Agenda item

To consider the latest performance information at Quarter 3 of 2024/25, as set out in the CDP performance framework 2024-26.

To follow.

Margaret Gallagher, Head of Performance & Business Intelligence, introduced the report for this item, which covered the Quarter 3 period from October to December 2024, and had previously been submitted to the Cabinet meeting on 18^th March 2025. She highlighted Appendix 3 to the report which provided full details of progress against the 188 activity lines in the Corporate Delivery Plan with 70% of the milestones being achieved and delivered on time. A summary KPI dashboard was also included in the papers to track the trends and the direction of travel from quarter to quarter with 92% of activities currently rated as Green or Amber. This was an improved position since Quarter 2 and there had been some notable achievements including delivering on new Council homes and bringing leisure services in-house. The 8% of Red ratings totalled 15 individual lines across the 8 themes.

Given the large number of individual lines, Cllr White proposed that the Committee should focus mainly on the Red rated lines.

Margaret Gallagher, other officers and Cabinet Members responded to questions from the Committee:

• Referring to paragraph 1.6 of the report, Cllr Connor noted that the first Young People Extraordinary Council had taken place in October 2024 and asked about the impact achieved so far. Jess Crowe, Corporate Director of Culture, Strategy & Communities, said that an example of impact had been a follow-up engagement event with the whole Cabinet which had taken place with the young people from the Council meeting and others from local schools. This had focused on developing the programme for the London Borough of Culture and exploring the kind of things that they would be interested in seeing. There was some specific funding to support the children & young people strand of the Borough of Culture programme, so the Council meeting had been timely in helping to shape the programme. She added that there would also be other examples of impact on issues such as climate change and SEND.

• Referring to paragraph 1.15 of the report, Cllr Connor requested further details on the review of internal governance processes including on timescales and oversight. Taryn Eves reported that she chaired the new Procurement Board which had met twice so far and was officer-led with representation from Legal, Procurement and each of the Directorates. It also had strong links to the Capital Board. Lead officers would be brought in as required for the different contracts being considered. The Board would test the value for money of the contracts, check compliance of the procurement processes and have an understanding of the pipeline of procurements expected in the coming years.
• Referring to paragraph 4.2 of the report, Cllr Connor noted that the point on the preparation for the CQC Assurance inspection, with the aim of achieving an outcome of ‘Good’, had been rated as Green although the outcome of the inspection had actually been ‘Requires Improvement’. Cllr das Neves emphasised that the Green rating reflected the preparation for the inspection which had included holding a mock inspection and to anticipate the issues likely to be raised. While she acknowledged that the rating was not what the Council wanted to receive, the CQC had expressed confidence that the Council understood the positive areas and the challenging areas that it was working to improve.
• Cllr Worrell queried the reasons for the Red ratings under Theme Two (Climate Emergency), particularly on the Borough Idling Plan which was being paused. Cllr Mike Hakata, Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment & Transport, clarified that the Red items, such as the action plan to electrify the Council’s fleet, were not being taken off the agenda in any way but that it was not possible to continue with them at present because of funding issues. He added the Cabinet had decided to remove these lines from the Corporate Development Plan for the time being until there was a prospect of funding for them as it was not possible to move forward until that happened. However, he emphasised that the Cabinet remained committed to progressing these projects when it was able to do so. Jess Crowe clarified that this decision had been made through the recent Cabinet which had considered the same Quarter 3 report. Asked by Cllr Worrell how public accountability for the delivery of these projects could be maintained if they had been removed from the Corporate Development Plan, Cllr Hakata said that they remained as manifesto commitments and that Cabinet Members were also held to account by Scrutiny on progress.
• Asked by Cllr White specifically which lines had been removed from the Corporate Development Plan, Margaret Gallagher clarified that these were the lines on the Decentralised Energy Network, the Borough Idling plan and the Healthy Schools Network. It was also clarified that the details of this were set out in paragraph 2.7 of the report.
• Cllr White referred to item 8 of Theme One (page 157 of agenda pack) on the digital skills and inclusion strategy, noting that the delay was due to the new Digital Inclusion Manager not beginning the role until March 2025. Margaret Gallagher confirmed that the digital restructure was in place and clarified that the report related to Quarter 3 ending in December 2024 so described the position at that time.
• Cllr White referred to item 13 of Theme One (page 158 of agenda pack) on the Community Assemblies model and noted that there was currently no resource to progress this. Jess Crowe explained that the Policy and Strategy team had been stretched and had therefore focused on more time critical activities. Vacancies had also been held in the team to contribute to improving the financial position. However, it was not proposed that the item be removed from the plan and there could be an opportunity to explore it through one of the calls to action in the Borough Vision which would be formally launched soon. There would also be a minor restructure within the Policy and Strategy team to focus more resources on resident participation and engagement.
• Cllr White referred to item 27 of Theme One (page 160 of agenda pack) on reducing demand to Customer Services in core service areas, which was Red rated due to capacity challenges. Cllr Seema Chandwani, Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality, said that this should be a number one priority because it was the ‘front door’ for contacting the Council but that it required a holistic whole Council approach. It also required updating the digital offer with resources through the digital transformation programme. She added that it was unaffordable to continue with expensive phone-based and face-to-face customer services and that, in her view, there needed to be a major strategic overview and investment programme. This would help to deal more quickly with the demand in areas such as parking, housing repairs and council tax. Asked by Cllr White whether additional capacity was being provided to help progress this, Cllr Chandwani said that she would follow up with further details. (ACTION)
• Cllr White referred to item 92 of Theme Four (page 168 of agenda pack) on greater alignment with Young Carers activity which was Red rated. Cllr das Neves explained that there was a wider piece of work on the Council’s approach to carers that encompassed a range of needs that carers had, including digital approaches to help them access services. This included a survey and engagement sessions but, as noted in the text, there was a need for some specific work with young people. Sara Sutton concurred with this, noting that it was part of the next evolution of the carers work and that there was currently an aim to bring the new Carers Strategy to Cabinet in the summer.
• Cllr Connor referred to item 90 of Theme Four (page 168 of agenda pack) on the review and update to the Carers Strategy, querying why this item was marked as unchanged given that this was a significant issue in the recent CQC inspection. Margaret Gallagher clarified that the ‘unchanged’ note was intended to measure the direction of travel between quarters and was a way of assessing trends.
• Cllr Connor proposed that the Adults items in the report could also be included in the discussion (along with the Finance report) at the next meeting of the Adults & Health Scrutiny Panel in order to scrutinise these in greater detail. (ACTION)
• On temporary accommodation (TA), Cllr Worrell queried why it hadn’t been possible to get more alternative forms of accommodation in place. Sara Sutton replied that there had been a reduction in the number of families in bed and breakfast accommodation over the quarter and that the number of families in TA remained relatively stable. This was mainly due to the management of outflow and through the acquisitions process which had enabled the delivery of properties through the Haringey Community Benefit Society (HCBS) to provide more social housing. However, this remained a challenging area and increased demand was anticipated. She added that there was an ambition to deliver modular accommodation units for TA, including a project in Wood Green that had been slightly delayed from its original timescale but was on track to be delivered in 2025/26.
• Cllr Worrell highlighted the quality of TA and inspections which was rated as Amber and asked if this could be delivered this year. Sara Sutton explained that the Council was part of a programme called Setting the Standards and there had been an increase in the number of visits and tenancy checks. There would continue to be increased activity in this area.