Agenda item

Consider report by the Chief Executive.  (Copy report to follow).

5.1       With reference to paragraph 2 of the Minute of Executive Committee dated 4 September 2018, there had circulated copies of a report by the Chief Executive presenting a summary of Scottish Border Council’s quarterly performance information with details contained within Appendices 1a, 1b, and 2 of the report.  The report also included reporting on the progress of change and improvement across the Council, replacing what was the separate Corporate Transformation report.  Council had approved a revised Corporate Plan (Our Plan and Your Part in it 2018-2023) in February 2018, with four corporate themes. 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.  Section 4 provided a summary of the progress of Change and Improvement projects, with further information contained in Appendix 1a to the report.  Change and Improvement Projects were monitored on a weekly basis by Corporate Management Team and through the SBC Financial Plan and associated monitoring.  Section 5 set out any additions or changes to SBC performance indicators in this report (as this is a dynamic process), followed by a high level summary of performance in Section 6, with details provided in Appendix 1b to the report.  To reflect the significant investment made by the Council during 2018/19, an overview of the work and impact of Police Scotland’s Community Action Team was provided at Section 7 and within Appendix 2 to the report.  The information contained within the report and appendices was also made available on the Council website using the public facing part of SBC’s Performance Management software (Pentana).  This could be accessed at www.scotborders.gov.uk/performance.

5.2       The Service Director Customer & Communities gave a brief introduction on the detailed report and advised that Members requirements highlighted at the previous meeting were now reflected in the report under the four corporate themes. She also said that an annual performance report would be presented every June, as well as regular quarterly reports, and would show longer term trends.  The Policy, Performance and Planning Manager, Mrs Sarah Watters summarised the successes and challenges outlined within the report.  In the ensuing discussion, Members welcomed the new reporting format both in respect of the summary infographics and more detailed analysis behind each performance and context indicators.  It was noted that cumulative energy usage was higher for Q1 and 2 of 2018/19, when compared to the same period in 17/18, as the average temperature had been lower over the 6 month period.  Consumption costs had also increased due to both the temperature and the rise in unit cost. However, energy efficiency measures were having a positive effect overall.  Councillor Rowley highlighted that the Community Action Team hours of high visibility foot patrol seemed to be low, although he did acknowledge that the impact of the team was positive overall.  Mrs Watters agreed to take this back to the Safer Communities team for clarification.  In response to a query on why there was no comparison figures contained within the infographic for delayed discharges from hospital, Mrs Watters explained that this information was reported through the Integration Joint Board and would provide this for Members.

            DECISION

AGREED:-

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

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

(c)          to acknowledge and note the performance summarised in Sections 6 and 7 of the report, and detailed within Appendices 1b and 2 and the action that is being taken within services to improve or maintain performance.

(Note: Following the meeting in respect of the query regarding delayed discharge it was ascertained that there was an error in Appendix 1 to the report.  On page 40 of the agenda pack it stated in the left hand column “Bed days associated with delayed discharges in residents aged 75+; rate per 1,000 population” and therefore did not match the graph and the commentary.  It should have stated “Bed Days associated with emergency admissions, per 1000 population age 75+”