Elected Member Briefing Note - Corporate performance reporting

About this briefing note

Report by: Charlene Guild, Head of Innovation

Date: 30 May 2023

Subject: Changes to annual performance improvement action reporting

Responsible Officer:  Lisa Potter, Communications and Performance Manager

Purpose

Following on from verbal updates at Leaders meetings and other in person Elected Member sessions, this briefing note provides an overview on revised arrangements for annual performance and improvement reporting from 1 April 2023.

Briefing Information

In previous years we have reported performance of our Corporate Plan outcomes, priorities and other improvement activity through our Corporate Annual Performance Report, individual Service Annual Performance Reports and Business Management Improvement Plans.

Over the past 18 months there have been a number of changes which have influenced and informed our approach to performance and improvement reporting. 

These include:

• Approval of our new Corporate Plan 2022-27
• Approval of our Transformation & Change Strategy 2022-27
• Changes to Statutory Performance Information Direction which applies to performance reporting from 1 April 2022
• Changes to Best Value guidance in 2020 and audit approach in November 2022
• Ongoing implementation of our performance and risk management software solution PK Performs

How this has shaped what we do

These changes alongside our commitment to continual improvement have led to a review of our approach to performance reporting and strategic planning. We aim to strengthen alignment between our Corporate Plan performance, improvement activity, resource allocation and involvement of communities in decision making.

This will see us move to an approach whereby performance and improvement information are reported at an organisational/strategic level, removing the requirement for Service Annual Performance Reports and Business Management Improvement Plans, from 2023/24. Reporting in this way better reflects the new Corporate Plan priorities and the common areas of work across Services rather than being individual service based. It also allows us to focus on how the whole Council works together to deliver on priorities and work in partnership with our communities.

We will continue to produce a Corporate Annual Performance Report (APR), reporting on how well we have delivered on our corporate priorities in the previous year against new Corporate Plan. In addition, we will introduce a Corporate Delivery Improvement Plan (CDIP) which will provide a whole organisation approach (rather than by service) to setting improvements for the year ahead.

Reporting on specific Strategies and all other statutory performance reporting will continue at thematic committees as required.

Corporate Delivery and Improvement Plan (CDIP)

The new CDIP will outline required improvement activity for the upcoming year, based on the new Corporate Plan priorities and progress already made. This will demonstrate the link between planned improvements and performance evidence. 

The table below sets out timescales for Committee approval. Adopting this process will also enable us to strengthen the link between budget decisions and our corporate priorities. It also allows time to ensure appropriate engagement and consultation with communities and stakeholders around areas for improvement.

Transitional arrangements

As the new Corporate Plan 2022-27 was approved in December 2022, reporting for 2022/23 will cover a nine month period based on our previous Corporate Plan outcomes and three months relating to priorities within our new Corporate Plan 2022-27.

We need to ensure that we close the loop on old reporting arrangements, whilst maintaining a balanced approach and focus on our new Corporate Plan priorities.

Future reporting

The corporate strategic performance team are continuing to improve and streamline our corporate reporting processes to ensure that elected members are receiving the right information at the right time. In future years, the PK Performs reporting system will allow more timely and up to date information and we will continue to provide full council with a look back on progress through the Annual Performance Report and set improvement actions with the new Corporate Delivery and Improvement Plan template.