Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive

Presentation by the Assistant Director, Policy, Partnership and Performance  

  The Committee received a presentation from the Assistant Director, Policy, Partnership and Performance on the Council Plan end of year performance report for 2013/14. The Committee also considered a report of the Chief Executive on the Council Plan which had been considered by Cabinet at their meeting on 8^th July, 2014.

  The new Council Plan set out the strategic direction and priorities for the next ten years and was approved by the Council in January, 2014. Through its plans for growth, the Council wanted the City to become more prosperous and to meet the needs of its citizens. 

Progress against the priorities and objectives of the Plan were reported on a half-yearly basis and the report submitted summarised progress during 2013/14 in relation to the plan priorities and a set of key headline indicators.  Where applicable, contextual information was provided to describe what was happening in Coventry and how this compared with elsewhere.

The Council’s equality objectives had also been revised in light of the new Council Plan and some of the headline indicators included within the report were already equality indicators. It was noted that a more detailed report would be submitted to the Cabinet Member (Policing and Equalities) in September 2014.

  The presentation set out the vision and priorities for the next ten years, as detailed under the following areas:

·  Globally connected – promoting the growth of a sustainable Coventry economy

·  Locally committed – improving the quality of life for Coventry people

·  Delivering our priorities – maximising use of assets and strong and involved communities. 

  The Committee questioned the officers on the key messages from the performance report, matters raised included:

·  Coventry’s average employment rate for working age residents which was lower than the national average in light of the high number of students in the city. Whether it was possible to have employment information without the inclusion of student details.

·  How to increase footfall in the City. It was suggested that more needed to be done to promote Coventry, for example other areas didn’t have leaflets promoting the city as a tourist venue.

·  A request that the tourism/heritage item scheduled for the meeting of the Business, Economy and Enterprise Scrutiny Board (3) on 28^th January, 2015 be brought forward to an earlier meeting.

·  A concern about the increase in the number of NEETs aged 16-19 which had increased from 5.2% the previous year to 7.4%. Attention was drawn to the proposal for a joint meeting of Scrutiny Boards (2) and (3) on 18^th September to look at the approaches being taken to tackle NEETs.

·  Information about the collection of data using the figures for job seekers allowance and the implications of the recent changes in the benefits system

·  Responsibility for reporting crime statistics which showed that overall crime had reduced by 1%

·  The very high number of children known to social care and the increasing number of referrals

·  The potential to have targets for broadband connectivity

·  The city’s focus for working with certain twin cities for business links

·  Concerns about the lack of progress in some areas for improved educational standards and in particular the decrease in the number of good or outstanding secondary schools.

RESOLVED that:

(1) The end of year performance report be noted and the Committee place on record their thanks to the Corporate Performance Team for all their work in producing this accessible and informative report.

(2) Arrangements be put in place for a Member’s seminar to consider the Council Plan Performance Report for 2014-15.

(3) For future reports consideration be given to the inclusion of the following:

a) Unemployment figures excluding students;

b) Targets for broadband connectivity.