COUNCIL PLAN OVERVIEW REPORT
Q3 2020 - 21
October – December 2020
Chief Executive:
Timothy Wheadon
COUNCIL PLAN OVERVIEW REPORT
Q3 2020 - 21
October – December 2020
Chief Executive:
Timothy Wheadon
Section 1: Chief Executive’s Commentary
A strong and resilient economy
People have the life skills and education opportunities they need to thrive
People will live active and healthy lifestyles
A clean, green, growing and sustainable place
Strong, safe, supportive and self-reliant communities
Key
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Performance is very good |
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Performance is causing concern |
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Performance is weak |
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RAG rating not applicable |
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Missing data |
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Missing target |
1 Introduction
1.1 This report sets out an overview of the council’s performance for the third quarter of 2020/21 (October - December 2020). The purpose is to formally provide the Executive with a high-level summary of key achievements, and to highlight areas where performance was not matching targets or expectations, along with any remedial action that is being taken. It complements the detailed Quarterly Service Reports (QSRs) and is based upon the performance data that is available to all Members online.
1.2 As everyone will know the council continues to function in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and many Members and staff have been focused on leading our community response. Some actions in the departmental service plans have been put on hold, deferred, or modified. Nevertheless, at the end of the third quarter progress showed:
▪ 99 actions (92%) are green (18 complete, 81 in progress, 5 not started or parked)
▪ 8 actions (7%) are amber (8 in progress)
▪ 1 action (1%) is red (in progress)
1.3 Section 3 of this report contains information on the performance indicators across the council for each of the strategic themes. Again, the picture was positive particularly in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. Of course, in a number of the “red” cases, the indicator is meaningless in relation to performance. Obvious examples include attendances at libraries and sport and leisure facilities which were open at reduced capacity. The status for the key indicators in the Council Plan in the third quarter is:
▪ 22 (73%) green
▪ 1 (3%) amber
▪ 7 (23%) red
23 further indicators have no set target or data is currently unavailable.
2. Overview of Q3 and what went especially well
2.1 Putting these obvious challenges to one side, teams delivered services to a high standard during the period, especially in response to Covid-19. I have highlighted here a small selection of examples from across the organisation.
2.2 The national lockdown in March fundamentally changed the delivery of services within Bracknell Forest. Service areas implemented business continuity plans with the vast majority operating as closely as possible to business as usual. It is inevitable that Covid-19 has had a significant impact on our whole population, and this has been reflective in the council’s activities over the past 9 months.
2.3 Staff have continued to work effectively almost exclusively from home as their base. In service areas such as social work, environmental health, waste collection and disposal, highways, landscape and many others which are not exclusively office based the impact on services has been contained and, in many cases, will not have been noticed by residents. A small number of staff continue to work from Time Square, although most activities are now being undertaken mainly digitally.
2.4 The council’s community response for clinically extremely vulnerable people (CEV)/those shielding in partnership with The Ark and other council teams, notably customer services was particularly noteworthy during the quarter. Over 1500 shopping tasks and 800 prescription collections were completed by The Ark’s volunteers. The council made over 1300 phone calls and volunteers 200 doorstep welfare checks for CEV people.
2.5 The quarter also saw a review and reshaping the council’s transformation programme. The new comprehensive change programme brings together Covid-19 recovery priorities and the existing service transformation work. Programmes include the assets, ways of working, and community hub, which are all council wide programmes, with significant transformation of adults and children’s social care and joint working with health.
2.6 Administration of the Government’s various business grant schemes has been a key focus for the Revenues team, with help from the Finance and Business Support team. As at the end of January 2021, 1,600 claims had been paid to eligible businesses, amounting to £13m. Good progress has been made on most of the schemes, with the exception being the discretionary Additional Restrictions Grant, where applications have been much lower than expected. In January we made the application process simpler to help attract more applicants.
2.7 A key milestone was reached in the Joint Venture process just before Christmas when the legal agreements with our partner Countryside were signed and the Bracknell Forest Cambium Partnership was formally constituted. The outline site development plan for Coopers Hill also received council approval and plans are being finalised with a planning submission shortly to follow. In the following quarter, plans have also been developed relating to the Market Street site.
