Heritage, Culture & Leisure Committee

5 June 2018

 

Key Performance Indicator Update Quarter 4 2017/18

 

Final Decision-Maker

Heritage, Culture & Leisure Committee

Lead Head of Service

Angela Woodhouse, Head of Policy, Communications, and Governance

Lead Officer and Report Author

Anna Collier, Policy and Information Manager and Ashley Sabo, Performance and Business Information Officer

Classification

Public

Wards affected

All

 

Executive Summary

Heritage, Culture & Leisure Committee is asked to review the progress of Key Performance Indicators that relate to the delivery of the Strategic Plan 2015-2020. The Committee is also asked to consider the comments and actions against performance to ensure they are robust.

 

This report makes the following recommendations to Heritage, Culture & Leisure Committee:

1.   That the summary of performance for Quarter 4 of 2017/18 for Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) be noted.

 

 

Timetable

Meeting

Date

Heritage, Culture & Leisure Committee

5 June 2018



Key Performance Indicator Update Quarter 4 17/18

 

 

1.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

1.1     Having a comprehensive set of actions and performance indicators ensures that the Council delivers against the priorities and actions set in the Strategic Plan.

 

1.2     Following the refresh of the Strategic Plan for 2017/18 the Committees agreed 28 Key Performance Indicators in April 2017.

 

1.3     Performance indicators are judged in two ways. Firstly on whether performance has improved, sustained or declined, compared to the same period in the previous year. This is known as direction. Where there is no previous data, no assessment of direction can be made.

 

1.4     The second way is to look at whether an indicator has achieved the target set and is known as PI status. If an indicator has achieved or exceeded the annual target they are rated green. If the target has been missed but is within 10% of the target it will be rated amber, and if the target has been missed by more than 10% it will be rated red.

 

1.5     Some indicators will show an asterisk (*) after the figure. These are provisional values that are awaiting confirmation. Data for some of the indicators were not available at the time of reporting. In these cases a date has been provided for when the information is expected.

 

1.6     Contextual indicators are not targeted but are given a direction. Indicators that are not due for reporting or where there is delay in data collection are not rated against targets or given a direction.

 

 

2.        Quarter 4 Performance Summary

 

2.1     There are 28 key performance indicators (KPIs) which were developed with Heads of Service and unit managers, and agreed by the four Service Committees for 2017/18. 5 are reported to the Committee for this quarter. 

 

2.2     Overall, 60% (3) of targeted KPIs reported this quarter achieved their target for quarter 4. For 40% of indicators, performance improved compared to the same quarter last year, where previous data is available for comparison.

RAG Rating

Green

Amber

Red

N/A

Total

KPIs

3

0

2

0

5

Direction

Up

No Change

Down

N/A

Total

Last Year

2

0

2

1

5

Last Quarter

5

0

0

0

5

 

 

3.        Performance by Priority

 

Priority 1: Keeping Maidstone borough an attractive place for all, & Priority 2: Securing a successful economy for Maidstone Borough

 

3.1     The Hazlitt Theatre sold 69.6% of all available tickets during quarter 4, against a target of 50%. The team at the Hazlitt continue to explore and attract new performances and shows to keep customers interested. A lot of focus has also been placed on marketing activities to attract a wide range of customers and as a result the site has kept the percentage of seats sold well above target for the year 2017/18.

 

3.2     The number of students benefitting from the museum’s educational service was 2,924 against a target of 2,085. The workshops associated with the new Ancient lives gallery have been successful in attracting schools studying Egyptian and Classical societies. In addition, staff have been promoting outreach sessions to take place in school instead of the museum. This helps schools overcome the barriers around the cost of transport for a museum visit. The Museum Learning Service is currently part funded by the Arts Council and Department for Education through its Museum and Schools programme. This programme was highlighted as a case study in last year's Mendoza report into the future of publically-funded museums and for the first time, we have been awarded funding for two years instead of the usual annual award.

 

3.3     Footfall at the Museum and Visitor Information Centre was 14,063 against a target of 18,000. Although not having met the quarterly target, footfall at the museum has increased quarter on quarter since the opening of the Ancient Lives Gallery in October. The performance is comparable to footfall in quarter 4 in 2016/17, we may therefore have been too ambitious in setting such a high target compared with previous performance. Visitor figures were reduced during the snow which would have had an impact on performance to some degree. We are now working on delivery of the Museums 20 Year plan which is designed to increase footfall in the future and are considering the profiling for next year to ensure it is realistic.

