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Waverley Borough Council Committee System - Committee Document

Meeting of the Executive held on 27/06/2006
APPENDIX F - WAVERLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS: 2005/2006 FULL-YEAR PERFORMANCE INDICATOR OUTTURN AND BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE PLAN TARGETS


Summary & Purpose
This report provides details of Waverley’s performance against targets, for the Best Value (‘BVPI’) and Local (‘LoPI’) Performance Indicators, in the financial year 2005/06. Similar reports have already been presented to the Environment & Leisure, Community, and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committees regarding those indicators within their remits that they had resolved to monitor on a regular basis. A summary of the comments made by each of these Committees is included in this report.

The paper also sets out officer recommendations for the statutory process of setting targets for these indicators for the next three financial years, through to 2008/09, and the observations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in respect of these.
APPENDIX F
Waverley Borough Council

EXECUTIVE – 27TH JUNE 2006

Title:
WAVERLEY BC PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PROCESS:
2005/06 FULL-YEAR PERFORMANCE INDICATOR OUTTURN
AND BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE PLAN TARGETS

[Wards Affected: All]

Summary and purpose:

This report provides details of Waverley’s performance against targets, for the Best Value (‘BVPI’) and Local (‘LoPI’) Performance Indicators, in the financial year 2005/06. Similar reports have already been presented to the Environment & Leisure, Community, and Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committees regarding those indicators within their remits that they had resolved to monitor on a regular basis. A summary of the comments made by each of these Committees is included in this report.

The paper also sets out officer recommendations for the statutory process of setting targets for these indicators for the next three financial years, through to 2008/09, and the observations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in respect of these.
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Environmental implications:

There are no direct environmental implications associated with this report.

Social / community implications:

There are no direct social / community implications associated with this report.

E-Government implications:

There are no direct e-government implications associated with this report.

BVPIs showing performance for this year (and for the previous two years) are available on the Council’s website (www.waverley.gov.uk). Indicators can either be found on the relevant service homepage, or by searching under ‘Best Value Performance Indicators’.

Resource and legal implications:

There are no direct resource and legal implications associated with this report.
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Background

1. By 30th June each year, the Council is required to publish, (in its Best Value Performance Plan or “BVPP”), details of its performance outturn against target for the previous financial year, and the targets that have been set for the current financial year. In line with the commitment to continuously improve services, the BVPP must also include targets for each of the two subsequent financial years.
Data to inform the 2006/07 Best Value Performance Plan

2. The table attached as Annexe 1 sets out, for the Executive, the following information:

Ø A description of the BVPIs and selected LOPIs (those that will be contained in the Best Value Performance Plan). Ø The 2005/06 outturn for each of these indicators, against the set target

Ø Officer recommendations for the level at which targets should be set in 2006/07, and for the subsequent two financial years.

3. The table attached as Annexe 2 sets out for the consideration of the Executive the following information:

Ø A description of all the LOPIs currently collected (including repeated information on those contained in Annexe 1) Ø The 2005/06 outturn for each of these indicators, against the set target

Ø Officer recommendations for the level at which targets should be set, for at least as far ahead as 2006/07.

Observations of the Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Performance Outturn

4. The Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee did not identify any observations in respect of performance outturn that they required passing to the Executive.

Target Setting and Future Monitoring

5. The following observations were made by the Community Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

· BVPI 64: Given the zero outturn against this indicator in 2005/06, and the stated difficulties in evidencing Waverley’s role in such cases, the Committee questioned why the target was not set at one or, possibly, zero. Officers recommended against a zero target.

Observations of the Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Performance Outturn

6. The Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee did not identify any observations in respect of performance outturn that they required passing to the Executive.

Target Setting and Future Monitoring

7. The following observations were made by the Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee:


· BVPI 109(a), 109(b) and 109 (c): The Committee noted and welcomed the good performance in-year against the nationally prescribed targets, but expressed concern that the figures did not fully reflect the delays that they observed in bringing applications to Planning Committee under the new system. Members asked officers to explore the potential for local indicators that would capture this more accurately.

