Issue - meetings

That the progress achieved during Q2 of 2023/24 be noted and the contents of the report be endorsed.

Councillor Cutler introduced the report and emphasised the good progress being made against targets in general.  He also highlighted that the report had been considered previously at a Performance Panel (minutes included as Appendix 5 to the report) and Scrutiny Committee on 22 November 2023.

At the invitation of the Leader, Councillor Horrill addressed the meeting as summarised briefly below.

She requested that any gaps on targets be completed prior to the publication of the Q3 report or if this was not possible, this be clearly stated.  She also asked that the few remaining outstanding questions raised by the Performance Panel be responded to.

Councillor Cutler gave an assurance that both requests would be considered with before the next meeting of the Performance Panel.

Cabinet agreed to the following for the reasons set out in the report and outlined above.

RESOLVED:

That the progress achieved during Q2 of 2023/24 be noted and the contents of the report be endorsed.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

That the Scrutiny Committee:

1.             Notes that the Performance Panel met on the 7 November 2023 to scrutinise the attached report, CAB 3424 and its associated appendices. The notes of the panel’s meeting are included as an appendix of the Cabinet report.

2.             Notes that a verbal update will be provided at the Scrutiny Committee.

3.             Raises with the Leader or relevant Cabinet member any issues arising from the information in this report, ref CAB 3424, which is being presented to Cabinet on the 13 December 2023 and considers whether there are any items of significance to resolve or to be drawn to the attention of Cabinet.

Councillor Cutler, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Performance introduced report CAB3424 outlining the Q2 2023/24 Financial And Performance Monitoring report (available here).

The report covered financial updates, a summary of Council progress, and the refreshed key performance indicators adopted in December. It also encompassed reports for each Tier 1 project.

Councillor Horrill, Chairperson of the Performance Panel, provided an overview of the 7 November 2023 meeting of the Performance Panel. Key points highlighted were:

1.    The panel conducted a detailed review of the Q2 report.

2.    Officers agreed to respond to several meeting questions, with most responses received.

3.    The Performance Panel recommended to the Scrutiny Committee that the panel should contribute to the annual review of Key Performance Indicators, as detailed in the 7 November 2023 meeting notes.

The committee was recommended to raise any issues arising from the information in this report, ref CAB 3424, which was being presented to Cabinet on 13 December 2023 and to consider whether there were any items of significance to resolve or to be drawn to the attention of Cabinet.

Councillor Wallace addressed the committee and raised several matters which could be summarised as follows:

1.    He identified conflicting carbon emission targets for 2023 (1873 tonnes on page 114 and 3750 tonnes on page 129).

2.    He requested access to the Carbon Neutrality Board minutes and details of the solar canopy project.

3.    He believed there were conflicting key performance indicators (green on page 132 and amber on page 138) regarding a funding bid's success.

4.    He was concerned about the absence of the Hampshire County Council carbon assessment tool in the current report.

5.    He acknowledged report improvements but suggested further simplification and shortening of the report.

The committee proceeded to ask questions and debate the report. In summary, the following matters were raised.

1.    An update on item 7 from the Performance Panel meeting notes (income split from garden waste and car parking).

2.    The recirculation of the Performance Panel notes reflecting responses to raised questions.

These points were responded to by Sharon Evans, Strategic Director and Monitoring Officer and were noted by Councillor Cutler, Deputy Leader, and Cabinet Member for Finance & Performance;

RESOLVED:

1.    The Performance Panel to contribute to an annual review of Key Performance Indicators, focusing on TC1, TC2, TC7, and TC8 as referenced in the meeting notes.

2.    The meeting notes would be updated to include received responses.

3.    Councillor Wallace would provide further details on report discrepancies and suggestions for report simplification.