Agenda item

This Mid-Year update report outlines South Kesteven District Councils performance against the Corporate Plan Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the period of April – September 2023.

The report was introduced by the Head of Corporate Policy, Projects and Performance.

The South Kesteven Corporate Plan 2020-23 was approved by Council on 1 October 2020.  It was agreed by the Council that actions, key performance indicators (KPIs) and targets would be developed by the relevant overview and scrutiny committee, which would retain oversight of the performance management arrangements at a strategic level.  These actions and indicators were presented to this committee and agreed on 23 February 2021.

The Year End report for 2022/23 was presented to the Committee on 27 June 2023 and outlined the performance against the Corporate Plan for the previous financial year.  This report built on these historical reports to provide an update on performance to the mid-year point of the 2023/24 financial year. It incorporated the changes recommended by the last KPI review to outline areas of the council’s performance which were successful and to advise where challenges may lay.

2023/2024 was the final year of monitoring these 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 will be adopted in 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 were to be approved by each Committee and reporting was to commence from April 2024.

• 7 of the actions were rated Green.  These were actions which were on or above target as planned.  Included within these were ‘healthy and strong communities’ and ‘investing in high quality leisure facilities across the District.

• 2 actions were rated as Amber, these were those off target by less than 10% or where milestone achievement was delayed but with resolution in place to be achieved within a reasonable timeframe.  It was noted that within ‘the delivery of growth in the economy’ 2 actions were items at today’s Committee – St Martin’s Park, Stamford and delivery of the Heritage Action Zone Project.

The Director of Growth and Culture had provided extended commentary on the KPIs for The Grantham Future High Streets Fund and the Heritage Action Zone in the covering report.

During discussion, Members raised the following points:

·            There were a number of KPIs recorded as ‘not reported’.  Why was this?

·            The Council was significantly below target for protecting the most vulnerable residents with safeguarding processes as well as meeting the Housing needs of residents.  How could this be improved?

·            The Southern Urban extension project was still very much in prospect, shouldn’t this still be a current KPI?

The Head of Corporate Policy, Projects and Performance informed Members that the Corporate Plan had been in place for some time and a lot of the original targets had been completed or superseded with other KPIs more fit for purpose during the lifetime of the Corporate Plan.  The Officer confirmed that the Rural and Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee were responsible for the KPIs relevant to vulnerable residents and the safeguarding processes.  An update was to be heard at their next committee meeting.  The Housing KPIs were to be heard at the next Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 22 January 2024.

The Leader of the Council informed Members that the KPIs were linked to the Corporate Plan and its objectives.  The Committee had an opportunity to review the KPIs moving forward in preparation of the next Plan.

It was proposed, seconded, and AGREED:

That the Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee

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

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