Draft of note to Labour Group, to be fully published on this web-site in some weeks time.
On Thursday, 17th March, Nottingham City Council's annual meeting with the Audit Commission, along with inspectors and auditors from DfES, CSCI and GOEM took place, essentially to allow the Audit Commission to announce the focus of their work next year. The meeting went well and there is no sign of any particular concern; indeed on some points in particular we were seen to be doing well - in particular, progress on Integrated Children's Services, where we are said to be "doing pretty well" compared to most authorities in our progress. Reports on our work on community safety is due out in April; a draft Performance Management Report says progress is being made.
There is also an inspection taking place in March on Access to services, partly at the Council's behest, and indeed March's "Team Nottingham" event focussed on Customer Focus. Conclusion is likely to be that we now need to make faster progress, especially on contact centres - which would tie in with our manifesto commitment.
A four page summary on our performance this year is being printed in March; the full report being prepared for June full Council, when we are also likely to take the Statement of Accounts; I'd welcome feedback on whether colleagues want some form of meeting ahead of full Council to enable a detailed review.
The political priority and visibility we give to performance management is important; and is the progress made in Scrutiny - examples of which were cited to advantage at the Audit Commission meeting.
Partnership working was discussed at length - it was explained that typical expectations of what a Local Strategic Partnership should do were not necessarily helpful for Nottingham, where a very complicated set of partnership relationships already exist. The Audit Commission do not propose to review this area, or integrated children's services this year. Their review work will include -
- major projects project management;
- health inequalities;
- social care and application of consistent eligibility;
- financial management;
- use of resources, using new methodology due out in June;
- the "direction of travel" statement (how is this explained more properly?);
- audit of our Best Value Performance Plan (BVPP);
Best wishes,
Michael Edwards.
Appendix A - Written presentation given to Audit Commission
I remember last year’s meeting (Feb.26th), and I think we’ve had some significant events in the last year with respect to the story of performance management in Nottingham City council.
In June (21st), we reviewed the BVPP –
http://www.michaeledwards.labour.co.uk/ViewPage.cfm?Page=12810
We were able to report progress then, much of which you’ve picked up on in the Annual Audit Letter.
We created a special Accounts Cttee. this year, as a one-off, to review the Statement of Accounts in August (26th). Members actually got very interested, partly because of the section of Internal Control) which engaged members more that the typical queries on how use of resource had been shown. A key lesson for us was that it would be helpful for Statement of Accounts and Best Value Performance Plan to be considered side-by-side at June Full Council and that’s what our Chief Finance Officer wants to do this year if possible. We debated the Statement of Accounts in full in November –
http://www.michaeledwards.labour.co.uk/ViewPage.cfm?Page=13572
and made a number of public commitments to pick up on your recommendations.
Back in September, the Team Nottingham meetings began. Chris attended, and I gave a presentation on the Member’s perspective -
http://www.michaeledwards.labour.co.uk/ViewPage.cfm?Page=14876
As you might have expected, it drew upon the CPA methodology and the importance of learning from others.
Lessons learnt include -
- importance of planning frameworks;
- punchy and aligned strategic plans;
- importance of culture change;
- you can prioritise;
all of which was stated in our Strategic Plan, and re-stated with new vigour in our refreshed statement, for which a 4 page summary exists.
We’ve had 2 Team Nottingham meetings since, this week’s being on Customer Focus.
Next week sees us considering the report for the 3rd quarterly report on performance –
http://www.michaeledwards.labour.co.uk/ViewPage.cfm?Page=13577
I’ve held a series of quarterly meeting with departments on finance and performance management issues, and a new version of that is to be put in place to see how we can further lift our game.