Observations of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Performance Outturn

8. The Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee authorised the Best Value and Local Performance Indicators Sub-Committee to consider the information presented in the report in more detail and draw the Executive's attention to any specific issues it sees fit. These are set out in detail at paragraph 10.

Target Setting and Future Monitoring

9. The following observations were made by the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee:

· BVPI 76(b) and 76(c): Members queried the correlation between the targets set for the number of fraud investigators and number of fraud investigations per 1,000 caseload. Officers agreed to investigate this point and report their findings to the Executive. · BVPI 78(a) and 78(b): Members queried whether these times were purely processing time, or included the wait for applicants to provide evidence. It was clarified that the BVPI sub-committee had already raised this issue. Officers confirmed that the latter was true, and agreed to investigate the feasibility of a new local indicator to capture processing time alone. · Members noted that a number of the local indicators (e.g. LOCE 25 and 26) were essentially management information, as opposed to indicators of performance, and therefore did not convey significant benefit in being reported to the Committee. Whilst advocating the retention of this information for management purposes, members recommended that the Executive consider deleting some of these indicators from the reporting process. · Members raised concern at the significant amounts of A4 paper being ordered by the print unit. It was explained that the 2005/06 outturn represented a significant drop from the 2004/05 figure. Members therefore agreed with the officer recommendation to freeze the target, in line with the trajectory, and noted that in order to achieve this considerable efforts would need to be made to reduce the number of hard copies of papers, including agendas, that are produced. · LOCE 30: It was acknowledged that it would be more appropriate for the Committee to comment on the setting of targets for this indicator, once the complaints system review had reported to its next meeting.

10. The following observations were made by the Best Value and Local Performance Indicators Sub-Committee:

· The Sub-Committee identified a number of Best Value (BVPI) and Local (LO) Performance Indicators which it considered would be more meaningful if reported on an annual basis, rather than quarterly. This included the following indicators particularly:- · In those instances where the Sub-Committee had asked to receive reports on an annual basis, it also requested that should sudden changes occur in the data collected, that the matter should be brought to the attention of the Sub-Committee and consideration would then be given as to whether it should be reported on to the main Committee. In addition, it was suggested that the information collected relating to the indicators set out above, would be of interest to members at the year-end in a composite document, rather than as performance indicators; the number of telephone calls received in a year, or the volume of A4 paper ordered, for example. · With regard to BVPI 76 (a) (number of claimants visited), the Sub-Committee requested officers to consider the availability of information on the number of interventions other than visits, such as letters and telephone calls, which are counted towards the statutory 50% target and suggested that, if easily available, this information should be used as a non-statutory performance measure in future. · With regard to BVPI 78 (a and b) relating to the processing time of benefits claims, the Sub-Committee commented that there was a combination of factors which affected the process times and that these were partly the responsibility of Waverley, and partly that of the applicant. In future, the Sub-Committee agreed that it would be useful to have an indicator which identified the time taken to process claims from the point at which all information was made available. · In terms of BVPI 79 (a) relating to the accuracy of calculations, the Sub-Committee felt that it would be helpful to see more detailed information about the extent of any inaccuracies and whether it would be more appropriate to report those which exceeded a set level, rather than reporting all of them. · The Sub-Committee wished to express its disappointment at the level and score for the CRE Standard (Council for Racial Equality) to which the local authority conforms, and wished to encourage the Council to try to do better in future. · With regard to the local indicator relating to the percentage of reports sent 'to follow' the despatch of agenda (LOCE 2), the Sub-Committee was very concerned that this target continued to be missed and commented that the process by which reports are created, including the potential involvement of members, should be designed in such a way to achieve the due despatch date of the agenda.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Executive: 1. notes the data pertaining to 2005/06 performance outturn, and the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees; and

2. considers the officer recommendations and observations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees in respect of the setting of Best Value Performance Plan targets, and approves or recommends changes to those targets as it sees fit.

Background Papers (HCMS)

There are no background papers (as defined by Section 100D(5) of the Local Government Act 1972) relating to this report.
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CONTACT OFFICER:

Name: Christopher Ash Telephone: 01483 523148
Comms/exec/2006-07/053