 

3.4     The number of contacts to the Visitor Information Centre (VIC) was 811 during this period. We now have a year's worth of figures as a baseline for future target setting. It is clear that the targets set last year were somewhat optimistic and this will be adjusted accordingly for 2018/19. The Visitor Information Centre is fully staffed and supplied from the museum subsidy. Further savings to be found by the museum will necessarily impact on the Visitor Information Centre. Currently no volunteers are used in Visitor Information but it is likely this will happen as they are used elsewhere in the museum.

 

3.5     There were 200,794 users at the leisure centre during quarter 4. This has exceeded the target of 181,094 by 19,700 users. The Leisure Centre has continued to introduce and promote a wide range of activities to attract more users to the centre. A good example is the half term activities which have proven very popular with families. The team have been successful in exploring and utilising multiple marketing channels to attract more people.

 

4.       RISK

4.1    This report is presented for information only, committees, managers and heads of service can use performance data to identify service performance and this data can contribute to risk management.

 

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

 

5.1     The Key Performance Indicator Update is reported quarterly to the Service Committees; Communities Housing and  Environment Committee, Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transportation Committee, and Heritage Culture and Leisure Committee. Each Committee will receive a report on the relevant priority action areas. The report is also presented to the Policy & Resources Committee, reporting only on the priority areas of: A clean and safe environment, regenerating the Town Centre, and a home for everyone.

 

 

6.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

 

6.1     The Council could choose not to monitor the Strategic Plan and/or make alternative performance management arrangements, such as frequency of reporting. This is not recommended as it could lead to action not being taken against performance during the year, and the Council failing to deliver its priorities.

 

 

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

 

Issue

Implications

Sign-off

Impact on Corporate Priorities

The key performance indicators and strategic actions are part of the Council’s overarching Strategic Plan 2015-20 and play an important role in the achievement of corporate objectives.

They also cover a wide range of services and priority areas, for example waste and recycling.

Head of Policy, Communications & Governance

Risk Management

The production of robust performance reports ensures that the view of the Council’s approach to the management of risk and use of resources is not undermined and allows early action to be taken in order to mitigate the risk of not achieving targets and outcomes.

 

 

 

Head of Policy, Communications & Governance

Financial

Performance indicators and targets are closely linked to the allocation of resources and determining good value for money. The financial implications of any proposed changes are also identified and taken into account in the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan and associated annual budget setting process. Performance issues are highlighted as part of the budget monitoring reporting process.

Senior Finance Manager (Client)

Staffing

Having a clear set of targets enables staff outcomes/objectives to be set and effective action plans to be put in place

Head of Policy, Communications & Governance

Legal

There is no statutory duty to report regularly on the Council’s performance. However, under Section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999 (as amended) a best value authority has a statutory duty to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. One of the purposes of the Key Performance Indicators is to facilitate the improvement of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of Council Services. Regular reports on the Council’s performance assist in demonstrating best value and compliance with the statutory duty.

Keith Trowell, Interim Team Leader (Corporate Governance)

Privacy and Data Protection

We will hold data in line with the Data Quality Policy, which sets out the requirement for ensuring data quality.

There is a program for undertaking data quality audits of performance indicators.

Keith Trowell, Interim Team Leader (Corporate Governance)

Equalities

The Performance Indicators reported on in this quarterly update measure the ongoing performance of the strategies in place. If there has been a change to the way in which a service delivers a strategy, i.e. a policy change, an Equalities Impact Assessment is undertaken to ensure that there is no detrimental impact on individuals with a protected characteristic.

Equalities & Corporate Policy Officer

Crime and Disorder

None Identified

Policy & Information Manager

Procurement

Performance Indicators and Strategic Milestones monitor any procurement needed to achieve the outcomes of the Strategic Plan.

Head of Policy, Communications & Governance, & Section 151 Officer

 

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

 

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix 1: Key Performance Indicator Update Quarter 4 17/18

 

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

None