Agenda item

The Commission considered a report of the Chief Executive concerning the County Council’s Draft Annual Performance Report 2015. A copy of the report, marked “Agenda Item 2”, is filed with these minutes.

The Chief Executive explained that the Annual Report was currently a draft and would be considered by the Cabinet at its meeting on 18 November, alongside the comments of the Commission, prior to consideration at the full County Council meeting scheduled for 2 December.

The Chief Executive reported that there were strong examples of delivery in the Annual Report across the priority themes. Some areas required a continued focus on delivery and improvement. It was noted that improvement plans were in place related to these. There was some time lag in the data and therefore a higher risk that reductions in Government funding, such as the public health grant, would in future make it difficult to progress improvements.  An inequitable approach in terms of Government funding also made it harder for the Council to maintain previous good comparative performance levels moving forwards. It was therefore important that the Council continued to press for fairer funding for the County and its services, including schools.      

Arising from a discussion, the following points were noted:

·                Members were informed that a review would be undertaken of the Council’s Park and Ride Service to assess performance and whether it had impacted congestion levels. Further information would be provided to members in relation to this in due course;

·                A report had been considered at the Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee in September regarding a recent spike in road casualties. Early data for this year suggested that levels might now be reducing to previous levels;

·         The Better Care Fund was still in its infancy with regard to measurable impact, though a significant amount of activity was underway and a range of projects had been commissioned. This was already having a positive impact on reducing delayed transfers of care, reducing admissions to care homes, improving reablement and helping to reduce continued high levels of hospital admissions;  

·                Extra national funding had been expected to impact on improved mental health service delivery. However the new funding now identified had still to be translated into agreed improvement plans and delivery on the ground. Work was underway to progress this;

·                Monitoring of feedback from carers was carried out in the most part via surveys. The number of key performance indicators for carers had now grown as a result of the implementation of the Care Act. Overall reported Adult Social Care performance showed a mixed picture, in part due to performance on a number of perception indicators from the Adult Social Care service users and carers’ surveys. Work was underway to understand any issues that lay behind the perceptions and to progress improvements; 

·                The proposed Combined Authority, if approved, was considered to be the primary vehicle through which joint and more efficient way of working could take place with the City Council and district/borough councils regarding issues such as transport, planning, housing and skills;

·                A number of the service changes and transformation projects, such as those related to library services, sought to mitigate the impact of Government funding cuts;

Members noted the generally positive position but questioned whether, given the importance of continuing to press the Government for fairer funding for the County, the report contained sufficient information on the risks to the continued delivery and performance of services as a result of continued funding cuts.

The Chief Executive highlighted that the report was not prepared for the purpose of lobbying Government but rather to allow the Council to take an informed view on whether the current approved priorities in the Council Strategic Plan were being delivered. It was noted that the relevant guidance would be considered, alongside the Council’s governance and reporting processes, to ensure that members were given a sufficiently sharp focus on the current and potential future impact of funding reductions.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the comments of the Commission on the Annual Performance Report be forwarded to the Cabinet for consideration at its meeting on 18 November;

(b)       That the Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee be asked to continue to monitor the number of those killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents.