Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Place Management & Regeneration.

The Mid-Year Portfolio Performance and Resource Reports (PPRRs) for the Sustainable Stockport and Inclusive Neighbourhoods Portfolios are presented for consideration by the Committee. These provide a summary of progress in delivering the portfolio priorities, reform programmes and other key projects in the first half of the year, with a particular focus on the second quarter (July to September) and up to the end of October where possible. These include forecast performance and financial data (where this is available) for the Portfolios, along with an update on the portfolio savings programmes.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to:

(i)        Consider the Mid-Year Portfolio Performance and Resource Reports;  

(ii)      Review the progress against delivering key projects, priority outcomes, targets and budgets for 2020/21;

(iii)     Highlight key areas of and responsibility for taking forward corrective action to address any performance or resource issues;

(iv)     Highlight any significant issues or changes to be fed back to the Cabinet alongside the Corporate Performance and Resource Report;

(v)      Identify how areas of strong performance and good practice can be shared in other services.

Officer contacts:

Sustainable Stockport Alan Lawson on 474 5397 or email:

alan.lawson@stockport.gov.uk  or Lisa Joy on 474 4044 or email:

lisa.joy@stockport.gov.uk

Inclusive Neighbourhoods Gaynor Ward on 474 3186 or email: gaynor.ward@stockport.gov.uk or Stephen Pate on 218 1086 or email:

stephen.pate@stockport.gov.uk 

The Corporate Director (Place) and Deputy Chief Executive submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing the Mid-Year Portfolio Performance and Resource Report (PPRR) for the Inclusive Communities and Sustainable Stockport Portfolio. The report provided a summary of progress in delivering the portfolio priorities, reform programme and other key projects in the first half of the year, with a particular focus on the second quarter (July to September). The report also included a forecast on performance and financial data (where this was available) for the Portfolio, along with an update on the portfolio savings programme.

The Cabinet Members for Inclusive Communities (Councillor Amanda Peers) and Sustainable Stockport (Councillor Sheila Bailey) attended the meeting to respond to questions from the Scrutiny Committee.

The following comments were made/ issues raised:-

Sustainable Stockport Portfolio

·         Members welcomed the launch of the Portfolio Performance Dashboards that provided easy access to the latest data, including detailed trend, comparative analysis and commentary for portfolio performance measures.

·         In response to a comment about the number of erroneous complaints in relation to missed bin collections, it was stated that this was largely attributed to when there had been changes to the cycle of bin collections due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that some residents were not aware of.  It was stated that the Council had made significant efforts to communicate these necessary changes to residents and new schedules had been distributed to residents which should mitigate against this in the future.

·         It was noted that the report stated that lower targets had been set for the Active Communities programmes as it had been anticipated that there would be lower levels of physical activity during periods of ‘lockdown’.  However, it was suggested that anecdotal evidence suggested that more people had taken advantage of parks and green spaces as alternative options had become more limited. 

Inclusive Communities Portfolio

·         Further information was requested in relation to the 11% reduction in the number of charity organisations that were known to the Council.  It was noted that the report stated that this was due to a change in the search functionality on the Charity Commission’s website.

·         It was commented that it was notoriously difficult to fully understand the number of voluntary and charity organisations operating in the borough due to rapid change and turnover within the sector.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.