residents or council? e. Scope – Has variation occurred in terms or widening or narrowing the scope of an activity? f. Risk – Have any risks increased or additional risks been identified? g. Associated / linked performance indicators being adrift of target. h. Environmental factors outside our control such as reliance on non-council activity, changes in legislation or a lack of continued business justification for the activity. i. Challenge by the Corporate Policy and Performance Team if accompanying narrative is not comprehensive enough to support the status judgement (whether on target, slightly adrift or significantly adrift of target). j. Challenge by the ELT during their Council Plan Performance scrutiny meetings. (Which are also informed by Priority Leads.) 2. Only when no concerns are raised regarding the above elements can an action be stated as being on target (green). If concerns are raised, whether an action is amber or red can be determined as follows: a. Amber – Temporary delay to delivery, residents are unaffected, there is no financial, reputational or other corporate risk affected. Scope is unaffected. Associated performance indicator statuses are either on target (green) or slightly adrift of target (amber). Mitigations can be implemented and activity is expected to be on target by the next quarterly reporting period. b. Red – Where any of the following apply: Temporary or longer term delay to activity (over one quarter); residents may be affected; there may be financial, reputational or corporate risks impacted negatively; mitigations are likely to take some time to take affect and the service cannot confirm the activity will be back on target by the following quarter; and / or any associated performance indicators are significantly adrift of target (red). 54
Page 55
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 22 of 34 Performance Management c. Please note, if either 2a or 2b above relates to issues caused by external factors such as external funding, changes in legislation, contractors or partners, the impacts outlined above must still be used to determine the status. Though external factors may be outside of our control, they can still impact on our delivery and as such need to be transparently recorded through statuses within Our Council Plan reporting to enable options to be considered. In these instances, the quality of the accompanying notes to add context are particularly crucial to enable the scrutiny of delivery of Our Council Plan and inform decisions regarding level of support for services if required to address concerns. 3. If an action is not complete at its due date, it is automatically set as significantly adrift of target. Due dates can only be extended where there is a reasonable explanation to do so. The proposed amended timescales are then presented to Cabinet for full transparency and approval and do not take effect until after Cabinet approval including the associated call-in period elapsing. Where it is not appropriate to continue with an action due to changes in expected benefits, withdrawal of resources, being superseded by other activities, external issues or lack of business justification, it is possible to set an action as “Off Programme”. Guidance must be sought from the Corporate Policy and Performance Team and this status is subject to ELT and Cabinet approval. The above process is designed to be comprehensive to enable specific status decision making across each individual Council Plan action. This crucially supports a transparent manage by exception approach, enabling the ELT to scrutinise effectively based on appropriate information (whether positive or negative). This in turn gives early intervention opportunities to support services and senior teams to deliver the outcomes of Our Council Plan. As we utilise the matrix approach through linear and cross-service priority management of our priorities (detailed above), the options available for intervention via the ELT can be cross-service and more impactful. This is why transparent reporting and early intervention is essential. Presenting the Action Status The status of an action is recorded as significantly adrift (red), slightly adrift (amber) or on target (green) (RAG status) using this option in the performance management system. Though functionality to track actions though percentage complete exists, this is not an effective method of scrutiny as percentage complete figures need to be profiled across the action timescale, is independent of RAG status and can cause confusion and distraction during scrutiny due to the complexity of delivery. I.e. Some activity is “front loaded” so more intense initially, others have a more intense delivery towards the end of the action timescale – it is rarely linear. Where an action is adrift of target, as per the Direction 2024, reasons for this status and how this will be addressed including a timescale for this to be resolved must be included in action updates and recorded within the performance management system and Council Plan reporting. Actions form the basis of the narrative within the six-monthly Council Plan Progress Reports. A visual Action Status Tracker is included in the reports to enable any action trends to be identified. 6.1.3 Case Studies As per the Creativity and Innovation section above, case studies are essential to demonstrate impact and prevent performance reporting from becoming isolated from the people we serve. Case studies should follow the STARL approach: • Situation – Explain the context of the situation and issues or challenges being experienced. • Task – Describe why these issues or challenges needed to be addressed. • Action – What was done to address these issues and challenges. • Result – The outcome of this activity, what changed as a result and how is this ideally going to be sustained over the longer term. • Learn – The learning that has been captured to inform any future approaches. Ensuring the voices of our people are included in our performance reporting is extremely important. 55
Page 56
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 23 of 34 Performance Management 56
Page 57
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 24 of 34 Performance Management 6.2 Council Plan Progress Reports The following process is followed for the creation and scrutiny of our statutory Council Plan progress reporting: 1. Updates added to our performance management system, a secure and auditable corporate system. Updates need to be approved by Senior Managers prior to being entered in the system and must align to any PI information sheets and metadata. 2. Secondary data checks regarding consistency with previous reporting, PI metadata and resulting constructive challenges are undertaken by the Corporate Policy and Performance Team. 3. Reports are drafted by the Corporate Policy and Performance Team. 4. For the large six-monthly reports at Q2 and Q4, these are reviewed by Heads of Service. Data continues to be checked following review. 5. Report is finalised in terms of cross referencing and ensuring it is accessible (both technical and non- technical). 6. The large six-monthly reports are considered by the Executive Leadership Team in a dedicated 90 minute session. The smaller Q1 and Q3 reports are considered as part of the main ELT agendas. During this scrutiny, discussions take place regarding the information and potential opportunities for improvement including working across services. 7. Any additional information such as enhanced next steps (including timescales) are added, the report is finalised. 8. The report is considered by Cabinet. Chief and Senior Officers attend to answer specific questions regarding performance in their areas. 9. Following the call-in period, the report is published on our website, supported by internal and external communications. 10. Following approval by Cabinet, the report is scrutinised by The Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Chief and Senior Officers attend to answer specific questions regarding performance in their areas. In addition, there is a significant amount of data checking, ensuring notes explain performance and provide context, sourcing qualitative information around the impact we are having such as case studies and ensuring our reports are accessible and relevant to the people of North Ayrshire. As a result, effective time management is crucial to ensure reports are scrutinised and in the public domain while the data is still as relevant as possible. We will improve how our reporting is published both within our council and externally through working with our Communications team to develop a regular schedule. We will review our webpages and ensure all information is relevant and timeous. 6.3 Scrutiny of Reporting Scrutiny of performance takes account of all performance, not only focussing on adrift of target areas. Scrutiny training is available on request from the Corporate Policy and Performance Team and all Elected Members attend Scrutiny training as part of their induction. 57
Page 58
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 25 of 34 Performance Management 6.4 Schedule of Corporate Reporting Quarter 1 (April to June) Quarter 2 (July to September) Quarter 3 (October to December) Quarter 4 (January to March) Annual Council Plan Light touch summary presented to the Executive Leadership Team. Full six-monthly progress report produced for scrutiny by the Executive Leadership Team, Cabinet and the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Published on our website. Light touch summary presented to the Executive Leadership Team. Full six-monthly progress report produced for scrutiny by the Executive Leadership Team, Cabinet and the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Published on our website. Full year Annual Performance Report produced for scrutiny by the Executive Leadership Team, Cabinet and the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Published on our website. Public facing North Ayrshire Performance Dashboard updated. Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) Priority LGBF indicators released during the Quarter are included in the light touch report. Priority LGBF indicators released during Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 are included in the six- monthly report. Priority LGBF indicators released during the Quarter are included in the light touch report. See Annual (right) LGBF report produced for scrutiny by the Executive Leadership Team, Cabinet and the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. Published on our website. Operational Plans Operational Plans are supported by the Corporate Policy and Performance Team. They are reported within Services and Directorates. In addition to corporate reporting, many directorates have specialised reporting and returns to the Scottish Government, external regulators and groups (see Local Government Assurance and Improvement Framework and Local Government Data Platform above). 58
Page 59
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 26 of 34 Performance Management 6.5 Accessibility Our performance reporting is written for our residents to enable them to engage with and effectively scrutinise our performance. Accessibility in terms of the Direction relates to the information being engaging and easily understood (referred to in the guidance as “non-technical”) and accessible in terms of equality legislation (“technical”). The Accounts Commission recognises the challenges when presenting performance information “…there is a need to strike a balance, for example: • In summarising information without presenting an incomplete or distorted representation of performance, and • In displaying information in a graphical or interactive format without disadvantaging or excluding people with visual or cognitive impairments.” (Direction 2024 Guidance for Local Authorities.) The use of technology while adhering to statutory requirements relating to equalities is encouraged. On 2nd September 2025, Cabinet agreed to note “Cabinet approval relates to the content of the report, not the layout or media used to ensure future flexibility for production of accessible format reports.” This is to enable reproduction of our reporting in a range of formats to reach as many of our residents as possible and ensure we meet both equality legislation and Direction requirements. This includes but is not limited to: • HTML versions of our reporting on our website (with embedded case study videos). • Performance Dashboards hosted in Power BI. • Child Friendly Reporting, with the intention to focus on the 2025 to 2026 Annual Performance Report. 6.6 Council Plan Progress Report Next Steps Next Steps are included within the six-monthly Council Plan progress reports. These are either significant milestones expected to be reached during the delivery of Council Plan actions or remedial action to bring an activity back on target. Following an Audit Scotland recommendation in our Annual Audit 2024 to 2025, next steps will include specific timescales for completion, rather than stating within the next six months. These will also be tracked within our corporate performance management system for full transparency. 7 Audits, inspections, accreditations and community engagement Best Value Thematic Audits are reported as part of our Annual Audit and presented to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee each autumn. As Best Value is a statutory requirement which our performance reporting illustrates in line with the Direction 2024, updates are also included within the six-monthly Council Plan Progress Reports. Additionally, where Audit Scotland recommends additional areas to be included in our six-monthly reports as a result of an audit this is absorbed into the reporting. Most recently this includes progress on our Workforce Strategy and Transformation programme. 8 Benchmarking Benchmarking is comparing our performance to others (it can be wider than the public sector and UK) and learning how to improve as a result. This is not limited to comparing performance indicators, we actively benchmark by comparing different approaches to address the same issue or achieve similar outcomes. We are one of 32 Scottish local authorities utilising the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF), coordinated by the Improvement Service and SOLACE. This framework enables us to compare our performance with other local authorities in Scotland across a wide range of themes. In addition, to provide as close a comparison as 59
Page 60
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 27 of 34 Performance Management possible, councils with similar traits are grouped into “family groups”. This gives us access to a wide range of comparable data on as close to a like for like basis as possible. In 2024 to 2025, the Improvement Service confirmed LGBF family groups are fluid and may change depending on the nature of the information being published. For consistency, we align to the family groups as published within the LGBF online tool / dashboard. Further details on the LGBF can be found above. We compare performance through several routes, many of which are specialised such as APSE. An overview can be found within page 14 of the Scottish Local Government Assurance and Improvement Framework. Numerical analysis is useful however the next step, where we use this information to further research or approach other local authorities or organisations to learn what is driving their results, provides much more useful qualitative information and is encouraged. As with all performance information, benchmarking should be used to drive decisions on future approaches in line with Our Council Plan priorities. 8.1 Verification of External Returns Benchmarking effectively relies on accurate data within our external returns. The LGBF is the main data return administered corporately. Due to the scale of returns required from our council (see Local Government Data Platform section above) other returns are administered via the relevant service. Though the LGBF sources a substantial amount of data from other external returns, an annual data return is provided by every local authority in Scotland in August. The procedure for LGBF data is: 1. If any changes in the metadata, which shows how measures are calculated, are received during the year, these are shared immediately with the relevant services. 2. Data from the previous year and a request for the current year are sent to relevant services alongside links to metadata documents. 3. Data is received alongside supporting context and scrutinised. If there is a considerable difference between the previous year, or if the data doesn’t seem to reflect narrative within the context provided or recent performance reporting, the service is asked for clarification and metadata documents are reshared. If there is still confusion, Corporate Policy and Performance will meet with the service. Following clarifications, the data is confirmed via email. 4. Once finalised, the data is shared with the relevant Head of Service for approval before it is collated and shared with the Improvement Service (who administer the LGBF). 5. Where a change to previous figures has been highlighted, this is investigated further to determine the time period a change or error relates to and whether any related time periods or indicators are affected. This information is sought, scrutinised as above and shared with the Head of Service for approval before sharing with the Improvement Service. 6. Any errors in previous submissions corrected as per step 5 above, are noted within the next performance reporting period for transparency at ELT, Cabinet and the Audit and Scrutiny Committee. The intention is to highlight the reasons for issues and any resolution identified to learng and prevent it reoccuring. 60
Page 61
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 28 of 34 Performance Management 9 Self-Assessment Self-assessment is a technique used by organisations to learn where they are performing well, identify opportunities and risks, as well as where improvements are needed. For councils, the focus should always be on using this information to improve our services for the benefit of our residents. The resulting self-awareness is critical to operate effectively. Contrary to some views, self-assessment is not purely an internal process. It is the foundation of effective scrutiny and as such informs external audits and some accreditations. Nationally the focus on self-assessment is increasing, particularly with the SPI Direction 2024 and work ongoing via the Recommitment to Crerar project. It is a requirement under the Direction for self-assessment results and associated action to be published on our website to encourage scrutiny. There are many forms of self-assessment and not all follow established tools such as the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) or Public Service Improvement Framework (PSIF). Consideration of performance, human resources information, impact on our residents, complaints and compliment details can often be looked at holistically during quarterly review meetings (sometimes referred to as a ‘balanced scorecard’) and are a form of self-assessment. The issue with having such a varied approach to self-assessment means it is difficult to amalgamate results across services and create a strategic view of performance, identifying any concerns or patterns early. This is why we are improving to adopt a consistent but flexible approach. To reiterate, self-assessment is a way of initiating improvement and is part of a continuous review of a performance journey, not the destination (see The Continuous Improvement Cycle - Plan Do Learn Act above). As such, all self- assessment should result in planned improvement activity, managed through Operational or other plans. 9.1 PSIF The Improvement Service is responsible for the development of the Public Service Improvement Framework (PSIF). This is the public sector version of the internationally recognised European Foundation in Quality Management (EFQM) approach. The Improvement Service has recognised the need for tailored self-assessment, rather than the large resource intensive council-wide reviews that took place in previous years. As a result, they have been developing checklists since approximately 2020 for Frontline Services and more recently the Culture Checklist, to assess the culture of an organisation. The “full” PSIF can be tailored to fit the needs of a local authority, enabling further scrutiny of priority areas. Importantly the Improvement Service offers a training / mentoring service to support local authorities to embed the PSIF in their performance management. The Public Services Improvement Framework (PSIF) tailored to teams and services will be our main self-assessment tool within our council. We will work with the Improvement Service to initiate the approach. Key principles will be: • Use of PSIF tailored to risks and capacity of teams and services. • Reporting to a ‘peer review’ group consisting of members of the Executive Leadership Team to invite scrutiny and inform resource allocation. • Reporting summaries on our website and within Council Plan progress reports as appropriate. Information used to inform the assessment will include: • Local Government Benchmarking Framework priority indicators. • PSIF self-assessment questionnaire. • Recent audits, inspections and accreditations (the Scottish Local Government Assurance and Improvement Framework will be referenced). • Operational Plans (service outputs and outcomes including benchmarking opportunities). 61
Page 62
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 29 of 34 Performance Management • People statistics such as employee absence, additional costs, health and safety, complaint handling, compliments, request response times (for example Elected Member, MP and MSP requests, FOIs etc.) to gain a full understanding of the performance and ‘health’ of a team (balanced scorecard). • Financial management. • Reputational management (communications and consultations). • Discussion of results with Senior Manager and Head of Service prior to peer review. This is in addition to scrutiny provided through public consultations and self-assessment of committees. The PSIF is expected to be consistent with the National Framework for Self-Assessment (NFSA) due to be introduced in early 2026. Though significant overlap is expected, SOLACE and the Improvement Service insist this will not result in duplication, only non-assessed elements of performance would be explored when utilising the NFSA. By utilising the PSIF consistently across teams, we can identify any strengths or weaknesses at team level. Then, as it is a structured approach repeated across teams, we can identify any recurring themes across services which will help identify patterns and inform a strategic view of performance across our council. Once the NFSA is published, this could be considered as a future alternative. 9.2 Peer Review Peer review follows self-assessment and is where other teams or services are invited to scrutinise the results of self- assessment when required and make recommendations for improvement. At a national level and within the SPI Direction 2024, it is known as ‘Peer Collaborative Improvement’ where peers are other local authorities invited to scrutinise performance as required via a formal process led by the Improvement Service. The results and recommendations are then published on our council and the Improvement Service’s websites. 10 Systems 10.1 Pentana Risk Pentana Risk is our corporate performance management system. We engage with services to improve how we use Pentana to support effective and timeous updates of performance information. Deadlines for the year are published in our Pentana homepage alongside information on additional support as well as links to Cabinet approved Council Plan progress reports to help strengthen the reporting cycle. We continue enhance our use of portals (online viewing) to: • Ensure users can view their own Council Plan actions and PIs, so there is a clear definition between statutory Council Plan measures and internal reporting. • Enable teams to run Operational Plan reports on demand as required, providing greater flexibility for scrutiny of non-corporate performance within teams. We will continue to ensure corporately reported data is hosted centrally where appropriate. However, we understand other systems are in use for valid reasons. Therefore, where information is held in an appropriate auditable system there is no need for the data to be transferred / duplicated onto Pentana Risk other than for Corporate Reporting such as Our Council Plan or North Ayrshire Community Plan (LOIP). We continue to ensure our performance management systems across our council are supporting rather than defining our performance management approach. 10.2 Power BI We will continue to use Power BI to provide greater insights from the data held by our council. This includes LGBF analysis and the North Ayrshire Performance Dashboard. 62
Page 63
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 30 of 34 11 Action Plan The following actions and associated PIs are reported as part of the Policy, Performance and Democracy Operational Plan. Council Plan Priority Action Code Action Title Related Strategy / Legislation End Date Assigned To What Success Looks Like Links to relevant area within the Performance Management Strategy A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-01 Support Executive Directors in the leadership of our Council Plan priorities, including closer working with Communications to develop integrated case studies. Council Plan / Performance Management Strategy Ongoing Senior Manager, Policy, Performance and Democracy Embedded culture of collaborative working across services to deliver priorities. Impact is more fully captured within performance reporting enabling more effective scrutiny. • Best Value • Maintaining a Culture of Continuous Improvement A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-02 Explore and initiate self- assessment approach to drive improvement and inform budget decisions in line with the SPI Direction 2024. Statutory / Performance Management Strategy 31 March 2026 Corporate Policy and Performance A rolling programme of self- assessment, using risk to prioritise services and tailor the approach and benchmarking to learn from others. Priority will be determined by corporate risks, impact on our people (including ECRIAs), financial and reputational risk, LGBF, assessments and accreditations (based on results and how recently they were completed). Peer review is undertaken only when necessary. • Self-Assessment 63
Page 64
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 31 of 34 Council Plan Priority Action Code Action Title Related Strategy / Legislation End Date Assigned To What Success Looks Like Links to relevant area within the Performance Management Strategy A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-03 Launch new public Performance Dashboard Annual Audit Action / Performance Management Strategy 31 March 2026 Corporate Policy and Performance Council Plan performance information is available on our website via an interactive Power BI dashboard. Data refreshes annually following Cabinet approval and call-in period. • Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 • Performance Reporting and Scrutiny • Systems A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-04 Produce HTML versions of Council Plan Progress reports and explore embedding videos. Transformation Audit Action / Performance Management Strategy 30 September 2026 Corporate Policy and Performance Performance Reports are presented in engaging HTML format on our website. Videos are embedded. Views of our report pages increase. PI: Total number of views of our public facing Council Plan Performance web page. • Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 • Performance Reporting and Scrutiny A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-05 Include SMART Next Steps in Council Plan progress reports and review / enforce guidance on determining the status of actions in the Council Plan. Annual Audit Action / Performance Management Strategy 20 November 2025 Corporate Policy and Performance SMART Next Steps are used alongside the Performance Management Strategy guidance and training to support Senior Managers in determining the status of actions in a methodical and transparent way. • Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 • Performance Reporting and Scrutiny 64
Page 65
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 32 of 34 Council Plan Priority Action Code Action Title Related Strategy / Legislation End Date Assigned To What Success Looks Like Links to relevant area within the Performance Management Strategy A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-06 Develop and implement council-wide performance management training, in person and online. Performance Management Strategy 31 March 2026 Corporate Policy and Performance Mandatory performance training is available online for all employees. In depth performance management training for Middle and Senior Managers is shared through the Connected Leadership programme. Performance Management Strategy is the central reference for council performance. • Best Value • Failure to Prevent Fraud Corporate Offence A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-07 Refresh performance management framework across our council, working closely with Directorates to enhance Operational Plans and quality of reporting. Performance Management Strategy 31 March 2027 Corporate Policy and Performance Established structure of Operational Plans across all services with quarterly performance review meetings held by all Heads of Service. Performance updates are high quality leading to reduced lead in times for corporate reporting. PI: Average number of calendar days between six monthly reporting quarter end and reports presented to Cabinet. • Maintaining a Culture of Continuous Improvement 65
Page 66
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 33 of 34 Council Plan Priority Action Code Action Title Related Strategy / Legislation End Date Assigned To What Success Looks Like Links to relevant area within the Performance Management Strategy A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-08 Develop the next Council Plan for 2028 onwards. Best Value 31 March 2028 Senior Manager, Policy, Performance and Democracy An evidence-based Council Plan focussed on improving the lives of our people in North Ayrshire with Best Value at its core. The Plan is aligned to the priorities of our residents, Partnership Plan, national policy, resources, opportunities and risks. It is supported by a robust performance management framework enabling in-depth and transparent scrutiny. Methods to determine the overall impact of our work are established. • Best Value • A programme of self-assessment took place during summer/autumn 2024 under the title ‘Locality Planning 2.0’. This received feedback from representatives showing members of the locality partnership felt a high level of involvement and ownership of the partnership. Potential areas for improvement, particularly around meetings, were highlighted and will be taken forward as appropriate. A report on the assessment was approved by Cabinet in May 2025. • Our Council Plan 2023-28 66
Page 67
Our Performance Management Strategy – October 2025 Refresh Page 34 of 34 Council Plan Priority Action Code Action Title Related Strategy / Legislation End Date Assigned To What Success Looks Like Links to relevant area within the Performance Management Strategy A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-9 Explore potential cost effective alternatives to current performance management system, liaising with other local authorities and procurement to determine options, costs, frameworks available and associated lead in times to embed a new system. Performance Management Strategy 31 January 2026 Corporate Policy and Performance A cost-effective performance management system that continues to be secure, supports effective scrutiny of all corporate strategies, service led strategies, Operational Plans and risks while ensuring all elements are auditable. (Note any new system may not be operational until June 2028 at the earliest.) • Systems A Sustainable Council PPD-PMS-10 Review Corporate Policy and Performance Team functions in line with revised Performance Management Strategy Performance Management Strategy 31 March 2026 Senior Manager, Policy, Performance and Democracy and Corporate Policy and Performance A Corporate Policy and Performance Team fully aligned to Council Plan priorities with established leads for national areas such as the LGBF. Fully supported to deliver the actions within the Performance Management Strategy. • Maintaining a Culture of Continuous Improvement Performance Indicator 2022 to 2023 Target 2022 to 2023 Actual 2023 to 2024 Target 2023 to 2024 Actual 2024 to 2025 Target 2024 to 2025 Actual 2025 to 2026 Target 2026 to 2027 Target Assigned To Average number of calendar days between six monthly reporting quarter end and reports presented to Cabinet. Data Only 168.5 Data Only 131.5 Data Only 134 140 140 Corporate Policy and Performance Total number of views of our public facing Council Plan Performance web page. Data Only 953 Data Only 778 Data Only 1,522* Data Only** Data Only** Corporate Policy and Performance *Due to the new website and the aim to introduce HTML reporting, it is not possible to set a target for 2025/26 as web pages will be altered. **The target for 2026/27 will be reviewed once the new approach is established. Once the Performance Dashboard is live, views of this will be recorded in a separate PI. 67
Page 68
This strategy is managed by the Corporate Policy and Performance Team and we would welcome any feedback you may have. We are constantly striving to make our council and reports as accessible as possible and welcome opportunities to discuss how this can be achieved. For further information please contact: The Corporate Policy and Performance Team Tel: 01294 310000 Email: NorthAyrshirePerforms@north-ayrshire.gov.uk 68
Page 69
NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 29 January 2026 Audit and Scrutiny Committee Title: Our Council Plan Progress Report – Mid Year 2025 to 2026 and LGBF Analysis (October 2025 Data Release) Purpose: To advise the Audit and Scrutiny Commitee on progress in delivering Our Council Plan 2023-2028 as at Mid-Year 2025-2026. Recommendation: That the Audit and Scrutiny Commitee: (i) Notes the Mid-Year Report. (ii) Notes the status of the Council’s performance indicators within the LGBF Analysis of the October 2025 Data Release. 1. Executive Summary 1.1. Our Council Plan Progress Report Mid-Year 2025-26 (Appendix 1) shows how our council is continuing to progress our priorities in line with Best Value legislation in the six months ending 30th September 2025. It is supported by the Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of the October 2025 data release (Appendix 2), which presents our performance relative to others and enables us to learn from other local authorities. 1.2. When considering the Council Plan performance indicators, LGBF indicators directly relating to our Council Plan and accompanying narrative to demonstrate impact, our performance remains strong in many areas. This is detailed in the key highlights section at 3.3.3 of this covering report and within Appendices 1 and 2. 1.3. Where challenges exist resulting in less positive performance, these are detailed within Appendix 1 for transparency and measures are in place to address these within timescales. 1.4. The recent approval of a refreshed Performance Management Strategy will strengthen our reporting across our council and ensure reporting remains robust and compliant with Best Value legislation. Agenda Item 5 69
Page 70
