To report performance for the first half of 2007-08 against the Annual Operating Plan 2007-08, national performance indicators used externally to measure the performance of the council, together with performance against revenue and capital budgets and corporate risks, and remedial action to address areas of under-performance.

THAT (a)            performance for 2005-06 be considered and noted;

(b) the actions being taken to improve performance against indicators for 2006-07 (in paragraph 7 of the report) be supported; and

(b) the Best Value Performance Indicators for 2005-06 be approved for publication subject to any detailed textual amendments required.

The Council’s Corporate Plan for 2005-08 set out the Council’s objectives, priorities and targets for the three years 2005-08.  The Annual Operating Plan (AOP) is the detailed action plan for the first of these years, 2005-06.  This report looks back and summarises the Council’s performance in the operating year 2005-06.

In line with the Council’s wish to integrate planning and performance management, the BVPI outturns and future targets will now be published electronically as an annex to an updated version of the Council’s Corporate Plan 2006-09.  The Council is required to publish performance information for 2005-06 by 30th June.  Cabinet should be aware that there are still missing pieces of performance information from the BVPI Outturn (Appendix B), often for legitimate reasons, which will be available prior to the 30th June publication date.

Effective performance monitoring and management are crucial for continuous improvement. Following the 2005 Corporate Assessment, the Council’s improvement plan includes further measures to strengthen these arrangements across the Council such as simpler, more effective performance management reports against the AOP for 2006-07 and an annual performance improvement cycle.