Agenda item

This Mid-Year update report outlines South Kesteven District Councils performance against the Corporate Plan Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the year of 2023/24.

The Policy Officer presented the report that outlined South Kesteven District Councils performance against the Corporate Plan Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the year of 2023/24.

2023/24 was the final year of monitoring for the existing KPIs. A refresh of the Corporate Plan was currently underway. All Members had the opportunity to engage in the development of the new Corporate Plan, which would be adopted in the January 2024. To accompany the new Corporate Plan, a new suite of KPIs will be developed to reflect the priorities, ambitions and actions of the new Plan. These KPIs will be approved by each Committee and reporting will commence from April 2024.

Appendix A of the report presented the overall performance against the five actions being presented, as well as specific performance against the sub measures contained within those. Specific commentary was provided for each action, which is summarised as follows:

·       3 of the actions are rated Green. These are actions which are on or above target as planned.

·       1 of the actions is rated Amber. This is an action which is currently below the planned target.

·       1 of the actions is rated Red. This is an action, which is currently significantly below the planned target.

Members expressed their disappoint of the KPI relating to safeguarding training percentages having a rating of red. It was queried as to why safeguarding training was not being actioned as a priority.

The Senior Management Team had been tasked on ensuring all of their staff were up-to-date with safeguarding training in hope to improve the percentage.

One Member raised a specific concern around the process of certain housing safeguarding issues within council-run housing and whether the concern would be dealt with internally by the Housing department. It was suggested that all safeguarding matters be referred to the appropriate outside body, to maintain the same level of transparency throughout.

ACTION: For an update on safeguarding to be brought to the next Committee meeting and for the relevant Officer to be in attendance. 

Concern was raised on the high level of staff turnover and why staff could not be retained.

A recent report had been taken to the Employment Committee which had demonstrated that the staff turnover was relatively low compared to previous years. Members were referred to the dashboard information presented to the Employment Committee recently.

It was clarified that all Members of staff were required to complete safeguarding training.

A Member highlighted the importance of the Community Fund meetings and Members were encouraged to give more priority to it.

Concern was raised on the 45% KPI target for safeguarding training and how this could be improved. Previous issues had been discussed around colleagues accessing computers etc.

It was queried as to whether the Council were sending out staff untrained, rising waiting times, or whether small number of staff trained had rising workloads. It was further queried what current implications were in place and what mitigations were in place short-term.

The Assistant Director of Governance and Public Protection suggested that the Committee recommend for Managers part of the Senior Management Team ensure their staff attend safeguarding training.

The Committee were assured that certain service areas and frontline services were required to give a more significant weight to safeguarding, due to the nature of their role and had all completed significant safeguarding training.

The online training was accessed through an online training account of Lincolnshire County Council. It was noted that issues in the way in which the data was tracked on our system may have caused issues. 

It was further suggested that the Committee receive further assurances that people are not being put into the field untrained in safeguarding, which would be a breach of the authority’s requirement.

It was clarified that all Members of staff were required to undertake e-learning modules which was facilitated by Lincolnshire County Council, however, staff in specific fields were trained to a higher level.

A further breakdown was requested in relation to safeguarding training on who required advanced training and how far the training had progressed.

It was noted that the Repairs Team and Council contractors were of a high importance to complete advanced training due to visiting people’s houses.

One Member queried whether there were any reinforcement of refreshment in- person training.

The Community Engagement Manager clarified that every member of staff and Elected Member were required to complete a level of safeguarding training. The training followed a six-year training pathway and was put forward by the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Childrens Partnership and the Lincolnshire Safeguarding Adults Board, whether that be e-learning or face-to-face sessions. The Council followed their training as they were the responsible body. For members of staff that couldn’t access computers, face-to-face training would be delivered by Officers. 

Clarification was sought around the 90% target of staff receiving safeguarding training and the current percentage being 45%. It was suggested that a target be set for mid-year rather than the end of the year, in order to measure the likelihood of achieving the annual target.

It was proposed, seconded and AGREED that the Committee:

1. Review and scrutinise the performance against the Corporate Plan Key Performance Indicators in relation to the delivery of the Corporate Plan priorities and outcomes.

2. Use this report to inform and support the ongoing work programme of the Committee

3. For the Committee to receive a further report on a breakdown of staff training and the type of training they require, as well as the progress made against each service area, including contractors and the safeguarding process within Housing.