2. Background 2.1. Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1992 and Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 we have a duty to demonstrate Best Value. To ensure we support our residents, fulfil our statutory duties and invite scrutiny, we actively manage performance and develop our reporting to make it accessible and engaging. 2.2. The Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 which determines how we demonstrate Best Value has now taken effect. It applies to the reporting of activity that has taken place since 1st April 2025 for approximately three years. Guidance on the Direction is expected to be released in stages and is being monitored to ensure continued compliance. 3. Assessment of Performance 3.1. Performance Indicators 3.1.1. There are 26 performance indicators within our framework. At Mid-Year, the overall status of the framework is: • 11 x on target (green) • 5 x significantly off target (red). • 4 x slightly adrift of target (amber) • 6 x data only 3.1.2. The status of indicators not previously reported at Year End i.e. “fresh data” as at Mid-Year are: • 3 x on target (green) • 1 x significantly adrift of target (red) • 1 x slightly adrift of target (amber) • 4 x data only 3.1.3. The status of a PI is determined by the following tolerances: Status Description On target Slightly adrift of target (typically this represents a variance ≥ 1% and < 5% from the target). Significantly adrift of target (typically this represents a variance ≥ 5% from the target). Data only (PIs only) – this is where a target has intentionally not been set, usually due to the indicator being a new indicator or where we can only partly contribute to the outcome. Data not available / status unknown - (PIs only) the status is not available either due to data not being available or no target being set. (Source: Our Performance Management Strategy 2023/2028 – October 2025 Refresh) 70
Page 71
3.1.4. The details of those adrift of target are below: 3.1.5. CP_31 % of total household waste that is recycled (calendar year as per SEPA) (LGBF) (Red) 3.1.6. The household waste recycling figure for Quarter 2 Calendar Year (April to June 2025) is estimated at 51.2%, which is still subject to verification by SEPA, this is lower than the Quarterly target of 56%. Actions have been taken to improve the separation of Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (WUDS) from within our bulky waste collection service to help minimise the impact of the change in legislation. Contamination levels within the purple bin for glass, cans and plastics have contributed to a decline in performance and actions to promote the council’s ‘Right Stuff Right Bin’ campaign are ongoing to try and reduce this. An increase in the type of wood being deposited at recycling centres that is only suitable for biomass recovery and not for recycling, is also impacting performance. Actions are being taken to explore the level of source segregation at each recycling centre to identify if there is further scope for improvement. The reduction in performance related to separating WUDS from bulky uplifts will start to improve in Q4 2025 Calendar Year (October to December 2025), following the change to the bulky waste service, with further recovery anticipated in the 2026 calendar year which will contribute to meeting the target. 3.1.7. The Improvement Service published the household waste recycling figures for the 2024 calendar year in October 2025 via the Local Government Benchmarking Framework. The council continues to be a high performer, with a recycling rate of 53% for the 2024 calendar year, achieving 9th out of the 32 Scottish councils, with only 0.3% separating our council and the 5th place council. We manage the largest waste tonnage of the strongest performing nine councils, managing over 8,200 tonnes more waste per year. 3.1.8. The average recycling rate in Scotland for 2024 was 44.3% and we are 8.7 percentage points above the national average at 53%. 3.1.9. CP_48 % of income due from council tax received by the end of the year (LGBF) (Amber) 3.1.10. The percentage of income due from council tax received by the end of the year was 94% for 2024-25. This is below the target of 98% resulting in the amber status for this indicator. Performance represents a slight improvement from the previous year and is relatively consistent since 2022-23. Collection activity in relation to Council Tax debt continues, with the achievement of budgeted recovery levels forecast over the medium term. We continue to support residents throughout the year through repayment plans and where required through directing residents to other money advice supports available. It is also recognised that the ongoing encouragement for residents to use the direct debit payment method should help improve collection levels in future. 71
Page 72
3.1.11. Examples of performance indicators meeting or exceeding their target include, CP_36 Number of residents participating in community learning and development activity including youth work, achieved a Quarter 2 value of 7,933, against a target of 7000. In addition, CP_41 Number of empty homes brought back into use (actual), achieved its target of 78 for Quarter 2. 3.1.12. Indicator Amendments and Recommendations 3.1.13. CP_47 Gross rent arrears (all tenants) as a percentage of rent due for the year 3.1.14. The 2023-24 figure has been amended from 5.9% to 7.5% through the Annual Return on the Charter (ARC) Data Corrections 2023-24 submitted to Cabinet 23 September 2025. The amendment was made as some periods had been incorrectly classified as long-term vacancies affecting the rent owed and increasing the rent loss. Updated guidance has been issued and a new process is now in place for recording excluded periods supported by monthly quality assurance checks. The Improvement Service has been informed of this amendment however, as this will not be reflected through the LGBF dashboard until the 28 November Data Release, the 2023-24 rank in the LGBF Analysis as at October 2025 (Appendix 2) has been manually calculated based on this amendment. 3.1.15. CP_25 % of Council dwellings that meet the Scottish Quality Housing Standard (LGBF) 3.1.16. Following the publication of the October 2025 data release from the Improvement Service, the 2024-25 figure has been confirmed as 94% as per the previously reported provisional data. 3.1.17. Targets 3.1.18. 2026 to 2028 targets will be reviewed during Quarter 4 2025-26 to ensure they accurately reflect the current operating environment including legislative changes. This will ensure statuses accurately indicate whether action is required and will in turn support effective scrutiny. 3.2. Actions 3.2.1. There are 47 actions within Our Council Plan, with one reported directly through the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and excluded from this report. All remaining 46 actions are on target (green) as at Mid-Year. 3.2.2. Our Performance Management Strategy was approved by Cabinet on 2nd December and details how to determine whether an action is on target. This is being used within training to embed a structured approach to performance management across our council at strategic and operational levels. This fulfils the Annual Audit 2024-25 action relating to managing action progress effectively. 72
Page 73
3.3. LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release 3.3.1. The data release shows 11 of our 15 updated priority indicators are in the top two quartiles, this includes areas such as percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days, proportion of the highest paid 5% of employees who are women, and proportion of council dwellings meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards. 3.3.2. Our short term (most recent one year comparison) is showing an improvement in 10 of our 15 updated priority indicators, with only four demonstrating a decline in performance. Improved indicators include CO2 emissions area wide per capita, percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of the year, and percentage of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment. 3.3.3. Key Highlights 3.3.3.1. Wellbeing • Working with the Collaboration for Health Equity (CHES), Public Health Scotland and the Institute for Health Equity (IHE) we have reviewed data to better focus resources based on community needs and in line with the Marmot principles. This targeted approach will help design interventions within specific areas of North Ayrshire. • Overall attainment has increased, including literacy and numeracy and the highest rate of S5 leavers achieving fifth level numeracy in the past five years. The poverty related attainment gap has also reduced. • 96% of our school leavers are progressing to higher education, training, voluntary work or education. • Our welfare rights and debt advice service launched as ‘Money Smart’ in May, creating a central comprehensive service for residents. • The Equal supported employability programme has relocated to Lochshore Hub in the Garnock Valley. This offers improved facilities to support people with disabilities and long-term health conditions. • As part of Suicide Prevention Week our Education Service and Health and Social Care Partnership partnered with Shout and launched a text-based Mental Health Service for North Ayrshire residents. The free and confidential service is available to residents of all ages and can be accessed by texting SUPPORTNA to 85258. • Recent new home developments include 29 new homes in Irvine, 19 in Ardrossan and 14 across four sites in Beith and Kilbirnie. In Largs 26 new homes were officially opened in September. 3.3.3.2. Communities and Local Democracy • Following approval of the Locality Planning review, implementation of recommendations to further enable our residents to take part in local democracy have begun. 73
Page 74
• 100 young people participated in the 31st Joint Youth Cabinet at Saltcoats Town Hall. • 280 young people gained Gold, Silver or Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards this year. • Community Investment Funding has been granted to four groups totalling over £224k. This includes supporting the building of a community and education hub to host events, improvements to venues, supporting the advancement of wind and hydro projects and a minibus which will significantly increase opportunities for our young people. • Island residents and stakeholders were actively involved in the new National Islands Plan for Scotland, participating in two virtual engagement sessions, facilitated by the Scottish Islands Federation. 3.3.3.3. Climate Change • An award for the Levelling Up for Ayrshire – Commercial and Low Carbon Infrastructure under the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Round 3 of £17.4m was secured from the UK Government, the memorandum of understanding was received April 2025. • We are supporting our local business base in terms of recovery and sustainability. This has already resulted in a reduction of 1,568 Tc2e carbon, £547k energy cost savings and 88 new jobs projected, with 27 already realised. • Active Travel routes continue to be developed including the Brodick to Glen Rosa active travel route and improvements in Beith to Kilbirnie routes. • 50,255 trees have been planted though various projects and via community partners. We are on schedule to achieve the overall target of 108,000 trees planted by 2030. 3.3.3.4. A Sustainable Council • Our annual audit concluded our council has continued to demonstrate a strong culture of continuous improvement. It has robust arrangements in place to secure Best Value and has made good progress with the previous year’s Best Value recommendations. • Our Transformation Programme continues to progress at pace, including energisation of the 7.48MW Nethermains Solar Farm and positive feedback from residents regarding the Household Waste Recycling Centre booking system introduced in April. • Extensive funding proposals were approved by Cabinet as part of the annual Regeneration Delivery Plan. This included £0.761m under the Place Based Investment Programme, £1.561m under the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund and £0.962 under the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund Tier 1. • Ayrshire 5GIR Digital Renewal Manager attended and spoke at the Connected Britain event, raising Ayrshire’s profile on a national stage and winning the Industrial Innovation award. With 8,000 attendees over two days, this is a significant achievement for the A5GIR. 74
Page 75
3.3.4. Key Next Steps 3.3.5. As per the Annual Audit 2024 to 2025 regarding managing action progress and next steps, where next steps don’t relate to the six-monthly period following the report (31st March), dates for completion are included. • We will progress recommendations from recent Best Value audit work inline with the timescales confirmed with Audit Scotland. • We will establish a formal agreement with the Smart Data Foundry to facilitate improving the use of our information to address poverty in North Ayrshire in line with GDPR. • By June 2026, we will have co-designed and launched a short, accredited entrepreneurial course in partnership with Ayrshire College and our Third Sector Interface, enrolling at least 10 parents in the first cohort. • We will host a CHES workshop for a range of partners to understand key priorities and opportunities to improve health outcomes in the area, while working with national partners to support the second publication by the Institute of Health Equity (IHE). • We will progress the findings from the Locality Planning Review 2.0. • We will review community grants and funding processes, aiming to implement changes by the end of 2026. • Following analysis of the results of the North Ayrshire Community Transport Survey, we will work with partners and communities to design and implement a pilot Community Transport project by the end of 2026-27. • We will develop a new Housing Acquisition Strategy, consolidating existing acquisition programmes and funding streams, and investigating new opportunities, to ensure any homes purchased from the second-hand market, and off-the-shelf from developers, deliver maximum impact in addressing current and projected social housing needs and demands across North Ayrshire. (Expected target date 30 of June 2026) • We will review the Council’s Scheme of Assistance, including consideration of the evidence base for any further interventions, such as the potential for a means-tested support fund for common repairs in council factored housing blocks. • We will continue to progress our comprehensive Transformation Programme. • We aim to plant an additional 13,000 trees during the financial year 2025 to 2026. • We will progress a programme of Active Travel and sustainable transport projects. • Building on the success of Climate Action Week and the Climate Chemistry Workshop, we will create new climate change education resources for Biodiversity Week in May 2026. 75
Page 76
4. Proposals That the Audit and Scrutiny Commitee: (i) Notes the Mid-Year Report. (ii) Notes the status of the Council’s performance indicators within the LGBF Analysis of the October 2025 Data Release. 5. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 5.1. None. Human Resources 5.2. None. Legal 5.3. These reports demonstrate how we meet our statutory duty of Best Value through compliance with the Statutory Information Direction 2024. Equality/Socio-economic 5.4. None. Climate Change and Carbon 5.5. None. Key Priorities 5.6. The Council Plan Progress Report outlines how we will actively manage the delivery of Our Council Plan priorities. Community Wealth Building 5.7. None. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 5.8. None. United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 5.9. None. Consumer Duty 5.10. None. 76
Page 77
6. Consultation 6.1. ELT and Cabinet have scrutinised this report. Aileen Craig Head of Service (Democratic) For further information please contact Isla Cruickshanks, Senior Manager (Policy, Performance and Democracy). Email IslaCruickshanks@north-ayrshire.gov.uk Background Papers None. 77
Page 78
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report 1 April 2025 to 30 September 2025 Appendix 1 78
Page 79
Contents Our Performance at a Glance ................................................................................................. 1 Welcome ................................................................................................................................. 2 Wellbeing ....................................................................................................................... 4 Communities and Local Democracy ............................................................................ 14 Climate Change ............................................................................................................ 20 A Sustainable Council .................................................................................................. 25 Our Transformation Programme .................................................................................. 28 Our Workforce Strategy 2024 – 2028 .......................................................................... 33 Audits, Inspections and Accreditations ........................................................................ 35 Performance Summary ......................................................................................................... 38 Performance Indicators Adrift of Target ....................................................................... 38 Indicator Amendments and Recommendations .......................................................... 39 Actions Adrift of target ................................................................................................. 39 Performance Indicators ........................................................................................................ 40 Action Tracker ....................................................................................................................... 43 79
Page 80
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 – 2026 Page 1 of 48 Our Performance at a Glance Online Household Waste Recycling Centre booking system well received by residents £0.761m Place Based Investment Funding allocated for 2025 to 2026 ‘Money Smart’, our welfare rights and debt advice centre launched £17.4m funding secured from UK Government for Levelling Up for Ayrshire Text based mental health service SHOUT launched. Text SUPPORT NA to 85258 Gold SCQF School Ambassador Award achieved by St Matthews Academy We started construction on our new state-of-the-art Ardrossan Community Campus 25 Community Projects supported through the £2.67m Shared Prosperity Fund Programme 96% of school leavers are going on to higher or further education, training, voluntary work or employment Equal Programme, our supported employment service, relocated to Lochshore Participatory Budgeting Programme opened in August 2025 with £204,157 community funding available 280 pupils were recognised for their hard work and dedication at this year's Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards 80
Page 81
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 – 2026 Page 2 of 48 Welcome Welcome to our Mid-Year Progress Report on our Council Plan 2023 to 2028. This report covers the period 1 April 2025 to 30 September 2025. Our Council Plan is our contract with our residents and this report details how we are progressing our four priorities of Wellbeing, Communities and Local Democracy, Climate Change, and A Sustainable Council: Our Vision: A North Ayrshire that is fair for all Our Mission: Working together to improve the lives of our people in North Ayrshire Delivery of our Council Plan is progressing positively; 58% of indicators where the status is known are either on target or slightly adrift of target and 100% of our actions are on target. We regularly compare our performance to other local authorities with similar demographic traits through the Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) and include information on this within the attached LGBF Report. There are 33 LGBF indicators that link closely with our Council Plan priorities. Of these, 15 have been updated since our Year-End report and 11 are in the top two quartiles. The latest publication of ‘Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL)’ has highlighted the positive impact raising attainment work has had. Amongst other highlights, achievement for S3 pupils has increased for Third and Fourth Level in both Literacy and Numeracy since 2021 to 2022. The poverty-related attainment gap has reduced by 10 percentage points in Third Level Literacy and nine percentage points for Third Level Numeracy in S3 pupils. 81
Page 82
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 – 2026 Page 3 of 48 Cabinet approved the recommendations of our Locality Planning review. These are being implemented and include supporting the partnerships, improving the content of meetings, a renewed focus on the locality plans and Community Investment Fund guidance. We launched Money Smart, linking to our new Financial Inclusion Strategy 2025 to 2030 and closely aligned to the Council Plan Wellbeing priority and the Health and Social Care Partnership’s strategic ambitions of enabling communities, developing and supporting our workforce, providing early and effective support, improving health and wellbeing, and tackling inequalities. The strategy provides a holistic overview of the financial services available to enable our residents to take positive, independent steps financially. Our new booking system for Household Waste Recycling centres is now available, meaning our Recycling Centre teams can assist residents with waste disposal more efficiently and safely. Currently 53% of household waste is recycled making the council the 9th highest performing in Scotland (based on the 2024 calendar year data). Though our Supporting our 2030 Woodland: A Tree Planting Strategy, 50,255 trees have been planted creating new or extending existing woodland areas across North Ayrshire and we are progressing well to reach our overall target of 108,000. To give context to the environment in which we deliver our services, some key measures are highlighted below. These are monitored as part of a wide range of measures within our Wellbeing Economy Dashboard, which examines trends in North Ayrshire. Together we will ensure a North Ayrshire that is fair for all. Population of North Ayrshire: 134,010 (June 2024) 24.3% of our children live in poverty after housing costs (2023-24) 28% of our households live in fuel poverty (2021-22) 63.1% of working age population is in employment (January - December 2024) 12.2% of people earn less than the living wage (2024) Area wide CO2 emissions are 540.1kt CO2e (July 2025) 82
Page 83
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 4 of 48 Wellbeing To transition to a wellbeing economy, delivering prosperity, wellbeing and resilience for local people. Key Activities Child Poverty A key focus of our Child Poverty Strategy Team (CPST) is developing and delivering place-based tests of change in partnership with communities and third sector partner organisations. Place-based tests of change are methods of working with communities in specific areas to understand and address key issues such as child poverty. Due to the complexities involved, place-based tests of change tend to be long term approaches to help establish solutions within and alongside our communities. We are working with our communities to ensure that support is accessible and informed by lived experience. As part of the tests of change, two new roles will be introduced in areas of highest need, identified through data mapping and partner organisations. These roles will act as connectors, helping individuals navigate and access existing services, while building confidence and capability. To support this work, the CPST has secured access to the Smart Data Foundry, which uses data to drive positive social change. For example, in the Fairer Futures Partnership co-design initiative with Beith Community Development Trust in Kilbirnie South and Longbar, the data has helped shape a collaborative response that will include financial inclusion support through the local credit union and welfare rights officers. It will also include community-led efforts to strengthen numeracy and literacy outcomes. In response to staff feedback, the CPST developed and launched an e-learning module for colleagues to support professional learning around poverty. The module covers perceptions and impact, relevant legislation, language and terminology. The module has since been made available to external partners following multiple requests from colleagues in the third sector and NHS. Additionally, the CPST is working with Ayrshire College and the Third Sector Interface (TSI) to design a short, accredited entrepreneurial course for parents. On completion, participants will be eligible to apply for a small business start-up grant. Both initiatives are supported by the Child Poverty Early Intervention Fund (CPEIF). We continue to develop the Collaboration for Health Equity (CHES) programme alongside national partners (Public Health Scotland and the Institute for Health Equity). Our local steering group reviewed data produced at North Ayrshire, Locality and Intermediate Zones. As a result an ‘enhanced focus’ within the programme have been agreed: • Marmot Principle 1: Give every child the best start in life: Irvine – Fullerton, Castlepark South, Bourtreehill. • Marmot Principle 3: Create Fair employment and good work for all: Three Towns – 83
Page 84
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 5 of 48 Ardrossan Central, Saltcoats Central, Stevenston Hayocks. • Marmot Principle 6: Strengthen the role of ill health prevention – Garnock Valley. Attainment & Achievement The Achievement of Curriculum for Excellence Levels (ACEL) data was presented to Cabinet on 3 June 2025 and showed that: • The overall achievement level of S3 learners has increased for third and fourth levels in both literacy (five percentage points) and numeracy (seven percentage points) since 2021 to 2022. • For fourth level literacy and numeracy, the achievement figures are the highest since 2019 – up by 12 percentage points and two percentage points, respectively. • For S3 pupils, the poverty-related attainment gap has reduced by 10 percentage points in third level Literacy and by nine percentage points for Third Level Numeracy. • At 60%, the percentage of S5 leavers achieving fifth level numeracy is the highest in the last five years. • 96% of school leavers are progressing to higher education, further education, training, voluntary work or employment. This shows work being achieved around raising attainment, specifically in literacy and numeracy and closing the attainment gap between our most and least disadvantaged children and young people, is having a positive impact. As part of the release there has also been a modest narrowing of the attainment gap related to care experienced learners. With support from the Corporate Parenting Team, five secondary establishments completed the Keeping the Promise Award (KTPA). This award empowers those working within an educational setting to learn what they can do, both individually and collectively to Keep the Promise by raising awareness and supporting practice. Education teams attended The Promise Champions Network on 18 September 2025 and were updated on the new Progressions data base which will track care experienced learners as they move on to college. Each secondary school now has an active Champions Board with 68 young people regularly taking part in activities. This session will see more involvement for our primary aged care experienced learners. Within the Service Improvement Plan, we have identified actions to strengthen partnerships with Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) colleagues to include those who work with our care experienced learners. Education and HSCP colleagues meet monthly to facilitate joint planning for care experienced learners in external education and care placements. Our joint delivery of the Performing Engineering Operations (PEO) Units Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Level 5 have commenced. They are delivered in Ardrossan Academy and Ayrshire College enabling our young people from a number of our secondary schools to engage in the programme. Cabinet endorsed the further development of the Ayrshire Growth Deal (AGD) tool within North Ayrshire educational 84
Page 85
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 6 of 48 establishments. The tool is a way of learning more about the AGD in terms of the careers and opportunities available to our young people within these sectors and skills required. The following sectors of employment are focused on as key growth areas: • Aerospace and space • Tourism • Communities and energy • The environment • The circular economy Designed for our young people, feedback from our schools in June 2025 suggests finalisation of the tool along with the inclusion of some further information and media contact would be beneficial. Our Education Service has already shared the tool with a wide range of colleagues and partners for feedback. Catchment Areas In June, Cabinet approved, where possible, the reservation of up to two places at each year stage throughout the primary schools of Fairlie, Mayfield and Montgomerie Park. Due to the number of new build homes being constructed in the catchment areas for these schools, it was prudent to get ahead of the demand for places and to ensure children moving into these areas would have a place within their catchment primary school. Additional benefits will include reducing potential transport and staffing costs of children being educated at a school out with their catchment area. United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) Our Early Years Centre in Largs was awarded a Silver Rights Respecting School Award by UNICEF UK in April 2025. The Largs UNCRC coordinator said: “As one of the UNCRC leads, it is a joy to see children not only receiving their rights but harnessing these for themselves which can be seen through children assessing risk in their own environment. It also supports children in advocating the rights of others by utilising our Makaton communication signs (a communication program that uses a combination of speech, hand signs, and picture symbols to help people with learning and communication difficulties) which support our children in becoming ambassadors towards their own learning.” This builds on the prior position of 16 primary schools and one secondary school being awarded the UNICEF UK Gold Rights 85
Page 86
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 7 of 48 Respecting School Award (RRSA) in recognition of having fully embedded children’s rights throughout their policies, practice and ethos. North Ayrshire Active Schools North Ayrshire Active Schools, part of our council’s Community Learning and Development Service, held a Young Ambassador’s Conference at the Portal in Irvine in September, welcoming 175 secondary school pupils. Arran High School, Ardrossan, St Matthew’s, Auchenharvie, Kilwinning, Irvine Royal, Largs, Garnock and Greenwood academies were all in attendance. The event provided an opportunity for our young people to discuss and shape sport opportunities within their educational establishments, and also develop communication, leadership and influencing skills. Just one of several programmes run within North Ayrshire Schools, the Active Schools programme provides our young people with an inclusive platform to promote and encourage participation in sport across our educational establishments and the wider community. Financial Inclusion – Money Smart Our welfare rights and debt advice service for North Ayrshire residents launched as ‘Money Smart’ on Thursday 1 May. North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership’s Money Smart service incorporates the former Money Matters and Welfare Reform Advice teams, and will provide free, confidential and impartial welfare rights advice for: • All North Ayrshire Council housing tenants • Non-council tenants, including homeowners, housing association tenants, those living in private lets, and anyone without a fixed address, who: o Is engaged with and referred by North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership, NHS Ayrshire and Arran or council services or third sector agencies such as foodbanks, Citrus or Women’s Aid. o Has dependent children or is pregnant. o Has a disability. o Is a carer. o Is from a minority ethnic background. Our new Financial Inclusion Strategy for 2025 to 2030 was approved by the Integrated Joint Board in September. The strategy is closely aligned to the Health 86
Page 87
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 8 of 48 and Social Care Partnership’s strategic ambitions of: • Enabling communities. • Developing and supporting our workforce. • Providing early and effective support. • Improving health and wellbeing. • Tackling inequalities. This strategy will allow individuals to access appropriate financial services or products to manage their money effectively, sustain their homes, build savings for unplanned expenditures, be financially resilient and be more confident in making informed life choices. Employability The Equal Programme has relocated from the Trinity Church, Irvine to Lochshore Hub in the Garnock Valley. This initiative is part of the Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire Programme and aims to provide person centred training and employment support for individuals with long-term health conditions, helping them take the next step toward sustainable work. The relocation offers more space and improved facilities to provide enhanced support for people with disabilities and long-term health conditions as well as providing a Specialist Employability Support hub in the Garnock Valley. It was opened by the Social Justice Secretary on 3 September 2025. Our third annual Employability Week ran from 26 to 30 May and featured a series of community events to help showcase services that are available through the council and various partners. Information about job vacancies, new careers, training and volunteering were made available. It included: • A Modern Apprentice recruitment session where young people were able to talk to council services recruiting for apprenticeships, discover more about the roles and get support to apply. • CEIS Ayrshire’s first birthday celebration at the Youth Hub in Stevenston Library. This offered an opportunity to find out about CEIS employment support programmes for those aged 16 to 24 years. • A family celebration day with games at the We Work For Families (WWFF) Parent Hub in the Frank Sweeney Centre for Enterprise in Ardrossan. Attendees explored the variety of support the WWFF Team offer to parents. • A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) jobs fair in Saltcoats Town Hall. This was an opportunity to meet local employers, discuss job vacancies and seek support from employment services. • A barbecue and open day at Eglinton Community Gardens, Eglinton Park, Kilwinning, hosted by the Employability Team. This gave an opportunity to learn more about the council’s supported employment service. The Modern Apprentice event resulted in more than 280 young people applying for positions while at the DWP Jobs Fair almost 40 people filled in applications or arranged interviews. A Business Breakfast was held by Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire programme at the Riverside Lodge on Tuesday 30 September. The event was free to attend and a chance to discuss local 87
Page 88
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 9 of 48 recruitment, training and retention provided by our council and partner agencies. The event was attended by over 30 local businesses, which led to follow up visits to employers who were looking for support to upskill existing employees and seeking to recruit new staff. Mental Health As part of Suicide Prevention Week in September, our Education Service and Health and Social Care Partnership teamed up with Shout, and launched a text-based Mental Health Service for North Ayrshire residents. The free and confidential service is available to residents of all ages and can be accessed by texting SUPPORTNA to 85258 where you will be connected to a trained Shout Volunteer. Overseen by a clinical supervisor, Shout volunteers are able to provide short term text-based assistance and also signpost residents to further support services where required. Housing Our council continues its ambitious plans to build over 1,600 new homes across North Ayrshire. Recent Council home developments include: • 29 new homes built on the site of the former Stanecastle School in Irvine (17 general needs homes, as well as eight homes suitable for wheelchair living and four amenity bungalows). • 19 new homes on the site of the former James McFarlane School on Dalry Road, Ardrossan. • 14 new homes created across four sites at Laburnum Avenue, Beith, and Newhouse Drive, Kilbirnie. Twenty-six new council homes were officially opened on Thursday 18 September at the former St Mary’s Primary School site in Largs. A mixture of two and three bedroom modern and energy-efficient affordable homes were constructed at the site. The £6m project was supported by a grant of £4m from the Scottish Government and completes the 88
