Minutes for Cabinet Member - Performance and Governance meeting, Jan 19 2010, 9.00AM official page

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Maher and Parry.

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

No declarations of interest were received.

Minutes of the meeting held on 2 December 2009.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting held on 2 December 2009 be confirmed as a correct record.

The Cabinet Member welcomed Members and Officers to the Portfolio Monitoring and Review Meeting for consideration of Quarter 2 six monthly performance reports 2009/10 for the Planning, Regeneration, Corporate Services (including the Personnel, Legal Services and Finance and Information Services Departments), Communities and Environmental  portfolios.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Management)

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Management) advising that the purpose of this meeting was to bring together Q1 and Q2 Performance reports for consideration by the Cabinet Member.  The bi-annual Performance Review Meetings enabled the Cabinet Member to consider the performance of the Authority across all departments and these had now become formalised in a two-session extended meeting of the Cabinet Member – Performance and Governance

Elected Members and senior officers for the Council’s services had been  invited to come and discuss performance over the previous six months highlighting achievements, identifying challenges and presenting solutions to problems and challenges for the consideration of the meeting; and the Portfolio Performance Reports had already been considered by the service portfolios.

The report concluded that the Cabinet Member was asked to note the content of the reports, make recommendations prompted by the meeting’s business and, if appropriate, refer matters for further consideration by the appropriate Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the report of the Assistant Chief Executive (Management) on Quarters 1 and Performance Reports 2009/10 be noted.

Report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director on the performance of his Department for the period April to September 2009 and on the progress made towards his Department meeting its Service and Corporate Plan objectives; and indicating that a decision on this matter was required to comply with the Council’s performance management process.

The report detailed the departmental service achievements relating to the folowing: business support and employment services; the Neighbourhood Division Programme; major development projects; the Local Development Framework; preparation for the 2011 Census and regulatory services. It also indicated that the main risks to service delivery were set out in the Service Plan, and, with regard to performance indicators, performance against all key targets was strong.

The report concluded by referring to corporate or cross-cutting issues and that as part of level 3 of the Equalities Standard, all service areas now had equalities targets on their respective service plans. Staff attendance records remained encouraging, and it was noted that absence levels for long and short term sickness for the period April 2009 to September 2009 had shown a reduction from 4.12% from 3.57%.

The Cabinet Member was interested in the implementation of the Council’s Policies and, in particular, how its policy on the reduction of its Carbon Footprint impacted upon service delivery.  He asked the Planning and Economic Regeneration Director to explain how the department dealt with this issue.

The Planning and Economic Regeneration Director presented the report and answered questions from the Cabinet Member and the Spokespersons thereon, with particular reference to the Low Carbon issues.

RESOLVED:  

That the report on the performance of the Planning and Economic Regeneration Department and the progress achieved for the period April - September 2009 be noted

Report of the Personnel Director

Further to Minute No. 75 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member - Corporate Services held on 9 December 2009, the Cabinet Member considered the report of the Personnel Director on progress in relation to the personnel element of the Corporate Services Portfolio’s Departmental Service Plan.

The report detailed the departmental service achievements, challenges and issues in relation in relation to the Strategic Budget Review, the Pay and Grading Review and Equal Pay; the Investors in People (IIP) Award, the Apprenticeship Scheme; and that with regard to performance indicators, the Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPI.s) against all key targets were strong, as indicated in the matrix at Annex B to the report.

The report concluded by referring to the challenges contained in addressing the above issues and the significant HR resources required to meet these issues, particularly in view of staff being seconded to other areas; and the achievements and measures undertaken in relation to promoting equalities and sustainability.

In relation to the IIP award, the Cabinet Member asked what evidence there was of its impact on the quality of the service.

The Cabinet Member was also interested in the implementation of the Council’s Policies and, in particular, how its policy on the reduction of its Carbon Footprint impacted upon service delivery.  He asked the Personnel Manager to explain how the department dealt with this issue.

The Personnel Manager presented the report and answered questions raised by the Cabinet Member and the Spokespersons.

RESOLVED:

That progress and achievements in respect of the Portfolio’s, responsibilities within the Personnel departmental Service Plan 2009/10 be noted.

Report of the Legal Director

Further to Minute No. 72 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member - Corporate Services held on 9 December 2009, the Cabinet Member considered the report of the Legal Director on progress in relation to issues in the Legal and Administrative Services Departmental  Service Plan 2009/10.

The report related to performance within the Department for the period up to

the end of September 2009.  

All Departmental Service Plans were entered into the Council’s SPRINT

performance management system and Officers required to update

progress within that system.  Attached to the report was the Departmental

Service Plan update produced by Sprint in relation to Quarter 2.

The report indicated that the Department had made progress against a number of activities and was broadly on target to achieve these by year end.

