Issue - meetings

Consider report by Service Director Customer & Communities.  (Copy attached).

6.1       There had been circulated copies of a report by the Service Director Customer & Communities which presented a high level summary of Scottish Borders Council’s Quarter 3 2019/20 performance information with more detail contained within Appendices 1, 2a and 3 attached to the report.  The report included reporting on the progress of change and improvement projects across Scottish Borders Council (SBC) under the Fit for 2024 programme.  The report explained that in order to monitor progress against the four themes, a review of performance and context information would be undertaken quarterly and presented to Executive Committee as well as an annual summary in June each year.  During Quarter 3 2019/20, SBC had continued to press ahead with a range of important initiatives and innovation which included:-

(a)       Achieving the Living Wage accreditation;

(b)       Continuing to progress our innovative Inspire Learning programme, completing deployment of iPads to pupils in 4 secondary schools; and

(c)       Launching AskSARA, a website tool developed to help people stay more independent in their own homes for longer, the first of its kind in Scotland

6.2       The information contained within the report and the appendices were also available on the SBC website and could be accessed at www.scotborders.gov.uk/performance  The Appendices reflected a quarterly reporting format structured around the four corporate themes, and use a mixture of narratives, highlights, performance and context indicators.  Appendix 1 to the report contained updates on Fit for 2024, change and improvement projects.  These were monitored by Corporate Management Team (CMT) and through the SBC Financial Plan and associated monitoring.  Appendix 2a to the report contained updates on specific performance and context indicators structured around the corporate themes.  A schedule of indicators was provided at Appendix 2b to the report covering quarterly and annual reporting through the Local Government Benchmarking Framework provided for information.  To reflect the significant investment made by SBC, an overview of the work and impact of the Police Scotland’s Community Action Team was provided within Appendix 3 to the report.

6.3       The Service Director Customer & Communities advised that all projects were delivering the savings in the monitoring report and the performance indicators were back on track.  Ms Craig further advised that overall the report continued to demonstrate the level of work ongoing to deliver financial savings as well as meeting the ongoing challenges.  In response to a question on school absences compared to other areas, Ms Craig undertook to circulate this information.  Members commented on the layout and some of the terminology used in the report and were assured that the presentation of the report would continue to be refined.

DECISION

NOTED:-

(a)       the progress update relating to Change and Improvement Projects, referenced in Section 4 and detailed further in Appendix 1; 

(b)       the changes to performance indicators outlined in Section 5 of the report; and

(c)     the performance summarised in Sections 6 and 7, and detailed within Appendices 1, 2a and 3 and the action that was being taken within services to improve or maintain performance.