Page 89
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 10 of 48 regeneration of former school sites in Largs. Our Arran Housing Taskforce conducted a survey seeking opinions on the current housing provision on the island as well as future aspirations. More than 600 responses were received including more than 450 submitted by island residents. The survey results will be analysed and a report produced in the near future. At Cabinet in September, the addition of three new actions within the Local Housing Strategy (LHS) 2023 to 2028 were approved. The first of the new actions will continue to steer and enhance the focus of the LHS towards meeting community needs whilst also balancing affordability and sustainability. The second action will cement our collaborative approach to working with the Scottish Government towards ending the national housing emergency. Our council is actively working towards negating pressures to prevent the declaration of a housing emergency in North Ayrshire in the future. And finally, the third action will embed the Housing (Scotland) Bill 2024 within all council policies and procedures. Our North Ayrshire Housing Allocations Policy 2025 to 2030 was approved at Cabinet in September. Developed in accordance with the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987 and aligning with the Scottish Government’s Scottish Housing Allocations Practice Guide 2019, the policy which will be implemented from November 2025 sets out how social housing across North Ayrshire will be allocated. Amongst other objectives, the policy aims to maximise the use of the North Ayrshire Housing Register (NAHR) when addressing local housing needs, prioritise applicants assessed as having the greatest need for accommodation and continue to ensure that housing is allocated by fair and transparent means. Regeneration Extensive funding proposals were approved by Cabinet as part of the annual Regeneration Delivery Plan. This included £0.761m under the Place Based Investment Programme, £1.561m under the Vacant and Derelict Land Fund and £0.962 under the Active Travel Infrastructure Fund Tier 1. The plan focuses on the delivery of physical regeneration across North Ayrshire through an ambitious project- based rolling programme. It informs our priorities for securing and delivering against external funding sources including Scottish and UK Government funds. Further details and specific projects can be found in the ‘A Sustainable Council’ section. Ardrossan Community Campus Construction of the ‘state-of-the-art’ new Ardrossan Community Campus began in July. The campus will feature shared community facilities – including a library, learning hub, and indoor sports facilities featuring a swimming pool, sports hall, gymnasium, dance studio and fitness studio. It will also have outdoor sports facilities including two sports pitches and a multi-use games area, an outdoor learning landscape, recreational and growing spaces, along with associated parking and infrastructure. Islands Island residents and stakeholders were actively involved in the new National Islands Plan for Scotland, 89
Page 90
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 11 of 48 participating in two virtual engagement sessions, facilitated by the Scottish Islands Federation. These sessions provided an opportunity to review the outcomes of the public consultation previously undertaken to inform the review of the first National Islands Plan and to understand how these findings are shaping the new Plan. Participants were also able to learn about the proposed priorities and themes for the updated Plan and contribute their views to help shape its content. Progress updates will be shared at the North Coast and Cumbraes and Arran Locality Partnership meetings. Visitor Management Plan Our North Ayrshire Visitor Management Plan for 2025 was approved by Cabinet in May. The annual plan outlines our approach to overseeing the impact that tourism has across North Ayrshire. It addresses the challenges and opportunities that tourism brings, setting out priorities for the year ahead as well as taking into account issues identified in the previous plan. Priorities for 2025 include: • Ensuring our Strategic Tourism Infrastructure Development Plans underpin and support applications for tourism-related projects • Quarterly meetings of the Tourism Forum to support visitor economy activity, and • Enhancing the promotion of events taking place across North Ayrshire in 2025. Next Steps We will achieve the following by 31st March 2026 (unless other timescales are detailed below). • We will establish formal engagement with Smart Data Foundry and complete an initial feasibility assessment for integrating internal datasets with the platform. This will include identifying priority datasets, integration pathways and producing a succinct summary of the potential benefits for evidence-informed decision-making. • By June 2026, we will have co- designed and launched a short, accredited entrepreneurial course in partnership with Ayrshire College and our Third Sector Interface (TSI), enrolling at least 10 parents in the first cohort. We will utilise funding from our Child Poverty Early Intervention Fund to enable graduates access to small business start-up grants. • By December 2026, we will co-design and implement a place-based initiative with third sector partners in at least two communities, including recruitment of connector roles to help families access services and build resilience and self-efficacy in navigating available financial and wellbeing supports. As part of the co- design process, we will develop an impact assessment framework and identify opportunities for wider application and scaling up to best serve our communities. • We will host a CHES workshop for a range of partners and stakeholders to understand key priorities and opportunities to improve health outcomes in the area, while also working with national partners to support the 90
Page 91
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 12 of 48 second publication by the Institute of Health Equity (IHE). • We will further develop the Equal Programme Lochshore Park Hub. • We will finalise plans to collaborate with the community and voluntary sector to provide a whole system and person-centred approach to early intervention and child poverty. • We will co-create with senior leaders a Raising Attainment and Achievement strategy, which will include: o Effective use of tracking and monitoring as well as attainment discussions. o Improved data literacy skills across all staff groups. • We will continue capacity building in the leadership skills of middle and senior educational establishment staff. • We will further increase direct links within the curriculum to the Ayrshire Growth Deal and design further opportunities for skills development in a range of contexts. • We will support the delivery of the Promise Education Award with a pilot group of schools. • We will support care experienced learners through joint planning, improved guidance and the development of a new Service Operating Procedure which will detail how to deliver the Education Service consistently and efficiently. • Following analysis of the results of the North Ayrshire Community Transport Survey, we will work with partners and communities to design and implement a pilot Community Transport project by the end of 2026 to 2027. • We will develop a new Housing Acquisition Strategy, consolidating existing acquisition programmes and funding streams, and investigating new opportunities, to ensure any homes purchased from the second- hand market, and off-the-shelf from developers, deliver maximum impact in addressing current and projected social housing needs and demands across North Ayrshire. (Expected target date 30 of June 2026) • We will review the Council’s Scheme of Assistance, including consideration of the evidence base for any further interventions, such as the potential for a means-tested support fund for common repairs in council factored housing blocks. 91
Page 92
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-year 2025 – 2026 Page 13 of 48 Case Study – Drama for Wellbeing In August, our Youth Work Team worked with the Drama for Wellbeing recruits on a five-day summer programme themed around the climate emergency. It focussed on wellbeing and resilience, culminating in a showcase performance at the Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine. During one of the hottest weeks of the summer, a total of 38 children and young people aged between five and 13 years old remained committed, energised and upbeat. Some were stepping out onto the stage for the very first time, yet showed great confidence as they educated and inspired their audience to take the urgent environmental actions needed now to build a better, greener and more optimistic future. At the drama workshops, supported by our sessional youth workers and Youth Work Modern Apprentices, everyone had the unique opportunity to learn alongside our dedicated mental health and wellbeing youth worker and a talented drama professional to discover their own talents and express their bravery. The performance focused on key environmental themes of deforestation, plastic pollution, the marine crisis and the concerns of the children and young people themselves, who provided everyday solutions as to how we can take responsibility and work together now to tackle climate change for future generations. Other highlights included marine-themed arts and crafts using recycled materials – these eco creations then formed the backdrop for this year’s North Ayrshire Youth Work Marymass float. 92
Page 93
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 14 of 48 Communities and Local Democracy We will have active, inclusive and resilient communities. Key Activities Participatory Budgeting Our 2025 to 2026 Participatory Budgeting Programme opened in August 2025, inviting applications for Locality, Community Wealth Building and Youth Participatory Budgeting grants. By the closing date on 22 September, we received 263 applications from groups across North Ayrshire. Grants ranging from £1,000 to £2,000 will be awarded to local community and voluntary organisations. A total fund of £204,159 will be shared among successful applicants. Members of the community will take the lead in deciding where the funding is allocated, casting their votes for the projects that matter most to them and shaping positive change in their communities. Locality Planning At Cabinet in May, the implementation of proposals stemming from the locality planning review across our six localities were approved. We undertook self- assessment work and explored best practice for the future of locality planning, particularly the involvement of communities in local democracy across North Ayrshire. Following a large consultation involving surveys with all locality representatives, Elected Members, community planning partners and locality partnerships, the following recommendations were determined and themed around key areas: Support for the Partnership • Support for the partnership will be developed using the concept of the “Team Around the Partnership”. • We will review the membership of Locality Networks which meet regularly to deliver on actions related to the priorities and look at how we can drive participation and representation through existing channels. • A key action will be to continue to strengthen and develop the role of Locality Networks with the support of the council and HSCP Strategic Leads. • A place-based approach to locality planning is key, and a clear understanding amongst stakeholders of the assets within our localities (people, buildings, skills, capacity, funding etc) will be key to improving outcomes. • The role of Local Place Plans and engagement as part of the new Local Development Plan and through our Tenant and Resident Associations will be an important aspect of locality discussions in the coming months. Format and content of partnerships meetings • A formal decision-making section at the start of each meeting, followed by interactive discussions around an agreed locality priority. • The co-production of agenda items and the role of the community representative who is 93
Page 94
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 15 of 48 Vice Chair will be emphasised. • Alternative formats for reporting will reduce the time spent on “show and tell” style feedback at the meetings which survey respondents indicated could be more effectively communicated. • We will further develop the Community Voice agenda item which is already implemented in Garnock Valley across all partnerships. Focus on the locality plan and addressing inequalities • We will refocus the locality plan to emphasise its centrality to all work related to Locality Partnerships. • Actions to address priorities will be developed further with partners and community representatives. • Plans will clearly articulate the golden thread which runs upwards and downwards from locality plans to the LOIP and the Council Plan. • We will also clearly articulate links to Community Wealth Building in communities. • In parallel to the implementation of Locality Planning 2.0, officers will work with partners across the council, Third Sector Interface (TSI) and KA Leisure to understand how we can better attract, support, recognise and retain volunteers locally and improve the overall volunteer experience. Community Investment Fund (CIF) processes • We will update the CIF guidance which is provided to applicants and strengthen the checklist which Locality Officers’ complete and supply to assist with decision making. This will help to ensure that applications which reach our Partnerships are as robust and aligned to local priorities as possible. • As CIF funding is expended and the approach reaches its natural conclusion across the various localities, we will work with communities and partners to ensure a smooth transition to new ways of co- production. Community Investment Fund The following Community Investment Fund (CIF) projects were approved following applications from Locality Partnerships: • Radio City Association (£65,000), Garnock Valley Partnership: Supporting the employment of a Community Development Manager and a Project Manager, initiating stage one of their Knox Institute Project, advancing wind and hydro energy projects. • Clyde Coast and Cumbraes Men’s Shed (£47,500), The North Coast and Cumbraes Partnership: To carry out various improvements and alterations to the centre providing a more user- friendly venue. • Three Towns Growers (£49,240), The Three Towns Partnership: Supporting the building of a Community and Education Hub which will host events including farmers’ markets and those promoting good mental health and wellbeing. The approval of a Community Investment Fund (CIF) application by Largs Thistle Football Club was granted in September. Funding of £63,000 was sought to purchase a new minibus which 94
Page 95
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 16 of 48 would be used by all educational establishments at the Largs Community Campus and Largs Thistle Youth teams. Costly private hire coupled with teachers having to use their own cars as well as children missing educational opportunities due to a lack of transport has led to the application and its subsequent approval. The Ayrshire Rural and Islands Ambition Fund empowers local communities to address their unique challenges. Following a successful application, IT equipment awarded during 2024 to 2025 included: 156 laptops; 132 iPads; 79 printers; and 79 keyboards Community Councils In line with legislation, at a Special Meeting of North Ayrshire Council in May, Council agreed to proceed with a formal review of the Scheme of Establishment which details the creation and governance of community councils. An initial consultation was held between June and August with formal consultation responses received from three community councils and six individuals. These were shared at a Special Meeting of Council in September and included suggestions to review the boundaries of Irvine and Dreghorn community councils, requests for further engagement and opinions on whether Community Council elections should be paused or proceed during the review. To allow for a further period of direct engagement prior the next formal period of consultation, it was agreed by Council that the formal engagement process should be paused to enable Community Council elections in the autumn. These elections are being supported by our council’s Election Team. Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) Two hundred and eighty pupils were recognised for their hard work and dedication across the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards at this year's Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards held at St Matthew’s Academy. We currently 95
Page 96
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 17 of 48 have nine secondary schools and six youth and community groups involved with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Joint Youth Cabinet April saw our 31st Joint Youth Cabinet meeting where almost 100 young people met with our key decision makers at Saltcoats Town Hall. This was the latest in a series of joint meetings involving our own Cabinet, senior education managers alongside members of the Scottish Youth Parliament and Youth Council Executive. The discussions centred around key themes that had been decided upon by young people prior to the event including: • Equalities in Health, where pupils identified their top three health priorities. • Community Wealth Building, where attendees shared their views on how to try to create a sustainable and inclusive local economy. • The United Nations Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCRC) and the legislation protecting and upholding young people’s rights. • Positive Relationships, and how to maintain them with friends, schools and beyond. • Cyber Resilience, including the pathways to a digital career, how to tackle online challenges and become more cyber-aware. Community Safety Approval was granted at Cabinet in May for the establishment of a Firework Control Zone (FCZ) Stakeholder Group to administer the Firework Control Zone Applications Policy. The policy was established to handle FCZ applications in North Ayrshire with the aim of negating the dangers fireworks can pose to communities whilst still allowing controlled celebrations to take place. The policy provides communities with a clear process to establish FCZs in North Ayrshire. The FCZ Stakeholder Group will comprise of representatives from Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Police Scotland and various council officers. Social Media Training In September, we launched our Social Media Training for local Community Groups through the Irvine Locality Partnership. With five members in attendance, the session focused on looking at various social media platforms to build on digital skills and learn how to utilise them effectively to promote their community group. Following the 96
Page 97
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 18 of 48 success, a further session is planned to take place in Irvine and consideration is being given to delivering these wider across all locality areas. Islands Whilst working with our island communities, our Islands lead attended Locality Partnership meetings to ensure alignment with the Local Island Plans and the Locality Planning Partnership 2.0 review. Our island stakeholders were encouraged to participate in a range of consultation events in the development of the new National Islands Plan for Scotland to ensure the needs and voices of our island communities were heard. North Ayrshire was also represented at the inaugural Islands Economy Showcase at the Scottish Parliament in April. This event brought together island businesses, community leaders and policymakers. It aimed to highlight the economic potential of Scotland's islands and address their unique challenges. Next Steps We will achieve the following by 31st March 2026 (unless other timescales are detailed below). • We will review the membership of Locality Networks. • We will continue to strengthen and develop the role of Locality Networks. • We will develop a clear understanding amongst stakeholders of the assets within our localities (people, buildings, skills, capacity, funding etc). • We will progress the findings from the Locality Planning Review 2.0. • We will refocus the locality plan to emphasise its centrality to all work related to Locality Partnerships. • Actions to address priorities will be developed further with partners and community representatives. • We will review community grants and funding processes, aiming to implement changes by the end of 2026. • We will clearly articulate links to Community Wealth Building in communities. • We will continue work with partners across the council, TSI and KA Leisure to understand how we can better attract, support, recognise and retain volunteers locally and improve the overall volunteer experience. • We will update the CIF guidance which is provided to applicants and strengthen the checklist which assists Locality Officers with decision making. • As CIF funding is expended and the approach reaches its natural conclusion across the various localities, we will work with communities and partners to ensure a smooth transition to new ways of co- production. • We will continue to monitor pupil numbers at Fairlie, Mayfield and Montgomerie Park primary schools to ensure the reservation of two places at each year stage remains effective. 97
Page 98
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-year 2025 – 2026 Page 19 of 48 Case Study – Adult Learning - ‘The Discovery Award’ The Discovery Award is a nationally recognised programme for people aged over 50 years designed to promote a healthy and active lifestyle. It works by encouraging participants to take on personal challenges through a series of activities with different levels to achieve (bronze, silver and gold status). The programme encourages lifelong learning and active participation, providing opportunities for adults often excluded from community learning opportunities to develop new skills, strengthen local connections through shared experiences and reduce social isolation. The group, often described as the ‘Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for over 50s’ comprised of 12 members and was launched to support individuals in the community wishing to reconnect, learn, and engage with others. Working towards bronze level through weekly group sessions and monthly trips to places of interest that have been researched and planned by the group. Participants are encouraged to take ownership of their personal learning journey by documenting their journey, providing a sense of progress and achievement while also benefitting from the support of the group. The group format allows participants to work at their own pace, while peer support fosters a sense of community and has helped several members to form friendships beyond the group whilst increasing confidence in participating in new activities. The group has created a supportive and inclusive environment where every individual feels valued, providing opportunities for individuals who may have felt isolated to reconnect with community life. Skills development and personal growth are central to the program and support learners to achieve accredited awards. One member shared their experience, following the sudden loss of both parents they found themself feeling isolated, withdrawing from friends and family, and struggling to cope day to day and expressed hope that becoming part of the group might help them “find a bit of myself again.” The participant engaged openly and with determination from the beginning and quickly noticed a shift in mindset where every thought was no longer a negative one. Having the group to look forward to each week provided focus, purpose, and something positive to build on, describing the group as a safe space where they felt supported, included, and the shared learning journey helped them feel less alone whilst also improving their mental health with a greater sense of hope and purpose. This participant’s story highlights how community-based adult learning is not only about skills development, but also about healing, resilience, and connection. By combining the Discovery Award with wraparound support, the group has become a catalyst for meaningful change in their life. 98
Page 99
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 20 of 48 Climate Change To achieve net-zero by 2030. Key Activities Biodiversity In line with our 2030 Woodland: A Tree Planting Strategy, 50,255 trees have been planted through various projects and by community partners. The total number of trees planted is on schedule to achieve the overall target of 108,000 trees planted by 2030. Further tree planting opportunities are being progressed in the following areas: • 7,000 trees in the Annick Valley Park, which is scheduled during the 2025 to 2026 tree planting season. • Quotes are currently being obtained for the planting of approximately 4,000 trees at Nethermains Solar Farm. • A plan to plant approximately 23,000 trees at Montgomerie Park, Irvine is currently being assessed. • The Almswall Park area of Kilwinning is being assessed for suitability for planting between 2,000 and 3,000 trees. Our Streetscene Strategy Team, in partnership with Nature Scotland and our Biodiversity Officer, continue to work to implement areas of naturalised open space to create habitats for wildlife and encourage bees and insects through diverse seeding in our wild meadows. This includes allowing tree debris to be left on site (where safe to do so), to help promote natural habits. Through funding from regeneration by way of NatureScot, our Streetscene service has purchased specialist machinery with the specific purpose of managing areas for biodiversity and nature regeneration. Plans for new wildflower meadows collectively covering over two hectares are being developed for the Irvine and Garnock areas. We officially opened our Ardrossan Coastal Path in August 2025. The path is part of a wider network of regeneration plans and active travel improvement to make travelling around Ardrossan and the surrounding areas easier. The path route alongside the new community campus being constructed. Throughout August, our Energy and Sustainability Team attended community events across all six localities offering free packs of plants to residents to encourage bees, butterflies and other pollinators within North Ayrshire. One thousand pollinator packs were given away equating to 7,000 plants and 2,000 seed packets – all part of our council’s ongoing work through the North Ayrshire Nature Network (NANN) aimed at responding to the nature emergency and climate change locally. Sustainability We have developed a comprehensive Recovery and Sustainability support offer for our business base. This will continue to be our main method of business engagement and will continue as part of Recovery and Sustainability funding. Projects that businesses have started to deliver on are showing tangible results with some notable impacts: • 1,568 Tc2e carbon reduction. • £547k energy cost savings. • 88 new jobs projected (27 already realised). • 35 staff members trained. • £190k external funding realised. Sustainable Travel Following Cabinet approval of the 99
Page 100
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 21 of 48 Regeneration Delivery Plan proposals, the following projects will be progressed as resources permit: Active Travel (AT) Route Construction and Improvements • Fairlie Bowling Club Route Re- alignment. • Brodick to Glen Rosa AT Route. • AT Route improvements in Beith and Kilbirnie. • AT Route improvements in Largs. • Local Authority Direct Award works. • Blacklands Recreation Ground Active Travel Improvements. • Bannoch Road from Irvine Road to Corsehill, Kilwinning AT Improvements. • Auchenharvie Road to Canal Street (Plantation) Pedestrian Improvements. Active Travel Facilities • EBike infrastructure on Arran and Cumbrae. • Pedestrian Accessibility Audit on Arran. Future Years Feasibility Studies and Design Development including preparing projects for Tier 2 funding applications: • Cumbrae Active Travel Route. • Sharphill to National Cycle Network (NCN) Saltcoats. • Drybridge to i3 AT Route. • Girdle Toll to Irvine AT Route. Transportation Projects: • Real Time Passenger Information Signs (RTPI). Levelling-Up Fund (LUF) Active Travel Improvements: • Long Drive, Irvine. • Riverside Way, Irvine. • Strategic Investment Route (River Irvine Path), Irvine. • Heatherhouse Road, Irvine. Regarding promotional work, officers are undertaking the following activities: • Improving knowledge about sustainable transport choices by continuing to promote the knowledge of sustainable transport choices in North Ayrshire through the Travel Smart Programme and Trinity Active Travel Hub; working with workplaces, organisations and volunteers to provide active travel activities across the area. • Through the Net Zero Accelerator Programme, helping North Ayrshire businesses work alongside each other to measure, manage and reduce emissions. • Helping people develop more positive attitudes towards sustainable transport choices by continuing with workplace engagement including creation of travel plans and bike maintenance classes. • Updating and promoting the council’s Trinity social media pages where people can gather information on Active Travel choices. • Carrying out a Beat the Streets behaviour change programme in Irvine. Waste and Recycling Our new booking system for Waste Recycling Centres is now in place. The new system aims to make visits smoother and quicker, allowing customers to book slots at recycling sites at a time convenient to them. Furthermore, the change should enable staff to assist customers to dispose of their household waste safely and correctly, minimising contamination and improving recycling. Our council continues to perform well with a recycling rate of 53%, making the council the 100
Page 101
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 22 of 48 9th highest performing in Scotland, based on the 2024 calendar year data. The average recycling rate in Scotland for 2024 was 44.3% and North Ayrshire Council is therefore 8.7 percentage points above the national average. Climate Change Education At the start of the academic year, schools are provided with a range of curricular opportunities to support and enhance pupil entitlement to Learning for Sustainability. This includes access to on request and bespoke professional learning, signposting to professional opportunities with national partners such as West of Scotland Development Education Centre and Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) and promotion of SCQF accredited short courses such as Biodiversity Action and Climate Emergency Training available through KSB. Work between our Education and Sustainability services has resulted in the creation of a series of lessons for first and second level learners focusing on climate impacts. Actions and adaptations in North Ayrshire were created for Climate Action week as well as a hands-on Climate Chemistry Workshop attended by over 190 pupil participants. These resources will be reviewed to keep them current and increase uptake in 2026. A similar set of lessons will be created for Biodiversity week in May. Volunteering Community groups and young people across North Ayrshire are actively embracing low-carbon initiatives and climate-based volunteering, leading practical projects that reduce environmental impact and raise local awareness. Some examples are captured below: • In Kilwinning the ‘Choose Kilwinning’ group has successfully secured UK Shared Prosperity Funding to convert the town’s Christmas lights to solar power. In a further move towards 101
Page 102
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 23 of 48 sustainability, they are replacing annual real trees with large, reusable trees crafted by the Kilwinning Community Shed. • In Irvine, the Fullarton community group has registered with Business Energy Scotland, making them eligible for a potential cashback grant of 75% (up to £20,000) for energy efficiency measures and the installation of renewable heat technologies like heat pumps and solar thermal. • Further tailored camps, including ‘Outdoors for Wellbeing’ for 31 primary children and ‘Gardening for Wellbeing’ for 15 primary and secondary pupils, have successfully connected young people with nature and environmental volunteering. We offer environment volunteering and education across North Ayrshire. In the Garnock Valley, groups like the Friends of Lochshore Park and Youth Synergy, who are linking with The Conservation Volunteers, are empowering residents to take ownership of their local green spaces. Kilbirnie and Glengarnock Community Council is sourcing local volunteers to maintain the town’s planters. In Irvine, a dynamic partnership between Greenwood Academy, University of the West of Scotland and other partners is underway to renovate two skiff boats. This project provides young people with practical skills while educating them on marine pollution and climate change through activities like testing local water quality. Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Points Currently, there are 56 EV Charging Points owned by our council, and 57 privately- owned EV charging points across North Ayrshire. We also continue to work with our partners at South and East Ayrshire Councils to procure a concession contract for the delivery of 307 new EV charging points across the whole of Ayrshire. It is anticipated that the contract will commence in March 2026. Next Steps We will achieve the following by 31st March 2026 (unless other timescales are detailed below). • We aim to plant an additional 13,000 trees during the financial year 2025 to 2026. • We will progress a programme of Active Travel and sustainable transport projects. • Building on the success of Climate Action Week and the Climate Chemistry Workshop, we will create new climate change education resources for Biodiversity Week in May 2026. • We will aim to increase pupil engagement, improving on 2025, and in conjunction with national partners, develop new learning sessions. • We will continue to support and empower community groups and our young people through community-led low-carbon initiatives across North Ayrshire. • Our Business Development Team will offer additional workshops alongside the Net Zero Accelerator Programme to help businesses cut carbon and adopt circular economy practices. 102
Page 103
