Issue - meetings

The Information, Engagement & Performance Manager and Improvement Officer gave a presentation which provided details in relation to performance monitoring.  The briefing explained why performance was monitored and set out the Council’s performance management framework and monitoring arrangements.

It was noted that the Council’s ‘Ambition’ document would be reviewed in the near future and all Scrutiny Members would be involved in the development of the new plan.

A Member queried how targets were set each year to ensure that they were effective and did not disincentivise staff.  The Information, Engagement & Performance Manager advised that members of staff were expected to be involved in the setting of targets and indicators and that the Performance Monitoring Team would ensure that the targets were realistic and achievable.

A Member commented that in the past it had been necessary to review targets that had clearly fallen behind in order to get them back on track.

A Member asked if the pre-meetings were utilised to address any issues of concern in relation to performance monitoring.  The Scrutiny & Elections Officer advised that the pre-meetings were to review the proposed agenda items and identify any gaps in the reports being presented.  For performance reports this involved liaising with officers regarding any issues in order to ensure that as much information as possible was provided to Members at Scrutiny meetings.  The thematic Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs were also part of that process. Portfolio Holders were also invited to the Performance meetings to answer any questions raised by Scrutiny.

The Portfolio Holder for Resources stressed the importance of monitoring performance in order to improve service delivery.