The Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses were noted.

DECISION

1.    To note the strategic delivery and performance report for quarter 2 of 2021/22;

2.    To note that the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have an impact on service delivery in some parts of the council;

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

Action by:

CHIEF EXECUTIVE (W. TUCKLEY)

(Director of Strategy, Improvement and Transformation (S. Godman)

(Head of Intelligence and Performance (T. Dreyer)

(Senior Intelligence and Performance Manager (J. Haynes)

(Intelligence and Performance Manager (V. Allen)

The Mayor introduced the regular update report on performance against the Council’s strategic delivery targets. He noted that the report had been discussed at Overview and Scrutiny earlier in the week.

He noted the steady progress against the majority of indicators but that not all the stretching targets were being met. The Covid-19 pandemic had also had an impact on council performance. He welcomed the general direction of travel whilst continuing to push for improvements where necessary.

He noted the Pre-Decision Scrutiny Questions and officer responses and proposed the recommendations as set out. These were agreed unanimously by the Members present and it was:

RESOLVED

1.    To note the strategic delivery and performance report for quarter 2 of 2021/22;

2.    To note that the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have an impact on service delivery in some parts of the council;

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

Members are asked to refer to the report included in the Cabinet agenda 24^th November, 2021.

The Committee received a report that provided an update on the Council’s performance against the performance indicators included in the Councils Strategic Plan in quarter 2 of 2021/22. The main points of the discussion and answers to questions raised may be summarised as follows.

The Committee:

v  Noted that since the meeting in September 2021 the Chair had received a further update from the Service on the Committees requests for the strategic target measures and performance information. However, the requested format does not seem to meet the legal requirements in terms of the current internet accessibility standards for online publications. Accordingly, the Chair has requested that the Service provide the Committee with a separate copy of the quarterly performance report in the requested format.

v  Noted that the Service has confirmed that they will provide a separate copy to the Committee with the indicator tables scaled onto one page and this has been circulate offline so Members should have received a reformatted copy to the one that in under public domain.

v  Noted that there are eight regeneration outcomes which are set out in the Local Plan and the Council is scoring strategic planning permissions out of eight. In this quarter three strategic planning applications had been permitted which meant that LBTH had exceeded the target of achieving 5 of the 8 regeneration outcomes.

v  Noted that regeneration benefits from strategic planning permissions can often take several years to realise due to the length of time it can take to complete these developments.

v  Noted that corporately these highly complex applications having been discussed for many months or in some cases possibly for several years on major development sites and the view had been taken that overall the benefits as against the disbenefits in terms of regeneration outcomes had meant that they were viable. In addition, the developers when submitting any proposals know not to include any element that would be considered as a fundamental objection.

v  Noted that in regard to Long term looked after children who are in stable placements (Measure No. 14) the Authority is assured that no children had been put at risk put additional risk and the performance on this measure is just below the minimum target and has improved in the last month and is moving from Red to Amber.

v  Noted that there has been a significant increase in demand for long-term fostering matches which has increased pressure on the Service.  Accordingly, agreement has been given for an additional number of social work posts to be recruited to help manage that pressure on a time limited basis although it is proving very difficult to find locum social workers of the right calibre.

v  Was advised that almost every child subject to protection plan is residing within the Borough whilst there are a very small number that have just moved outside of Tower Hamlets, although if they are moving to another local authority area, then there's a well-established process to transfer responsibility  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9