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-year 2025 – 2026 Page 24 of 48 Case Study – Robin Dam Located on the River Garnock to the north of Kilbirnie, Robin Dam forms a flood storage reservoir constructed as part of our Upper Garnock Valley Flood Protection Scheme. The reservoir stores water during periods of heavy rainfall resulting in decreased peak river flows further downstream. The Robin Dam, together with the construction or improvement of other flood defences has increased flood protection in Kilbirnie, Glengarnock and Dalry. Flooding in the area has been recorded since the 19th century and onwards. One particular flood event in 2008 resulted in considerable damage to property. The highest recorded water level in the River Garnock was at Kilbirnie town centre on 4th August 2020. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency’s (SEPA) first flood risk management plan for Ayrshire (2015) indicated that approximately 810 residential properties and 100 non- residential properties were at risk of flooding from both rivers and surface water sources. The development and implementation of the Upper Garnock Flood Protection Scheme was included as a measure in the 2015 Plan and the accompanying Local Flood Risk Management Plan (2016), as a flood scheme would help to reduce flood risk and flood impacts to people and property from the River Garnock, the Powgree Burn and the Rye Water. However, the scheme would not remove the risks and impacts completely. Construction commenced in March 2020 and completed in 2023. The initial value of the awarded contract was £12.6 million. 80% of the project costs qualified for Scottish Government grant funding with the remaining 20% to be funded by North Ayrshire Council. Following an online public poll, the Dam was named ‘The Robin’ due to connections with a former pool in the River Garnock where local people visited to swim, fish and walk. The Flood Protection Scheme has reduced the risk of flooding from the River Garnock in Kilbirnie and Glengarnock, has provided more robust protection from flooding from the Powgree Burn to properties on Burnside Street, Glengarnock and has reduced the risk of flooding from the River Garnock and Rye Water in the Mill Park housing estate in Dalry. The Upper Garnock Valley Scheme and the Robin Dam reservoir are an example of how the Council is preparing and adapting to climate change. The risks of flooding to people, property and infrastructure were identified in the first and second Flood Risk Management Plans and adaptation actions were developed and implemented to reduce the impacts of flooding and included the construction of a flood storage reservoir, flood embankments and flood walls. These actions ensure that communities are prepared for and have an increased resilience to flooding and climate change. Information story boards including before and after images will be placed on the public walking path around Robin Dam explaining why the Dam was built and how this benefits and protects the local area. It is hoped this will encourage visitors. The story of the Flood Protection Scheme will be included in Council’s Sustainability Team primary school lessons as an example of adapting to climate change and also within internal training materials. 103
Page 104
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 25 of 48 A Sustainable Council A Community Wealth Building Council that is efficient and accessible, maximising investment and focusing resources towards our priorities. Key Activities Regeneration Delivery Plan Place Based Investment Programme The 2025 to 2026 allocation has been confirmed as £0.761m. This includes: • £0.250m - Dockhead Street, Saltcoats - Public realm improvements including full replacement of the blocked paving, replacement drainage full length, upgraded lighting installation and new street furniture. This includes providing new lighting provision to enable easier installation of Christmas lights. • £0.250m - Community Project Fund Grant scheme to support community led place-based project development and implementation across North Ayrshire. This provides 50% match funding to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation, recognising over subscription to previous schemes. • £0.170m - Repurposing Property Grant Fund. To continue the implementation of the Repurposing Property Grant Fund which supports landowners and community groups to bring vacant land and properties into positive use by funding feasibility studies, investigation work, detailed designs, statutory approvals and delivery. • £0.050m - Public Space Camera – A re- deployable camera to support public safety and project delivery. • £0.041m - Beith Kirk - Supporting sustainable repairs to the historic grade C listed building to preserve the asset and ensure it is available for future generations. Vacant and Derelict Land Fund The Scottish Government has advised that North Ayrshire Council’s Vacant and Derelict Land (VDL) Fund allocation for 2025 to 2026 is £1,562,056. This includes: • £0.432m - Levelling Up for Ayrshire: Commercial and Low Carbon Infrastructure. Funding to contribute to the North Ayrshire Commercial and Low Carbon Infrastructure Levelling- Up Fund (LUF) project. This project aims to address market failure in the delivery of new energy efficient commercial property alongside the provision of associated low carbon and active travel infrastructure at Kyle Road, Annickbank and i3 sites. • £0.650m - Lochshore Garden, Activity Hub and Associated Works. To support works to conclude Phase 1 of the Lochshore Masterplan, including detailed design and delivery of access, green space, infrastructure, facilities and environmental improvements. • £0.250m - Repurposing Property Grant Fund. To continue the implementation of the Repurposing Property Grant Fund as detailed above. • £0.150m - Ardrossan North Shore Residential Masterplan. A masterplan to re-establish the residential development capacity, market interest and associated value of land adjacent to the Ardrossan Campus. • £0.079m - Maintenance 104
Page 105
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 26 of 48 Works to VDL Sites. Maintenance works associated with sites that are unlikely to be developed in the short and medium term. Scottish Government approval of the delivery plans is pending to enable project delivery. Shared Prosperity Fund The £2.67m programme will run in line with the previously approved investment plan, albeit under the new priorities of the UK Government. A round of competitive community grant funding has concluded with 25 projects supported. Grant awards are currently being processed. Additional funding through the Place Based Investment Programme boosted the funding pot to mitigate the reduction in funding this year. Council-led projects are also progressing, with support for the public space cameras, Lochshore Hub, Dockhead Street public realm improvements, Seagate Castle and Kilwinning public realm improvements. Local Business and People and Skills Themes continue to be delivered in line with forecasts. Irvine Plan for Neighbourhoods We are working with the Irvine Neighbourhood Board to develop the required Regeneration Plan for submission to the UK Government in Autumn 2025. Smart Infrastructure Pilot Project (SIPP) A SIPP Stakeholder workshop is in development with Scottish Maritime Museum to showcase the SMART Places potential of poles, Wi-Fi and Internet of Things (IoT). Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Plan The Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Plan (DICP) stakeholder engagement workshops are complete. Outcomes from the workshops will be shared with stakeholders for scoring in late 2025 and a roadmap and recommendations developed thereafter. This work continues to guide future digital infrastructure investment decisions. A short-term working group has been established to co-ordinate delivery, align requirements and support future-ready digital infrastructure. The framework will underpin a smart place approach, enabling consistent, scalable solutions for future technologies and connectivity needs. 5G Innovation Region (5GIR) – Driving Regional Impact The Ayrshire 5GIR continues to make strong progress in driving regional innovation and digital adoption. The programme was directly invited by the UK Government’s Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) to submit a second extension bid. The Ayrshire Digital Economy Ecosystem group (ADEE) completed their tours of the three innovation hubs. Our Digital Renewal Manager attended and spoke at the Connected Britain event, raising Ayrshire’s profile on a national stage and winning the Industrial Innovation award. With 8,000 attendees over two days, this is a significant achievement for the A5GIR. 105
Page 106
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 27 of 48 Ayrshire Growth Deal (AGD) In April several representatives of local businesses took part in a unique three-day training course which aimed to help upskill engineers in the region to fill the current skills gap. The course was launched at the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) Digital Process Manufacturing Centre, located at Booth Welsh in the i3 area of Irvine, and was funded by the Ayrshire Skills Investment Fund (ASIF). ASIF is a £3.5m Ayrshire Growth Deal project. As part of the Great Harbourside Programme to regenerate our harbour as a fantastic place to live, work and visit, we consulted with our residents in September on the Maritime Mile, (phase two of the project). The ambition of the Maritime Mile is to improve the design and presentation of Harbour Street and Montgomery Street, upgrading connections between Irvine railway station and the Beach Park. A Maritime Heritage Hub, Marine Arts Hub, and Coastal Hub will also be created providing new spaces for communities and visitors to enjoy the Harbourside. Accessibility A new accessibility tool was introduced on our website to provide users with options for accessing and customising information. The tool includes features such as font size adjustment, a dyslexia-friendly font, high contrast mode, and translation into multiple languages. During September, workshops were held in libraries throughout North Ayrshire to inform residents about these features. The Accessibility tool support video explains how to access council services more easily. Budget Consultation 2026 to 2027 We have commenced preparations for our budget engagement for 2026 to 2027. The medium-term financial outlook, which details the proposed savings, will be presented to Council on 5 November 2025. Pending approval, this will initiate our budget engagement from 6 November to mid-December. 106
Page 107
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 28 of 48 Our Transformation Programme Our current Transformation Programme was approved in 2023 and developed alongside our Council Plan 2023-2028 so fully aligns with our priorities. We drive change and transformation, using technology and innovation to deliver efficient services for the benefit our residents and address the financial challenges faced by our council. The Transformation programme helps support our embedded culture of continuous improvement. Audit Scotland completed a Best Value Thematic Audit on how councils are redesigning and delivering more efficient services to achieve planned outcomes, the findings of the audit were presented to our Audit and Scrutiny Committee in May 2025. Our Transformation programme is progressing at scale and pace. This section provides an update on our main Transformation themes and areas of service review. Digital Workstream Our Digital Working Group continues to make progress on key digital projects agreed as part of the national transformation project teams for Housing, Waste and Fleet Management. This includes strategic activity across our council and nationally through the Scottish Government, Improvement Service (IS), SOLACE and Digital Office. To date the following progress has been made: • Parents Portal: A national online portal has been created to enable parents to communicate digitally on a range of services with schools. Since its launch in the Largs cluster, 78% of parents and carers completed their annual data check online, removing the need for paper forms. Further rollout with secondary schools is expected to begin in November 2025, with primary schools to follow. • Artificial Intelligence (AI): The introduction of our AI Policy provides staff with guidance on appropriate use of a version of CoPilot AI being used across the council. We are preparing to trial the licenced version of CoPilot for additional functionality. Testing of Magic Notes is underway within the HSCP. • National Digital Strategy refresh: A refresh of the National Digital Strategy has been approved by the Scottish Government, COSLA and SOLACE and will be launched at the FutureScot event in Edinburgh in November 2025. • Purchase to Pay Review: A comprehensive review of the purchase to pay process including ordering, receipting and invoicing is currently underway. The discovery phase of the project has been completed, with resources temporarily redirected to support the upgrade of the Financial Management System. The upgrade remains on schedule for implementation by mid November 2025 and the purchase to pay review service review is due to commence in January 2026. • Digital economy: To shape North Ayrshire’s digital future, collaborative working across our services has continued. Through the Digital Infrastructure and Connectivity Plan, work to identify priorities for potential future investment are in progress and the new Digital 107
Page 108
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 29 of 48 Connectivity Procurement Framework is being developed to support smarter, scalable solutions that meet evolving connectivity needs. We’re also exploring innovative co- funding models to maximise impact and ensure long-term value for our communities. • East Ayrshire Digital Access Network (EA DAN): The East Ayrshire Digital Access Network is made up of representatives from local and national organisations working together to close the digital and data divide. Our Library Service will participate in the network to explore opportunities to support digital exclusion priorities. • Blue Badge Applications: We will promote the review of the Blue Badge application process with a view to producing a more streamlined ‘Once for Scotland’ digital system. Irvine Locality Property Review The Irvine Locality Property Review continues to be progressed as part of the Land and Property workstream. The main purpose of the review is to align our operational property estate to complement modern ways of working, leading to a carefully managed rationalisation of our property estate and to support Community Wealth Building through greater community use of council owned property. This programme aligns closely to our strategic priorities. The focus of the first phase of the property review has been Irvine which has our most significant concentration of property assets, taking a whole locality approach. Phase 1 works completed include: • Trinity Church lease signed by KA Leisure in June 2025. • Relocation of our Employability Team to Lochshore Hub. • Work commenced on the new Training Suite at Cunninghame House with expected completion in December 2025. Customer Service Centre works will follow immediately after the training suite is handed over. • Work commenced on construction changes at Quarry Road with expected completion in February 2026. Phase 2 of the works is also now underway with a review of the remaining localities and land being undertaken: • Sessions have been held with service areas within the remaining localities to identify potential property proposals. • Service areas have been consulted regarding land requirements and mapping of land areas has commenced. 108
Page 109
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 30 of 48 Nethermains and Shewalton Solar PV Farm Energisation of the new 7.48MW Nethermains Solar Farm is now complete and the site will see an additional 4,000 trees planted supporting our council’s Tree Planting and Nature Network strategies. Construction works are also complete on the Shewalton Solar PV Farm with energisation expected to follow in December 2025. The new solar farms will make a major contribution to renewable energy generation and carbon reduction, as well as bringing sterile land back into productive use. The programme of works for the next six months includes: • Energisation of Shewalton Solar PV Farm. • Upgrading of track roads around Shewalton site. • Completion of CCTV security at Shewalton site. • Operational practices for both solar farms. • Feasibility study for future off taker (parties purchasing the electricity) provision for Nethermains. Commercial Property The Commercial Property workstream’s vision is of a more efficient property portfolio across three themes. Progress across each workstream includes: 1. Maximise occupancy from the current estate portfolio With our Property Management and Investment (PMI) Team now leading on commercial estate, a performance review was undertaken with a range of improvement actions being developed to maximise income and support Community Wealth Building. Recommended actions emerging from the review include: • Review the repossession process of abandoned units. • Early engagement in relation to arrears. • Realign rental levels with market conditions. • Amending fee charges. • Undertake physical improvements to units and estates. • Explore flexible lease durations. • Repurposing or disposal of units that are not viable as commercial properties. 2. Maximise opportunities from Economic Development, Growth & Regeneration and Ayrshire Growth Deal investment (existing projects) The following activities have been progressed during this period to maximise the opportunities from investment: • Annickbank Pavilion Phase 3 – Following completion of the project in March 2024, a tenant took occupation of the building on 1 September 2025. • Montgomerie Park Sites E to G – Following a successful marketing strategy, a preferred bidder has been identified for all three sites. 109
Page 110
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 31 of 48 Legal Services have been instructed to conclude missives, following Cabinet approval in June 2025. • Portland Road Land Sale - Legal Services has been instructed to conclude missives of a partial land sale, following Cabinet approval. Regeneration Services will undertake cross service engagement to identify options for the remaining land. 3. Develop proposals for new investment and securing ROI (future projects) An award for the Levelling Up for Ayrshire – Commercial and Low Carbon Infrastructure under the Levelling Up Fund (LUF) Round 3 of £17.4m was secured from the UK Government, the memorandum of understanding was received April 2025. Informed by market feedback, the North Ayrshire proposal aims to address market failure in the delivery of new energy efficient commercial properties alongside the provision of associated low carbon infrastructure at key employment areas in Irvine. The Irvine investment concentrates on Kyle Road, Annickbank and i3 sites with the following progress made to date: • Kyle Rd Phase 2, Irvine: Additional design work is underway to enable a tender to be issued early 2026. • Annickbank Innovation Campus, Irvine: Following additional design work, it is anticipated that a tender will be issued winter 2025. Household Waste Recycling Centre – Booking System Since the introduction of the new online Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) booking system in April, feedback from customers and employees has been positive. Visitors have praised the smoother booking process and improved on site experience with several compliments received through our social media and customer contact channels. Site staff have also welcomed the system, highlighting how it has streamlined operations and waiting times. An anonymous customer satisfaction survey currently shows an average rating of four out of five, based on early responses. To further enhance the process, a new check-in app has been introduced to help HWRC teams register visitors quickly on arrival. Daily and weekly reports are produced to track booking activity across our sites, together with ongoing monitoring of customer services calls to ensure the system continues to run efficiently. “I would like to say how easy it was to book a slot with the new booking system for the HWRC it is such a simple process. My husband visited to deposit some wood and was amazed to see there was no queues (never before has he arrived and got in straight away). He arrived for his scheduled time and was back out within 10 minutes. It used to be a thought to visit the site previously, we would keep putting it off due to there always being long queues. He said it was such a straightforward/organised process. Thank you.” – Resident “I would like to say well done to NAC - Waste team for implementing the new booking system. We have made our first booking which was such an easy process. When we visited the site, we arrived for our allocated time, we were in/out in 10 mins. No tail back of 110
Page 111
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 32 of 48 queues. It is now a pleasure to take our rubbish to the HWRC, thank you.” – Resident “Would just like to say how amazing it was going to Bartonholm today via the booking system. So easy to do, no waiting to enter, straight in to be greeted by two lovely gentleman who directed me to skips. Once moved round I was met by a young guy who was also friendly and helpful. I would just like to thank you for a much more organised system.” – Resident Phase 2 of the project (October 2025) will see: • Exploring the potential for electronic payment of existing tip permits for commercial customers on Arran. • Improving and streamlining the renewal process for tip permits. • Increased flexibility for customers with the 1-day hire permit process for those with hire vans. Special Uplifts Due to updated Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulations and new guidance issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), North Ayrshire Council is required to have Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (WUDS) collected and managed separately from other bulky waste items. WUDS includes items such as sofas, sofa beds, chairs, stools etc. The new uplift process and online booking form launched on 1 September 2025 on our website, streamlining the booking process for customers. Since its launch, over 250 customers have placed special uplift orders successfully using the new form. The next phase will introduce mobile devices for waste collection crews to support automated integration with our CRM system and quicker updates on special uplift orders for customers and advisers. 111
Page 112
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 33 of 48 Our Workforce Strategy 2024 – 2028 The Workforce Strategy 2024–2028 aligns with both our Council Plan and the Medium-Term Financial Outlook, outlining how our workforce will contribute to achieving our council’s priorities within the framework of available financial resources. Audit Scotland completed a Best Value Thematic Audit on workforce innovation and how councils are responding to workforce challenges, the findings of the audit were presented to our Audit and Scrutiny Committee in August 2024. This section provides a summary of progress across our four main themes within the associated action plan. Theme 1: Embedding Workforce Planning Workforce Plans All services have workforce plans that are reviewed on a six-monthly basis. These reviews ensure workforce plans are live documents, responsive to business demand and include PESTLE analysis, change planning and succession planning. Key initiatives include ‘grow our own talent’ initiatives, leadership development and adapting to statutory changes. These plans support the delivery of our Council Plan priorities. Development interventions A variety of development interventions have been progressed to support workforce planning such as a Connected Leadership session aimed at Senior Managers which focused on the workforce strategy and action plan and tools available to embed and assist with effective workforce planning. Within the Communities and Housing Directorate, opportunities have progressed for additional qualifications in Housing as part of the Leadership Academy (employee training) approach, recruitment of Modern Apprentices and in-work vocational training for Building Standards. Integration with Transformation Workforce planning is incorporated into transformation programmes to consider workforce benefits, resource and impact. Theme 2: Enhancing Workforce Information Workforce Information Toolkit This digital toolkit has been developed for Managers to provide easy access to live workforce information which supports effective planning and management. This is currently being rolled out across our council. Performance Dashboard The Workforce Strategy has a series of performance indicators to ensure effective performance management of the strategy. These indicators have been surfaced on a Workforce Strategy Performance Dashboard offering a user-friendly overview to support workforce planning. 112
Page 113
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 34 of 48 Theme 3: Building Workforce Capacity Digital Skills Survey We recently conducted a Digital Skills Survey to assess digital confidence and skills. Results show strong digital proficiency but highlighted areas for improvement in document collaboration and troubleshooting. An action plan has been implemented to address these areas through targeted training, workshops and peer support. Agile Workstyle Wellbeing Survey Employees deemed to have an agile workstyle were surveyed on wellbeing and productivity, with positive findings on recruitment and retention, engagement and collaboration, work-life balance and uptake of wellbeing initiatives. An action plan is in place to address improvement areas. Apprenticeships and ‘Grow Your Own’ Programmes 67 Modern Apprentices and 11 Graduate Apprentices are currently completing qualifications whilst working in various teams across our council. With links to schools, colleges and universities, these programmes support our talent pipeline. Theme 4: Health, Safety & Wellbeing A range of wellbeing activities are available to support the health and wellbeing of our workforce. This is hosted under the banner of our Livewell Programme that promotes activities such as mindfulness, meditation and health checks as well as canoeing, paddleboarding etc. Access to occupational health support is available for all employees. This provides a variety of services including physiotherapy, counselling, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), bereavement and trauma support. Health and Safety Initiatives The Health and Safety Team continues to monitor and report all RIDDOR instances across our council and advisors work with Services to ensure each case is adequately assessed and appropriate action is taken. Directorate Planning Group meetings provide the opportunity for advice and guidance on a variety of health and safety related matters. Quarterly health and safety stats for each directorate and the council as a whole are reported to the Corporate Health and Safety Group, which is attended by officers and Elected Members. This encourages cross-service learning and continuous improvement across our council. Ongoing monitoring, reporting, and CALM training are in place to support a zero-tolerance culture. 113
Page 114
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 35 of 48 Audits, Inspections and Accreditations Best Value We have continued to strengthen our commitment to delivering Best Value across our services with a focus on ensuring good governance, effective use of resources and continuous improvement in order to deliver positive outcomes for our communities. Audit Scotland included details of the findings of a Best Value audit at the Audit and Scrutiny Committee meeting of 23 September 2025. This is integrated within annual audit work and focussed on previous audits and current performance management arrangements. The main conclusions presented included: • Our council has continued to demonstrate a strong culture of continuous improvement. It has robust arrangements in place to secure Best Value. The council has made good progress with prior year Best Value recommendations. • Our council’s transformation programme planning and programme management arrangements are clear. • Officers are clear that future recurring savings will not be sufficient from purely transformation and workforce changes, reductions in services as well as increases in council tax, fees and charges increases are also needed. There is scope for our council to consider opportunities for more radical transformational change with partners. • Our council is systematically measuring and reporting on its performance across its strategic priorities. Good progress has been made in completing actions in year two of the Council Plan. • Our council actively works with partners to identify better ways of delivering its ambitions for North Ayrshire. • Our council complies with the requirements of the Statutory Performance Information Direction Following this work undertaken by Audit Scotland, the Accounts Commission is expected to publish the findings of the Best Value Report in October 2025. Annual Audit Report 2024 to 2025 The Annual Audit Report 2024 to 2025 was presented to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee on 23 September 2025. The report from Audit Scotland included details of the Audit of the Annual Accounts for 2024/25 and the council’s performance in meeting our Best Value duties and the wider scope areas of: • Financial Management • Financial Sustainability • Vision, Leadership and Governance • Use of Resources to Improve Outcomes The recommended actions arising from the report are detailed on the next page: 114
Page 115
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 36 of 48 Recommendation Agreed Management Action The council should review its arrangements for preparing the Annual Accounts. This should include a review of capital accounting processes and procedures. A full review of capital accounting year end procedures will be carried out during 2025-26. This will include the procedures for reviewing information provided by the council’s valuation team and the use of external valuers. An impairment review should be conducted whenever there is an indication that an asset might be impaired such as physical damage, obsolescence or restructuring. The existence of an impairment indicator may also suggest that the remaining useful life needs to be adjusted even if no impairment loss is recognised. Under current procedures, an impairment review is carried out for all assets valued within the financial year. In addition, the valuation team undertakes an annual impairment review to determine if any assets not revalued in year are subject to material change. The Accounting Policies in relation to asset impairment will be reviewed and enhanced to provide clear reference to the impairment review process The council needs to set out in advance what criteria have to be met for an ‘on target’ judgement to be made for each action in the Council Plan. The Performance Management Strategy is being revised and will be presented to the Audit and Scrutiny Committee on 20th November 2025. This public facing strategy will contain details of how to determine the status of Council Plan actions based on existing strategies and next steps. This approach will be supported by additional training for teams providing updates during 2026. The Council Plan Progress Reports will include SMART next steps. These next steps will be recorded within our performance management system to track their status transparently and inform the status of Council Plan actions. 115
Page 116
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 37 of 48 Recommendation Agreed Management Action The council should ensure its plans are sufficiently ambitious to respond to its financial challenges. It should clearly set out the extent to which savings from transformation will help address the budget shortfalls set out in its Medium- Term Financial Plan. It is recognised that the level of financial efficiencies should be commensurate with the scale of the financial challenges. Further work will be progressed as part of the council’s medium-term financial planning to set out clearly how the council plans to address budget gaps through further transformation and reform activity and through a broader package of measures, including areas of service review and possible reduction, opportunities for further revenue generation and an ongoing planned use of council reserves. To provide assurance to Elected Members and the public about how the council plans to change to sustain services in the future the council should report publicly on how it is progressing with delivering transformation, as a whole, in terms of planned and realised financial and non financial benefits. The development of more public facing material will be produced to demonstrate the council’s progress on the Sustainable Change Programme. This will include use of the council’s new website to further promote activity and the progress being made to address the financial challenges. Gold Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) School Ambassador Award In May 2025, St Matthew’s Academy, Saltcoats achieved the Gold Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) School Ambassador Award. This accolade acknowledges that St Matthews Academy has worked hard to ensure pupils have a variety of opportunities to achieve their ambitions. Examples of opportunities available include: • An activities programme in May for pupils who are not sitting exams. This four-week block of activities and experiences is run with partners and outside agencies and leads to pupils receiving Youth Achievement Awards, Young STEM Leader certifications and qualifications in wellbeing and leadership. • External partnerships that offer pupils opportunities to develop existing skills and acquire new ones. These partnerships also enable students to obtain additional qualifications that may enhance their prospects. This has included volunteering with Doon the Beach café in Stevenston, Learning through Landscapes, Ardeer Golf Club and Gowanbank outdoor activity centre. • Raising Awareness with parents and carers is an ambassador-led project promoted through parents’ evenings, social media and a dedicated Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) display board. A QR code can be scanned by parents to access the SCQF website for additional information. 116
Page 117
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 38 of 48 Performance Summary Performance Indicators Adrift of Target This section details the performance indicators adrift of target and the action being taken to address performance. Due to expected data lags, the most recent data may relate to previous time periods but may only now be available to report. To avoid duplication, only data that has not previously been reported to our Cabinet through Council Plan progress reporting is included in this section. Further details can be found in the Performance Indicators section within this report. CP_48 % of income due from council tax received by the end of the year (LGBF) (Amber) The percentage of income due from council tax received by the end of the year was 94% for 2024 to 2025. This is below the target of 98% resulting in the amber status for this indicator. Performance represents a slight improvement from the previous year and is relatively consistent since 2022 to 2023. Collection activity in relation to Council Tax debt continues, with the achievement of budgeted recovery levels forecast over the medium term. We continue to support residents throughout the year through repayment plans and where required through directing residents to other money advice supports available. It is also recognised that the ongoing encouragement for residents to use the direct debit payment method should help improve collection levels in future. CP_31 % of total household waste that is recycled (calendar year as per SEPA) (LGBF) (Red) The household waste recycling figure for Quarter 2 Calendar Year (April to June 2025) is estimated at 51.2%, which is still subject to verification by SEPA, this is lower than the Quarterly target of 56%. Actions have been taken to improve the separation of Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (WUDS) from within our bulky waste collection service to help minimise the impact of the change in legislation. Contamination levels within the purple bin for glass, cans and plastics have contributed to a decline in performance and actions to promote the council’s ‘Right Stuff Right Bin’ campaign are ongoing to try and reduce this. An increase in the type of wood being deposited at recycling centres that is only suitable for biomass recovery and not for recycling, is also impacting performance. Actions are being taken to explore the level of source segregation at each recycling centre to identify if there is further scope for improvement. The reduction in performance related to separating WUDS from bulky uplifts will start to improve in Q4 2025 Calendar Year (October to December 2025), On Target, 11, 42% Slightly Adrift of Target, 4, 16% Significantly Adrift of Target, 5, 19% Data Only, 6, 23% Performance Indicators On Target, 46, 100% Actions 117
