Agenda item

The Senior Strategy Officer, introduced the report which provided monitoring information for the end of Quarter 2  (July to September 2018),  for review of performance against the third and final year of our Corporate Strategy; monitoring of the corporate risk register; monitoring of Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulations requests and monitoring of complaints. 

The report showed that 10 of the priority actions were on target, 11 required more planned work and 1 that had performance issues.  One corporate risk had been removed from the risk register as the issue had now been addressed.

The Chair took the Committee through each Directional Shift and Cornerstone.

Directional Shift 1

The Chief Executive informed Members that she had provided a report back to the Members on the visit to the Peak District from Julian Glover, Chair of the Review Panel and that a paper would be going to the Authority Meeting in December with a proposed draft response from the Authority into the Landscape Review (National Parks and AONBs): Call for Evidence.

The Committee would like to record their thanks to Partners, Staff and Members whom contributed to the visit.

Directional Shift 2

Members raised some concerns regarding the value placed on Volunteers and how they were supported, and asked what recognition was there for Volunteers as the work they did was important.

The Director of Corporate Strategy and Development reported that a Business Case was being presented to the next Resource Management Meeting (RMM) which addresses the resourcing issues identified in respect to the engagement, retention and deployment of volunteers throughout the Authority.     If approved the business case will form the basis of a funding request which  will be presented to Members after RMM. 

Focus 3

The Head of Policy & Communities reported that the National Park Authority had been invited to join “Place Alliance”, which was an organisation which brings together all organisations and individuals in the Health Sector to think about joint approaches to care.  It was agreed that a broader debate on “Health” was needed at a future Member Forum.

Directional Shift 3

Members requested clarification on how the indicator of understanding the Park and its values was measured?  The Senior Strategy Officer reported that this data was gathered using “User Surveys”.

Focus 1

Members expressed concern that a lack of funding would hinder the signs maintenance programme as some visitors to the National Park were not aware that they had entered the Park due to the lack of signs.

Directional Shift 4

The Chair of ARP reported that four independent Trustees to the proposed Charity had been recruited, and that the Authority’s nominated Members of the Shadow Board would be meeting on the 6^th November with a meeting of the full Shadow Board to be arranged thereafter.

Cornerstone 2

Members were concerned that the Planning Committee Members had not had performance data presented to them and therefore had not had the opportunity to specifically consider the information. However it was reported that going forward reports would be taken to future Planning Committee meetings. Whilst the figures looked encouraging  Members asked whether a Residents Satisfaction Survey was due to be undertaken to test public perceptions?  The Senior Strategy Officer reported that Surveys were normally conducted every 3 years and that she would liaise with the Head of Strategy & Performance on the anticipated date of the next Survey.  Members agreed that it needed doing sooner rather than later. It was also noted that the status of corporate indicator 11b on Page 48 should be red and not green as shown.

Cornerstone 4

The Chief Executive gave an update to Members regarding the appointment process of the new Director of Commercial Development and Engagement and confirmed that a report would be taken to the December Authority Meeting.  In the meantime The Head of Experience & Development was undertaking the Interim Director position until a  permanent post holder joins the Authority. 

Appendix 2

There was some concern that the number of people leaving the High Level Stewardship Scheme (HLS) and the Agri-Environmental Schemes would increase due to the uncertainty of Brexit.  This needs looking at both nationally and locally.

Members were concerned that the New Pay Spines that were coming into effect in 2019 would have an impact on budgets.  The Director of Corporate Strategy & Development informed Members that the migration to the new  pay scales had been built into the 2019/2020 budget assumptions. Further work will be undertaken to assess the potential indirect impacts (e.g. resolving grade compression) and that future pay grading models would be looked at over the next 3/4 years and the implications for the cost of services and affordability identified.  The Head of Human Resources will be attending a Pay Modelling Workshop next week.

The recommendation as set out in the report was moved, seconded, voted on and carried.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Quarter 2 Corporate Performance Return, given in Appendix 1, is reviewed and any actions to address issues agreed.

2.    That the Corporate risk register summary given in Appendix 2 is reviewed and status of risks accepted.

3.    That the status of complaints, Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulations requests, given in Appendix 3, be noted.