Performance Management Handbook

October 2016

How we plan, measure, improve and review our services for the communities of Derbyshire Dales

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Contents

Page No.

PART 1

Introduction

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1.1 1.2

What is Performance Management? Why is it Important?

1 1

PART 2

Our Vision, Aims and Priorities linked by the Golden Thread

2

2.1 The Corporate Plan 2015-19 3

2.2 Service Plans 3

2.3 Key Considerations within Service Planning 4

PART 3

How the District Council Measures & Manages its Performance

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3.1 Performance Indicators 5

3.2 Performance Monitoring and Reporting 5

3.3 Comparisons over time and with others 6

3.4 The District Council’s Performance Management Timetable 7

Further information 7

Appendices

1 Service Plan Template 8

2 An example of a Priority Indicator performance report 10

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1. Introduction

To maintain a strong performance culture it is important that officers and Members understand the principles of performance management, and how these are applied at Derbyshire Dales District Council. This handbook sets out what we do to plan activity, and to monitor, report and improve performance.

1.1 What is Performance Management?

• Performance management: achieving and demonstrating improvement The process is one of continuous review with the goal of providing the best services with the resources available.

The Performance Management Cycle

‘’ Achieving and demonstrating improvement’’

Definition of Performance Management

1.2 Why is it Important?

• Targets help clarify a service’s objectives and keep these at the front of the minds of staff who deliver them

• If you can demonstrate results you can win public support • In the new STEP review process there is a section of 17 questions on performance • What’s measured gets done • If you don’t measure results how do you know if you are succeeding? • If you can’t see success you can’t learn from it • We make promises to residents – performance reporting shows how we are keeping

them and spending public money wisely • Helps build a sense of team and increases employee morale

PLAN &

PRIORITISE

MEASURE & ANALYSE

IMPROVE &

REFINE

REPORT & REVIEW

CYCLE OF PERFORMANCE

MANAGEMENT

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2. Our Vision, Aims and Priorities linked by the Golden Thread

The Golden Thread is the term used to describe the linking of common priorities from the Sustainable Community Strategy through the chain of strategies, policies and processes developed by the District Council:

The Golden Thread

Quarterly performance reporting to CLT and six monthly and reporting to Council

Corporate Plan

Service Plans

Key Performance Indicators monitored by Corporate Improvement Team and

REPORTED TO:

CLT & Council

Employee Personal Development Reviews- Work

Programme

Sets out the priorities for Derbyshire Dales District Council and targets for the year. Updated annually.

Set out yearly objectives and targets for individual employees, and training requirements to achieve these, aligned to the service’s objectives and targets.

Set out yearly objectives and targets for individual services measured using performance indicators, aligned to the Council’s Corporate Plan, and the resources required to deliver these.

CLT monitor progress against targets and performance in priority areas quarterly.

Council monitors and scrutinises progress against performance indicators in priority areas and considers and approve corrective action where necessary, biannually.

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2.1 Corporate Plan 2015-2019

The Corporate Plan sets out the vision, values and aims of the District Council and lists the key improvement priorities for the coming year. It is the key strategy from which other policies and plans cascade. The Plan sets out specific action targets based on the District Council’s three corporate priorities and budgetary position.

It is the top 3 Improvement Priorities (business growth & job creation, affordable housing and market town) where we wish to see targets for improved outcomes. These will feed into the 2015-19 Corporate Plan. New actions to create significant savings should also be included.

2.2 Service Plans

Good service planning is vital for effective performance management. Service Plans are a key part of the ‘golden thread’ enabling everyone to see how their work contributes towards achieving the District Council’s priorities. Service plans are a business planning tool. They demonstrate progress towards achievement of the District Council’s aims, objectives and targets. Key actions and objectives are linked with meaningful performance indicators, which demonstrate improvement wherever possible. Service plans include:

Link 1 of Golden Thread

Link 2 of Golden Thread

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• First section is standard & covers Corporate Plan priorities, vision, values and aims • Service Overview: describes objectives and key activities • Service Area Resources: sets out available staffing and budget • Service Performance: a table containing indicators, targets, level achieved & annual

improvement trends • Other work-streams: tasks which do not fit into performance indicator phrasing.

See Appendix 1 for an example of a service performance action table.

Service planning guidance is issued each autumn at the start of the process. The latest guide is available at: X:\Regeneration and Policy\Policy and Performance\Performance\Service Plans 2017-18\Service Plan 2017-18 TEMPLATE.docx

2.3 Key Considerations within Service Planning Corporate Leadership Team has prioritised the following issues which must be considered within service planning and delivery: a) Consultation

Services need to plan consultation with service users, residents, businesses, voluntary and community groups, protected equalities groups (see below) and other stakeholders to help develop, evaluate or change policies and services; monitor satisfaction; prioritise resources and improve performance. This is essential when making financial decisions involving a potential reduction in service levels.