Page 118
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 39 of 48 following the change to the bulky waste service, with further recovery anticipated in the 2026 calendar year which will contribute to meeting the target. The Improvement Service published the household waste recycling figures for the 2024 calendar year in October 2025 via the Local Government Benchmarking Framework. The council continues to be a high performer, with a recycling rate of 53% for the 2024 calendar year, achieving 9th out of the 32 Scottish councils, with only 0.3% separating our council and the 5th place council. We manage the largest waste tonnage of the strongest performing nine councils, managing over 8,200 tonnes more waste per year. The average recycling rate in Scotland for 2024 was 44.3% and we are 8.7 percentage points above the national average at 53%. Indicator Amendments and Recommendations CP_47 Gross rent arrears (all tenants) as at 31 March each year as a percentage of rent due for the reporting year (LGBF) Following the publication of the October 2025 data release from the Improvement Service, the 2024 to 2025 figure has been confirmed as 8%. This replaces the previously reported provisional figure of 8.03%. The 2023 to 2024 figure has been amended from 5.9% to 7.5% after a data correction in the Annual Return on the Charter 2023 to 2024 submitted to Cabinet for approval on 23 September 2025. The amendment was made as some periods had been incorrectly classified as long-term vacancies affecting the rent owed and increasing the rent loss. Updated guidance has been issued and a new process is now in place for recording excluded periods supported by monthly quality assurance checks. The Improvement Service has been informed of this amendment however, this will not be reflected through the LGBF dashboard until the 28 November 2025 Data Release. CP_25 % of council dwellings that meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (LGBF) Following the publication of the October 2025 data release from the Improvement Service, the 2024 to 2025 figure has been confirmed as 94% as per the previously reported provisional data. Actions Adrift of target No actions are currently adrift of target. 118
Page 119
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 40 of 48 Performance Indicators PI Code and Description 2022-2023 Value 2022-2023 Target 2022-2023 Status 2023-2024 Value 2023-2024 Target 2023-2024 Status 2024-2025 Value 2024-2025 Target 2024-2025 Status 2025-2026 Q2 Value 2025-2026 Q2 Target 2025-2026 Q2 Status 2025- 2026 Target CP_36 Number of residents participating in community learning and development activity including youth work 17,804 23,503 18,700 28,102 19,500 7,933 7,000 23,500 CP_04 Proportion of children meeting developmental milestones (LGBF) 79.5% 77.50% 79% Data Available May 2026 79% Not measured for quarters 79% CP_37 Average total tariff score of pupils living in SIMD 20% most deprived areas 670.2 664.3 714 Data Available March 2026 720 Not measured for quarters 720 CP_06 Average tariff score: All Leavers 847.2 840.8 908 Data Available February 2026 910 Not measured for quarters 910 CP_38 Average total tariff for care experienced Young People 411.5 355 465 Data Available March 2026 470 Not measured for quarters 470 CP_07 % of school leavers entering positive destinations (LGBF) 96.5% 95.6% 96.4% Data Available February 2026 96.8% Not measured for quarters 96.8% CP_39b Number of unemployed people that have progressed to employment as a result of participation in council funded or operated employability activities 427 475 Data Available November 2025 475 Not measured for quarters 450 CP_10a % of procurement spend on local enterprises 26.04% 25% 24.48% 26% 26.8% 27% Not measured for quarters 27% Icon PI Status Significantly Adrift of Target Slightly Adrift of Target On Target Data Not Available Data Only 119
Page 120
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 41 of 48 PI Code and Description 2022-2023 Value 2022-2023 Target 2022-2023 Status 2023-2024 Value 2023-2024 Target 2023-2024 Status 2024-2025 Value 2024-2025 Target 2024-2025 Status 2025-2026 Q2 Value 2025-2026 Q2 Target 2025-2026 Q2 Status 2025- 2026 Target CP_40 Number of new build housing units reaching completion (all tenures) (actual not cumulative) 562 384 295 371 396 78 436 CP_41 Number of empty homes brought back into use (actual) 120 378 200 375 300 78 78 350 CP_28 Hectares of vacant and derelict land in North Ayrshire 1,130 1,094 951 1,094 942 925 Not measured for quarters 925 CP_27 Street Cleanliness Index - % Clean (LGBF) 84.6% 90 89.1% 87 90.3% 87 Data Available following next audit 89% 89 CP_20 Overall percentage of road network that should be considered for maintenance treatment 34.8% 33.8% 32.5% 34.8% 30.6% 32.5% Not measured for quarters 32% CP_42 Provided floor space of commercial/industrial space within our council portfolio (sq. ft) 400,991 404,897 404,755 423,077 423,077 Not measured for quarters 423,077 CP_02 % of council budget directed via participatory methods 2.74% 1% 2.05% 1.5% 1.97%. 1.5% 1.18% 1.5% CP_43 Number of council assets under community management (cumulative) 49 53 54 55 56 56 57 CP_30 Total installed capacity of low carbon heat and electricity generation across the council's estate 12,104 11,800 15,992 12,000 17,630 28,499 Not measured for quarters 30,137 120
Page 121
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 42 of 48 PI Code and Description 2022-2023 Value 2022-2023 Target 2022-2023 Status 2023-2024 Value 2023-2024 Target 2023-2024 Status 2024-2025 Value 2024-2025 Target 2024-2025 Status 2025-2026 Q2 Value 2025-2026 Q2 Target 2025-2026 Q2 Status 2025- 2026 Target CP_29 Overall carbon emissions (tonnes) (Non- domestic council estate) 1 20,896 21,000 20,745 19,500 20,333 19,953 3,313 19,824 CP_44a % of council dwellings that are energy efficient (Formerly known as SHSN05a) (LGBF) 2 98.2% 98.01% 98.1% 97.66% 98.5% Not measured for quarters 98.7% CP_45 Length of new or improved active travel routes per annum (Metres) 1,090 3,900 2,000 2,500 2,000 Not measured for quarters 2,000 CP_46 Number of trees planted under the North Ayrshire 2030 Tree Planting Strategy No data No data No data 36,531 40,000 49,026 47,000 Not measured for quarters 60,000 CP_19 Proportion of operational buildings that are suitable for their current use (LGBF) 95.1% 93% 95.2% 92.1% 95.4% 93% Not measured for quarters 93% CP_31 % of total household waste that is recycled (calendar year as per SEPA) (LGBF) 3 55.3% 56.9% 56.1% 57% 53% 56% 51.2% 56% 53% CP_25 % of council dwellings that meet the Scottish Housing Quality Standard (LGBF) 63.2% 76.9% 72.5% 94% 97.4% Not measured for quarters 97.57% CP_47 Gross rent arrears (all tenants) as at 31 March each year as a percentage of rent due for the reporting year (LGBF) 7.1% 7.5% 6.5% 8% Not measured for quarters 7.0% CP_48 % of income due from council tax received by the end of the year (LGBF) 94.7% 93.6% 94% 94% 98% Not measured for quarters 94% 1 The 2025-2026 Q2 Value is provisional (actual, not cumulative) and will be confirmed as more data becomes available. 2 This indicator has been updated with local data only since 2022-2023 due to the pause in LGBF reporting on this indicator as EESSH2 is established. 3 The 2025-26 Q2 Value is provisional as subject to verification by SEPA. The value covers the period April – June 2025 as this indicator’s reporting period falls in line with the calendar year. 121
Page 122
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 43 of 48 Action Tracker Icon Action Status Significantly Adrift of Target Slightly Adrift of Target On Target Ref # Existing Overall Action (and Priority) Q2 2023-2024 Q3 2023-2024 Q4 2023-2024 Q1 2024-2025 Q2 2024-2025 Q3 2024-2025 Q4 2024-2025 Q1 2025-2026 Q2 2025-2026 Q3 2025-2026 Q4 2025-2026 Q1 2026-2027 Q2 2026-2027 Q3 2026-2027 Q4 2026-2027 Q1 2027-2028 Q2 2027-2028 Q3 2027-2028 Q4 2027-2028 CP01 Ensuring that wellbeing is at the heart of local life and opportunities, with a focus on tackling inequalities (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP02 Developing a Community Wealth Building approach to a wellbeing economy (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP03 Improving educational attainment and achievement and closing the attainment gap (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP04 Improving outcomes for care experienced young people including implementation of The Promise (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP05 Developing the Young Workforce and ensuring positive destinations for school leavers (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP06 Providing lifelong learning opportunities for individuals and organisations, including digital literacy (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP07 Maximising access to and uptake of benefits, entitlements and financial advice (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP08 Ensuring that supports are available in communities to alleviate cost-of-living pressures through community hubs and networks (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP09 Through our housebuilding programme and wider Housing Investment provide homes for life that meet the needs of our residents (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - 122
Page 123
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 44 of 48 4 Delivery of this action is managed through the Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan. Ref # Existing Overall Action (and Priority) Q2 2023-2024 Q3 2023-2024 Q4 2023-2024 Q1 2024-2025 Q2 2024-2025 Q3 2024-2025 Q4 2024-2025 Q1 2025-2026 Q2 2025-2026 Q3 2025-2026 Q4 2025-2026 Q1 2026-2027 Q2 2026-2027 Q3 2026-2027 Q4 2026-2027 Q1 2027-2028 Q2 2027-2028 Q3 2027-2028 Q4 2027-2028 CP10 Increase the number of homes in the area through a mix of private and social developments and bringing empty buildings back in to use (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP11 Exploration of models and the development of pilot schemes to increase access to and use of public/community transport (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP12 Ensure our places and spaces where we live, work and visit are well maintained and accessible (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP13 Developing infrastructure to support business growth (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP14 Support KA Leisure’s leadership of North Ayrshire’s Health and Wellbeing Alliance (Wellbeing Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP15 Through the Health and Social Care Partnership Strategic Plan we will protect and provide care and support for those in need (Wellbeing Priority).4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - CP16 Developing strong relationships with communities and partners based on trust and shared aspirations using their experiences to inform service provision (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP17 Providing support for community organisations in achieving their goals, including as Community Wealth Building anchor organisations (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - 123
Page 124
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 45 of 48 Ref # Existing Overall Action (and Priority) Q2 2023-2024 Q3 2023-2024 Q4 2023-2024 Q1 2024-2025 Q2 2024-2025 Q3 2024-2025 Q4 2024-2025 Q1 2025-2026 Q2 2025-2026 Q3 2025-2026 Q4 2025-2026 Q1 2026-2027 Q2 2026-2027 Q3 2026-2027 Q4 2026-2027 Q1 2027-2028 Q2 2027-2028 Q3 2027-2028 Q4 2027-2028 CP18 Creating a participation and engagement framework which ensures opportunities and support for all residents to take part in influencing local democracy and council and partner strategies (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP19 Supporting participatory budgeting (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP20 Supporting community asset transfer and community owned and operated/managed assets (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP21 Supporting the Community Planning Partnership and the Community Plan (LOIP) (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP22 Developing partnerships with the third and voluntary sector (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP23 Placemaking, including creation of locality action plans based on the Community Plan (LOIP) priorities and support the delivery of Islands Plans (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP24 Ensuring an inclusive, fair, rights-based and asset-based approach in our work (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP25 Accessible public services, both digitally and locally, ensuring a ‘No Wrong Door’ approach (Communities and Local Democracy Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP26 Embedding our net-zero ambition in all democratic decision- making (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - 124
Page 125
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 46 of 48 Ref # Existing Overall Action (and Priority) Q2 2023-2024 Q3 2023-2024 Q4 2023-2024 Q1 2024-2025 Q2 2024-2025 Q3 2024-2025 Q4 2024-2025 Q1 2025-2026 Q2 2025-2026 Q3 2025-2026 Q4 2025-2026 Q1 2026-2027 Q2 2026-2027 Q3 2026-2027 Q4 2026-2027 Q1 2027-2028 Q2 2027-2028 Q3 2027-2028 Q4 2027-2028 CP27 Reducing the carbon footprint of our estate through rationalisation utilising a locality-based approach and taking a fabric first and low carbon energy generation approach to homes and buildings (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP28 Improving resilience and reducing carbon by developing and supporting supply chains where materials and goods are sourced locally (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP29 Promoting new woodland creation and protecting our green spaces to provide a natural resource for carbon sequestration (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP30 Supporting local businesses as they meet their climate change obligations (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP31 Promoting a circular economy in North Ayrshire to reduce consumption of raw materials and promote reuse, repair and recycling, and generating energy from residual waste (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP32 Developing local low carbon energy generation schemes and networks (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP33 Unlocking the potential of community owned energy generation to bring new income streams into communities and help them take direct action to combat climate change (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP34 Learning for sustainability, and work with communities to adopt low carbon behaviour change and encourage climate- based volunteering activities (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - 125
Page 126
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 47 of 48 Ref # Existing Overall Action (and Priority) Q2 2023-2024 Q3 2023-2024 Q4 2023-2024 Q1 2024-2025 Q2 2024-2025 Q3 2024-2025 Q4 2024-2025 Q1 2025-2026 Q2 2025-2026 Q3 2025-2026 Q4 2025-2026 Q1 2026-2027 Q2 2026-2027 Q3 2026-2027 Q4 2026-2027 Q1 2027-2028 Q2 2027-2028 Q3 2027-2028 Q4 2027-2028 CP35 Improving communities’ preparedness to deal with the impacts of climate change already locked-in (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP36 Working with communities to adopt low carbon behaviour change and encourage climate-based volunteering activities (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP37 Taking a nature-based approach to protect our habitats and species (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP38 Developing and promoting active travel infrastructure (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP39 Transitioning to low and zero carbon travel (Climate Change Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP40 Ensuring robust governance arrangements are in place to fulfil the council’s statutory duties, manage risk and support delivery of key priorities (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP41 Using dynamic data and lived experiences to inform decision-making (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP42 Working with partners nationally, regionally and locally to secure investment and target resources towards our priorities (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP43 Driving change and transformation, using technology where appropriate, to deliver efficient and effective services and support delivery of priorities (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP44 Maximising financial flexibilities to help support delivery of priorities (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - - - - 126
Page 127
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 48 of 48 Ref # Existing Overall Action (and Priority) Q2 2023-2024 Q3 2023-2024 Q4 2023-2024 Q1 2024-2025 Q2 2024-2025 Q3 2024-2025 Q4 2024-2025 Q1 2025-2026 Q2 2025-2026 Q3 2025-2026 Q4 2025-2026 Q1 2026-2027 Q2 2026-2027 Q3 2026-2027 Q4 2026-2027 Q1 2027-2028 Q2 2027-2028 Q3 2027-2028 Q4 2027-2028 CP45 Maximising value from the use of our assets (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP46 Focusing our investment on priorities (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - - - - CP47 Effective workforce planning ensuring that we have the right skills/resources to deliver priorities (A Sustainable Council Priority). - - - - - - - - - - 127
Page 128
Our Council Plan Six Monthly Progress Report – Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Page 49 of 48 We strive to make our reporting as accessible as possible. If you have any questions or require further information on our council’s performance please contact: The Corporate Policy and Performance Team Telephone: 01294 310000 Email: NorthAyrshirePerforms@north-ayrshire.gov.uk Reports can be viewed on our council performance webpage 128
Page 129
Page 1 of 21 Local Government Benchmarking Framework Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Appendix 2 129
Page 130
Contents Introduc�on ................................................................................................................................... 1 LGBF Priority Indicators .................................................................................................................. 2 People Services ................................................................................................................................. 5 HSN1b – Gross rent arrears (all tenants) as a percentage of rent due for the year ............................. 6 HSN3 – Propor�on of council dwellings mee�ng Sco�sh Housing Quality Standards ........................ 6 CORP7 – Percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of the year ...................... 7 Other Services ................................................................................................................................... 8 CLIM1 – CO2 emissions area wide per capita ..................................................................................... 11 CLIM2 – CO2 emissions area wide: emissions within scope of LA per capita .................................... 11 ENV4b - Percentage of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment ................................... 12 ENV4c - Percentage of B class roads considered for maintenance treatment ................................... 13 ENV4d – Percentage of C class roads considered for maintenance treatment .................................. 13 ENV4e – Percentage of unclassified roads considered for maintenance treatment .......................... 14 ENV06 – Propor�on of total household waste arising that is recycled .............................................. 14 CORP-ASSET1 - % of opera�onal buildings that are suitable for their current use ............................ 15 CORP8 Percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days ............................................. 16 CORP3b - % of the highest paid 5% of employees who are women .................................................. 16 CORP3c - Gender Pay Gap ................................................................................................................... 17 ECON04 – Propor�on of procurement spent on local enterprises ..................................................... 17 130
Page 131
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 1 of 18 Introduc�on The Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) provides an opportunity to benchmark our performance with other local authorities in Scotland. It is administered by the Improvement Service in partnership with the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives (SOLACE) and highlighted within the Accounts Commission’s Statutory Performance Information Direction 2024 which defines how local authorities should demonstrate they are achieving Best Value for the people they serve. We have identified 33 indicators that closely link to the priorities within our Council Plan. This section demonstrates our relative performance for the indicators that have been updated since our previously published year end LGBF analysis report as at the October 2025 data release. This information alongside the LGBF Dashboard enables us to learn from others to improve services for our residents. As at November 2025, 11 of our 15 updated priority indicators are in the top two quartiles. Top quartile performance includes areas such as: Percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days; proportion of the highest paid 5% of employees who are women; and proportion of council dwellings meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards. In the short term (most recent one year period available), 10 of our 15 updated priority indicators have shown improvement in performance, whereas four have demonstrated a decline in performance. Some of the indicators which have improved are: CO2 emissions area wide per capita; percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of the year; and percentage of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment. The following is a breakdown of the priority indicators within the context of family groups. Family groups enable local authorities to make as close to a like for like comparison as possible with other councils by grouping those with similar traits depending on the indicator. Grouping is based on levels of deprivation (people services) or rurality (other services). We align our LGBF analysis to the family groups used within the LGBF Dashboard. These are: Peoples Services (Deprivation) • North Ayrshire Council • Comhairle nan Eilean Siar • Dundee City Council • East Ayrshire Council • North Lanarkshire Council • Inverclyde Council • West Dunbartonshire Council • Glasgow City Council Other Services (Rurality) • North Ayrshire Council • Perth and Kinross • S�rling Council • Moray Council • South Ayrshire Council • East Ayrshire Council • East Lothian Council • Fife Council 131
Page 132
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 2 of 18 LGBF Priority Indicators The table below displays the short term (or prior year) comparison of the performance, rank and quartile for the 15 priority LGBF indicators updated during the October 2025 release. To assess performance, the terms ‘improved’ or ‘declined’ are used in this report. This terminology is used as for some indicators a value increasing is improving performance however for other indicators, a value increasing is declining performance. Each indicator title is an html link to a chart later in the document that provides more information. In summary, of the 15 indicators over the short term: • Performance has improved for 10, declined for four and is unchanged for one. • Rank has improved for eight and declined for seven. • Quar�le has improved for six, declined for three, and is unchanged for six. Key Icon Improved Stayed the same Declined Performance Rank Quartile LGBF Priority Indicator Most recent year available Previous year’s data Most recent data Data improved / declined Prior year rank Most recent rank Rank improved / declined Previous year’s quartile Most recent quartile Quartile improved / declined CLIM01 - CO2 emissions area wide per capita 2023-24 4.56 4.04 20 15 3 2 CLIM02 - CO2 emissions area wide: emissions within scope of LA per capita 2023-24 4.90 4.38 22 18 3 3 132
Page 133
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 3 of 18 Performance Rank Quartile LGBF Priority Indicator Most recent year available Previous year’s data Most recent data Data improved / declined Prior year rank Most recent rank Rank improved / declined Previous year’s quartile Most recent quartile Quartile improved / declined CORP03b - Proportion of the highest paid 5% of employees who are women 2024-25 64.0% 63.9% 4 6 1 1 CORP3c – Gender Pay Gap 2024-25 0.0% 0.3% 7 14 1 2 CORP07 - Percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of the year (CP_48) 2024-25 93.6% 94.0% 30 26 4 4 CORP08 - Percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days 2024-25 95.8% 96.4% 6 7 1 1 CORP-ASSET01 - % of operational buildings that are suitable for their current use (CP_19) 2024-25 95.2% 95.2% 6 7 1 1 ENV04b - Percentage of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment 2024-25 28.9% 27.0% 21 13 3 2 ENV04c - Percentage of B class roads considered for maintenance treatment 2024-25 27.4% 25.0% 13 4 2 1 ENV04d - Percentage of C class roads considered for maintenance treatment 2024-25 38.5% 37.0% 26 23 4 3 ENV04e - Percentage of unclassified roads considered for maintenance treatment 2024-25 32.4% 31.0% 11 7 2 1 133
Page 134
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 4 of 18 Performance Rank Quartile LGBF Priority Indicator Most recent year available Previous year’s data Most recent data Data improved / declined Prior year rank Most recent rank Rank improved / declined Previous year’s quartile Most recent quartile Quartile improved / declined HSN1b - Gross Rent Arrears (All Tenants) as a Percentage of rent due for the year1 2024-25 7.5% 8.0% 7 14 1 2 HSN03 - Proportion of council dwellings meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards (CP_25) 2024-25 76.9% 94.0% 16 3 2 1 ECON04 – Proportion of procurement spent on local enterprises 2024-25 23.9% 24.9% 19 20 3 3 ENV06 – Proportion of total household waste arising that is recycled 2024-25 56.1% 53% 4 9 1 2 1 The 2023-24 data for this indicator was amended from 5.9% to 7.5% through the Annual Return on the Charter (ARC) Data Correc�ons 2023/24, submited to Cabinet on 23 September 2025. The Improvement Service has been informed of this amendment and though not be reflected through the LGBF dashboard un�l the 28th November Data Release, the 2023-24 rank displayed in this report is correct and is as will be shown in the November release. 134
Page 135
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 5 of 18 People Services The table below displays the short term, medium term and long term comparisons against our current year for our three People Services family group indicators that have been updated since our year end report. When 10 full recording periods were not available the most historical figure has been used for the long term comparison. Each indicator name is an html link to a chart later in the document that provides more information. In summary, of the three indicators over the short, medium and long term: • Short Term Family Group Rank – three have improved. • Medium Term Family Group Rank – two have improved and one has declined. • Long Term Family Group Rank – two have declined and one is unchanged. Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term Comparisons for our People Services Family Group Current Year Short Term Comparison Medium Term Comparison Long Term Comparison LGBF Indicators Peoples Services Year Rank Year Rank Rank improved / declined Year Rank Rank improved / declined Year Rank Rank improved / declined HSN1b - Gross Rent Arrears (All Tenants) as a Percentage of rent due for the year 2024-25 14 2023-24 7 2021-22 7 2014-15 3 HSN3 - Proportion of Council dwellings meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards 2024-25 3 2023-24 16 2021-22 21 2014-15 3 CORP7 - Percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of the year 2024-25 26 2023-24 30 2021-22 31 2014-15 24 135
Page 136
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 6 of 18 HSN1b – Gross rent arrears (all tenants) as a percentage of rent due for the year The gross rent arrears (all tenants) as a percentage of rent due for the year was 8.0% at the latest data release (September 2025). This is higher than the family group average of 7.7% but lower than the Scottish average of 8.6%. We are second lowest in our family group (of five local authorities) with only West Dunbartonshire Council performing less strongly. We have moved from 7 to 14 in rank resulting in a reduction in quartile from 1st to 2nd. HSN3 – Proportion of council dwellings meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards The proportion of council dwellings meeting Scottish Housing Quality Standards (SHQS) in the most recent data release (September 2025) was 94.0% - this is in comparison to the family group average of 85.9%. In our family group, only East Ayrshire Council reported a higher compliance rate of 98.2%. We currently rank 3rd of all Scottish local authorities – an improvement from 16th in the previous year and have subsequently moved from the 2nd quartile to the 1st. 136
Page 137
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 7 of 18 CORP7 – Percentage of income due from Council Tax received by the end of the year The most recent data release (September 2025) shows that 94.0% of income due from Council Tax was received by the end of the year compared to the family group average of 93.5%. We remain in the 4th quartile however our ranking has improved from 30 to 26. In terms of performance, we are fourth in our family group with East Ayrshire, Inverclyde and North Lanarkshire Councils performing more strongly. The reported performance represents an improvement from the previous year. However, underlying performance continues to remain below pre-pandemic levels. Collection activity in relation to Council Tax debt continues, with the achievement of budgeted recovery levels forecast over the medium term. As detailed in the Mid-Year 2025 to 2026 Progress Report, we continue to support residents throughout the year through repayment plans and where required through directing residents to other money advice supports available. Ongoing encouragement for residents to use the direct debit payment method should help improve collection levels in future. 137
Page 138
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 8 of 18 Other Services The table below displays the short term, medium term and long term comparisons against our current year for our 12 Other Services family group indicators that have been updated since our year end report. When 10 full recording periods were not available the most historical figure has been used for the long term comparison. Each indicator is linked to a chart later in the document that provides more information. In summary, of the 12 indicators over the short, medium and long term: • Short Term Family Group Rank – six have improved and six have declined. • Medium Term Family Group Rank – nine have improved and three have declined. • Long Term Family Group Rank – eight have improved, three have declined and one has stayed the same. Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term Comparisons for our Other Services Family Group Current Year Short Term Comparison Medium Term Comparison Long Term Comparison LGBF Indicators Other Services Year Rank Year Rank Rank improved / declined Year Rank Rank improved / declined Year Rank Rank improved / declined CLIM1 – CO2 emissions area wide per capita 2023-24 15 2022-23 20 2020-21 19 2013-14 19 CLIM2 – CO2 emissions area wide: emissions within scope of Local Authority per 2023-24 18 2022-23 22 2020-21 19 2013-14 23 138
Page 139
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 9 of 18 Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term Comparisons for our Other Services Family Group Current Year Short Term Comparison Medium Term Comparison Long Term Comparison LGBF Indicators Other Services Year Rank Year Rank Rank improved / declined Year Rank Rank improved / declined Year Rank Rank improved / declined ENV4b - Percentage of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment 2024-25 13 2023-24 21 2021-22 26 2014-15 27 ENV4c - Percentage of B class roads considered for maintenance treatment 2024-25 4 2023-24 13 2021-22 17 2014-15 18 ENV4d - Percentage of C class roads considered for maintenance treatment 2024-25 23 2023-24 26 2021-22 28 2014-15 30 ENV4e - Percentage of unclassified roads considered for maintenance treatment 2024-25 7 2023-24 11 2021-22 15 2014-15 17 CORP3b – Percentage of the highest paid 5% of employees who are women 2024-25 6 2023-24 4 2021-22 9 2014-15 6 139
Page 140
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 10 of 18 Short Term, Medium Term and Long Term Comparisons for our Other Services Family Group Current Year Short Term Comparison Medium Term Comparison Long Term Comparison LGBF Indicators Other Services Year Rank Year Rank Rank improved / declined Year Rank Rank improved / declined Year Rank Rank improved / declined CORP3c – Gender Pay Gap 2024-25 14 2023-24 7 2021-22 8 2015-16 9 CORP8 – Percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days 2024-25 7 2023-24 6 2021-22 4 2014-15 14 CORP-ASSET1 – Percentage of operational buildings that are suitable for their current use 2024-25 7 2023-24 6 2021-22 11 2014-15 5 ENV06 – Proportion of total household waste arising that is recycled 2024-25 9 2023-24 4 2021-22 2 2014-15 2 ECON04 – Proportion of procurement spent on local enterprises 2024-25 20 2023-24 19 2021-22 24 2014-15 26 140
Page 141
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 11 of 18 (Please note, axis scales used within the following charts vary to ensure trends are visible.) CLIM1 – CO2 emissions area wide per capita CO2 emissions area wide per capita for North Ayrshire was 4.04. This is lower than both the family group average of 5.18 and the Scotland wide average of 4.59. We are positioned third in our family group ranking, higher than Moray (4.10), South Ayrshire (4.14), Perth and Kinross (4.16), Fife (7.76) and East Lothian (9.91). Only East Ayrshire (3.46) and Stirling (3.84) were ranked higher. CLIM2 – CO2 emissions area wide: emissions within scope of LA per capita 141
Page 142
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 12 of 18 CO2 emissions area wide: emissions within scope of LA per capita was 4.38. This is lower than the family group average of 4.90, but higher than the Scotland wide average of 4.04. We are third in our family group above Fife Council (4.56), South Ayrshire Council (4.86), Perth and Kinross Council (5.40), Stirling Council (5.46) and Moray Council (6.54). Only East Ayrshire Council (3.91) and East Lothian Council (4.06) were ranked higher. ENV4b - Percentage of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment The percentage of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment for North Ayrshire Council is 27% for the 2023 to 2025 reporting period. This is lower than the family group average of 28.4% and the Scotland wide average of 31%. Within our family group rankings, we currently rank higher than East Lothian Council (28%), Fife Council (29%), Stirling Council (35%) and Perth and Kinross Council (40%). Only East Ayrshire Council (18%) and South Ayrshire Council (23%) are currently ranked higher. Moray Council also has 27% of A class roads considered for maintenance treatment. 142
Page 143
