Agenda item

Report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships which presented progress against the councils corporate performance framework for the Altogether Better Council priority theme for the second quarter of the 2016/17 financial year, covering the period July to September 2016 (for copy see file of Minutes).

The Head of Planning and Performance referred Members to the Executive Summary on page 56 of the report which presented performance data in a ‘at a glance’ format. With regard to the council’s performance in relation to the Altogether Better Council theme good progress had continued during the quarter. This included performance relating to the number of telephone calls from customers answered within 39 seconds and levels of abandoned calls. Processing times for housing benefit and council tax reduction had seen improvements in processing times since last quarter. Collection rates for council tax and business rates were also positive.

It was reported however that fewer FOI requests had been responded to within national timescales.

Regarding performance in relation to employee wellbeing it was reported that staff attendance had improved and over half of posts had no sickness absence in the rolling year ended in September 2016. However, performance in relation to appraisals had deteriorated. Improvements to the Oracle Business Intelligence module was now available to managers in order to assist them effectively in monitoring both appraisals and sickness.

Councillor J Armstrong added that he considered the level of sickness absence to be disgrace. Discussion then ensued regarding staff appraisals and Councillor Hillary asked whether it was known whether all staff received an appraisal in 2016. Further queries were raised regarding appraisal cycles and whether this differed for each employee, in addition members queried whether there was data available for those appraisals which had not been undertaken and whether there was any reason why it had not been completed within the timeframe. Councillor Wilson also asked whether staff were expected to complete any work in advance of an appraisal and wondered whether this may also lead to delays if the appraisal date fell over a particularly busy period.

Councillor J Armstrong suggested that a working group could be formed after the elections in May 2017 to look at this issue in more depth.

Councillor Henig welcomed the shift to a more concise report format, but commented that a discussion on performance information covered would be useful later in the year. Following a query from Councillor Rowlandson regarding PI reference 188 and 189 Councillor Hillary added that he found the data relating to this indicator confusing as four separate traffic light indicators were used. The Head of Planning and Performance advised that she would take the comments forward.

Resolved:

That the content of the report be noted.