Further to minute 23 (05/07/2018) the Corporate Performance Manager presented Members of the Performance and Administration Committee with an update against the Performance Management Framework, as set out within the council’s Corporate Plan 2015-19, for Quarter One 2018-19 (April to June 2018).

The Corporate Performance Manager advised the Committee that it was a standard report that is brought to the Committee every quarter to update them on the performance of the work carried out within the Portfolio. He gave a brief overview of the layout and what the performance measures and performance indicators were as well as what they outlined in the report.

The Chair advised that each policy commitment would be looked at giving officers a chance to update Members further on the work that was involved in calculating the performance results as well as feedback on the relevant departments.

1. Underpin all council activity with sound governance and internal control measures minimising the opportunities for fraud and corruption

Performance Measure 41: Percentage of internal audit recommendations implemented

The Head of Audit & Counter Fraud Shared Services advised that it is the only PI the team has in place that he has no control over in terms of its end position. However the team do their utmost to follow up on the recommendations with senior management to ensure that they are being correctly implemented. A total of 36 recommendations were due to be implemented and, as of 30 June 2017, 10 of those remain outstanding; of those ten only  number 6 on page 24 has been implemented: Enhancement to arrangements to ensure completeness of 2018/19 service plans and service risk register.

Progress made towards implementing outstanding recommendations is monitored on a quarterly basis through reports to the council’s Management Team, with emails sent to department heads every month as well. Details of all recommendations agreed, implemented and outstanding are provided to the Council’s Finance & Audit Committee as part of the quarterly and annual A&CF update reports. Additionally, the Finance & Audit Committee has requested that any recommendations that are 6 months past their implementation date be flagged up to the Committee, and the relating officers attend to answer any questions.

2. Quality frontline services delivered on time and to the right people

Performance Measure 11: Average time taken to process Housing Benefit/Council Tax new claims (days)

The Service Manager (Revenues & Benefits) advised that, at the end of last year when the decision was taken not to progress the planned shared service arrangement, three staff left their posts. Those three staff were highly experienced and very difficult to replace; nationally there is a shortage of experienced Housing Benefit officers due to the implementation of Universal Credit. Staff feel they will eventually lose their jobs when full migration to UC occurs so they are moving onto other fields, because of that, trainees have had to be hired and trained up to fill those three vacant positions. The three trainees will become fully qualified but the length of training takes roughly six-nine months  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29