Agenda item

The appendix to this report provides an overview of the council’s performance with respect to its 2023-24 annual plan objectives, key performance indicators, corporate risks and committee risks.

The Committee received a report providing an overview of the council’s performance with respect to its 2023-24 annual plan objectives, key performance indicators, corporate risks, and committee risks.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Risk identified for failing to deliver the local plan. A Member of the Committee asked if there are any specific parts of either budget, staffing, or legislative changes that have caused the delivery of the Local Plan to be put as the highest possible risk of failure. The Interim Director of Corporate Services responded to inform the Committee that since the publication of this report, the Licensing and Planning Policy Committee had met and agreed to recommend to Council that the Local Plan is unpaused, whereas when this report was produced the Local Plan was paused and there was no work being completed on it, meaning that the likelihood of delivering a Local Plan when paused garnered the maximum level of risk of failure being assigned to it.

b)            CIL deadline. A Member of the Committee asked if the 31^st of December 2023 date, listed on page 112, regarding the reviewing and updating of CIL policies and produces, is a strict deadline or a rough target. The Interim Director of Corporate Services confirmed that the 31^st of December is a date that is being aimed for and was lined up to feed into the LPPC schedule and forward plan, the new regulations and procedures will be taken to LPPC as soon as they are ready. The Interim Director of Corporate Services went on to explain that a CIL member of staff has been recruited and officers are putting into place better ways of working to reflect how the Council should be compliant with CIL.

c)            Staff delivering the Local Plan. A Member of the Committeeasked if any risk has been identified in regard to key personnel involved in delivering the Local Planand the expiration of their fixed term contracts occurring during the period of completing and submitting the Local Plan. The Interim Director of Corporate Services informed the Committee that there is corporate risk in terms of availability of staff and having the right people to do the right job at the right time. The Interim Director of Corporate Services reassured the Committee that the relevant individuals are often employed on a fixed-term basis to often cover the same fixed-term period it takes to produce and deliver a Local Plan, and there is work happening to ensure that the right funds, people, and resource are in place to continue to take the Local Plan forward.

d)            Updating of the Corporate Risk Register. A Member of the Committee askedhow often the Corporate Risk Register and the individual committee risk registers are updated, and gave an example of the Community and Wellbeing risk register not lining up with Corporate Risk Register for similar housing risks. The Business Assurance Manager informed the Committee that the risk registers are updated quarterly, as part of a set schedule. The Business Assurance Manager went on to explain that all the risks are contained on service business plans, which are accessible by the managers and key individuals at any time, so they can be updated at any time. He also notes that the council has three main levels of risks - Service, Committee and Corporate - and when risks become more strategically important they get escalated up a  level., The corporate register sits at the top of the pyramid. The Business Assurance Manager let the Member know that he would be able to provide a more in-depth written response regarding the specific example of the housing risks on the Community and Wellbeing and Corporate registers in due course.

Following consideration, the Committee unanimously resolved to:

(1)      Note and comment on the performance and risk information located at Appendix 1.