Agenda item

Discussion:

The Assistant Director Communications, Performance and Partnerships introduced this report which asked members to consider the proposed suite of Council Plan indicators, with the committee's views being reported to Cabinet on the 10th February 2015, alongside the 2015/16 budget proposals.

The following indicators were discussed in detail:

·         The percentage of children permanently excluded from school

It was suggested this be removed as many schools were outside the control of the council and also the target was difficult to understand. Members asked if it could be expressed as both the number of children and a percentage and also clarify that it related to all schools including academies. Other members felt that the target should be retained as it was still a useful statistic for the council to be aware of even if it did relate to non council controlled schools. It was agreed   the target should be made more meaningful and retained.  .

·         Percentage children who were absent from school for more than 15 percent of the school year

Again it was suggested this be removed but other members argued against this and for its retention particularly as it was a key indicator for Ofsted to scrutinise. Officers agreed to clarify if it related to authorised and unauthorised absences, express the target in terms of numbers and clarify if academies were included. Members questioned whether 85% was too low and impacted on school performance.

·         Carer satisfaction with adult social care services

It was agreed that the target should be retained at its current level of 46% otherwise moving to the national average of 42.7% represented a drop.

·         The percentage of service users who report they have control over their daily life

It was agreed this should be retained provided it could be demonstrated that this was a meaningful target and did not involve any additional work for officers given that it formed part of a survey the Council was required to undertake.

·         The proportion of carers who felt that they had been included or consulted in discussions about the person they care for

It was agreed that the current target of 75% should be retained.

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·         Percentage of opiate users that left drug treatment successfully (free of drug(s) of dependence)

Members felt this target appeared to have been set at a very low level. Confirmation would be sought from the Director of Public Heath that the target was appropriate and had been built into the new contract.

·         Number of cardiovascular health checks completed.

Members queried the relevance to the council of cardiovascular checks but proposed no change after the commissioning role of public health in this matter was explained.

Generally, Members found the removal of indicator numbers unhelpful and asked for them to be reinstated. The report to Council would summarise which measures and targets were outstanding, why and when the information would be available. Members were happy overall with the plan and its state of development, and felt it compared favourably with a few years ago when no target information was available or targets were not challenging enough.

Decision:

The Committee noted the Council Plan Indicators for 2015-16 and Key projects for 2015-16 and agreed that their comments, as detailed above, be forwarded to Cabinet for consideration on 10 February 2015.