DECISION

1.    To note the strategic delivery and performance report for 2020/21;

2.    To note that in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, throughout the past year we have rapidly pivoted many of our services to support residents, businesses and partners in the borough and this has had an impact on our ability to deliver everything that we had planned;

3.    To review the performance of the strategic measures, including those measures where the minimum expectation has been missed; and

4.    To review progress in delivering the council’s Strategic Plan.

Action by:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE (W. TUCKLEY)

(Director, Strategy, Policy and Performance (S. Godman)

(Head of Intelligence and Performance (T. Dreyer)

Reasons for the decisions

The council is committed to improving outcomes for residents. Our corporate priorities and outcomes are found in our Strategic Plan and provide a framework for action.

Our Performance & Accountability Framework sets out the process for monitoring the timely and effective delivery of the Strategic Plan to improve outcomes for residents. In line with the framework, Cabinet receives regular update reports to ensure oversight of pace, delivery, performance and improvement activities.

This report promotes openness, transparency and accountability by enabling Tower Hamlets residents to track progress of activities that impact on their lives and the communities they live in.

Alternative options

Cabinet may decide not to review the delivery and performance information. This is not recommended as Members have a key role to review and challenge underperformance and to utilise performance information to inform resource allocation.

Mayor John Biggs introduced the report that provided an annual update on the delivery and implementation of the council’s Strategic Plan throughout 2020/21. The Mayor explained that the report captured the period dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which had required the council to reprioritise. The Mayor indicated that, whilst the impact of the pandemic on performance made it very difficult to compare this report with equivalent reports from previous years, it demonstrated the council was making good progress in making the borough a cleaner, safer and fairer place to live and work.

Will Tuckley, Chief Executive, responded to the report and highlighted some of the ways the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted on the council’s performance. He acknowledged there was an ongoing challenge to demonstrate, where performance had fallen, whether this was related to the pandemic or to other factors.

Councillor Mohammed Pappu, Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee addressed the meeting and highlighted concerns with the performance data that had been raised by his committee at its last meeting. The Mayor and Mr Tuckley provided summary explanations to Cllr Pappu’s queries and indicated that full responses to OSC’s queries would be provided in the officers responses to the pre decision scrutiny questions that would be published shortly after the meeting.

The Mayor moved the recommendations as set out and they were agreed without dissent. It was:

RESOLVED

1.    To note the strategic delivery and performance report for 2020/21;

2.    To note that in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, throughout the past year we have rapidly pivoted many of our services to support residents, businesses and partners in the borough and this has had an impact on our ability to deliver everything that we had planned;

3.    To review the performance of the strategic measures, including those measures where the minimum expectation has been missed; and

4.    To review progress in delivering the council’s Strategic Plan.