The Head of Financial Services presented a report which outlined the quarter 2 (July to September 2015) performance against the Directorate Plan for 2015/16. 

Whilst the Corporate Plan 2015/16 (and supporting Directorate Plans) had been superseded by the Wirral Council Plan 2020 Vision, they still formed the basis of the in-year performance management framework. A new Performance Management Framework would be developed for the Council Plan once the associated delivery plan had been finalised.

Of the 19 reportable indicators, 10 were rated Green, 2 were rated Amber and 7 were rated Red. For indicators rated Amber and Red, the responsible officer had indicated the corrective action being put in place to get performance back on track. The seven measures rated red were:

·  Percentage of Performance Appraisals (PAs) completed by September 2015 (TRCP03)

·  Sickness absence: the number of working days / shifts lost due to sickness absence (TRCP04)

·  Percentage of suppliers paid within 30 days or payment terms (TRDP06)

·  Percentage of client finance recovered by end of month following billing (TRDP13)

·  Percentage spend allocation of Discretionary Housing Payment (TRDP16)

·  Average number of days to accurately process change in circumstance benefit claims (TRDP23)

·  Percentage grant income achieved (TRDP24)

A Member referring to the number of indicators which were red requested that the Strategic Director attend. The Chair suggested that the indicator on PAs should be referred to the Cabinet Member, Councillor Adrian Jones, and that the Strategic Director should be requested to attend the next meeting.

The Acting Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development responding to comments on the PA indicator stated that he understood and accepted all the concerns raised. 84% of managers’ appraisals had now been completed and 60 – 65% of all employees. There were concerns regarding more remote areas of staff such as those in the Ranger service, cleaners and caterers and some issues with data on multiple job holders, whereby they might have had one appraisal completed for one role but not for another.

A Member commented upon the need for a breakdown by department of sickness absence figures.

The Transaction Centre Manager responded to comments on ‘average number of days to accurately process change in circumstance benefit claims’ stated that in April 2015 there were 19,000 transactions to be processed and this was now currently 4,000, the direction of travel of this indicator was certainly showing an improvement and the department was working closely with the Department for Work and Pensions on this and inroads were being made into the backlogs. She would be able to provide further figures on this and acknowledged the need to distinguish between those claims accurately submitted or accurately processed.

Responding to comments from Members the Head of Financial Services stated that more individuals were paying additional sums towards Council Tax this current year following the ending of the local discount for Over 70’s households. This had led to a fall in collection levels early in the year and performance was now improving.

Resolved – That the report be noted and the concerns over the indicators be referred to the Cabinet Member, Councillor Adrian Jones, and the Strategic Director be requested to attend the next meeting.