To receive a report.

James Gilbert, Assistant Director - Corporate presented Members with the Performance and Governance Framework - Quarter 4 (Q4) Monitoring Report 2023/24 (April 2023 to March 2024), pages 1 to 40 of the Supplementary Agenda refer.

Members attention was drawn to the Performance Indicators (Appendix A) and the Strategic Risk Register (Appendix B).

The Assistant Director – Corporate informed Members that the majority of risk indicators were green and that narrative had been provided alongside each of the risks that were red.  Assurance was provided that Portfolio Holders and Assistant Directors were working together to improve performance for the risks that were in the red at year end.

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

·       A Member queried whether the report for the Performance and Governance Framework at the end of Quarter 4 was written in relation to ELDC or the Partnership, page 1 of the Supplementary Agenda refers.  In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate confirmed to Members that the report was focused on performance solely at East Lindsey whereas the Performance Framework was utilised across the Partnership. 

·       Referring to Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) for workforce, a Member commented that it was a concern that figures for staff turnover and sickness had increased, pages 19 and 20 of the Supplementary Agenda refer.  In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate advised Members that the number of working days lost and staff turnover figures needed to be revised to show 22/23 outturn against the 23/24 outturn rather than the Quarter 4 figure 22/23 currently listed.   The Assistant Director – Corporate further confirmed that the correct figures would be circulated to the Members following the Meeting.

·       A Member further commented on the upward trend for staff turnover, page 20 of the Supplementary Agenda refers.  In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate advised Members that the upward trend was not unusual for staff turnover and that spikes were expected in Q4 when fixed term contracts terminated to align with year-end.  The Assistant Director – Corporate confirmed that a more detailed narrative would be included on those two indicators in future reports.

·       The Chairman queried whether the Annual Staff Satisfaction Survey still took place.  In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate advised Members that a survey had not been undertaken for some time and that the Senior Leadership Team were reviewing a draft version for future deployment.  The Assistant Director - Corporate assured Members that benchmarking questions had been utilised on a quarterly basis and that it was recognised that a Partnership-wide survey would add value to each of the three workforces. 

·       In reference to Paragraph 3.4, a Member queried how ‘sand’ was classified as a high operational risk, page 4 of the Supplementary Agenda refers.  In response, the Assistant Director advised Members that further detail on this risk would be obtained.

·       A Member commented on the report that Councillors were being cut off from phone calls to the Customer Contact Centre.  The Chairman further queried whether the issue had been identified in the Annual Councillor Survey.  In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate advised Members to make contact with the service to assist with understanding of the issues.

·       A Member further commented on the feasibility of Councillors maintaining a log of services issues and reporting them. 

·       Referring to the KPI’s on Kingdom Contracts, a Member queried whether the number of Fixed Penalty Notices (FPN’s) issued included dog fouling, pages 11 to 13 of the Supplementary Agenda refer.  In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate confirmed the figures for dog fouling was included in the KPI for ‘Other’. 

·       A Member further queried percentage payment rates and whether only half of fixed penalty notices were paid, page 12 of the Supplementary Agenda refers.  The Assistant Director – Corporate advised Members that payments were chased for a period of time and could be attributed to a different financial quarter when they remained outstanding.

·       A Member commented on a trend for payments of FPN’s being low across time.  In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate advised Member that further information would be obtained and brought back to the Committee.

·       Referring to ‘Wellbeing Lincs contractual’, page 9 of the Supplementary Agenda refers, a Member queried the Q4 2023/24 figure of 345.16%, reducing to 200% for the 23/24 and commented that Wellbeing Lincs provided a good service.  In response, the Assistant Director – Corporate confirmed that 200% for 23/24 was the target figure.

·       Referring to the high-risk score for ELDC04 ‘Lincshore flood defence’, a Member commented on concern for the future of East Lindsey’s coastal defences.  It was further noted that the Environment Agency did not appear to have a strategy beyond 2024 and that no progress had been seen with the Lincolnshire2100+ Partnership, page 33 of the Supplementary Agenda refers.

In response, Councillor Tom Ashton, the Portfolio Holder for Planning advised Members on the status of the Lincolnshire2100+ project and other similar projects and had confidence that the project would move forward.

·       A Member further queried whether it was possible to see the work of the Partnership.  In response, the Portfolio Holder for Planning advised Members that the project was only at the concept stage and that progress was expected in the next few months.

·       A Member requested that the Q4 Risks contained in Appendix B was provided in a more readable format on paper to comply with accessibility regulations.  In response, the Chairman confirmed that enlarged paper copies would be provided in future. 

·       A Member queried the encouragement of experienced representation from the Council appointments to outside bodies for the benefit of residents.  In response, the Portfolio Holder for Planning advised Members that he was a part of a Drainage Board Special Interest Group and supported the need for greater understanding of the various initiatives and those with expertise providing representation on outside bodies. 

·       A Member further commented that they wished for the representative from ELDC to be the right person. 

·       Further to a discussion, it was agreed that endorsement be given for Councillor Ashton to act as East Lindsey’s representative.

No further comments or questions were received.

Following which, it was

RESOLVED:

That the Performance and Governance Framework - Quarter 4 Monitoring Report 2023/24 be noted.