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 13 of 18 ENV4c - Percentage of B class roads considered for maintenance treatment The percentage of B class roads considered for maintenance treatment for North Ayrshire Council is 25% for the 2023 to 2025 reporting period. This is lower than the family group average of 29.5% and the Scotland wide average of 35%. Within our family group rankings, we currently rank higher than South Ayrshire Council (29%), Fife Council (30%), East Lothian Council (34%), Perth and Kinross Council (35%) and Stirling Council (37%). Only Moray Council (21%) and East Ayrshire Council (25%) currently rank higher. ENV4d – Percentage of C class roads considered for maintenance treatment The percentage of C class roads considered for maintenance treatment for North Ayrshire Council is 37% for the 2023 to 2025 reporting period. This is higher than the family group 143
Page 144
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 14 of 18 average of 32.5% and the Scotland wide average of 34%. Within our family group rankings, we currently rank higher than South Ayrshire Council (38%) and Stirling Council (40%). However, Moray Council (25%), East Lothian Council (27%), Fife Council (28%), East Ayrshire Council (31%) and Perth and Kinross Council (34%) all rank higher than North Ayrshire Council. ENV4e – Percentage of unclassified roads considered for maintenance treatment The percentage of unclassified roads considered for maintenance treatment for North Ayrshire Council is 31% for the 2021 to 2025 repor�ng period. This is lower than the family group average of 35.8% and the Scotland wide average of 36%. We are currently posi�oned highest in our family group rankings. ENV06 – Proportion of total household waste arising that is recycled 144
Page 145
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 15 of 18 The proportion of total household waste arising that is recycled for 2024 to 2025 is 53%. This places us 5th in our family group rankings. Which means Moray (56.7%), East Lothian (55.3%), South Ayrshire (53.3%) and Stirling Councils (53.2%) are currently ranked higher than North Ayrshire Council. Perth and Kinross (50.9%), East Ayrshire (49.2%) and Fife Councils (44.5%) are ranked lower. This places North Ayrshire Council 9th in Scotland and the 2nd quartile. The council manages the largest waste tonnage out of the top nine councils, managing over 8,200 tonnes more waste per year than any of the other councils who are in the top nine. The average recycling rate in Scotland for 2024 was 44.3% and North Ayrshire Council achieved 8.7 percentage points above the national average. CORP-ASSET1 - % of operational buildings that are suitable for their current use The percentage of operational buildings that are suitable for their current use is currently 95.2%. This means that we are 3rd in our family group behind both Perth and Kinross Council (96.9%) and Moray Council (96.1%). We are ranked 7th in Scotland and this places us within the 1st quartile. Condition information is gathered across the corporate estate and used to inform asset management decision in relation to property rationalisation and investment decisions. Accommodation changes are presently focused within the Irvine estate with improvements being made to Cunninghame House to enable the relocation of employees from Bridgegate House. Condition improvement works have been completed at Skelmorlie Primary and are currently progressing at Goldcraigs Depot, Hayocks Primary School and Caledonia Primary School. 145
Page 146
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 16 of 18 CORP8 Percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days The percentage of invoices sampled that were paid within 30 days was 96.4% at the latest data release (September 2025), this is in comparison to a family group average of 88.7%. In terms of performance within our family group, we are currently second highest with only Fife Council having stronger performance (97.1%). CORP3b - % of the highest paid 5% of employees who are women 63.9% of our highest paid 5% of employees are women. This is the highest in our family group. Our relative position is currently 6th out of the 32 local authorities. As a result we are within the 1st quartile. 146
Page 147
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 17 of 18 CORP3c - Gender Pay Gap The most recent figures reported for North Ayrshire Council show that the gender pay gap is currently 0.3% (the second lowest level over the decade presented above). This means we currently sit 5th within our family group with Stirling (-0.15%), Fife (-0.25%), South Ayrshire (- 1.33%) and Perth and Kinross Councils (-1.90%) ranked higher. East Lothian (0.65%), Moray (4.02%) and East Ayrshire Councils (4.49%) are ranked lower. We are 14th in Scotland and currently sit within the 2nd quartile. ECON04 – Proportion of procurement spent on local enterprises The proportion of procurement spent on local enterprises for 2024 to 2025 was 24.9% (the highest level in the period being reported on). This means that we are 5th within our family 147
Page 148
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 18 of 18 group with Fife (33.9%), South Ayrshire (27.3%), East Ayrshire (25.8%) and Moray Councils (25.3%) ranking higher. Perth and Kinross (21.9%), Stirling (21.6%) and East Lothian Councils (15.5%) all rank lower. We are currently 20th out of the 32 local authorities. This places us in the 3rd quartile. This indicator is a useful comparison for benchmarking purposes however, as it does not capture all spend due to specifically excluding any supplier spend under £1,000 or suppliers not designated as core trade organisations, it is therefore not an accurate reflection of the economic activity solely within North Ayrshire. As we have access to the source data used by the LGBF, we are able to capture all spend data and refine the calculation at a local level to better reflect our spend with local enterprises and shorten the time delay in reporting. Our most recent local figure is 26.8% for 2024 to 2025, 1.9 percentage points higher than reported within the LGBF. 148
Page 149
LGBF Analysis of October 2025 Data Release Page 19 of 18 We strive to make our repor�ng as accessible as possible. If you have any ques�ons or require further informa�on on our council’s performance please contact: The Corporate Policy and Performance Team Telephone: 01294 310000 Email: NorthAyrshirePerforms@north-ayrshire.gov.uk Reports can be viewed on our council performance webpage 149
Page 150
150
Page 151
NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 29 January 2026 Audit and Scrutiny Committee Title: The purpose and use of Glow in North Ayrshire Education Service Purpose: To provide the Audit and Scrutiny Committee with an overview of the key features of the national education digital platform, Glow, and how it is used in practice across Education in North Ayrshire. Recommendation: It is recommended that the Audit and Scrutiny Committee: a) note the content of the report 1. Executive Summary 1.1 This report provides an overview of Glow, Scotland’s national digital learning environment, and outlines its purpose and use across North Ayrshire Education Service. Glow is a Scottish Government-funded platform, managed by Education Scotland, which provides a secure, equitable and nationally consistent digital environment to support learning and teaching. It enables collaboration, communication and access to digital tools for learners, educators and education authorities, while supporting curriculum delivery, skill development and the reduction of teacher workload. In North Ayrshire, Glow is embedded across all educational establishments, with all teaching staff and learners provided with access and using the platform routinely as part of everyday educational practice. 1.2 The report also highlights the safeguards, security and governance arrangements that underpin Glow, including strict access controls, national security standards and dedicated safeguarding oversight. As a closed system, Glow prioritises online safety and child protection, while offering a wide range of digital services to support learning and professional collaboration. 2. Background 2.1 Glow is Scotland’s national digital environment to support learning across the curriculum. Glow was set up in 2007 to provide a safe digital learning platform for learners and educators in all 32 local authorities across Scotland. It is funded by the Scottish Government and managed by Education Scotland. Agenda Item 6 151
Page 152
The purpose of Glow 2.2 The key purpose of Glow is to: provide a suite of services to support curriculum delivery; support the acquisition of skills for learning, life and work; provide equitable access across Scotland to the most appropriate technologies for all learners; enable and enhance collaboration across the educational landscape; provide a national solution and remove the need for local authorities to procure individually alternative systems to support communication and collaboration within and across educational establishments; reduce teacher workload through the provision of high quality services to support learning and teaching. 2.3 Glow was developed to support learners, educators and education authorities to engage in learning and teaching through digital technologies. The key benefits to these groups are outlined below: 2.3.1 Glow supports learners Learners live in a networked world where online social collaboration is part of their everyday lives. Their future working lives will similarly encompass a whole range of digital connections. Where the skills to connect, share, collaborate and adapt to an ever- changing range of technologies are at a premium, children and young people who do not possess these skills will be at a disadvantage. • Glow provides learners with access to a learning environment that adapts and evolves to meet future needs • It offers a protected environment, appropriate for learning • It enables children and young people to gain important skills and experiences that enhance learning. This prepares them for a world of work in which digital skills and competencies are in demand • It actively promotes and encourages the development of independent and responsible learning • It provides equitable access to the most appropriate technologies for all learners • It enables the development of differentiated learning opportunities that remove barriers to learning for children and young people with additional support needs. 2.3.2 Glow supports educators The GTCS Standard for Full Registration state that teachers are expected to have secure knowledge and understanding of current guidance on the use of digital technologies in schools and know how to use digital technologies competently to enhance teaching and learning. • Educators face a challenge in constantly updating their own digital skills, knowledge and practice. • The Glow platform maximizes the efforts of individual teachers through facilitating collaborative learning networks across local authority boundaries. • Glow based Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) enable teachers to discuss and share approaches to learning and teaching, as well as opening up access to Education Scotland education officers. • Glow supports a deeper understanding of the use of digital technologies and how they can be used to support and enhance learning and teaching across all curriculum areas 152
Page 153
• Glow provides a protected online environment where teachers, children and young people can connect, share and collaborate in and away from the classroom • Glow enables access to digital services that allow teachers to design and co- design learning resources, along with digital tools that support approaches to assessment and reduce teacher workload. 2.3.3 Glow supports education authorities Education authorities are responsible for delivering a world class education that is engaging, relevant and enjoyable. They are accountable for school improvement. • The provision of a central, single authentication portal and the choices this offers education authorities in personalising services to meet local needs, is a unique and evolving element of the Glow service. • Glow ensures best value as time and resources are not unnecessarily wasted as individual authorities or schools seek their own solutions and establish their own support and data protection arrangements. • Glow supports education authorities in accessing and making available commonly used and relevant services, applications and networking technologies within an online environment that promotes child safety and reduces risk. • Scottish Government ensures that Glow conforms to agreed standards in relation to the use and security of data, whilst recognising that education authorities are individually responsible for implementing legal requirements and codes of practice relating to the use of information technology. Access to Glow 2.4 Online safety is of the utmost importance in the delivery and management of Glow. Glow is not an open system and should be viewed as an extension of the school/education establishment. Only learners, and adults who require access in relation to their role as teaching or support staff, are provided with Glow accounts. All adults will have been Disclosure Scotland checked at minimum prior to their individual Glow account being created. 2.5 Therefore, as Glow is a closed system, direct access is not available to any Council employees outwith the education service, nor is it available to elected members, parents and carers or other members of the public. Of course, communication with parents and carers is vitally important. That is why schools have a wide range of ways (both digital and physical) to ensure that families are fully up-to-date with what is going on at school and how their child is progressing. Services provided through Glow 2.6 Glow is used by learners and educators across Scotland in lots of different ways. Some examples of how Glow is used in learning and teaching are listed below: • Communicate, collaborate and co-create with other Glow users • Upload and share content • Use Glow to create e-portfolios • Create personalised programmes of work • Share ideas and learning resources • Create your own website and share information • Plan tasks and track progress 153
Page 154
• Join or create learning communities • Create and join online meetings • Use as a platform for remote online learning Security 2.7 Security and safeguarding are of high importance within the whole Glow ecosystem. There is a dedicated safeguarding team at Education Scotland who deal with Glow, as well as staff at RM who provide security, particularly with the Microsoft components of Glow. 2.8 Security tools within Glow automatically delete specific emails sent to O365 if they are known to contain spam or malware. Certain filetypes cannot be attached to e-mail as they present a high risk of having inappropriate code within them. 2.9 In North Ayrshire. We are in the process of migrating school staff onto a corporate O365 licence in order to streamline access to corporate resources and foster collaboration between school and corporate staff. This will give staff an additional Microsoft 365 e-mail account and will further strengthen security. Using Glow in North Ayrshire 2.10 Glow plays an important role in supporting effective and secure digital learning and is used by all educational establishments in North Ayrshire. All teaching staff and all learners have a Glow login and these are used routinely on a daily basis in the provision of education. On average over the last year, there were almost 45,000 unique sessions on Glow per week in North Ayrshire. 2.11 The Glow platform is split into different levels of learning environments. There is a personal launch pad, a school launch pad, an education authority launch pad and a national launch pad. This enables users to access resources at a range of different levels. 2.12 The continued use of Glow in North Ayrshire ensures best value for the Council by avoiding duplication of systems, supporting national consistency and enabling access to high-quality digital tools that enhance learning outcomes 3. Proposals 3.1 It is proposed that the Audit and Scrutiny Committee: a) Note the content of this report 154
Page 155
4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 None. Human Resources 4.2 None. Legal 4.3 None. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 None. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 None. Key Priorities 4.6 The focus of the Education Service is to align with the Council Plan 2023-28 strategic aim to “transition to a wellbeing economy, delivering prosperity, wellbeing and resilience for local people” and more specifically “improving educational attainment and achievement and closing the attainment gap” activities. The quality of learning and teaching is a key component in raising attainment and this is enhanced through high- quality digital learning, including through the effective use of the Glow platform. Community Wealth Building 4.7 None. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8 None. United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 4.9 None. Consumer Duty 4.10 None. 5. Consultation 5.1 There was not direct consultation with stakeholders in connection with the content of this report. 155
Page 156
Andrew McClelland Head of Service (Education) and Chief Education Officer For further information please contact Kathleen McCormick, Executive Manager (Education), on 01294 324413. Background Papers 0 156
Page 157
NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 29 January 2026 Audit and Scrutiny Committee Title: Early Years Development Concerns – Assurance Report Purpose: To provide assurance to the Committee of the focus on early years developmental concerns as a priority within the Children and Families Health Team, through the Universal Health Visiting Pathway and wider service functions. Recommendation: Audit and Scrutiny Committee note the contents of the report. 1. Executive Summary 1.1 Our Council Plan Year End Progress Reporting including Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) analysis was presented to North Ayrshire Council’s Audit and Scrutiny Committee on the 23rd September. 1.2 Within the report, the measure CP_04 Proportion of children meeting developmental milestones was identified as being amber (slightly adrift of target), with an actual figure of 77.5% compared to a target of 79%. 1.3 This paper sets out some contextual information to the described measure, data trends and arrangements to improve performance. 1.4 North Ayrshire has benefited from investment within the Children and Families Health Team over the last decade, with innovative approaches to family support for children under 5 where concerns are identified. As well as providing a high-quality health visiting service, the service has expanded to provide more specialist support to families in relation to perinatal mental health, infant feeding and support to dads, allowing us to provide the right support, in the right way, and at the right time to families. 2. Background 2.1 Role of the Health Visitor and developmental reviews Health visitors (and Family Nurses for supported families) identify and address potential developmental concerns through regular health and development reviews. These reviews involve asking parents about their child’s progress, carefully observing the child, and supporting parents to complete a structured questionnaire about the child’s development. At the end of the review Health Visitors record whether they have any concerns about each area of the child’s development. Agenda Item 7 157
Page 158
2.2 The following eight domains are assessed within Health Visitor reviews: • Speech, language and communication • Gross motor • Fine motor • Problem solving • Personal/ social • Emotional/ behavioural • Vision • Hearing These domains are used consistently at all three reviews, and Health Visitors record their overall assessment of each domain of a child’s development as: • No concern about this aspect of the child’s development • Concern newly suspected as a result of the review • Concern or disorder already known prior to the review, or • Assessment incomplete 2.3 Since April 2017, it has also been national policy for Health Visitors to ask all parents to complete an Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ-3) at each of the reviews. Five developmental domains are covered by this tool (communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving, and personal/social). 2.4 Delayed and disordered development Problems with early child development are important as they are strongly associated with long-term health, educational, and wider social difficulties. Detecting developmental concerns early provides the best opportunity to support children and families to improve outcomes. Children generally acquire developmental skills in a predictable order. Broadly speaking, a child’s development can cause concern if it is disordered or delayed. Disordered development means that certain aspects of a child’s development are not progressing as would be expected, whilst others continue to progress, meaning that skills are not gained in the expected order. Disordered development is more likely to indicate an underlying biological problem. Delayed development means that a child’s development is progressing in the usual fashion, but at a relatively slow rate. Delayed development is more likely to reflect wider environmental problems, particularly if the delay is relatively mild. There is good evidence that parenting support and enriched early learning opportunities can improve outcomes for children with, or at risk of, developmental delay. In addition, there is increasing evidence that intensive early interventions for children with serious developmental problems can also improve outcomes. 158
Page 159
2.5 Child Health Surveillance Programme – Pre-school (CHSP-PS) The Child Health Surveillance Programme – Pre-School (CHSP-PS), overseen by Public Health Scotland, is provided to all children in Scotland. It aims to ensure children have the best start in life through provision of health promotion and parenting support, early identification of physical and developmental problems, delivery of early and effective interventions and provision of support to children and families who need it most. The CHSP-PS supports Getting it Right for Every Child – a holistic approach to assessing, planning and intervening for children across agencies – particularly health, education and social work. The data collected and reported from CHSP-PS allows for individual clinical assessment and recording, as well as population monitoring of child health and wellbeing. 2.6 Within the national Universal Health Visiting Pathway (UHVP) there are three review points with corresponding measures which contribute to an overall picture of childhood development in under 5s: • % of children with one or more developmental concerns recorded at the 13-15 month review • % of children with one or more developmental concerns recorded at the 27-30 month review • % of children with one or more developmental concerns recorded at the 4-5 year review. 2.7 The measure within the LGBF relates to the 27-30-month review; however, in order to give an accurate picture of early years development, data from all three reviews have been included below. 3. Proposals 3.1 Data Analysis Developmental data is collated from health visiting reviews and is entered into the national CHSP-PS system by the Child Health Admin Team within North Ayrshire HSCP. Public Health Scotland undertake a process of data cleansing and release national, health board and local authority level data on a quarterly basis via the Health in the Early Years in Scotland (HEYS) dashboard. More localised information is available on the national Discovery portal. 3.2 Across Scotland, developmental concerns in under 5s have been increasing since before the COVID-19 pandemic but have been more notable since the pandemic. Figures 1, 2 and 3 below show trends over time at each of the review points in the UHVP for children in North Ayrshire. 159
Page 160
3.3 Public Health Scotland also produces data in respect of the individual developmental domains. This is available at national, health board and local authority level. The most recent publication from PHS relates to date from 23/24. A review of data for North Ayrshire for the period 2019/20 to 2023/24 was undertaken and the following points identified: 13-15-month review • An annual average of 5.8% of children have either a new or previously identified concern in relation to speech, language and communication. Speech, language and communication is the most common reason for developmental concern at this time point. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 01/01/2019 01/04/2019 01/07/2019 01/10/2019 01/01/2020 01/04/2020 01/07/2020 01/10/2020 01/01/2021 01/04/2021 01/07/2021 01/10/2021 01/01/2022 01/04/2022 01/07/2022 01/10/2022 01/01/2023 01/04/2023 01/07/2023 01/10/2023 01/01/2024 01/04/2024 01/07/2024 01/10/2024 01/01/2025 01/04/2025 % of children Quarter of review Figure 1: Developmental concerns at 13-15 month review (CHSP-PS) North Ayrshire Scotland 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 01/01/2019 01/04/2019 01/07/2019 01/10/2019 01/01/2020 01/04/2020 01/07/2020 01/10/2020 01/01/2021 01/04/2021 01/07/2021 01/10/2021 01/01/2022 01/04/2022 01/07/2022 01/10/2022 01/01/2023 01/04/2023 01/07/2023 01/10/2023 01/01/2024 01/04/2024 01/07/2024 01/10/2024 01/01/2025 01/04/2025 % of children Quarter of review Figure 2: Developmental concerns at 27-30 month review (CHSP-PS) North Ayrshire Scotland 160
Page 161
• Data from 2023/24 showed the highest proportion of children (6.8%) with speech and language concerns. This is an increase of 2% from 2019/20. • 5.3% of children had concerns around gross motor skills. • Improvements in fine motor skills and problem solving have been observed in the noted time period. *due to the very small numbers, hearing and vision domains have been removed from the data. 27-30-month review • 15.4% of children have a new or previous concern identified in relation to speech, language and communication. • Data from 2023/24 showed the highest proportion of children (17.3%) have speech and language concerns. This is an increase of 3.9% from 2019/20. • Emotional/behavioural problems account for the second highest developmental concern at this review point. Between 19/20 and 23/24, an increase of 2.1% of concerns in this domain have been observed, with 9.1% of children in 2023/24 having identified concerns. *due to the very small numbers, hearing and vision domains have been removed from the data. 0 2 4 6 8 Communication Personal/ social Emotional/ behaviour Problem solving Gross motor skills Fine motor skills Axis Title Domain Figure 4: Developmental concerns by domain at 13-15 months review (19/20 to 23/24) 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 0 5 10 15 20 Communication Personal/ social Emotional/ behaviour Problem solving Gross motor skills Fine motor skills % of children with new or previous concern identified Domain Figure 5: Developmental concerns by domain at 27-30 month assessment (19/20 to 23/24) 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 161
Page 162
4-5-year review • Overall, the number of children identified with a new or previously identified concern decreases significantly at this review point compared to at the 27-30- month review; however, across all domains, increases, sometimes significant increases, have been observed over the period considered. • Emotional/behaviour concerns in 23/24 accounted for the highest proportion of concerns at this review point. For the first time across all reviews from 2019/20, speech, language and communication was not the most common concern. • Significant increases were also observed in speech, language and communication and problem-solving domains during 23/24. *due to the very small numbers, hearing and vision domains have been removed from the data. 3.4 Inequalities In 2025, Public Health Scotland published Early Child Development Statistics Scotland 2023/24 and drew the following conclusions nationally: “There are marked and persistent socioeconomic inequalities in the percentage of children recorded as having a concern about their development at each of the reviews. The gap between those living in the most and least deprived areas is greatest at the 27-30 month review (16 percentage points) and smallest at the 13-15 month review (5 percentage points).” 3.5 Local data also shows this correlation, with higher levels of developmental concerns seen in more deprived Intermediate Zones (IZ) of North Ayrshire. 3.6 North Ayrshire has the second highest level of developmental concerns in under 5s across Scottish local authorities. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Communication Personal/ social Emotional/ behaviour Problem solving Gross motor skills Fine motor skills % of children with new or previous concern identified Domain Figure 6: Developmental concerns by domain at 27-30 month review (19/20 to 23/24) 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 162
Page 163
3.7 Action to Improve Performance National The Scottish Government wants to ensure that every child born in Scotland has the best start in life and, through its Early Child Development Transformational Change Programme, is committed to reducing developmental concerns at 27-30 months by a quarter by 2030 – resulting in the lowest levels recorded. In March 2025, the Enhancing Delivery of the Health Visiting Service: Scotland’s Health Visiting Action Plan 2025-2035 was published to support realisation of the Change Programme. The Action Plan has been informed by national evaluation, feedback from Health Boards and analysis of pertinent data such as developmental concerns at the various Health Visitor reviews. National Early Language and Communication (NELC) Project Language and communication development is the most frequent concern seen at 27-30 months and is fundamental to wider development and outcomes. Through the national Children and Young People’s Improvement Collaborative (CYPIC), the NELC project aims to raise the profile of prevention and early intervention in relation to Speech, Language & Communication development across Scotland, with a pre- birth to school entry focus. Local Children and Families Health Team Over the last ten years, the Children and Families Health Team has continued to enhance its approach to early years through the introduction of different roles to support early and preventative help. The early years part of CFHT consists of the following staff: • 43.37WTE Health Visitors – acting as named person for all children under 5- years-old, with a central role in the promotion and protection of child health and development. • 5.8 WTE Health Visiting Support Workers – provide home based parenting support on a range of concerns from communication, sleep and behaviour to toilet readiness and infant feeding. • 2.0 WTE Family Nurturers – provide intensive family support in areas such as bonding and attachment, routines, play, home conditions and community integration. • The Family Nurturers also support the families where children are being returned to parental care. • 2.6 WTE Perinatal Mental Health Nurses – provide specialist support to expectant and new mums who have mild mental health difficulties. They are supported by a 0.8WTE Healthcare Support Worker. • 1.0WTE Community Infant Feeding Nurse (pan-Ayrshire) and 0.6WTE Community Infant Feeding Support Nurse (North Ayrshire only) – provide specialist infant feeding support in the home. 163
Page 164
The service also been working in partnership with national charity Dads Rock and have commissioned, through North Ayrshire’s Whole Family Wellbeing Fund, two dads’ workers to support dads of children under 5 to promote confidence and improved interaction and attachment. As well as all children under 5 in North Ayrshire being supported by the health visiting team as part of the UVHP, during 2024/25, 841 children and families were supported by the various roles described above, evidencing our approach to early help and support where concerns are identified. Within the service, a Data Governance Group has been established to provide greater oversight and scrutiny of data related to service delivery, including data pertaining to developmental concerns. The group will report directly into the CFHT Governance and Development Group and will be discharged to consider the data and areas for improvement. Specialist Service Provision In addition to the integrated approach offered within CFHT, North Ayrshire children also have access to a range of specialist local authority, NHS, third sector and community supports dependent on needs. In 2024/25, 873 children were supported by services ranging from Paediatrics, audiology and speech and language therapy to We Work For Families, early nursery placements and physiotherapy amongst others. Infant Feeding There is compelling evidence on the benefits of breastfeeding on the short- and long-term health of mothers and their babies. Breastfeeding protects babies from ear, gastrointestinal and chest infections, diabetes and asthma. Breastfed babies have a healthier growth trajectory therefore are less likely to become overweight later in childhood. As such, breastfeeding is an important indicator of child wellbeing and is a priority for children’s services. Breastfeeding rates have been stubbornly low over the last two decades, with a close correlation with levels of deprivation, however; North Ayrshire has observed significant improvements in breastfeeding rates at the first health visitor visit (10-14 days) and at 6-8 weeks. The proportion of babies receiving any breastmilk has also increased and our drop-off rate between initiation (birth) and the first HV review and between the first review and 6-8 weeks has reduced. North Ayrshire, alongside health visiting and Family Nurse Partnership services in East and South Ayrshire, is currently accredited to Gold level for UNICEF’s Baby Friendly Initiative, reflecting the prioritisation of breastfeeding, the high standards of care offered to families in relation to infant feeding, and our commitment to continuous improvement. Enhanced collaboration with early years’ education Over the last 18 months, relationships between the CFHT and early years education colleagues have been strengthened. This has included regular meetings between respective senior leadership teams and the implementation of a number of actions: 164
Page 165
• Reintroduction of a linked health visitor for every early years’ establishment to improve relationships, information sharing and joint approaches to supporting children’s needs. • Establishment of a new process to share assessment information between health and education where developmental concerns have been identified. • A programme of parenting information and support to encourage earlier toilet readiness and reduce the number of children commencing Primary 1 who are not toilet ready. • Work to improve uptake of eligible 2 year old Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) placements. • A multi-agency approach to improving speech, language and communication needs in the early years including standardising resources, building capacity across the workforce and agreeing consistency in approach between health visiting, education and speech and language therapy. Speech, language and communication needs Aligned to the national work described at 5.1.3, the speech, language and communication needs of children, particularly in the early years is a cross-service priority in North Ayrshire. Since 2018, communication difficulties in the early years have been the main reason families have required support from the CFHT integrated early years team, closely followed by behaviour – both of which are inextricably linked in terms of child development. To support this, a Communications workstream, chaired by Speech and Language Therapy and attended by colleagues from education, health visiting, social work and third sector was formed two years ago, reporting into North Ayrshire’s GIRFEC Steering Group. The workstream aims to build the confidence and competence of staff to support communication needs; to standardise resources and supports across services for speech, language and communication needs; and to continue to progress the Communication Champion model which has been utilised in ELC settings for several years. Ayrshire Bairns app A digital resource providing evidence-based parenting advice and support which complements the UVHP was piloted by North Ayrshire in 2022 and is now well established across all three Ayrshires. The app provides information on what to expect from the health visiting service as well as information on how to support early years development. Collaboration for Health Equity in Scotland (CHES) North Ayrshire’s involvement in the CHES programme provides an additional opportunity to focus on early years through the Principle 1 workstream. Indeed, data on developmental concerns was a key driver in the prioritisation of the early years’ principle, and helped identify the Irvine communities of Fullarton, Bourtreehill and Castlepark as the focal point for the work. Nesta and CELCIS family support in pregnancy and early years North Ayrshire is one of six local Children’s Services Strategic Partnerships (CSSP) selected to work with national organisations Nesta and CELCIS to explore existing pregnancy and early childhood supports and infrastructure. The opportunity aims to: 165
