Agenda item

Members to receive an update on the previous meeting’s Action Plan.

Members considered the update on previous actions and made the following comments:

·         Councillor Miscandlon asked that any updates to the action plan are kept in alignment and dealt with, so members do not miss them. 

·         Councillor Mason requested an update on the Task and Finish Group. Anna Goodall advised that numerous dates have been circulated to the Group members in relation to their availability to conduct the review. Time is of the essence because for the review findings to be fed into the draft Business Plan, the Group needs to have concluded that work by the end of October so it can feed into Cabinet and full Council. Further dates can be circulated but if not, for the governance process to take place, members may need to reconsider whether the results from the Task and Finish Group will feed into the Plan for 2023/24 or if it will be delayed and therefore influence the Plan for 2024/25. Councillor Mason thanked Anna Goodall for the clarification.

·         Councillor Booth pointed out that he had given his availability, but half the dates have now passed. He added that the goal posts are already changing to complete this task because a meeting has been diarised for 21^st November. The main feeding point for the Business Plan is the Key Performance Indicators for measuring the objectives. If the objectives are okay, then do we have the KPIs to support the objectives? This is a point he has been raising all along. Councillor Booth added that he believes the Business Plan can still go ahead for consultation but wonders if we are setting too challenging dates to get this process finished. If the objectives are the right ones, then we need to ensure we have the right KPIs. He believes the end of October is not correct; the issue is if we can get usable KPIs by the time the new Business Plan is adopted but it takes time to develop those.

·         Anna Goodall advised the dates of either 31^st October or 21^st November were the potential for the additional meeting date of Overview & Scrutiny so the panel could agree whether the outcome of the review was acceptable to them and therefore those recommendations go to Cabinet. The potential meeting date of 21^st November was a full O&S panel meeting for that reason rather than a Task and Finish Group. So, the results of the Group would need to be concluded by then to feed into that for that agreement for the Cabinet papers to be published on 2^nd December.

·         Anna Goodall confirmed the core Group consisted of Councillors Booth, Connor and Miscandlon, with subs being Councillors Hay and Wicks. Both Councillors Connor and Miscandlon advised they would be on leave during October. Anna Goodall said that If members are agreeable and still wish to pursue the Task and Finish Group and achieve the output to contribute to the Business Plan for 2023/24 then further dates can be circulated and we can work to that but there will be a point by which this will not be achievable within the timeframe, and we will have to postpone until 2024/25.

·         Councillor Booth said he took Anna Goodall’s points on board, but his point around KPIs measuring the objectives is still valid. Members will be consulted on the Business Plan anyway so by saying the end of October, this is too unrealistic a date. The key thing is are the objectives okay but that was not what part of the Task and Finish Group was looking at, it is looking at what the KPIs are. There is some leeway with these dates to feed into the process because with going to Cabinet for December, Cabinet will then go out for consultation with the public so the public could come back with comments. Not everything has to be concluded by December. The purpose was to have a workshop for each of the key priorities and we have not had any yet. Anna Goodall advised that if the Task and Finish Group are keen to pursue the outcome to influence the Business Plan for 2023/24, then new dates will be circulated accordingly.