2.8 With construction of the new Heathlands care facility now well underway, the planned tendering for a service provider for the hotel and care services during quarter 3 was paused, recognising that providers were focused on managing the current difficult situation in existing care homes. It is planned, subject to the situation around Covid-19 levels, that this will re-commence in quarter 4.
2.9 Within Parks and Countryside, as expected, visitor use of all sites continues to be extremely high, particularly the heritage parks and other key destination sites including the Look Out and the new SANGS at Cabbage Hill, Frost Folly and Bucklers Park. Pandemic restrictions have highlighted the continued importance of accessible and high-quality open spaces maintained for public benefit.
2.10 Public Health continue to be that the forefront of the council’s response to the Covid-19 Pandemic, leading work on Outbreak Management, Community testing, and data analysis which is informing the council’s approach to restrictions and changes in service delivery across the council. Over this quarter there was also a substantial workload to ensure Christmas events (such as Lapland UK) were able to operate in a Covid-19 safe way and in compliance with the Government's tier guidance.
2.11 Schools fully reopened in September 2020 in line with DfE guidance for all children and stayed open throughout the Autumn term. Much emphasis was placed on ensuring children were given opportunities to catch up on any learning lost during the March lockdown. Schools also provided blended learning which included face to face and remote learning for those who needed to self-isolate due to Covid-19.
2.12 In picking out these highlights there is a real danger of overlooking the special efforts of teams who are not mentioned. The simple fact is that the whole organisation has responded magnificently and continues to deliver effective services.
What are we doing about things not going so well?
3.1 Uncertainty around the on-going impact of Covid-19-related financial pressures and Government funding in 2021/22 made the budget process even more complicated than normal. The draft budget proposals were approved by the Executive for consultation in December, before the details of the local government finance settlement were published. In the event, the continuation of the New Homes Bonus grant for a further year in 2021/22 together with some additional Covid-19 funding continuing into next year has provided one-off flexibility for the final budget proposals, even allowing Members to put together a £1.5m Covid response/stimulus package.
Forward Look
Going forward, the council’s strategic objectives will continue to progress in the coming weeks albeit within the constraints of the Covid-19 restrictions and in the context of the council’s community response to Covid-19. Service Plans for the next financial year are being finalised with many of the Covid-19 response elements being incorporated into the council’s strategic objectives.
Timothy Wheadon
Chief Executive
REVENUE BUDGET MONITORING
The monthly monitoring returns are set out in detail in each directorate’s Quarterly Service Report (QSR).
Due to the impact of the pandemic on the current years’ budget and the resulting uncertainty, a range of potential outcomes have been considered. The returns now include estimated best- and worst-case scenarios which reflect actual expenditure to date plus a range of financial predictions from Assistant Directors covering the remainder of the year.
Across the Council, variances have been identified indicating expenditure is below the approved budget (£5.273m Best Case and £3.532m Worst Case), after taking into account the Corporate Contingency (£1.930m), income compensation and available general government funding for Covid-19 (-£7.688m).
Key information around directorate variances being reported follows. It should be noted that this position is based on December information whereas the QSR data is based on November.
6
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Department |
Previous Figure* |
For the last 4 quarters |
Notes |
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People |
12.96% |
14.16% |
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Delivery |
6.09% |
5.55% |
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Resources |
9% |
7.21% |
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PPR
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6.21% |
10.62% |
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Chief Executive’s Office |
11.9% |
9.3% |
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Total Voluntary Turnover |
10.5% |
11.5% |
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* This figure relates to the previous 4 quarters and is taken from the preceding CPOR.