In relation to the sustainability suite of measures, an assessment was being undertaken as to whether the work needed for an Environmental Management System could be carried out within the Department to keep costs to a minimum.

As previously reported to Members, successful IIP and Lexcel inspections were carried out in October 2009.

The Cabinet Member was interested in the implementation of the Council’s Policies and, in particular, how its policy on the reduction of the its Carbon Footprint impacted upon service delivery.  He asked the Legal Director to explain how the department dealt with this issue.

The Legal Director presented the report and answered questions raised by the Cabinet Member and Spokespersons.

RESOLVED:

That progress towards implementation of the Legal and Administrative

Services Department’s Service Plan 2009/10 be noted.

Report of the Finance and Information Services Director

Further to Minute No. 84 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member - Corporate Services held on 13 January 2010, the Cabinet Member considered the report of the Finance and Information Services Director on progress in relation to the Finance and Information Services element of the Corporate Services Portfolio’s Departmental Service Plan.

The report referred to current service challenges, issues and achievements in relation to the Major Service Review; Financial Management; the Central Purchasing Unit; the Internal Audit; Claims and Administration; the Central Purchasing Unit, Internal Audit and the Specialised Transport Unit; and that with regard to performance indicators, performance against all key targets was good.  Attached to the report was a copy of the Departmental Service Plan Q2 updates on Performance and Activities.

The report concluded by referring to corporate or cross-cutting issues and that, in relation to sickness levels, although the current level of 4.25% was higher than the corporate target of 4%, this was an improvement on the 4.98% level for the previous 12 months.  The report further indicated that sickness was being closely managed with support of personnel advice from the Business Support Unit; and outlined the Finance Department’s responsibility for Risk management.

The Cabinet Member was interested in the implementation of the Council’s Policies and, in particular, how its policy on the reduction of its Carbon Footprint impacted upon service delivery.  He asked the Finance and Information Services Director to explain how the department dealt with this issue.

The Finance and Information Services Director presented the report and answered the questions raised by the Cabinet Member and Spokespersons.

RESOLVED:

That the progress and achievements in respect of the Portfolio’s responsibilities within the Finance and Information Services Departmental Service Plan 2009/10 be noted.

Report of the Chief Executive

Further to Minute 63 of the Cabinet Member – Communities meeting held on 6 January 2010, the Cabinet Member considered the report of the Chief Executive in relation to the relevant parts of the Chief Executive’s Departmental Service Plan, which summarised the progress of Sefton’s Equalities Partnership and the Community Safety Team of the Department.

The report looked at the achievements, challenges and issues facing the department and Performance Indicators in relation to the Key Areas and service achievements of Sefton Equalities Partnership; Community Safety Team; Performance Indicators in relation to LAA 2008-20011; Crime and Anti-social Behaviour and Risks.

The report further indicated that excellent progress had been made overall against the Departmental Service and Annual Plans and highlighted some of the key activity and service achievements over the two quarters.

The Cabinet Member was interested in the implementation of the Council’s Policies and, in particular, how its policy on the reduction of its Carbon Footprint impacted upon service delivery.  He asked the officers to explain how their department dealt with this issue.

The Officers present and the Cabinet Member – Communities outlined the issues and answered questions raised by the Cabinet Member and Spokespersons.

RESOLVED:

That the report of the Chief Executive in relation to the Communities Portfolio Monitoring for quarters 1 and 2 2009/10 be noted. 

Report of the Environmental Protection Director

Further to Minute No. 65 of the meeting of the Cabinet Member – Environment held on 18 November 2009, the Cabinet Member considered the report of the Environmental Protection Director which gave an update of his Department’s performance activity in relation to the Environmental Protection Department Service Plan to the second quarter 2009/10 in relation to obtaining key objectives.

The key half year performance against the 2009/10 Service Plan was outlined in the report around the areas nationally monitored by the Performance Indicators and Statutory Returns.

The Environmental Protection Director and presented the report, with particular reference to progress and achievements, challenges and issues in relation to the following half year key performances against the 2009/10 Service Plan, relating to:

• Sustainable Waste Management
• Cleaner, Safer, Greener
• Climate Change
• Protecting the Public, Environment and Animal Health through Statutory Compliance Regimes
• Regulatory Reform
• Performance against Statutory Intervention Programmes
• Requests for Service
• Public Health/Crime Partnerships
• Financial Management
• Sickness Management
• Senior Management Changes.

The Cabinet Member was interested in the implementation of the Council’s Policies and, in particular, how its policy on the reduction of its Carbon Footprint impacted upon service delivery.  He asked the officers to explain how their department dealt with this issue.

The Cabinet Member – Environmental and the Environmental Protection Director and Officer colleagues gave an outline of the issues and answered the questions raised by the Cabinet Member and Spokespersons. 

RESOLVED:

That the achievement of the Environmental Protection Department against key Performance Indicators during the first two quarters of 2009/10 be noted.