Page 166
• formulate a tailored early years data profile compiling indicators relevant to your area and at intermediate zone level where possible (created by Nesta) • map current support offer for pregnancy and early childhood • identify specific strengths and areas of unmet need to inform local planning • make clear, evidence-based recommendations for our local planning processes • facilitate engagement with peers from five other CSPP areas to share learning and improve systems across Scotland • contribute to national and local policy and practice recommendations Thrive at Five Initial conversations have taken place between North Ayrshire and national organisation Thrive at Five. Thrive at Five aims to help children in their early years develop strong foundations for life and learning. Focusing on communities impacted by poverty, their place-based model supports positive development from pregnancy to five. Local conversations are exploring how this might benefit North Ayrshire families, whilst aligning with CHES and the exploratory work with Nesta and CELCIS. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 None. Human Resources 4.2 None. Legal 4.3 None. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 None. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 None. Key Priorities 4.6 None. Community Wealth Building 4.7 None. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8 None 166
Page 167
United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 4.9 None. Consumer Duty 4.10 None. 5. Consultation 5.1 There is no doubt there is a commitment across the system to improve child wellbeing, ultimately improving outcomes for children as they progress through education and transition into adulthood. The strong partnership between health visiting and early years education and colleagues across the health and social care system, should offer confidence in our desire to improve the health and wellbeing of children under 5 in North Ayrshire. Ongoing work can further improve our evidence base around how this is done effectively and in a way that provides more support to those children and their families who would benefit most. Caroline Cameron Director, North Ayrshire Health and Social Care Partnership For further information please contact Joanne Inglis, Senior Manager , on joanne.inglis@north-ayrshire.gov.uk. Background Papers 0 167
Page 168
168
Page 169
NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 29 January 2026 Audit & Scrutiny Committee Title: Food Law Enforcement Actions Audit by Food Standards Scotland Purpose: To advise the Committee of Food Standards Scotland’s findings in relation to the arrangements in place in North Ayrshire Council to ensure adequate and effective food law enforcement across the Council area. Recommendation: That the Committee: a) notes the positive findings of the audit by Food Standards Scotland (FSS), as detailed in Appendix 2; and b) notes that further work will be carried out internally, and in conjunction with FSS, to improve the accuracy of data transferred from the Council’s database to the Scottish National Database (SND). 1. Executive Summary 1.1 In August 2025, North Ayrshire Council’s Environmental Health Section were selected for audit by Food Standards Scotland (FSS), focussing on enforcement actions in relation to food law. 1.2 On 5 November 2025, the findings of the audit were presented by FSS to Council officers and included the following positive conclusions: • Policies, including the Council’s Enforcement Policy, had recently been reviewed and are effective; • 2,000 interventions had been undertaken, and 11 notices had been served, since October 2022; • Enforcement action taken was effective, proportionate and timely, resulting in improved standards; • Notice wording was clear, easy to understand and included all required information; • An annual sampling plan is prepared by officers, targeting highest risk establishments and includes surveys undertaken on behalf of FSS; • Formal correspondence is reviewed by senior staff; • Validation inspections and peer reviews have been evidenced. Agenda Item 8 169
Page 170
1.3 The report also concluded that correlation between the Council’s database and the Scottish National Database (SND), maintained by FSS, was reasonable. However, it noted that there is a potential need for improved SND verification. 1.4 The auditors also highlighted the Council’s wish to implement more innovative working methods, using updated technology, but it was noted that costs had been a barrier to date. Officers will continue to explore the business case for any service changes in this regard. 2. Background 2.1 North Ayrshire Council has a statutory duty to deliver a programme of official controls, ensuring the requirements of food law within premises located in its area are met. When undertaking official controls, authorised officers must have regard to relevant provisions of the Food Law Codes of Practice (Scotland), and ensure actions are in accordance with the principles of Better Regulation, as outlined in the Scottish Regulator’s Strategic Code of Practice. 2.2 Where a food business fails to meet the required food law standards, enforcement action is taken in accordance with the Council’s Food Law Enforcement Policy and Procedures. Officers must act in a reasonable, proportionate, transparent and consistent manner, using the range of powers available. 2.3 The Council’s arrangements for the delivery of official controls is overseen by Food Standard Scotland (FSS). Performance is principally monitored through a programme of audits which seek to establish the adequacy of arrangements in place, either in their entirety or as focussed audits assessing individual areas. The overarching aim is to provide assurance that the delivery of official controls for food is compliant with Scottish and UK legal requirements and official guidance. 2.4 In August 2025, North Ayrshire Council was selected to receive a Food Law Enforcement Actions Audit. The aim of the audit was to assess and verify the arrangements in place to ensure the adequate and effective delivery of food law enforcement systems, procedures and actions in accordance with the Audit Brief (attached at Appendix 1, issued by FSS in June 2025). 2.5 The audit took place from 6 October 2025 and consisted of an online meeting and a desktop review of policies, procedures and database information uploaded by the Council’s Lead Food Officer. In addition, a comparison was made between the Council’s information submitted and that transferred to the Scottish National Database (SND), which is owned and maintained by FSS. 2.6 The auditors met with the team responsible for food enforcement on 5 November 2025 and presented their findings via a PowerPoint document, which is attached at Appendix 2. 2.7 The auditors concluded that: • The Authority provided an Enforcement Policy, which was last reviewed and approved on 5 June 2024. Other policies and procedures in place had recently been reviewed and are effective. 170
Page 171
• Over 2,000 interventions had been carried out, with 11 enforcement actions taken since 1 October 2022. Correlation between the data held on the Food Enforcement Database (FED) and the SND was reasonable. Further investigation and resolution of some enforcement code mappings is required to verify that the data captured in SND accurately depicts data held in the FED e.g. enforcement actions, approved establishments and revisits. • Enforcement action taken was effective, proportionate and timely, resulting in improvements in standards. • For the files reviewed, enforcement notice wording was clear and easy to understand, listed legislation contravened and works required to comply. Appropriate timescales were given and right of appeal to the relevant court was included. • A sampling plan is prepared each year, with sampling targeted at the highest risk establishments, in addition to undertaking FSS surveys. • More innovative working methods are being considered, using updated technology, however implementation costs have been a barrier to date. Officers will continue to consider the business case for any service changes in this regard. • Formal correspondence is reviewed by senior staff; evidence of these reviews requires to be recorded on the Environmental Health IT system. Validation inspections and peer reviews were evidenced. • There is a potential need for improved SND data verification. 3. Proposals 3.1 It is proposed that the Committee: a) notes the positive findings of the audit by Food Standards Scotland as attached in Appendix 2; and b) notes that further work will be carried out internally and in conjunction with FSS to improve the accuracy of data transferred from the Council’s database to SND. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 The financial implications arising from the introduction of innovative methods of working and associated technology, as recommended by FSS, have yet to be quantified and will be the subject of a detailed business case. Human Resources 4.2 None. Legal 4.3 North Ayrshire Council has a statutory duty to deliver a programme of official controls, ensuring the requirements of food law within premises located in its area are met. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 None. 171
Page 172
Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 None. Key Priorities 4.6 An adequate and effective system of food law enforcement ensures that robust governance arrangements are in place to fulfil the Council’s statutory duties, manage risk and support delivery of key priorities pertaining to Wellbeing and having a Sustainable Council. Community Wealth Building 4.7 None. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8 None. United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 4.9 None. Consumer Duty 4.10 Having a robust system of food law enforcement in place contributes to the core principles of ‘safety’ and ‘information’ which must be considered under the Consumer Scotland Act 2020 by ensuring consumers are adequately protected from risk of harm, and that information is available to make good choices or undertake action. 5. Consultation 5.1 None. David W. Hammond) Executive Director (Communities and Housing) For further information please contact Scott McKenzie, Senior Manager (Protective Services), on 01294 324347. Background Papers None. 172
Page 173
FSS/ENF/25/002 1 Audit Assurance Audit Brief & Plan Local Authority Food Law Enforcement Actions Audit June 2025 DATE OF ISSUE: 18 JUNE 2025 REVISION DATE: (TBC, IF REQUIRED) VERSION NUMBER: 1.0 NUMBER OF PAGES: 5 Version History VERSION NO. DATE DESCRIPTION OF CHANGES 173
Page 174
FSS/ENF/25/002 2 1. Introduction 1.1 The power to set standards, monitor and audit the performance of enforcement authorities was conferred on Food Standards Scotland (FSS) by section 3 of the Food (Scotland) Act 2015 and Regulation 7 of The Official Feed and Food Controls (Scotland) Regulations 2009. 1.2 In addition, on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed or food law includes a requirement for competent authorities to carry out internal audits or to have external audits carried out. 1.3 To fulfil this requirement FSS, has established external audit arrangements in respect of competent authorities. These arrangements are intended to ensure competent authorities are providing an effective and consistent service for the delivery of official controls and are meeting the general criteria laid out in Regulation (EU) 2017/625. 1.4 In delivering the audit function, FSS follows the guidance provided by the Commission on the implementation of the provisions for the conduct of audits under Article 6 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 and applies a systematic approach in relation to the planning, conduct, follow up and management of audits. All UK Competent Authorities should strive to follow this guidance. 1.5 Further information on the Local Authority (LA) performance monitoring and audit function is contained within the Audit Charter. 2. Audit Background 2.1 LAs have a statutory duty to enforce the requirements of food law. Regulation 5 of the Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006 sets out the division of enforcement responsibilities between LAs and FSS in respect of the Hygiene Regulations. Schedule 5 of the Official Feed and Food Controls (Scotland) Regulations 2009 as amended, sets out the competent authority for each of the articles within Regulation (EU) 2017/625. In addition to food safety matters, the Food Safety Act 1990 provides protection for other consumer interests in relation to food. In enforcing the requirements of food law, LAs must have regard to relevant provisions of the Food Law Codes of Practice (Scotland) and discharge their statutory duties as effectively as possible, using means that are most appropriate to the circumstances. In fulfilling these duties, LAs should also have regard to the principles of Better Regulation as outlined in the Scottish Regulators’ Strategic Code of Practice. This provides a framework for regulation in Scotland. FSS’s statutory duties include oversight of LAs’ arrangements for the delivery of Official Controls. This includes performance monitoring (which may include a programme of audits) of LAs’ arrangements to meet the requirements of food 174
Page 175
FSS/ENF/25/002 3 law, production of audit reports and associated action plans. 2.2 When required, enforcement action is normally taken in accordance with each LA’s Food Law Enforcement Policy and procedures. Enforcement should be conducted in a reasonable, proportionate, transparent and consistent manner. Where a food business fails to meet the required food law standards, authorised officers have a range of powers available to them to deal with non- compliance. In deciding the type of enforcement action to take, an authorised officer must have regard to: • the nature of the breach and the history of compliance of the food business operator; or • in the case of new businesses, an assessment of the food business operator’s willingness to undertake the work identified by the officer. 3. Aim and Scope 3.1 The aim of this audit is to assess and verify the arrangements in place at LAs to ensure the adequate and effective delivery of Official Controls, specifically enforcement actions, in LA establishments. The focussed audit will: • Verify that official controls are carried out in compliance with planned arrangements; • Verify effective implementation of planned arrangements by LAs; • Assess whether planned arrangements are suitable to achieve the objectives of the relevant legislation; • Disseminate good practice; • Identify issues that relate to FSS delivery policy and where appropriate, make recommendations which affect those policies. 3.2 It is intended that the scope will cover the following areas as set out in legislation and the Codes of Practice: • An evaluation of the organisational, planning and management systems in place regarding official control delivery and the LA approach to enforcement in food establishments; • An assessment of documented policies and procedures; • Authorisation and competency of officers (qualifications, training & experience) involved in the delivery of official controls; • Food Enforcement Database (or spreadsheet equivalent records); • Enforcement Actions including notices served, food seizures, and reports to the CoPFS. • Internal monitoring arrangements. 4. Review Process 4.1 This audit will focus on examining evidence to verify compliance with planned arrangements, verify that the planned arrangements are applied effectively and assess whether the planned arrangements are suitable to achieve the 175
Page 176
FSS/ENF/25/002 4 objectives. This will consist of a documentation review and a findings meeting with the LA. For consistency, a standard audit checklist will be used throughout. 4.2 The Audit process will consist of 3 stages: Stage 1: Each LA selected for audit will be issued a questionnaire requesting information relating to enforcement activities which will then be subject to review. Stage 2: This will comprise of a desktop review carried out by the auditors to analyse and review the information received. If further information / documentation is required, auditors will be in contact with the LA to request this during this time. Initial findings from this analysis will inform and direct stage 3. Stage 3: Meeting with each LA where the auditors will verify the information received and examined in stages 1 & 2 and present their findings. 5. Audit Criteria and Reference Documents 5.1 The audit criteria are the legislation, policies, procedures, or other requirements used as a reference against which evidence is compared, i.e., the standards against which LAs’ activities are assessed. For the purposes of this audit the main references will be: • Regulation (EU) 2017/625 • Food Law Code of Practice (Scotland) 2019 • The Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006 • Regulation (EC) No178/2002 • Regulation (EC) No 852/2004 • Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 • The Food Information (Scotland) Regulations 2014 • Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 • The Food (Scotland) Act 2015 6. Selection of Local Authorities 6.1 The following criteria will be considered when selecting LAs to ensure a representative sample is achieved: • A geographic spread throughout Scotland; • Time elapsed since previous audit; • Other intelligence, e.g. SFCIU input, Inward Missions, Scottish National Database reports, Service Plan (SP) reviews, recalls and alerts etc. 6.2 LAs selected for audit will be notified by means of a letter and will be given 10 working days’ notice to respond and provide the documentation requested. Notification will be addressed to the LA’s Chief Executive, Head of Service and Lead Food Officer responsible for the LA’s food law enforcement activity. 176
Page 177
FSS/ENF/25/002 5 7. Audit Outcome 7.1 All LAs audited will receive a PowerPoint presentation summarising the general discussion and feedback. An overall summary report will be produced on conclusion of the audit programme. 8. Publication of Audit report 8.1 Information on LA official control delivery performance is placed in the public domain. The summary audit report will be published on the FSS website at: Audit and monitoring | Food Standards Scotland 177
Page 178
Date: August – November 2025 Audit Assurance Division Title slide Local Authority Food Law Enforcement Actions Audit 2025 - 26 Presentation of Audit Findings – North Ayrshire Council 178
Page 179
2 Audit Aim • The aim of the audit programme is to assess and verify the arrangements in place at Local Authorities to ensure the adequate and effective delivery of Official Controls, specifically enforcement actions in LA enforced establishments. Audit Scope • The audit covered the organisation, planning, implementation and review of official controls carried out by North Ayrshire Council’s Environmental Health Service. Audit Process • The Audit primarily consisted of a documentation review and one online meeting held with the Audit Liaison Officer over the course of ten days. • The findings of the audit will be presented here and will also be compiled into an overall summary report at the end of the Audit Programme. Introduction 179
Page 180
3 Organisation & Management • The Authority has a 2025-26 Food Enforcement Service Plan in place. • The Plan outlines how food safety will be monitored and controlled within North Ayrshire. The Authority’s approach to interventions out-of-hours is included in the Plan. • The Authority has 1459 registered food premises, including 138 manufacturers and packers, and 9 Approved Establishments (AE). • On FHIS – there are 1350 premises on the platform and 94% have a Pass. • On SND, there are 120 premises showing as unrated, equating to 8.3% of the premises cohort. 189 premises are rated Group 3 Band A under FLRS (13% of the cohort). • 619 premises are programmed to be inspected in 2025-26 and in addition, some of the 306 inspections that were missed in 2024-25 will be included on the basis of risk. • A Food Premises Registration Procedure targets resources towards higher risk new premises whilst ensuring that all new business registrations are acknowledged and information links sent to aid food law compliance. By assigning an inspection date to all new business registrations, these can be tracked to ensure none are missed. Group 1 businesses are inspected within 30 days of receipt of their registration form. • 160 new business registration forms were received in 2024-25, and 150 in 2023-24, which is considered to represent an increasing workload. 180
Page 181
4 • The Authority provided an Enforcement Policy that was last reviewed and approved on 05 June 2024. • The Authority has a Scheme of Delegation that was approved on 18 September 2024. • Copies of photographic ID officer authorisations were submitted, all dated April 2024 with the exception of two new members of staff. • A range of formal enforcement procedures in the form of flow diagrams/decision trees are contained in the Appendices of the Enforcement Policy. Written protocols were also submitted for the service of notices and entering of inspection data. • An Employee Code of Conduct (dated 25/2/22) was provided, which sets out standards of conduct that all employees are expected to follow, including the need to declare any potential conflicts of interest. • The Food Safety Internal Monitoring Procedures require all correspondence of a formal nature, including any reports to the CoPFS via SRAweb to be checked by the Team Manager or Specialist EHO prior to issue. Similarly, any proposed re-categorisation of business groups require to be notified and agreed. • Officers can access documented protocols and procedures via an EH Resource Index, which also contains links to Food Standards Scotland's Food Law Guide and other guidance documents. Policies & Procedures 181
Page 182
5 • Programmed inspection caseload is allocated monthly or quarterly. Most interventions are carried out unannounced. Appointments are made where there are logistical or seasonal issues e.g. Arran or Cumbrae. • Food Law inspections and OCV cycles are programmed using the Food Enforcement Database (FED) without resorting to separate spreadsheets. • The database spreadsheet provided showed that 2005 interventions had been carried out since 1 October 2022, including 1270 planned inspections, 247 new business inspections and 155 revisits. The data held on SND for the same period indicates a total of 1851 interventions, including 1821 inspections and audits and 5 revisits, surveillance and other visits and 16 values not recognised. This indicates reasonable correlation, but further investigation of some enforcement code mappings is required to improve the accuracy of and to verify the data captured in SND. • Notice wording was clear and easy to understand, listed legislation contravened and works required to comply. Appropriate timescales were given and right of appeal to the relevant court was included. Where written application was received for an extended time-period, the existing notice was withdrawn and a new notice with extended timescale was issued. • Standard paragraphs are used to encourage efficient use of officer time as well as consistency. • Notices are served as soon as practicable after interventions. Notice templates are generated, and unique reference numbers are assigned using the notices database, which also serves as a register of all notices served. Revisits to check compliance are expected to be done within one working day after the expiry of the notice. Interventions 182
Page 183
6 • From the database spreadsheet review, most inspections were programmed, which is a positive sign of proactive enforcement. Inspection activity was highest in 2023, with a slight decline in 2024 and 2025. New business inspections followed a similar trend. Revisits are a significant part of the inspection regime, especially for food law compliance. • Based on the verification checks conducted by the audit team, the service of notices was proportionate based on the significance of the contraventions identified. The range of notices served included both HINs and RANs. • Appropriate and current Food Law Notice templates are being used because these must be generated from the FED. The Authority has considered issuing hand-written notices, but sufficient sub-offices are readily available, where officers can prepare Notices electronically. These are then printed, signed and served. • Improvements in inspection techniques and equipment are being considered to allow for more inspection time and reduce the number of outstanding inspections in future years. • It was hoped to modernise data capture during inspections using tablet devices and reduce time spent scanning and indexing inspection paperwork. The cost of implementing any such mobile solution has, so far, proved prohibitive. Enforcement Arrangements 183
Page 184
7 The Authority provided evidence and confirmed that 11 enforcement actions had been taken on 7 FBOs since 1 October 2022. On SND for the same period, there were 19 enforcements on 10 establishments. Enforcement activity taken since 1 October 2022 on SND does not accurately correlate with the data held on the Authority’s Food Enforcement Database. The Lead Food Officer is taking appropriate action to identify the cause of this problem and resolve the issue. Enforcement Actions Enforcement Action 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 Total LA SND LA SND LA SND LA SND LA SND HIN 4 4 4 4 RAN 1 6 10 1 4 7 15 RAN withdrawn 5 1 6 Total 0 1 2 4 11 10 2 4 17 19 184
Page 185
8 Reasons cited and effectiveness of Enforcement Action Hygiene Improvement Notices – lack of hot water (2). Remedial Action Notices – lack of hot water (4), cleanliness and repair (1), HACCP (1), pest infestation (1). Overall, it appears that enforcement action was effective resulting in improvements in food law compliance. 185
Page 186
9 • The Authority employs qualified, trained and experienced officers. • Staffing – 6.6 FTE filled out of 6.6 establishment posts. • A required resource calculation, carried out in conjunction with FSS in January 2025 calculated that 8.09 FTE would be required to deliver the full range of food law related activities. • Food Safety Authorisation and Training Procedures require training records to be kept and there is a training programme which ensures all officers receive a minimum of 10 hours continuing personal development, in accordance with the Food Law Code of Practice. • Consistency exercises are conducted where necessary, i.e. following policy changes, new legislation, etc. An FLRS scoring scenario exercise is in the process of being planned for newly recruited officers. • Newly qualified and returning officers receive in-house practical training in the form of accompanied visits to different business types and coaching in the database recording and post inspection administration requirements. • The Authority has a Performance and Personal Development procedure. Annual reviews of employee personal development are carried out, with areas for enhancement identified and discussed. • Communication – in addition to face to face, this takes place via team meetings, which are minuted, Teams meetings, email updates, and email correspondence following requests for advice and assistance from officers. Competence 186
Page 187
10 • The Authority uses its FED to schedule due dates for all its food premises. • Protocols exist outlining data entry for inspections and the steps to be taken by officers to record the service of notices. All actions associated with inspections are recorded in action diaries. The FED is used to create and populate notice templates automatically, including assignation of unique reference numbers. • There were no Enforcement Actions code errors (Value not recognised) on SND, which indicates no issues with enforcement mappings. • The Authority’s Enforcement Action data is not accurately represented on SND, however. Only 58% of enforcement actions in SND had been served. Data cleansing and verification is required to ensure that SND data accurately correlates with data held by the Authority. • The Authority's Approved Establishments – 8 are listed on the FSS website, 9 in FED and in the Service Plan and 11 are listed in SND. • Daily inputting following interventions is undertaken by the Inspecting Officers. • Administration support is undertaken by a Systems Administrator who maintains the database and highlights any anomalies. Consideration should be given to providing resilience where this task isn't being done for whatever reason. Food Enforcement Database 187
Page 188
11 • An annual sampling plan is prepared, targeting high risk products. • Information on products likely to fail microbiological and/or chemical standards is obtained from the Scottish Food Sampling Database and FSS Horizon reports and is used to inform the Sampling programme on an annual basis. • 111 samples were taken in 2022-23, 126 samples were taken in 2023-24 and 131 samples were taken in 2024-25. • There are approximately 280 private water supplies in North Ayrshire, and fifteen food businesses operate with a private water supply. • No enforcement action was required in the last 3 years in response to any unsatisfactory sample result. Sampling 188
Page 189
12 Internal Monitoring • Quality assessment is undertaken in accordance with the Food Safety Internal Monitoring procedure which ensures that food enforcement is undertaken in a consistent manner, in compliance with centrally issued guidance and internal policies and procedures. • All correspondence of a formal nature is checked by Team Manager or Specialist EHO – any issues, the inspecting officer is consulted, and inconsistencies are raised during team meetings or via email updates. • Validation Inspections - accompanied inspections are carried out periodically – any inconsistencies or deviations are notified to the officer and additional training provided where necessary. Evidence was provided that these are carried out and recorded in Action Diaries. • Internal monitoring procedures exist for Food Law Notices and any Reports to the COPFS via SRA web. • Officers are required to notify the Manager or Specialist EHO of any FLRS business group changes. • Policy Verification - files are peer reviewed using a verification checklist and recorded in the FED Action Diary. • Better procedures are required to ensure that data on SND is verified against the LA FED. 189
Page 190
13 Conclusions • The Authority provided an Enforcement Policy that was last reviewed and approved on 05 June 2024. Other policies and procedures in place are recently reviewed and effective. • Over 2000 interventions had been carried out, with eleven enforcement actions taken since 1 October 2022. Correlation between the data held on the FED and in SND was reasonable. Further investigation and resolution of some enforcement code mappings is required to verify that the data captured in SND accurately depicts data held in the FED e.g. enforcement actions, Approved Establishments and revisits. • Enforcement action taken was effective, proportionate and timely, resulting in improvements in standards. • For the files reviewed, Notice wording was clear and easy to understand, listed legislation contravened and works required to comply. Appropriate timescales were given and right of appeal to the relevant court was included. • A sampling plan is prepared each year, with sampling targeted at the highest risk establishments as well as FSS surveys. • More innovative working methods are being considered but implementation costs have been a barrier. • Formal correspondence is reviewed by senior staff, and checking is to be documented. Validation inspections and peer reviews were evidenced. • There is a potential need for improved SND data verification. 190
Page 191
14 North Ayrshire Council’s Comments & Feedback • North Ayrshire Council is aware of an issue with certain data not being removed from SND when a corresponding change is made on the Management Information System. For notices generated but not served, internal procedures have been amended to remove the notice code before the next SND submission. An annual exercise will be conducted to request manual deletion of any that appear in SND in error. This will include any approved premises no longer approved but still having this status in SND. • Investigations are underway with our Management Information System provider to improve the intervention data sent to SND as it appears that some interventions are not being categorised correctly (e.g. revisits). The issue with ‘value not recognised’ has been resolved and was due to new codes being added without being mapped on SND. • We are aware of discussions regarding improving the accuracy of data held in SND and the suggestion that FSS should request an annual accuracy check. We would support this, however, depending on the quality of data, it may be more manageable to undertake checks per data group or dashboard rather than the whole system. • Internal Monitoring procedures have been amended to ensure a ‘Manager Check’ code is recorded when discussions take place regarding correspondence, formal action or business group changes. • We wish to highlight the need for urgent amendment to the Food Law Rating Scheme (FLRS) following the recent review. Whilst we support the conflation of food hygiene and standards inspections and the higher frequency inspection categories for non-conforming businesses, we are of the view that certain compliant businesses are being inspected too frequently. In an era of reducing resources and an increasing inspection workload from new and non- compliant businesses, FLRS modification would be welcome to help address the inspection backlog. 191
Page 192
15 Next Steps • North Ayrshire Council is the third Authority to have been audited under the programme. • The programme will run until the end of financial year or until an adequate representation of Authorities has been achieved. • The findings from each audit, including your comments and feedback, will be published on FSS’ website and collated into an overall summary report which will be produced and published at the end of the programme. • The presentation once agreed, will be sent to your Chief Executive along with a covering letter. There is an expectation that the Local Authority will use the findings of the audit to help improve their performance. You may consider sharing the audit findings with elected members within the appropriate local public committee. • Any feedback you provide will also be incorporated into the summary report. The report will be made available on our website, and you will be notified once it has been published. 192
Page 193