On budget and prioritisation, we’ve just announced £15m of extra public services, £5m of which was met by not doing some things we do now – savings and efficiencies -
http://www.michaeledwards.labour.co.uk/ViewPage.cfm?Page=14294
And we’ve also been able to talk about our approach on financial management to the LGA Finance Conference in December –
http://www.michaeledwards.labour.co.uk/ViewPage.cfm?Page=13575
We also adopted a procurement strategy in December, and invited the Chief Exec of Notts to talk to us on Gershon in January; and had a major exercise – “Actions Speak Louder than Words” – to back up our 5 new culture change values.
I’ve particularly enjoyed the success of the NET, which received significant praise from the Permanent Secretary to the DfT in October –
http://www.michaeledwards.labour.co.uk/ViewPage.cfm?Page=13574
we won a prize from the Labour Party for NET; and NCT won “Bus Operator of the Year 2004”.
So throughout the year, we’ve given performance management a profile, both inside the Council and out, in terms of our commitment and our ambition.
My party trick last year, was to present our work in terms of the CPA’s 9 themes. This year, I’ll do a quick re-visit on the basis of the CPA’s new 5 themes, focusing here on our approach to Performance Management and Internal Control.
On Ambition, we have shown a determination this year – to lift people’s sights from the kind of agenda that was dictated by the financial restrictions on Councils in the ‘90s; this includes –
- chasing Building Schools for the Future – a PFI scheme;
- moving to ALMO for housing, enabling a further £165m of investment for Council Housing to come in on top of the £153m already approved; and we need to recognise the resource creating Nottingham City Homes ties up;
- a new design for the Old Market Square, on top of 5 or 6 major city centre schemes, which contribute to creating the right environment for commerce;
- Respect for Nottingham – with challenging targets on tackling crime and grime, with significant success on begging and on-street prostitution;
On Prioritisation –
I’ve already mentioned moving resources to our strategic priorities, which I used to refer to as “3 plus 1”, but has now become “4 plus 1”, now that we’ve added customer focus. Our manifesto did emphasise the importance of contacting the Council (by phone in particular), and we want to make more progress.
The “plus 1” component - Gearing Up - continues to get extra support.
And “Team Nottingham” is a visible sign of our determination to give managers the time and space to reflect upon our priorities and how to deliver them.
On Capacity,
we’ve appointed Adrienne Roberts as Deputy Chief Executive and Brian Ashley is leading on performance management, where the size of the corporate team has risen from 3 to 10.
We’re using a new IT system to enable the data to be entered and maintained in 1 place; and from which attractive presentations to enable better review.
On the Performance Management of performance management (ouch) –
We are doing better on the routine collation and presentation of information at a corporate level, but we want to do better on timeliness and demonstrating how reviewing performance is leading to management action.
On Achievement, I think we can acknowledge the conclusions in your draft report –
Strengths
The key strengths within the Council’s current approach are:
�� progress in developing a performance culture via the Gearing Up Programme
�� improved corporate arrangements for reporting performance
�� improved corporate service planning guidance
�� evidence of innovative approaches to managing performance within departments
as well as acknowledging your challenges -
Challenges
The main challenges for the Council in improving its performance management arrangements are:
�� developing a clearer, shared corporate understanding of, and approach to, the management of performance – this is central to many of the specific issues we have identified in this report
�� improving the management of individual performance via the PDR process
�� developing a more robust corporate approach to reviewing and learning
�� better integration of financial and performance management monitoring and reporting
and will show how we weave such conclusions into our planning framework in due course.
However, I’d also want to acknowledge the importance of partnership working in the new methodology. We do have some very strong examples of good partnership working, but we know we face challenges.
To sum up, we are developing our framework and our ways of working; to support an ambition which sees us lifting our sights, both as a provider of services and as an agent of change.