The corporate Consultation and Engagement Strategy available on the Council website sets out the District Council’s statutory responsibilities with regard to consultation, and provides practical guidance to help plan, deliver and evaluate consultation activities.

b) Equalities

Equalities impacts must be considered before making changes to services, policies or processes. Again this is essential when making financial decisions involving a potential reduction in service levels. Services should consider the need to plan an Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and incorporate the main actions from previous assessments within service plans, either as a key action, or by including appropriate performance indicators to ensure any equalities issues identified are addressed. Equality monitoring should also be put in place to inform assessments and service planning. The District Council is required by law to publish equality information annually covering service users and its workforce.

Corporate Equalities & Decision Making Guidance is available at: X:\Regeneration and Policy\Policy and Performance\Policy\Equalities

c) Risk Management

Service managers should review, identify and record the strategic risk relating to their targets. Entry of the high risks should be made into the risk registers, this will contribute to their control.

The corporate risk register and risk assessment guidance can found on X:Drive \Risk Register

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3. How the District Council Measures and Manages its Performance

3.1 Performance Indicators

Performance Indicators (PIs) are the tools of performance measurement, used to measure and monitor how well we are progressing towards achieving our goals. Goals can be expressed as outcomes (the end result or consequence of an action – tends to take the form of well-being for people) or outputs (the amount of something produced – a tangible measure that helps quantify an outcome). Targets are set for performance indicators each year stating the level of performance or the outcomes we would ultimately like to achieve. All targets should be ‘SMART’. This means that they have the following characteristics:

Specific actions are set out (not vague intentions)

Measurable outputs/outcomes are quantified, so we know when targets are achieved

Achievable through effective project management, with the financial and human resources needed to implement actions being available

Relevant to priorities and aims; and

Timescaled (clear deadlines and milestones are set)

3.2 Performance Monitoring and Reporting The District Council has two levels of Performance Indicators:

1) Those that are reported to Council and CLT

Corporate PIs: PIs attached to the specific Corporate Plan targets (13)

and

KPIs: Key service plan indicators of corporate importance, (13)

Both of these are reported quarterly to CLT and every six months to full council

To ensure sufficient scrutiny is given to each of the indicators, they are risk classified as Green, Amber or Red. This classification is made using outturn data, information on past performance and factors affecting the service in the current year, and is explained below:

Outcome: more affordable housing for local people Output: number of affordable homes completed this year

Outcome: growth of local businesses and job creation Output: the number of new businesses enabled to start

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Performance Indicators are classified according to:-

Direction of travel i.e. is performance improving, stable or worsening compared to the previous year?

Performance relative to the target i.e. is it on track to achieve target or at risk of not achieving target?

Green = If an indicator is improving and has achieved target for the past year, or is on track to achieve the current year’s target.

Amber = If an indicator is (i) stable or improving but it has not achieved target or is not on track to achieve target or (ii) worsening but has met or is on track to meet the target (i.e. does not meet the criteria for Green or Red).

Red = If an indicator is worsening and has not achieved target for the past year, or is at risk of not achieving the current year’s target.

Given their high profile these indicators are submitted with evidence on Summary Data Forms by the beginning of May to be internally audited prior to publication. To ensure high Data Quality it is the responsibility of the Service Manager to make certain there are transparent and comprehensive audit trails, along with a robust methodology for each indicator.

2) Service Performance Indicators (SPIs)

All other Performance Indicators are called Service Performance Indicators. These are set and defined by the Service Manager who has overall responsibility for the methodology and collation of robust information for measuring performance and accurate calculation to ensure data quality. Actual outturn figures for the financial year need to be calculated as soon as possible after the 1st April for inclusion in the final version of the service plan and publication in the Performance Plan on the website by the end of June.

3.3 Comparisons over time and with others There are a few websites which gather data for benchmarking performance.

• Local Government Association Inform: http://lginform.local.gov.uk/ • Rural Services Network: http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/portal-pages/individual-

authority-homepages • Value for money profiles:

http://vfm.psaa.co.uk/nativeviewer.aspx?Report=/profiles/VFM_Landing More details on the content of these sites is contained in the appendices.

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3.4 The District Council’s Performance Management Timetable

October Service planning process begins.

November Progress on current Corporate Plan targets and KPIs reported to Council

Corporate Plan target areas agreed by Council for the following year

January Draft Service Plans finalised, including risk score for key actions

March Full Performance Plan & Budget adopted by Council. Progress on Corporate Plan targets reported.

