Strategic Theme 5: High Performing and Sustainable Council
Strategic Theme 5: High Performing and Sustainable Council
Our strategic objectives were:
- To take the lead on delivering both the Community Plan and the Local Development Plan, working effectively with our partners and citizens.
- To increase customer satisfaction with our services through innovation and continuous improvement by proactively engaging with and listening to our citizens, customers and staff.
- Using an agile delivery model and adapting to changing landscapes, be recognised as a leading council, ensuring value for money and affordability of council services, facilities and assets.
- To deliver our activities and functions in a sustainable manner, integrating social, economic and environmental factors when planning or decision-making, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
- To embed our values in our day-to-day working environment, ensuring our employees feel supported and motivated to achieve their full potential.
At the end of the year:
- 60% of our measures were achieved or on track.
- 20% were delayed but progressing.
- 20% were not achieved.
Our performance is explained in the pages that follow.
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Action 1 |
Ensure we remain responsive to citizen need by developing processes that allow us to engage with, listen to and act on feedback from our stakeholders to increase customer satisfaction with our services. |
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Measure 1 |
Establish processes to gauge customer satisfaction levels by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Delayed but progressing |
The Council is developing a Customer First approach and processes to gauge customer satisfaction will be considered as part of that workstream. To progress the project, a scoping exercise into the methods currently used across the Council to measure customer satisfaction has been completed and an analysis of the findings is underway. This will help to shape the next steps in the process. Furthermore, during the completion of the public consultation exercise for the annual Performance Improvement Plan for 2024/25, respondents were asked an open-ended question requesting their feedback on areas they felt the Council could improve on. Of the 216 respondents, 108 provided feedback and the responses have been analysed and reported to the Senior Management Team, officers and Elected Members. The results of the Citizens Survey (2022) will serve as a baseline to track progress in enhancing customer satisfaction levels as part of this initiative. |
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Action 2 |
Work collaboratively with our community planning partners, to consolidate and capitalise on shared resources to deliver positive outcomes for citizens. |
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Measure 1 |
Engage with at least 8 community partners by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Achieved |
The Community Planning process in Mid and East Antrim is dependent on multiple organisations working together to achieve positive outcomes for the citizens of the borough. Over the course of the past year, the Council has engaged with a number of community partners, including but not limited to:
In February 2024, we delivered four thematic workshops, each based on one of the themes from the Community Plan, these drew representation from over 30 partner organisations. A Strategic Alliance meeting in March 2024, further confirmed this achievement, with 13 community planning partners in attendance. |
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Measure 2 |
Deliver at least 8 community planning initiatives by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Achieved |
We successfully delivered a total of 13 community planning initiatives. These included the Loneliness Network, Autism-Friendly, Dementia-Friendly, Business Escalator, Place Promotion, Community Fridge, Sensory Gardens, Ageing Well, Affordable Food Hub, Uniform Exchange, Volunteering, Support Hub, and Safer Places. |
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Action 3 |
Ensure we promote sustainable development for the borough across economic, social and environmental dimensions, through the delivery of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. |
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Measure 1 |
Deliver a minimum of 10 programmes against each of the 17 Goals by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Achieved |
The Council continues to deliver programmes against each of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Every two years, we host an MSc Leadership in Sustainability student to conduct a study and produce a report on the Council's progress on delivery against each goal. The most recent report was published in September 2023 and noted that the Council was delivering towards 94 of the applicable 114 targets, and 120 of the applicable 168 indicators. |
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Action 4 |
Contribute to a healthy economy by delivering effective and efficient services for the benefit of citizens and businesses across the borough. |
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Measure 1 |
Ensure that at least 53% of payments to suppliers are made within 10 working days by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Achieved |
Between April 2023 and March 2024, 65% of payments to suppliers were made within 10 working days. |
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Measure 2 |
Ensure that at least 85% of payments to suppliers are made within 30 calendar days by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Target not achieved |
Due to a variety of internal factors we failed to achieve this target, with 81% of payments to suppliers made within 30 calendar days. |
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Measure 3 |
Processing time for major planning applications within an average of 30 weeks by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Target not achieved |
From April 2023 to March 2024, the average time for the processing of major planning applications was 67.4 weeks, up from 47.6 weeks in 2022/23. This increase was primarily due to the prolonged review of an unusually complex application. The average processing time across all Northern Ireland councils was 46.5 weeks. Only 3 councils met the 30-week target, with Mid and East Antrim ranking ninth position. |
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Measure 4 |
Processing time for local planning applications within an average of 15 weeks by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Achieved |
From April 2023 to March 2024, the average time for the processing of local planning applications was 9.4 weeks, up from 8.6 weeks in 2022/23. The average processing time across all Northern Ireland councils was 20.8 weeks. Only 3 councils met the 15-week target, with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council achieving the shortest average processing time in 2023/24. |
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Measure 5 |
70% of enforcement cases concluded within 39 weeks of receipt of complaint by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Achieved |
From April 2023 to March 2024, 87.3% of enforcement cases were concluded within 39 weeks, down from 89.5% in 2022/23. The average across all Northern Ireland councils was 76.4% in 2023/24, up from 74.2% in 2022/23, with 7 councils meeting the target last year. Mid and East Antrim Borough Council ranked third position. |
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Action 5 |
Ensure we remain responsive to employee needs by engaging, listening to and acting on feedback from our employees to increase staff satisfaction levels. |
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Measure 1 |
Develop an action plan based on the results of the Listening to Staff survey by 31 March 2024. |
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Status: Delayed but progressing |
The Listening to Staff survey was completed, with findings analysed and shared with officers. Working groups were established to further investigate and identify the next steps. A draft Action Plan has been developed and is currently awaiting review and approval. |