Agenda item

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

To report progress on delivering the Council Delivery Plan for 22-23 at the end of Quarter 1.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

(1)        That Cabinet notes the progress against Council projects as set out in the Council Delivery Plan (Appendix A) including changes to milestone dates and risks.

(2)        That Cabinet confirms the completion of one of the Council projects.         

(3)        That Cabinet confirms the addition of two new Council projects, which are the Shared Prosperity Fund and Churchgate.

RESOLVED:

(1)        That the Overview & Scrutiny Committee commented on the Council Delivery Plan Quarter 1 monitoring report.

(2)        That Overview and Scrutiny Committee determine any project that they want to receive more detail on as part of the next monitoring report.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: The Council Delivery Plan (CDP) monitoring reports provide Cabinet with an opportunity to monitor progress against the key Council projects, and understand any new issues, risks or opportunities.

Audio recording – 42 minutes 26 seconds

Councillor Ian Albert, as Executive Member for Finance and IT, presented the report entitled ‘Council Delivery Plan 2022-23 (Quarter 1 Update)’ and noted for Members that this was the first presentation of the new Council Delivery Plan reports.

The Controls, Risk and Performance Manager advised Members of the following:

·       This report brought together the projects, risks and performance indicators into one document to be presented to Members.

·       The report is intended to be a live tracker, therefore projects can be added and removed throughout the year, where appropriate.

·       Risks associated with projects will change as projects progress and the narrative included in the report will reflect on these changes.

·       This is a high level report, and should Members of O&S wish to have any further detail on projects included, they can request this ahead of future meetings.

·       Provided details and comment on some of the projects within the report, such as Town Centre Recovery, Royston Town Hall annexe and the Customer Portal.

·       Status key is shown as a symbol, alongside the project process displayed as a percentage. The percentage is based on milestones attached to the project and therefore it was possible for a project to have a green status, but 0% progress made.

·       Current and target risk scores are included for projects in the report.

·       Where Performance Indicators are available, these will be shared in the blue section of the report.

·       More details on these projects can be found on Pentana and further detail can be provided at the Committee meeting, if this is advised by Members beforehand.

The following Members took part in the discussions and asked questions:

·       Councillor David Levett

·       Councillor Adam Compton

·       Councillor Claire Strong

Points raised in the discussions included:

·       Members would like to see the milestone against which projects are measured, so that this can be taken into account when looking a percentages within the report.

·       This would help to prevent Members asking unnecessary questions to Officers presenting these reports.

·       The document was very busy, with lots of information included, but was very useful to bring it all together into one place. Members always appreciate too much information than too little.

·       The 0% status against some of the projects was concerning, but hoped that the inclusion of the milestones would give a narrative to the figure.

In response to questions, the Controls, Risk and Performance Manager advised:

·       Pentana was the system used to monitor all of the information included within the report. Members were able to access the system and see “live” information regarding each of the projects.

·       Further training could be arranged for Members in how to use this system and would be discussed outside of the meeting.

Councillor Adam Compton proposed and Councillor Alistair Willoughby seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:

(1)   That Overview and Scrutiny Committee commented on the Council Delivery Plan Quarter 1 monitoring report, including the recommendations made to Cabinet i.e.:

·       That Cabinet notes the progress against Council projects as set out in the Council Delivery Plan (Appendix A) including changes to milestone dates and risks.

·       That Cabinet confirms the completion of one of the Council projects.

·       That Cabinet confirms the addition of two new Council projects, which are the Shared Propensity Fund and Churchgate.

(2)   That Overview and Scrutiny Committee determine any project that they want to receive more detail on as part of the next monitoring report.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: The Council Delivery Plan (CDP) monitoring reports provide Cabinet with an opportunity to monitor progress against the key Council projects, and understand any new issues, risks or opportunities.