Performance Not Yet Up To Scratch

Speech by Cllr Zoe Patrick delivered to Cabinet on Tue 20th May 2008

I have carefully read the latest now unembargoed Corporate Assessment Report and would like to focus on a couple of key items.

Firstly, on Scrutiny. There still appear to be some real budget problems here around staffing, the budget has been reduced, the officers have been reduced in number, and I still see scrutiny struggling to find a proper place in calling the Cabinet to account or asking searching questions. This is mentioned in the improvement section which says the Council should ensure the workload of scrutiny committees should be more systematically linked to the council's corporate objectives. It should lead the development of a forward programme to scrutinise, with other local authorities, the performance of partnerships.

There is also a mention in the main report that some local performance indicators do not yet have comparable data (in Children & Young People's services). There is concern expressed about performance in some areas as variable, with relatively poor performance in tackling certain areas of crime. This needs to be addressed through the Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnerships, but it also needs to be scrutinised to see that this is accountable too. People need to help these partnerships to work within their communities and we must be seen to be actively engaging people on the ground. This is a challenge but could be tackled by going out in our towns and parishes and listening to what people want.