NORTH AYRSHIRE COUNCIL 29 January 2026 Audit and Scrutiny Committee Title: Internal Audit Reports Issued Purpose: To inform the Committee of the findings of Internal Audit work completed since November 2025. Recommendation: That the Committee considers the outcomes from the Internal Audit work completed. 1. Executive Summary 1.1 The Council's local Code of Corporate Governance requires effective arrangements to be put in place for the objective review of risk management and internal control. Internal Audit is an important element in this framework as it reviews internal controls and offers Elected Members and officers an objective and independent appraisal of how effectively resources are being managed. 1.2 The remit of the Audit and Scrutiny Committee includes the monitoring of Internal Audit activity. The submission of regular reports assists the Committee in fulfilling this remit. 2. Background 2.1 This report provides information on Internal Audit work completed since November 2025. Internal control reviews have been completed in respect of the areas detailed in Appendix A to this report. The aim of these reviews is to provide assurance that the internal control framework within the areas examined is appropriate and operating effectively. 2.2 The findings from each audit assignment have been notified in writing to the Chief Executive, the Section 95 Officer and the relevant Executive Director and Head of Service on the completion of each assignment. Where appropriate, this has included an action plan with recommendations for improving internal control. Appendix A includes the report and action plan from each audit. 2.3 The findings from 3 separate audit assignments are detailed at Appendix A to this report and the levels of assurance for each are noted in the table below: Audit Title Assurance Level Council Tax and NDR Refunds Reasonable Homelessness Substantial Income Collection Substantial Agenda Item 9 193
Page 194
3. Proposals 3.1 It is proposed that the Committee notes the outcomes from the Internal Audit work completed since November 2025. 4. Implications/Socio-economic Duty Financial 4.1 None. Human Resources 4.2 None. Legal 4.3 None. Equality/Socio-economic 4.4 None. Climate Change and Carbon 4.5 None. Key Priorities 4.6 The work of Internal Audit helps to support the efficient delivery of the strategic priorities within Our Council Plan 2023-2028. Community Wealth Building 4.7 None. Islands Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA) 4.8 None. United Nations Rights of the Child (UNCRC) 4.9 None. Consumer Duty 4.10 None. 5. Consultation 5.1 The relevant Services are consulted on Internal Audit findings during each audit assignment. 194
Page 195
Mark Boyd Head of Service (Finance) For further information please contact Paul Brown, Senior Manager (Internal Audit), on paulbrown01@north-ayrshire.gov.uk. Background Papers None. 195
Page 196
Appendix A Council Tax and NDR Refunds 1 Background 1.1 On 12 December 2024, the Accounts Commission considered a report from the Controller of Audit (under powers in s102 (1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973) in relation to a significant council tax refund fraud perpetrated against one of the Local Authorities in Scotland. 1.2 This audit was prompted by the fraud case to ensure that controls are in place to prevent such an incident in North Ayrshire Council. 1.3 Consequently, the review focussed on the arrangements in place for ensuring that controls around the Council Tax and NDR (Non-Domestic Rates, also known as Business Rates) Refunds are operating effectively and will safeguard public assets. 1.4 Customer Service team are responsible for processing Council Tax (CT) refunds while Business Rates team in Finance are in charge of NDR (Non-Domestic Rates) refunds. 1.5 A trend analysis of Council Tax (CT) refunds was carried out to gain insight of the amount of refunds in the last five financial years. There has been an average increase of 13% over the years, which amounts to £369k as shown in the table below. 1.6 Customer Service team are responsible for processing Council Tax (CT) refunds while Business Rates team in Finance are in charge of NDR (Non-Domestic Rates) refunds. 1.7 The reasons for the refunds as reported by the Financial Management & Revenue team and Customer Service team were due to account termination, refund arising from moving out of an area, refunds from property sold, Disabled Banding Reduction, Council Tax overpayment, Long Term Care Exemption and other Council Tax exemptions. 196
Page 197
2 Objectives and Scope 2.1 The main objective of the audit was to carry out the review of controls around the Council Tax and NDR (Non-Domestic Rates, also known as Business Rates) Refunds to ensure they are operating effectively and will safeguard public assets to: • Ensure documented procedures are in place to cover the process of Council Tax and NDR refunds. • Ensure Council Tax and NDR refunds are valid, authorised and correctly paid into appropriate individual accounts. 2.2 The period covered by the audit is 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025. 3 Findings Procedures, Segregation of duties and Reconciliation 3.1 Council tax (CT) refunds and Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) refund operating procedures, covering the oversight controls, refunds authorisation and correctness of refunds payment into appropriate individual accounts, were reviewed. 3.2 The review of the most current process notes or operating procedures for CT refund found that they did not incorporate the following, to aid better understanding of the activities involved in refund processing: • A brief description of CT refund activities stating how customer would make or initiate a request for refund or through account update. • Customer requirements and refund methods detailing list of documents required before refunds are processed. • Brief descriptions of the systems or applications for capturing refund activities e.g NEC RBLive (revenues) and Integra. • The operating procedures should mention that all supporting documents for any process that would trigger a fund should be obtained before processing a refund. • Refunds of £200 and above must all be audit checked (within the Council Tax team) as stated in the procedures. Meanwhile, details of the 100% checks were not documented in the current process notes or operating procedures to guide compliance. Refunds under £200 should have 10% audit checked (within the Council Tax team) as stated in the procedures. Meanwhile, details of the 100% checks were not documented in the current process notes or operating procedures to guide compliance. (action a) 3.3 We noticed that refund approval limits were not outlined in the Business Rates procedures. However, the review of the authorisation email sent to Accounts Payable team revealed that Senior Manager approval limit was £10M while Manager approval limit was £250,000. The current business rate refund process has been updated to reflect the gap at the suggestion of the auditor during the audit 3.4 We observed that CT staff are aware of the roles of Council's Corporate Fraud Team and that they can report any cases they have concerns over, to them for investigation. 197
Page 198
However, this is yet to be documented in the operating procedures or process documents. (action b) 3.5 The review of Finance Service Risk Register revealed that there is no evidence that risk of fraud and error in relation to NDR refunds have been assessed, mitigated and documented in the risk register to prevent risk crystallization. Also, we noticed that the risk register for Customer Services in respect of CT is currently undergoing review by Finance. (action c) Council Tax (CT) and NDR Refunds Process, Authorisation and Payment 3.6 A sample of 20 Council Tax (CT) refunds and 20 NDR refunds processed within the last 12 months were reviewed to assess if controls aren’t being overridden by confirming authorisation and correctness in line with procedures. 3.7 On NDR refunds, the review generally complied with the refund process. However, some issues with adequacy of some individual documents were identified and are summarised below: • A confirmation letter of new bank details from a customer was not signed. Although, the NDR team said business email was provided within the content of the email and sufficient to carry out the bank details update. (action d). • Business Rates Refunds Procedure states that if the refund is greater than £1,000 then the Debt Recovery Team (DRT) should be contacted to check that there are no outstanding accounts on their system for the Ratepayer, alternatively the Corporate Arrears Recovery System (CARS) can be checked. Although the checklist was ticked that DRT checks have been done, there were no documents in the files to substantiate that the DRT check was carried out for the audit trail. (action d) 3.8 We compared the recipients’ bank details of the sampled CT and NDR refunds against the bank details held by payroll to ensure that refunds are valid and have been processed by an unrelated member of staff. No issues were noted. 4 Internal Audit Opinion 4.1 Overall, reasonable assurance was obtained with regard to the Council Tax and NDR refunds. The Council Tax and NDR processes generally complied with the operating procedures. However, some issues with adequacy of some individual documents were identified to improve the quality of compliance with procedures. Definitions of Assurance Levels: Substantial A sound system of governance, risk management and control exist, with internal controls operating effectively and being consistently applied to support the achievement of objectives in the area audited. Reasonable There is a generally sound system of governance, risk management and control in place. Some issues, non-compliance or scope for improvement were identified which may put at risk the achievement of objectives in the area audited. Limited Significant gaps, weaknesses or non-compliance were identified. Improvement is required to the system of governance, risk management 198
Page 199
and control to effectively manage risks to the achievement of objectives in the area audited. None Immediate action is required to address fundamental gaps, weaknesses or non-compliance identified. The system of governance, risk management and control is inadequate to effectively manage risks to the achievement of objectives in the area audited. NB The level of assurance given is at the discretion of Internal Audit. 199
Page 200
KEY FINDINGS AND ACTION PLAN COUNCIL TAX AND NDR REFUNDS Action a Finding We have reviewed the most current process notes and operating procedures for CT refunds found that they did not incorporate all of the activities of CT, to aid better understanding of the activities involved in refund processing. Action Description The process notes or operating procedure should be updated to include all activities to aid better understanding of the CT processes. For example, these should be updated to include • A brief description of CT refund activities stating how customer would make or initiate a request for refund or through account update. • Customer requirements and Refund methods detailing list of documents required before refunds are processed. • Brief descriptions of the systems or applications for capturing refund activities e.g NEC RBLive (revenues) and Integra. • The operating procedures should mention that all supporting documents for any process that would trigger a refund should be obtained before processing a refund. • Refunds of £200 and above must all be audit checked as stated in the procedures. Meanwhile, details of the 100% checks were not documented in the current process notes or operating procedures to guide compliance. • Refunds under £200 should have 10% audit checked as stated in the procedures. Meanwhile, details of the 100% checks were not documented in the current process notes or operating procedures to guide. Risk Inconsistent approach by staff, possible key tasks not being carried out and lack of business continuity if staff familiar with the process are not available Priority (1, 2, 3) 2 Paragraph Reference 3.2 Managed by Head of Service (People & ICT) Assigned to Team Manager (Customer Services)) Due Date 31 January 2026 Management Comment The CT refund process notes and operating procedures have been updated to address the findings from the audit. The updated procedures are currently with Audit for review. Once approved, the revised procedures will be issued to the team, and staff briefings will be held to ensure everyone is aware of the requirements. 200
Page 201
Action b Finding We observed that CT staff are aware of the roles of Council's Corporate Fraud Team and that they can report any cases they have concerns over, to them for investigation. However, this is yet to be documented in the operating procedures or process documents. Action Description The process notes or operating procedure should be updated to include the roles of Council's corporate fraud team and commitment to report cases they have concerns over, to them for investigation. Risk Cases that require further investigations may not be channelled appropriately which could impact necessary actions in accordance with the Council’s policy. Priority (1, 2, 3) 3 Paragraph Reference 3.4 Managed by Head of Service (People & ICT) Assigned to Team Manager (Customer Services) Due Date 31 January 2026 Management Comment The CT refund process notes and operating procedures have been updated to address the findings from the recent audit regarding the role of the Council’s Corporate Fraud Team. The updated procedures are with Audit for review. Once approved the revised guidance will be issued to the team and staff briefings will be held to ensure everyone understands the requirements. Action c Finding The review of Finance Service Risk Register revealed that there is no evidence that risk of fraud and error in relation to NDR refunds have been assessed, mitigated and documented in the risk register to prevent risk crystallization. Also, we noticed that the risk register for Customer Services in respect of CT is currently undergoing review by Finance. Action Description Financial Management should ensure risks around potential errors or frauds are assessed and controls to prevent crystallizing are documented in the risk register for monitoring. Risk Risks not proactively identified, assessed, mitigated and monitored may cause business disruptions. Priority (1, 2, 3) 2 Paragraph Reference 3.5 Managed by Head of Service (Finance) Assigned to Team Manager (Revenues) Due Date 31st December 2025 Management Comment The risk of fraud for Non-Domestic Rates refunds will be incorporated within the Financial Services Risk Register and scored appropriately with mitigations identified. 201
Page 202
Action d Finding The NDR refunds generally complied with the Business Rate Operating procedures. However, some issues relating to the adequacy of some individual documents were identified such as, confirmation letter of a new bank details from a customer was not signed and the checklist was ticked that DRT checks have been done but there were no documents in the files to substantiate that the DRT check was carried out as audit evidence. Action Description The Team Manager (Revenues)/Financial Mgmt&Revenues) should always challenge the processor when instances of non- compliance relating to inadequacy of refund documentations are identified. The Team Manager (Revenues)/Financial Mgmt&Revenues) should ensure that the change in the bank details was confirmed by ensuring the confirmation letter is signed and the signature on the letter align with records on the Council system. Risk Non-compliance with process notes or procedures are not identified and corrected which can lead to errors in refund payments. Priority (1, 2, 3) 2 Paragraph Reference 3.7 Managed by Head of Service (Finance) Assigned to Team Manager (Revenues) Due Date Completed Management Comment Staff have been and will continue to be reminded that when setting up a Direct Debit or completing a change of bank details, this should only be carried out on receipt of a completed Direct Debit mandate. Within the refund procedure document, the check for arrears can either be a check with the Debt Recovery Team, or a check on the Corporate Arrears Recovery System (CARS) by the person requesting the refund. Therefore, the DRT check column within the “Authorisation for Online Business Rates refunds” sheet is completed when any check is carried out for arrears as part of the procedure. Following the recommendations from this report, a separate column has now been added to the Authorisation for Online Business Rates refunds sheet, with the heading “CARS check”. This will allow the refund to be clearly documented on which part of the procedure was used for the arrears check. Priority Key used in Action Plan 1 (High) Control weakness where there is a material impact on the achievement of the control objectives, generally requiring prompt attention. 2 (Medium) Control weakness which needs to be rectified, but where there is no material impact on the achievement of the control objectives. 3 (Low) Minor weakness or points for improvement. 202
Page 203
Homelessness 1 Background 1.1 The Scottish Government declared a national Housing Emergency on 15 May 2024 and 13 local authorities have declared their own housing emergencies due to the unprecedented pressure to meet their statutory responsibilities towards homeless people and other priority groups in housing need. On 2 September 2025, the Scottish Government published its Housing Emergency Action Plan, with three main areas of focus: • Ending children living in unsuitable accommodation. • Supporting the housing needs of vulnerable communities; and • Building our future - maximising investment in Scotland’s housing sector. 1.2 North Ayrshire Council has not declared a housing emergency. It has identified measures in the Local Housing Strategy 2023-28 to increase housing supply and manage demand from homeless people. 1.3 The Council is currently developing its first Homelessness Prevention Strategy. The original timeline was adjusted to allow incorporation of the new prevention duties introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2025. The Strategy’s development is on track, with a report due to be presented to Cabinet in June 2026. 1.4 People who present as homeless or at risk of homelessness to North Ayrshire Council are assisted by the Housing Advice team and, if required, the Temporary Accommodation team. 2 Objectives and Scope 2.1 The main objectives of the audit were to ensure that: • the Council has suitable arrangements in place for planning and monitoring of the Homelessness service, in order to meet legislative requirements and Council priorities • suitable procedures are in place to process cases timeously and in line with legislation, Council policy and performance targets • adequate monitoring of performance takes place and that performance data and issues arising within the service are reported to those with oversight • personal and sensitive data is adequately protected. 2.2 The audit focussed on the work of the Housing Advice and Temporary Accommodation teams. Review of Temporary Accommodation was limited to processes relating to homeless presentations, which interface with the work of the Housing Advice team. 3 Findings Governance Arrangements 3.1 There is a large amount of legislation governing the work of the Housing Advice and Temporary Accommodation teams, including the most recent Housing (Scotland) Act 2025, which was enacted during the period of audit testing. North Ayrshire Council is an active participant in several different professional networks and is in regular contact with the Scottish Government, in order to keep up-to-date with legislation and best practice in the field. 203
Page 204
3.2 The Local Housing Strategy (2023-28) contains a detailed action plan and Cabinet received updates on the progress in implementing this plan in January and September 2025. 3.3 Housing participates in a joint risk management process with Property Management & Investment, due to shared responsibilities for housing assets, including those with tenants in situ. The Integrated Asset Management (Housing) risk register is reviewed regularly. It includes 5 risks relating to homelessness, which all have mitigating actions identified, and assurance was obtained during the audit that these actions are being implemented. Processing of Cases 3.4 The Housing Advice and Temporary Accommodation teams provided a large number of procedure documents which were reviewed on a sample basis. One document reviewed was subsequently established to be no longer in use. All other documents reviewed were well laid-out and up-to-date, except for a section in the Homelessness Procedures document, relating to Inquiries into Local Connection, which had been highlighted by the team as requiring update in the most recent review, but not updated. This was updated during the period of the audit. 3.5 Cases are not prioritised per se. They are assessed to ensure that they are unintentionally homeless, as defined in the legislation, but all homeless cases are high priority. 3.6 A sample of homeless applications processed between June and August 2025 were reviewed in the Abritas system. No significant issues were identified. 3.7 A sample of temporary accommodation cases during the same period were also reviewed in the Abritas system. No significant issues were identified. Monitoring and Reporting 3.8 The Housing service have a variety of internal performance monitoring processes and indicators that ensure that performance is kept under review and any corrective actions can be identified promptly. This is the case at all levels from supervision of individual cases up to performance reporting to the Head of Service (Housing and Public Protection). Furthermore, performance statistics are reported quarterly to the Scottish Government and the Scottish Housing Network undertake an annual audit. Information Security and Data Protection 3.9 The teams record a large amount of personal data, including some highly sensitive data such as details of medical conditions and criminal history. Some is contained in attachments, such as forms filled in during interviews and copies of proof of ID, but the officers record notes in the Notes and CRM screens of Abritas which can also contain highly sensitive data. However, for serious offenders subject to SOLO (Serious Offender Liaison Officer) or MAPPA (Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements) the notes are minimised. 3.10 Abritas has retention period of 3 years for attachments built in, but this does not apply to the notes input by officers. The Team Manager (Housing Innovation and Digital Development) contacted Civica, the provider of the Abritas system, during the audit period to ask for advice on data retention in the notes. 204
Page 205
3.11 The team also use the NEC Housing system and it was confirmed that this system has a process for anonymising the data and any data generated in the system is available for download for a year and then archived to an area that only IT can access. 3.12 The data held on network drives requires to be reviewed to ensure that records are deleted once they have gone beyond their retention period. However, Housing are due to move to MS Sharepoint in 2026/27 as part of the Council-wide rollout. The implementation of Sharepoint includes a complete review of all documents in the network drives and those transferred to Sharepoint will be allocated to a retention policy within the system. 3.13 Most paper records are shredded as soon as they are scanned in. Temporary Accommodation retain hard copies of tenancy agreements, which are sent to archive. 3.14 User lists were obtained from the Abritas and NEC Housing systems for users with access to the Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation functions within those systems. These were matched to the Council’s payroll system to identify any leavers and ensure that all users had appropriate roles to have access to those functions. 3.15 For Abritas there were no leavers, and all users were found to require access to the Homelessness and Temporary Accommodation functions for their job roles 3.16 For the NEC system, there were 64 leavers set up in the system, but the auditor was informed that it was necessary to keep leavers in the system, in order to retain the records associated with them, but that their accounts are locked so they wouldn’t be able to log into the system. The auditor also sent several queries to the team as follows: • 2 users that did not match to an employee in CHRIS • 7 pairs of possible duplicate accounts • 8 employees in roles outwith the Housing Advice and Temporary Accommodation teams. The team subsequently confirmed that: • 1 non-match is a current employee who has had a change of name • The other non-match is believed to be an inspector from the regulator, but this account has been inactivated anyway • The duplicate accounts are because the system doesn’t allow changes of name, so a new account has to be created and the old one deactivated • 2 users from other teams within Housing and 1 within HSCP require the access for their roles, the other 5 employees from other teams are inactive 3.17 User lists were obtained for the HAPA and Homeless Prevention Team network drives and these were also matched to payroll. This identified that only current employees had access, but it did identify 2 employees (1 from HSCP and 1 from Customer Services) who had access to the Homeless Prevention Team folder but do not require it for their job roles. The service contacted IT to get this access removed from those 2 users during the period of the audit. 4 Internal Audit Opinion 4.1 Overall, substantial assurance was obtained with regard to homelessness. The Council has suitable arrangements in place for planning and monitoring of the Homelessness service, in order to meet legislative requirements and Council priorities. 205
Page 206
Suitable procedures are in place to process cases timeously and in line with legislation, Council policy and performance targets. Personal and sensitive data is generally adequately protected – the supplier has been approached about possible improvements to the removal of expired data in the Abritas system. The service will be moving to MS Sharepoint next year, which will improve the management of records within the shared drives. Definitions of Assurance Levels: Substantial A sound system of governance, risk management and control exist, with internal controls operating effectively and being consistently applied to support the achievement of objectives in the area audited. Reasonable There is a generally sound system of governance, risk management and control in place. Some issues, non-compliance or scope for improvement were identified which may put at risk the achievement of objectives in the area audited. Limited Significant gaps, weaknesses or non-compliance were identified. Improvement is required to the system of governance, risk management and control to effectively manage risks to the achievement of objectives in the area audited. None Immediate action is required to address fundamental gaps, weaknesses or non-compliance identified. The system of governance, risk management and control is inadequate to effectively manage risks to the achievement of objectives in the area audited. NB The level of assurance given is at the discretion of Internal Audit. 206
Page 207
INCOME COLLECTION 1 Background 1.1 Civica is the income management system used by NAC. 1.2 In 2022/23, Audit carried out a review of the user controls within Civica to ensure that access was being suitably limited and controlled. A ‘Reasonable’ audit opinion was given, and 2 action points were raised. These 2 actions have been revisited as part of this audit. 1.3 The current audit focussed on ensuring the accuracy of the information moving through Civica. 2 Objectives and Scope 2.1 The objective of this audit was to ensure:- • the overall security of the Civica system, • officers are appropriately trained prior to using Civica, • individuals’ payment details are protected, irrespective of the method of payment used, • there are processes in place to confirm the accuracy of the information in Civica, • there are processes in place to ensure information transferred out of Civica is accurate, • there is evidence that the actions identified during the 2022/23 audit have been completed. 207
Page 208
3 Findings Security of Data Processed via Civica 3.1 The Council procured Civica (originally known as CivicaPay) in 2019 to replace PARIS. Procurement was via a direct award through the Crown Commercial Framework. 3.2 In 2023 NAC modified its contract with Civica to include Midcall. Midcall is a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant system for taking telephone card payments. 3.3 Reliance has been placed on the supplier review undertaken by Crown Commercial as evidence of Civica’s ability to adhere to the security standards listed in the contract. Remote Access to Civica 3.4 The Council’s ‘ICT Acceptable Use Policy’ states that “Multifactor authentication is mandatory for all remote and/or privileged access and is strongly encouraged for all other Council systems access.” 3.5 Discussions with ICT highlighted that whilst the Civica system does not support Microsoft365 (which multifactor authentication is a function of), alternative access controls are in place in the form of a trusted IP whitelist held by Civica, which limits access to the portal to NAC devices Training of Officers 3.6 Individual Services are responsible for ensuring their Civica users are appropriately trained. 3.7 Audit reviewed the spread of Civica users across the Council and asked the 3 Services with the highest number of users to confirm their approach to training. Responses from Financial Management, Customer Services and Housing were all found to be satisfactory. 3.8 Audit also reviewed the training records of all users who have the authority to record cash transactions in Civica to ensure that cash handling training has been completed. Only 1 employee was found to have not yet completed the training. The Service has agreed to rectify this as soon as possible. Income Collection 3.9 There are a number of methods through which individuals can make payments to the Council. Audit has reviewed each of these to ensure the risk to the individuals payment details have been minimised:- 3.10 Income collected via NAC website – when an individual makes a payment via the NAC website they are linked directly to Civica to complete the transaction. The individual inputs their own card details and there is no council officer intervention required in the process. 3.11 Income collected via an in-person card transaction – the council officer taking the payment has no role in the input of the card details. The officer records the transaction details in Civica and then activates the PIN Entry Device (PED) for the payee to input 208
Page 209
their card and PIN. The officer gets notification when the transaction has been completed successfully but doesn’t have access to the card details. 3.12 Income collected via phone – in 2023 the Council modified its contract with Civica to include the Midcall system. Midcall is used to take card payments over the phone. With Midcall, the officer records the transaction in Civica and then uses Midcall to allow the caller to input their own card details. The officer cannot see card details at any point of the transaction and the keypad tones are distorted. Midcall is Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliant. 3.13 Cash/cheques – the risk to personal details is minimal when paying by cash/cheque. Income via cash/cheques is very low – with only 0.02% of all income input directly into Civica in 2024/25 being in the form of cash, and 4% as cheques. 3.14 Income originating in other independent systems (such as Paypoint, ParentPay, DWP, standing orders direct to Council’s bank account etc) and then imported into Civica - the security of these independent systems has been deemed outwith the scope of this audit. Information in Civica 3.15 There are a number of processes in place that confirm the accuracy of the information recorded in Civica. These include:- • Financial Management completing a voucher daily. The voucher summarises the income taken by fund, by method of payment and also the total income to be included in export files. • Financial Management transferring Civica income information from the voucher into the Council’s cashbook daily. The cashbook is reconciled to the Council’s bank statement, thereby confirming that the income recorded in Civica matches the actual income received. • Financial Management reviewing any transactions that have ended up in suspense daily. These transactions are incomplete (normally due to the wrong reference number being used) and so can’t be processed. Once corrected these transactions can move through the Civica processing process. • ICT receiving an email alert if any of the daily import files from independent systems fail. This ensures any issues are identified timeously. 3.16 Audit tested the above processes by:- • Confirming there are procedure notes covering the completion of the voucher, the transfer of information to the cashbook and the review of the suspense account. All procedures were found to be detailed and contain screenshots, filepaths etc to assist the reader. • Confirming the completion of the voucher and accurate transfer of information into the cashbook for a sample of dates in 2025/26. • Confirming with ICT that the email alert system remains in place for all import files Transfers of data out of Civica 3.17 Every night export files are automatically generated to transfer transaction information from Civica into other Council systems – such as Integra, Council Tax, NDR etc. 3.18 Processes are in place to ensure the accurate transfer of transactions from Civica into Integra and its back-end systems. These include:- 209
Page 210
• Financial Management confirming the total of the export report from Civica matches the total income per the Civica Voucher daily. This gives assurance of the completeness of the export file. • Financial Management carrying out a daily check to ensure that all transactions that affect customer accounts eg rent, council tax etc have been fully cleared out of Civica during the export process. Any balances left behind would result in double counting and incorrect balances in customer accounts when the next night’s export file ran. • ICT receiving an email alert if any of the daily export files fail. This ensures any issues are identified timeously. 3.19 Audit tested the above processes by:- • Reviewing the export reports retained by Financial Management and ensuring the total matched the Civica voucher (for the same sample dates as tested in 3.16 above). • Reviewing the evidence of the checks that ensure all transactions had been cleared out of Civica (for the same sample dates tested at 3.16 above) • Confirming with ICT that the email alert system remains in place for all export files Follow Up on 2022/23 Audit Findings 3.20 Action a required the password criteria for Civica to be increased to a minimum of 12 characters. 3.21 ICT was able to supply evidence that this has been completed 3.22 Action b required the Service to ensure that all Civica users, both internal or external to the Council (eg NHS officers) had accepted the Council’s Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). 3.23 This remains an ongoing issue which ICT are working on. This point has been included as an action within the 2024/25 ICT Access Controls Audit and has therefore not been duplicated as part of this audit’s findings. 4 Internal Audit Opinion 4.1 Overall, substantial assurance was obtained with regard income being recorded through Civica. Definitions of Assurance Levels: Substantial A sound system of governance, risk management and control exist, with internal controls operating effectively and being consistently applied to support the achievement of objectives in the area audited. Reasonable There is a generally sound system of governance, risk management and control in place. Some issues, non-compliance or scope for improvement were identified which may put at risk the achievement of objectives in the area audited. Limited Significant gaps, weaknesses or non-compliance were identified. Improvement is required to the system of governance, risk management and 210
Page 211
control to effectively manage risks to the achievement of objectives in the area audited. None Immediate action is required to address fundamental gaps, weaknesses or non-compliance identified. The system of governance, risk management and control is inadequate to effectively manage risks to the achievement of objectives in the area audited. NB The level of assurance given is at the discretion of Internal Audit. 211
Page 212
212