Agenda and minutes

            The Minutes from the meeting held on 22 February 2011 were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

It was reported that no public questions had been received.

The minutes of the Executive Board and the Executive Board Sub-Committee relating to the work of the Corporate Policy and Performance Board since its last meeting, were submitted for information.

 

            RESOLVED:  That the minutes be noted.

 

 

It was reported that the SSP minutes from the Halton Strategic Partnership (HSP) Board meeting held on 2 March 2011 would be approved at the next meeting of the HSP, being held on 1 June 2011.  Members requested that the approved minutes be forwarded to them following the meeting.

 

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

 

 

The Board received the Annual Report of the Corporate Policy and Performance Board for 2010/11.

 

Members requested information on the Widnes Vikings and it was agreed that this would return as an item on a future agenda.

 

It was noted that following a change in membership of the Board for 2011-12, Councillor Roberts would take the lead on the Halton Strategic Partnership topic group for 2011-12.

 

RESOLVED:  That the report be approved.

The Board received a report from the Strategic Director Policy and Resources, asking them to consider the future performance management arrangements for the Council in light of the changing regulatory requirements and reduced resources.

 

It was reported that the purpose of a performance framework was to help the Council to improve the quality of life in Halton by prioritising and delivering improvements in outcomes for the community.  It was therefore, imperative that the Council maintained a planning and performance framework that allowed the identification and ongoing monitoring of key activities and performance measures.

 

It was noted that the existing performance management framework was developed primarily as a result of Audit Commission findings from the pre-existing Corporate Assessment process and had served the Council well.  This best practice was seen and widely promoted as a means of securing step change improvement within the sector.  The coalition had signalled an intended shift from the central performance management of local councils toward greater ‘local accountability’.  As a result a number of changes had been made to the national performance framework and these included the abolition of:  The Comprehensive Area Assessment; The Audit commission; Local Area Agreements; the National Indicator Set and Annual scored ratings for Children’s and Adults’ Services.  In their place the coalition proposed:

 

• A single list of all the data councils had to provide to central Government;
• A Quality of Outcomes Data Set (QODS) for Adult Social Care;
• Continued inspections of schools, Children’s Services, Adults Services etc; and
• That councils would publish up to date performance data in an easily accessible form to enable local citizens to performance manage their local authority.

 

It was further noted that funding for local public services was being significantly reduced but it remained vitally important for the council to be clear about what it wanted to change/improve most.

 

Appendix 1 (Principles for developing a new performance framework) was referred to and Members gave their initial views.  It was noted that the Board would oversee the process of developing the new framework and would have the opportunity to discuss this over the coming months.  A further report would be presented at the September meeting with a view to making a recommendation to the Executive Board as to the future framework for the Authority.

 

RESOLVED:  That the Board notes the content of the report and endorses:

 

1)     The set of principles for a new performance management framework as outlined in section 3.3 and Appendix 1 to the report; and

 

2)     The next steps as outlined in paragraph 3.5.

 

 

The Board received the Performance Management Reports for quarter 4 of 2010/11 (January to March).

 

Members were requested to consider and raise any questions or points of clarification in respect of the 4^th quarter performance management reports on progress against service plan objectives and performance targets, performance trends/comparisons, factors affecting the services for:

 

·              Policy and Performance;

·              Legal and Democratic Services;

·              Financial Services;

·              ICT and Support Services;

·              Human Resources;

·              Property Services;

·              Catering and Stadium; and

·              Halton Direct Links.

 

The following points were noted from the discussions:

 

Policy & Performance

 

2.0 – Key Developments - Members requested to see the methods of marketing and evidence of the Q4 marketing activities for Widnes market; this would be reported at the next meeting in September.

 

PPLI 1 – The HSP underspend for 2010-11 was reallocated to the delivery of projects within 2011-12.  A list of these projects was requested and would be sent to all Board members.

 

PPLI 11 – It was commented that the website working group consisting of several Members, was concentrating on improvements and enhancements to the website.

 

Legal & Democratic Services

 

LDSLI 10, 11 & 12 – Targets missed in part due to a high volume of cases, however, customer satisfaction surveys were positive.  Child Care performance data would be fed back to the Children and Young People’s Policy and Performance Board.

 

Finance

 

3.0 Emerging Issues – Concerns were raised over proposed reforms to welfare rights.  A report had previously been circulated that showed the impact in Halton of the recent changes in Housing Benefit Regulations.  It was agreed that this be circulated to the new Members of the Council.

 

 

 

 

Environment & Economy

 

3.0 Emerging Issues – The amount of maintenance and basic need works that was required in 2011-12 within schools would be confirmed.

 

PYSLI 3 – Statistics regarding the vacation levels and new occupancy levels of Industrial Units would be provided to the Board.

 

RESOLVED:  That the quarter 4 Performance Management Reports and comments made be noted.

 

 

The Board received a report submitted by the Strategic Director, Policy and Resources, containing the accident statistics for the year 2010/11.

 

The report highlighted that there had been the same number of ‘over 3 day’ accidents as the previous year and there had been an increase in significant accidents.  The report continued to outline through a series of recommendations, the actions that were being taken in the light of the information and trends contained in the report.

 

The following points were also highlighted:

 

• The total days lost was 257, a reduction when compared with last year’s figure of 318;

 

• The total cost of accidents to the Authority was £150,000 which was the same as last year’s figure; but a reduction from £650,000 two years ago;

 

• There was an increase overall on all accident categories for 2010/11 from the previous year.  Again the majority were from the slips, trips and falls category, due in part to poor housekeeping issues, and from lifting and carrying of people accidents, mainly from within the Communities Directorate;

 

• Nationally it had been proposed to extend reporting from ‘over 3 day accidents’ to ‘over 7 days’ to fit in with sickness reporting, this was under consultation at the moment;

 

• Mark Reaney had been appointed as the Lead Health and Safety Officer at Board level, as required by guidance under the ‘Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007;

 

• Electronic accident and violent incident reporting systems had been implemented and had improved the recording of incidents;

 

• The Corporate Risk Assessment portal would be ready for testing at the end of May when it would be piloted by Waste Management, with an expected roll out date of September 2011; and

 

• It was noted that the situation regarding library staff was being closely monitored.

 

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

 

 

 

 

 

The Board considered a report from the Strategic Director Policy and Resources, which contained information on the progress in achieving targets contained within the Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) for Halton for the year end 2010-11.

 

Members were advised that the purpose of the report was to consolidate information on all measures and targets relevant to this PPB in order to provide a clear picture of progress.  Furthermore, as the requirement to undertake a centrally prescribed Place Survey had now ceased, the development of a localised perception based methodology was currently underway with a likely implementation date of autumn 2011.

 

It was noted that the SCS for Halton, and the performance measures and targets contained within it would remain central to the delivery of community outcomes.  Furthermore it was important that progress was monitored and that Members were satisfied that adequate plans were in place to ensure that the Council and its partners achieved the improvement targets that had been agreed.

 

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.