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Comparator data |
% |
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Total voluntary turnover for BFC, 2019/20: |
11.9% |
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Average voluntary turnover rate UK public sector 2016: |
10.0% |
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Average Local Government England voluntary turnover 2016: |
14.0% |
(Source: XPertHR Staff Turnover Rates and Cost Survey 2016 and LGA Workforce Survey 2016)
Staff Sickness
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Department |
Quarter 3 20/21 (days per employee) |
Previous Financial Year (Actual Average days per employee) |
2020/21 Estimated Annual Average (days per employee) |
Notes |
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People |
1.77 |
9.38 |
6.16 |
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Delivery |
1.95 |
6.61 |
8.68 |
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PPR
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0.69 |
4.06 |
2.46 |
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Resources |
1.32 |
8.29 |
3.83 |
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Chief Executive’s Office |
1.22 |
2.17 |
2.1 |
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Total staff sickness excluding maintained schools |
1.59 |
8.28 |
6.35 |
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Comparator data |
All employees, average days sickness absence per employee |
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Bracknell Forest Council 2019/20 |
8.28 days |
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English Local Authorities 2017/18 |
8.6 days |
(Source: Local Government Workforce Survey 2017/18)
People
Sickness absence has increased slightly over the last quarter, but this rise could be down to the weather getting colder which traditionally brings higher absence levels. Several sections within the Directorate have seen a significant rise in sickness most noticeably Children’s Social Care and Education & Learning. Half (50%) of the absence for Q3 was attributed to long term sickness. Covid-19 related sickness absence stands at 9.5% of the total absence this quarter which has increased in line with national trends. Overall, the People Directorate is on target to have a lower sickness figure in 2020-21 than BFC in 2019-20.
Delivery
Absence this quarter has risen compared to Quarter 2, however this is to be expected within the winter months. Absence has particularly gone up in Customer Experience, ICT and Digital Services. In total just under half (48%) of the absence was due to long term sickness. These figures also include Covid-19 related sickness levels which have increase in the last quarter in line with national trends. 7.5% of the sickness was Covid-19 related this quarter. Overall Delivery is now looking at absence levels for 2020-21 to be above the figures for BFC in 2019-20.
Central
Absence levels have risen since the last quarter; however, this is to be expected during the winter months. 45% of the absence is down to long term sickness cases. Covid-19 sickness counts 6.5% of the total absence this quarter. Overall, the Central Directorates are all likely to have absence levels in 2020-21 that are lower than the BFC rate for 2019-20.
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Type of complaint |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Total cumulative complaints |
Outcome of all complaints received year to date |
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People: Adults |
Statutory |
12 |
5 |
11 |
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1 – in progress 3 – upheld/fully substantiated 13 – partially upheld/partially substantiated 9 – not upheld/not substantiated 1 – no finding made 1 – external investigation |
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Local Government Ombudsman |
0 |
2 |
0 |
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2 – in progress |
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People: Childrens |
Statutory stage 1 |
11 |
13 |
25 |
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1 – in progress 3 – upheld/fully substantiated 25 – partially upheld/partially substantiated 11 – not upheld/not substantiated 6 - no finding made 2 – proceeded to stage 2 |
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Statutory stage 2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
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2 – in progress 1 – partially upheld/partially substantiated 0 – not upheld/not substantiated |
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Statutory stage 3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Stage 2 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
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1 – upheld 3 – partially upheld/partially substantiated 1 – not upheld/not substantiated |
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Stage 3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
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1 – upheld 1 – partially upheld |
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Local Government Ombudsman |
3 |
1 |
0 |
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1 – upheld 2 – Partially 1 – not upheld |
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People: Housing |
Stage 2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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1 – not upheld |
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Stage 3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Local Government Ombudsman |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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Central |
Stage 2 |
6 |
2 |
5 |
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3 – in progress 0 – partially upheld/partially substantiated 4 – not upheld 4 - upheld 2 – proceeded to stage 3 |
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Stage 3 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
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1 – in progress 4 – not upheld |
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Local Government Ombudsman |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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2 – not upheld |
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Delivery |
Stage 2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
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2 – not upheld |
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Stage 3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
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2 – in progress 1 – proceeded to LGO |
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Local Government Ombudsman |
0 |
1 |
0 |
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1 – not upheld |
People: Adults
There were 11 complaints in quarter 3. Compared to this time last year, the figure is the same.
People: Childrens
There were 26 complaints in quarter 3. Compared to this time last year, the figure is up from 24. This is 2 more.
Central
There were 9 complaints in quarter 3. Compared to this time last year, the figure is up from 4 This is 5 more.
Delivery
There were 3 complaints in quarter 3. Compared to this time last year, the figure is up from 0.
During quarter 3 the Strategic Risk Register was reviewed by the Strategic Risk Management Group and the Corporate Management Team on 10th November and 9th December 2020 respectively. No further key changes were made over and above what was reported in the CPOR for quarter 2.
Two internal audit reports were issued with a partial assurance opinion and/or major recommendations during quarter 2. These were for the management on the non-investment commercial properties and the follow up audit on the Agresso IT system.