Appendix B - Highlights from BVPP summary
HOW DOES NOTTINGHAM MEASURE UP? The City Council is ambitious for Nottingham. Our vision is that of a successful European city to build on our position as the regional and cultural capital of the East Midlands. This is illustrated by our major regeneration success stories. Plans are in place in areas to the south and east of the city centre to extend the impact and benefits of this environmental, social and economic improvement to more Nottingham residents. We have recognised the need to improve the quality of life and well-being for all Nottinghamresidents – in health, community safety, affordable housing, transport, local services and the quality of the natural environment. Our Respect for Nottingham initiative has taken an uncompromising stand against begging, street prostitution and drug dealing. In similar vein, Nottingham Stands Together emerged as unified programme of action against gun crime and to promote community cohesion. Our Priorities in 2004/05 The City Council identified 3 priorities in the past year. They were: Developing the City – essential to bring economic prosperity and other opportunities to the people of Nottingham · The City is now seen as a key member of the Core Cities group and we are engaged in discussion with Central Government to improve our economic competitiveness. · We have secured a Local Public Service Agreement that includes a target to see more local people recruited into local jobs · The development of Experience Nottinghamshire to strengthen the City’s profile – in the last year our regional airport identified itself unequivocally with Nottingham · During 2004/5 the new tram system has been a success in reducing road journeys Developing our Neighbourhood Focus – to improve the quality of life in neighbourhoods and estates, to provide services which are valued by the community, and to involve local people in the decision making. Examples include: · Cut begging by 83%, and cut street prostitution by arresting kerb crawlers · 40 Community Safety Wardens were introduced · The 100 Day Clean Up right across the City led to a 20% improvement in perceptions of cleanliness. Improving our Performance – to provide good quality, value for money services that get better. There was a particular emphasis on those that are performing less well and those that are critical to the well-being of the City and its residents. · Better results for our children at Key Stage 2, 3 and 4 · The backlog of servicing gas appliances was cut from 30% to 2% · The average time to process benefit claims has been reduced by 31 days · There has been a 20% reduction in rent arrears not collected · Two-thirds of the indicators by which we are judged have improved To bring all of this about the Council: · Listened to what local people and our partners have to say about the most important issues for them · Identified the things that make a difference · Allocated more resources to enable us to do something about these issues · Targeted the services that need to improve in a thorough and systematic way · Improved our planning and performance management frameworks A few of the big decisions we have taken to improve some important services: HousingThrough the creation of a new ‘arms length management organisation’ - securing resources for decent homes for local peopleLeisure CentresThrough investment to modernise facilities across the citySchoolsThrough the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ investment programme The support and commitment of our partners is vital to achieving our vision for Nottingham, and in taking steps to refresh the One City Partnership Nottingham, the Council is determined to strengthen the lead it gives to the city and deliver improved services. During the year a number of individual services were individually assessed by external inspection bodies. The results are shown in the table below. SERVICE INSPECTEDSCORE (previous score in brackets)COMMENTSEducation2* Upper (1*)Nottingham was one of only two authorities to jump two categories during the yearSupporting People2* (new score)With “promising prospects for improvement” Nottinghamhas one of the highest ranking services in the countrySocial Services2* (2*)Promising prospects for improvement. Now 2* for 3 years in a rowLibraries + Information Service3* (2*)Service is now seen as ‘Good’ rather than ‘Fair’ against government priorities and standards.Housing BenefitsFairAs assessed by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate
Appendix C - draft Performance Management Report
Report is not yet published, but conslusions are likely to be ...
Overall judgment
Our overall judgment is that, after a period of limited progress, the Council has recently started to improve the way in which it manages its performance. However, there are still some significant challenges that the Council needs to address before it can demonstrate a robust, comprehensive approach to performance management.
Strengths
The key strengths within the Council’s current approach are:
· progress in developing a performance culture via the Gearing Up Programme
· improved corporate arrangements for reporting performance
· improved corporate service planning guidance
· evidence of innovative approaches to managing performance within departments
Challenges
The main challenges for the Council in improving its performance management arrangements are:
· developing a clearer, shared corporate understanding of, and approach to, the management of performance – this is central to many of the specific issues we have identified in this report
· improving the management of individual performance via the PDR process
· developing a more robust corporate approach to reviewing and learning
· better integration of financial and performance management monitoring and reporting
[web-page being developed; last updated 05-03-18;]
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