April Year end reporting begins

Early May Key Performance Indicators submitted on Summary Data Forms with evidence

June Internal audit of KPIs Service Plans finalised and reported to Council with actual outturns and targets

June Financial Performance Indicator outturns submitted

End June Performance Plan and Corporate Plan published on website

Further Information

Performance Management Policy & Performance Team Mike Hase 1251 mike.hase@derbyshiredales.gov.uk Corinna Beatson 1243 Corinna.beatson@derbyshiredales.gov.uk

Finance Karen Ludditt 1214 karen.ludditt@derbyshiredales.gov.uk

Internal Audit Helen Derbyshire 1246 helen.derbyshire@derbyshiredales.gov.uk

Appendices

1. Service Performance Action Table 2. Information on comparator websites

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Appendix 1 – Example Service Performance Action Table

Ref. No.

Action

Link to Corporate

Plan Priority

2016/17 Target

2016/17 Outturn

Target achieved

Annual improvement

trend

Comments

2017/18 Target

Strategic Risk for 2017/18 target

Corporate Plan and Key Performance Indicators These are the key performance measures which are monitored and reported quarterly

CORP4

New businesses enabled to start

CP1 30 30 - 33 12

CORP5

Established businesses given support to enable the creation of local jobs

CP1 100 110

-

Extra funding became available part way through the year to extend the hours of the business advisor and resulted in more businesses being supported than originally predicted.

110 12

Service Performance Indicators These are measures that service areas use to manage their own performance. They are published every year ED1 No. of people under the

age of 25 supported in starting a new business

CP1 10 8

Late publicity of the scheme resulted in lower than anticipated take up.

10 8

ED4 No. of additional Derbyshire Dales businesses signed up to the ‘Inspired by the Peak District’ brand

CP1 100 100

100 8

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Other Workstreams

Service Action No.

Action and Planned Outcome Link to

Corporate Plan

Timescale Actual Outcome

2016/17 ED6 Establish the business case for introducing a

Local Growth Fund for the Derbyshire Dales, providing loans to stimulate the development of key sites

CP1 March 2017 Case considered but insufficient justification and therefore not recommended at C&E

2017/18 ED7 Options developed with Matlock Community

Vision for the redevelopment of the Bakewell Road town centre site

CP1, CP3 March 2018

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Appendix 2 – Comparisons over time and with others

Local Government Association Inform: http://lginform.local.gov.uk/

LGInform publish a headline report for District Councils which is available to anyone using existing pre-published data. The metrics fall into the following broad funding areas: Planning and Development, Housing, Environmental and Regulatory Services, Cultural and Related and Central Services. They can be presented as a bar chart or headline report (dashboard) style. You can choose to compare yourself with local authorities in different areas and CIPFA near neighbours, Experian Mosiac near neighbours, LEPs, Significantly rural areas (Derbyshire Dales is a sparse rural area DEFRA Rural-80 list)

Bar chart view

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Dashboard view

They also facilitate the benchmarking of local data (this is a ‘member only’ club of local councils which you need to log into): The current basket of LGA metrics is outlined below. There are currently 2 indicators (highlighted in yellow) we collect which we can benchmark against on a more regular basis.

Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting –

quarterly

Kg of residual waste per household – quarterly

Average number of working days lost due to sickness absence per FTE

(full-time equivalent) employee (including schools) - quarterly

Average number of working days lost due to sickness absence per FTE

(full-time equivalent) employee (excluding schools) - quarterly

Number of formal complaints received - quarterly (this is to be used as a

numerator for the metric 'number of formal complaints received per 10,000

population')

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Number of fly tipping incidents - quarterly (this will be used to calculate a

rate per population)

Number of fly tipping enforcement notices - quarterly (this will be used to

calculate a rate per population)

Number of unique website visitors (excluding authorities own staff) -

quarterly (this will be used to calculate visitors as a proportion of the

population)

Rural Services Network: http://www.rsnonline.org.uk/portal-pages/individual-

authority-homepages

Derbyshire Dales is classified as a sparse rural area (DEFRA Rural-80 list).

Information is available from the RSN website to benchmark performance on the

following performance indicators: planning, council tax collection, recycling and

waste management and benefits processing.

Public Sector Audit Appointments value for money profiles:

http://vfm.psaa.co.uk/nativeviewer.aspx?Report=/profiles/VFM_Landing

This website allows you to select a local authority and then compare this to the

following different groups: district councils, geographical neighbours, geographical

regions, single tier and district councils and statistical nearest neighbours 2014. All

the comparator data is for 2014/15 as per the example below: