AGENDA ITEM NO. 10

REPORT TO: Executive Board

REPORT NO: CFPO/50/07

DATE: 19 June 2007

LEAD MEMBER: Councillor Alun Jenkins (Finance & Performance)

LEAD OFFICER: Chief Finance & Performance Officer

CONTACT OFFICER: Gareth Latham (Tel: 292261)

SUBJECT: End of Year Performance Monitoring 2006/07

WARD: N/A

1 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

1.1 To provide a performance analysis of delivery against our Focal Areas, Corporate Priorities and Service Priorities for 2006/07.

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

2.1 Overall, the Council has maintained high performance in 2006/07 and continues to build on the improvements realised in 2005/06. Performance against the Focal Area, Corporate Priority and Service Priority outcomes is shown below and demonstrates a marked difference in attainment levels for outcomes where effort is being focussed:

83% of the Council’s Focal Area outcomes [the highest level of priority] are considered ‘On Track’. None are considered ‘Significantly Off Track’.

78% of the Council’s Corporate Priority outcomes have been evaluated as On Track. Like-for-like comparison shows that this is an improvement on 2005/06.

57% of the Council’s Service Priority Outcomes are ‘On Track’.

2.2 Summary information for performance against the Council’s Outcomes is provided at Appendix 1.

3 RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1 That the assessment of the Council’s performance for Q4 outlined in this report is noted and that it is included in the Improvement Plan 2007/08.

REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

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Progress against the Council’s Corporate Priorities is audited and reported on by the Wales Audit Office. The Improvement Plan outlines how the Council is going to deliver its corporate priorities and consequently a rigorous monitoring system that highlights any exceptions is essential.

Mark OwenChief Finance & Performance Officer

4 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Focal Area Outcomes

4.1 For 2006/07, six outcomes were identified by Members as ‘Focal Areas’ where attention should be concentrated on making measurable benefits for the public. Five of the focal areas are ‘On Track’, with the remaining outcome ‘Slightly Off Track’. This outcome is “Maintain roads and improve transport infrastructure within the County Borough”. Further details can be found in Appendix 2.

Status Q1 06/07 Q2 06/07 Q3 06/07 Q4 06/07On track 3 50% 4 67% 5 83% 5 83%Slightly off track 0 0 2 33% 1 17% 1 17%Significantly off track 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Not Reporting 3 50% 0 0 0 0 0 0

Corporate Priority Outcomes

4.2 The Council continued to work towards the 36 outcomes that make up the Corporate Priority areas for 2006/07. Some 78% of our Outcomes were delivered ‘On Track’ for 2006/07. However, a fifth of our outcomes were not delivered to plan.

Status Q1 06/07 Q2 06/07 Q3 06/07 Q4 06/07On track 19 52% 19 53% 23 70% 28 78%Slightly off track 4 11% 10 28% 9 27% 7 19%Significantly off track 11 6% 0 0 1 3% 1 3%Not Reporting 2 31% 7 19% 3 0 0 0

4.3 The chart below shows that the Council has improved the delivery of Corporate Priority outcomes for 2006/07. This is a ‘like-for-like’ comparison and demonstrates how the use of effective performance management information is being used during the year to identify areas of concern and enable remedial action to be taken to improve services.

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4.4 The outcome that is ‘Significantly Off Track’ is ‘Access additional funds to achieve the Welsh Housing Quality Standard’. The funding gap remains at £180m. However, recent Housing Transfer ballots across Wales provide opportunities to learn and build upon the experiences of other Authorities.

4.5 The outcomes that are ‘Slightly Off Track’ are: The diversity of people's background and circumstances are appreciated and positively

valued Those from different backgrounds have similar life opportunities Increased levels of inward investment and indigenous expansion across all sectors Increased physical and economic regeneration of communities throughout Wrexham

County Borough Improve Health, Social Care and Wellbeing Integrating Sustainability Maintain roads and improve transport infrastructure within the County Borough

Further details of the Off Track Outcomes can be found in Appendix 2.

Service Priority Outcomes

4.6 Chief Officers are responsible for identifying appropriate improvements at a Service Priority level. These capture activities and services that do not directly contribute to a Corporate Priority or Focal Area. The list of outcomes also includes ‘crosscutting’ areas that more than one department may provide a return for.

