Agenda item - QUARTERLY UPDATE ON THE COUNCIL DELIVERY PLAN

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

A third quarter update on progress against the Council Delivery Plan 2022-2023.

RESOLVED:

(1) That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee commented on the Council Delivery Plan Quarter 3 monitoring report.

(2) That Overview and Scrutiny Committee determined any project that they want to receive more detail on as part of the next monitoring report, to include Town Centre Recovery and Tourism Strategy.

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 note the completion of the Business Recovery Grants, the EV Charging for Council Vehicles, and the Help Residents Make Payment at Convenient Location milestones for this year.

(3) That Cabinet notes the reduction in the Local Plan risk score from a 9 to a risk score of 6 following the end of the Judicial review period.

REASONS FOR DECISION: 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 – 36 minutes 56 seconds

Rachel Cooper, Controls Risk & Performance Manager, presented the report entitled ‘Council Delivery Plan 2022-23 (Quarter 3 update)’, including that:

· The report detailed project risks and performance indicators, as well as a high level overview of progress made on projects in the Council Delivery Plan.

· Members can request more details of specific projects to be reported to the Committee and are able to log into view projects on Pentana.

· There were three completed projects this quarter; the Business Recovery Grant, the EV charging for Council vehicles and to help residents make payment at convenient locations.

· Any proposed change to milestones were now required to be approved by Cabinet.

· In the third quarter, changes to milestones had been requested for;Town Centre Recovery, Cycling Networks, Empty Home Strategy and Museum Storage as detailed in Appendix A.

· The Museum and Hitchin Town Hall recovery still had a red PI, but overall the two areas were showing a strong recovery from the pandemic.

· The EV charging project completed in quarter 3, however it was still marked with a red PI indicator, as the target was based on a usage for a full year.

· The Royston Leisure Solar-Thermal project was unable to get a supplier and it was likely to be absorbed into in the Solar-PV project, which was expected to be more attractive to bidders, as the procurement would be higher.

· Help residents make payments project remained with a red and yellow PI.

· It was unlikely the Supplier Self Service project would be moved forward in 2022/23, but was more likely to be incorporated into a wider project in 2023/24.

· Following the completion of the Judicial Review period on the Local Plan, the risk score had been reduced.

Councillors Alistair Willoughby and Claire Strong requested that further detail be provided on the Tourism Strategy and Town Centre Recovery at the next meeting of the Committee.

The Chair requested that concerns of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee regarding resourcing at the Council be noted and that an update be provided at the next meeting of the Committee.

Councillor David Levett, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Alistair Willoughby seconded and following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: