Issue - meetings

Recommendation: That the Executive note and consider any matters arising from the Quarterly Performance Report

Considered–

A joint report of the Chief Executive and Corporate Director for Strategic Resources, bringing together key aspects of the County Council’s performance for Quarter 1 of 2021/22.

County Councillor Carl Les introduced the Quarter 1 performance report and thanked officers for the Executive summary which highlighted the in-depth focus on ‘North Yorkshire is a place with a strong economy and a commitment to sustainable growth’.

County Councillor David Chance provided an overview of the report, which highlighted a number of key performance events for Quarter 1, as listed in paragraph 2.3 of the report, including:

·          The work of the Community Support Organisations, which continued to help over 3,500 people a month across North Yorkshire;

·          Improving levels of prevention activity in support of healthy and independent living

·          The findings from a Children’s social care Ofsted inspection, which showed continued improvement on the previous ‘outstanding’ rating;

·          The 2020/21 staff survey results, with consistent improvement across all key indicators;

County Councillor David Chance confirmed the report provided strong evidence of progress in delivering all four of the County Council’s ambitions, but highlighted the following challenges:

·          Supporting strong economic recovery post pandemic

·          Demand led pressures in referrals to Children’s social care, with the highest level of quarterly referrals in the last 10 years;

·          The doubling of the average number of hospital discharges to adult social care, since the start of the pandemic;

County Councillor Caroline Dickinson recorded her grateful thanks to all the staff in Public Health for their help and support during her time as Executive Member, and for the excellent work they continued to deliver, and in turn, other Executive Members recorded their thanks to her for her support and guidance.

North Yorkshire is a place with a Strong Economy and a commitment to Sustainable Growth

County Councillor Don Mackenzie provided an overview of the strengths and challenges associated with County Council’s growth strategy aimed at improving the economy of North Yorkshire.  He drew members’ attention to:

·          The launch of NY Highways on 1^st June 2021 and the work they had already successfully achieved;

·          The improving condition of North Yorkshire’s principal highways, with only 3% requiring repairs;

·          The early re-opening of the A19 at Chapel Haddlesley;

·          The launch of Yorbus – a new demand responsive app-based bus service pilot;

County Councillor Don Mackenzie also paid tribute to the team at NYNet who had done so much to improve the digital infrastructure across the County, which had been of invaluable service to residents and businesses throughout the pandemic.

In regard to the Council’s other ambitions, individual Executive Members highlighted the following:

Healthy & Independent Living – The significant pressures in the system through a loss of workforce, with actions underway to limit the impact;

Best Start in Life – An increased number of referrals to children in need and Child Protection Plans.  Also, the Fostering Service currently operating at near full capacity and the ongoing joint working with other Authorities to promote fostering;

Innovative & Forward Thinking – The  ...  view the full minutes text for item 628