Agenda item

The Cabinet considered the Council's Balanced Scorecard report Quarter 4 2016/17. The details were set out in the report.

In the ensuing debate, the following principal points were raised:

a)    The Cabinet Member for Transformation and Commissioning introduced the report. She indicated that 5 red performance indicators had been updated in quarter four 2016/17:

·         Looked After Children – New processes had been put in place to improve senior managerial oversight and decision-making for children coming into the care system and a Resources Panel also met regularly

·         Children with a Child Protection Plan – The thresholds for holding an Initial Child Protection Conference were being reviewed

·         Older People Funded in Permanent Care Home Placements -  Extra care continued to be developed as an addition to residential care

·         Sickness rates were reducing. Processes and systems were being reviewed to develop a pragmatic and outcome-focussed approach, focussed on long term cases

·         Staff who feel the Council has a clear vision for the future – A number of staff engagement sessions had been arranged to improve the clarity of the vision

The red risk on the risk register related to "serious harm or death due to a failure on the part of the Council" and resulted from the Ofsted report. Actions were in place to address this issue. Demographic pressures remained a red risk. Recruitment issues in Adult Social Care had been addressed and the red risk had been downgraded;   

b)    The high response rate of 60% to the staff survey reflected efforts to engage staff. The Council needed to incorporate this feedback into the Corporate Plan;

c)    Although the indicator for the number of businesses surviving 3 years or more was unsatisfactory, it showed that the Council's Open for Business Policy created an environment where people felt empowered to open a business. Overall, the number of green risks for the Open for Business area of focus indicated that the Council was successful in encouraging economic growth and employment;

d)    It was considered that people should be allowed to remain in their own home to improve their quality of life. This risk was proving difficult to address due to the demographic pressures in the county; and

e)    The highest levels of sickness rates in the Council were in Adult Social Care and this was to be expected given the nature of the work. It would be interesting to see benchmarking data to see whether other councils had similar sickness rates. The Leader indicated that benchmarking data on sickness absence should be included in future balanced scorecard reports.

RESOLVED: that

a)    the latest update of the Corporate Balanced Scorecard for Quarter Four 2016/17 be received, noting the 17 indicators rated as 'green' and considered actions being taken to improve performance for the 5 indicators rated 'red' where there has been an update in Quarter Four 2016/17;

b)    the latest refresh of the Corporate Risk Register be noted including actions to mitigate the two risks that are rated 'red'; and

c)    the refresh of the balanced scorecard be supported to reflect the new Corporate Plan.