Contact: Roger Lawes, ext 6743 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 On 7 May 2003 the Committee considered a report drawing Members' attention to the various Government and corporate performance measures and indicators that apply in the Environment Department. The report listed a number of areas of work where the effectiveness of the Environment Department's activities could be more clearly monitored, and explored ways in which a higher level of commitment to performance measurement could be generated amongst staff and Members alike.

1.2 The Committee resolved to establish a sub group, comprising Councillors Filer, Luffman and Price, to become involved in the target setting process and give consideration to how that involvement be both managed and informed.

1.3 This report summarises the discussions in the sub group to date and records its recommended way forward.

2. Progress So Far

2.1 Having briefly considered the targets in the 2003 Best Value Performance Plan the sub group explored how the information collected for these national indicators could be put to better use, and what additional information might be needed to ensure effective measurement of the plans and strategies was put in place to deliver the County Council's objectives.

2.2 The sub group recognised that the three year targets produced for the 2003/04 Best Value Performance Plan represented business as usual. It decided to question if that approach was the most appropriate and how best to engage the Policy Review Committee in discussion and debate about future priorities.

2.3 Having reflected on the matter the sub group decided that the most manageable way of proceeding would be to:

(i) consider each of the services the Department provides, ie waste, access (including safety and the condition of the network) and planning;

(ii) explore how the Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs) and other targets could be used both to demonstrate the effective outcome of existing policies and highlight both the positive and negative consequences of changes.

2.4 The condition of the highway network was the first topic examined by the sub group.

2.5 Time was spent looking at the problems of using data collected for programming a highway maintenance scheme for measuring "performance". However, the main discussion revolved around how County Councillors view performance in the light of comments by their electorate.

2.6 The sub group considered how maintenance was handled across the network. It was particularly interested in the roles of headquarters network management, the area offices and the term maintenance contractors, and how they interrelate. Two key questions were raised:

(i) how the contractors knew they were performing well; and

(ii) how the County Council, as client, measures performance.

Finally a few moments were spent exploring the relationship between the various BVPIs.

2.7 Over the summer, events have conspired against the original plan to look at the statutory BVPIs in manageable chunks. The exploration of the implications of the highway condition BVPIs was overtaken by the three linked reports to the Environment Policy Review Committee on 21 July 2003. The impact and consequences of the various municipal waste targets formed a significant element of the Waste Seminar for Members on 19 September 2003. The other major groups of targets relate to casualty reduction and bus patronage. Both issues are subject of regular reports to Members as they are topics covered in the Local Transport Plan and the Local Public Service Agreement.

3. The Way Forward

3.1 On 25 September 2003 the sub group considered if its experiences over the last few months were the signal to change tack. It decided that the processes for collecting, monitoring and reporting on the national indicators is well established and getting more slick every year.

3.2 The sub group looked critically at what it had achieved over the last six months. It concluded that, useful though the discussions had been in exploring the detail supporting the various BVPIs, there had been little value added as a result, particularly as most of the detail had been, or would be, reported to the Policy Review Committee in other guises (paragraph 2.7). Accordingly, in terms of measuring performance and setting targets the sub group considered that it should be for the whole Committee to get engaged in the process. It was recognised, however, that to do the job effectively and efficiently it was important for all Members not only to have access to the detailed background information that the sub group had seen during its discussions, but also the opportunity provided to the sub group for a wide-ranging and informal exploration of the issues. Recognising the long agendas and formal structure of the Policy Review Committee meetings, the sub group considered that the full Committee should debate how it would prefer to develop the performance agenda in the light of the sub group's experiences.

Recommendation

That, in the light of the sub group's conclusions that the effective and efficient measurement of performance requires all Members not only to have access to the relevant detailed background information but also to the opportunity for a wide-ranging and information exploration of the issues, the Committee considers how it wishes to become involved in the process.

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