Agenda item

Report of the Interim Director Strategy and Policy and the Interim Corporate Director of Finance and Resources

James Rhodes, Head of Analysis and Insight, and Elaine Fox, Corporate Policy and Performance Officer, introduced the Council Plan and Corporate Performance Assurance report to the Committee describing an enhanced and refreshed look at performance. They highlighted the following information:

(a)  In response to the ongoing refresh of the Council Plan and inclusion of statutory duties within the Plan, a comprehensive set of 470 Strategic Indicators have been developed looking at what is indicative of good performance for services across the Council;

(b)  These additional Indicators will be incorporated into the new Performance Management Framework which in turn feeds into discussions on performance at a departmental and corporate level, better informing the Leadership of the Council on performance;

(c)  The intention of the new Performance Framework is to encourage honest and accurate discussion on performance, and support the cultural change that is currently underway across the Council. This will allow for accountability and  identification of issues at an early stage if targets are slipping, which in turn allows early action to be taken to correct it;

(d)  The framework is a live document and will be updated as requirements emerge or change. There are 470 strategic indicators, incorporating a number on statutory duties. There is a smaller subset, considered critical which can be escalated for review by the Corporate Leadership Team and Executive if deemed necessary. In addition to these statutory duty indicators there are 145 performance indicators that are also tracked from the Strategic Council Plan to help ensure that the 11 aims and plan outcome measures are met. All indicators are recorded on the Council’s performance management system and are updated each period including a RAG rating and contextual narrative;

(e)  A new element to the Performance Framework is the planned introduction of Performance Clinics to allow dedicated time for robust review of indicators. These clinics will also build in accountability and consistency in approach across the Authority and encourage critical thinking;

(f)  The Performance Framework is linked to the appraisal system through individual business plans and service plans. This has made it possible to identify Officers responsible for specific indicators ensuing individual teams are aware of performance against the Council Plan;

(g)  As part of the Performance Framework the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be provided with a quarterly performance monitoring report and will have the opportunity to raise queries on specific indicators. The Audit Committee are invited to let Officers have any suggestions on additional indicators, or amendments to those already in place that would help to improve assurance work;

(h)  The Companies Governance Executive Committee will receive reports on the Indicators from individual Companies, to ensure oversight of company performance;

During questions from Committee members and discussion the following points were raised:

(i)  The system used to capture and report performance indicator data is called Pentana and will link in other sources of data where it is available. The reports produced are Red, Amber, Green rated and give a narrative for each indicator. The system allows users to filter by directorate and portfolio allowing easier access to relevant information via a dashboard. Named Officers and Directors are responsible for adding performance data. These named individuals will receive reminder prompts from the system to input data at the right time, access to update data is restricted to the data owners;

(j)  A number of other Local Authorities use the similar performance reporting frameworks to that being developed by Nottingham City Coucil. The Council use the system to collect the data and build in the custom reporting that best suits the Council. The structure of the reporting is aimed at a directorate level with the majority of indicators not needing to be escalated;

(k)  There is no suggestion that information exchanged around performance in the past has not been honest, however the Council recognises that issues around some areas of performance could have been flagged for intervention at an earlier stage;

(l)  The system holds a lot of information, however regular reports will not look at all indicators, only those rated Amber or Red. It can also filter the report further, to only include the critical indicators, this allows a focus on the key statutory duties. This ensures a more holistic view of the Council’s performance and gives a more rounded assessment of delivery of services;

(m)The Performance Team are aware of the pressure on staff across the authority in terms of time and workload. Updating the system has been made as easy as possible with as little time requirement as is appropriate;

(n)  Accessing the Dashboard for an overview of performance within a specific area is quick and simple to achieve. Oracle also allows managers to see variances in budget and in conjunction with the performance clinics, when introduced, will allow better linkage of performance indicators with financial indicators. Managers can link this information into Departmental Risk Registers;

(o)  Reporting on the indicatorsThe system is yet to go live fully, it is being introduced and should be fully onlinecommence by the beginning ofin January 2022. There will be a bedding in period, as there is with all new systems, and it is anticipated that there will need to be updates and alterations to indicators in order to extract the information required. Corporate Directors and Portfolio Holders have already seen the effects of tighter oversight by managers;;

(p)  Committee members supported a move to more online reporting through this kind of system as a way of facilitating more thorough yet less time intensive performance management;

The Committee welcomed the opportunity to discuss the refreshed methodology for performance reporting and invited the Performance Team to attend the Risk Working Group for review of the Critical Indicators.

 Resolved to:

(1)  Note the progress made on the Council’s new Performance Management Framework;

(2)  Note plans for full implementation of the Performance Management Framework and improvements in performance reporting across the Council

(3)  To invite corporate performance officers to attend the Risk Working group to receive feedback on the scope of the Critical Indicators; and

(4)  Receive an informal Teams briefing from the Interim Corporate Director of Finance and Resources on the Oracle fusion system.