Status Q1 06/07 Q2 06/07 Q3 06/07 Q4 06/07On track 18 56% 17 53% 15 46% 18 57%Slightly off track 6 19% 9 28% 12 38% 11 34%Significantly off track 2 6% 1 3% 0 0 3 9%Not Reporting 6 19% 5 16% 5 16% 0 0

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4.7 Service Priorities were not reported at Outcome Level in 2005/06. The three pie charts below show the Council’s 2006/07 Outcome performance and comparative analysis of performance at indicator level for 2005/06 and 2006/07.

4.8 Performance against indicators in 2006/07 has slightly improved against performance in 2005/06. The percentage that are ‘On Track’ has increased, whilst the proportion that are ‘Significantly Off Track’ have reduced. However, when the indicators are aggregated up to Outcome Level, ‘Off Track’ indicators are occurring in groupings so that outcome performance is lower.

4.9 Contributions to the “Equalities considerations are embedded in our working practices” outcome were Significantly Off Track in three departments. The overall performance for the whole council is Significantly Off Track for this outcome. This is because links to the ‘Equalities’ outcome were only made in 7 out of the 14 Department Service Plans and many departments are not conducting Equalities Impact Assessments in accordance with the programme. Members have requested that this issue be referred to Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee, and arrangements have been put in place for 2007/08 to monitor progress against the delivery of the programme of Equality Impact Assessments through all department Service Plans.

4.10 Contributions to the following outcomes were Slightly Off Track: An organisation where Staff and Members are committed to service, highly skilled,

supported and valued [2 Departments] Equalities considerations are embedded in our working practices [2 Departments]

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Improve the effectiveness of the Housing Strategy & Private Sector Housing Service Improve the Homelessness Service Improved Performance and Quality of Services [2 Departments] Improved recognition and reputation of Council Services To develop a ‘whole life’ approach to the management of the Council’s land and assets To increase consumer and business confidence

Further details on the Off Track Outcomes is provided at Appendix 2.

Exception Reporting

4.11 Comments and remedial actions for Outcomes that are off track (either ‘Slightly Off Track’ or ‘Significantly Off Track’) are provided at Appendix 2.

Performance Management Process

4.12 The Scrutiny Co-Chairs discussed the detail behind this summary on 15 February, with these same notes being considered by the Finance and Performance Scrutiny Committee on22 February 2007. Members’ considered that the presentation of the information was improved and suggested that monitoring information for 2007/08 be focussed on key areas.

4.13 It is worth noting that although we put considerable effort into choosing measures and setting challenging targets each year, in some circumstances external influences beyond our control, for examples funding decisions by WAG, affect our ability to deliver against these targets and they will appear as off track. It is also important to recognise that because we set targets that are challenging and stretching to stimulate improvement, it is unrealistic to expect to achieve 100% completely on track. Indeed many of the slightly off track indicators just fall short of achieving their target but improvement has still been achieved.

4.14 Work continues to ensure the Council learns from and improves its target setting, performance monitoring, management and reporting and this will be reflected in the 2007/08 arrangements.

Budget Headroom

4.15 Appendix 3 contains an update of the Budget Headroom areas. This is the final time that this information will be provided.

Policy Agreement

4.16 Appendix 4 provides progress against Policy Agreement targets. Future performance reports will not highlight this information separately.

5 CONSULTATION

5.1 Consultation in the preparation of the report is essential. Directors and Chief Officers are an integral part of the Performance Monitoring system and Scrutiny Members have made observations.

6 SCRUTINY COMMITTEE COMMENTS

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6.1 The Finance & Performance Task Group met on 10 May 2007. The areas highlighted by the process were raised at the Finance & Performance Scrutiny Committee meeting of 17 May 2007 a number of areas suggested for scrutiny follow up.

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7 IMPLICATIONS

7.1 Policy Framework: Monitoring performance against the Improvement Plan is a key element of the Council’s Policy Framework.

7.2 Budget: This report and the recommendation do not require any budgetary decisions.

7.3 Legal: There are no legal implications.

BACKGROUND PAPERS LOCATION WEBSITE INFO.1. N/A

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