Agenda item

The Committee scrutinised a report which presented a review of the Council performance for the first quarter of 2022/23 (April – June 2022). The Committee was invited to examine areas of under-performance and where appropriate recommend appropriate remedial action. The Committee was also asked to note areas of good performance.

The Council’s Corporate Performance Report (CPR) monitored the delivery of business plan actions, risks and measures against the current Corporate Priorities. The CPR provided a breakdown by each corporate priority area and included further details on any exceptions. The Council continued to monitor and to plan for, the impact of both internal influences (such as staffing capacity due to Covid-19 related absences) and external factors (such as increased demand due to increased costs of living) on all its services. 

During the study period, the report revealed that 95% of actions were on track, or had been, successfully completed and 5% were behind schedule. 72% (that was 104 actions out of a reported 145) of reported risks were deemed to be either ‘low’ or ‘very low’. 69% (that was 35 out of 51 reported actions) of targeted measures were on course to achieve their end of year target. 92% (that was 47 out of 51 actions) of targeted measures were on track to achieve their end of year target. These figures were as expected for the first quarter of a ‘reporting year’.

A Member referred to action M498 (C) ‘Street Lighting – Percentage of issues resolved within target time’, noting that the street lighting contract for the Oldham Borough (and which also covered Rochdale Metropolitan Borough) had been outsourced to EON, who, since November 2021, had reported that they were meeting their contractual targets. The Member queried this and requested that a report be submitted, to a future meeting of the Committee, detailing operational and strategic matters relating to the Joint PFI Contract.

A Member noted that the submitted report detailed the number of resignations of employees from the Council, totalling 47 during the first quarter of 2022/23 and 217 during 2021/22. The Member commented that these figures seemed to be unusually high and requested that a report be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee detailing employee related issues including any underlying reasons for the relatively high number of staff resignations and turnover.

A Member referred to action M410a (C) ‘Number of new affordable homes that have been completed in Oldham’, requesting that a report, outlining this in more detail be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee.

Resolved:

1.    That the report be noted.

2.    That the Executive Director for Place and Economic Growth/Joint Authority PFI Project Manager be requested to submit a report to a future meeting of the Committee, detailing operational and strategic matters relating to the Joint PFI Contract.

3.    The Assistant Chief Executive be requested to submit a report to a future meeting of the Committee detailing employee related issues including any underlying reasons for the relatively high number of staff resignations and turnover.

4.    That the Head of Strategic Housing and Property Partnerships be requested to submit a report to a future meeting of the Committee regarding the number of new affordable homes that have been completed in the Borough of Oldham, further to action 410a (C), detailed in the Council Performance Report.