Self-Assessment Report 2024-25 p2

Duty to Improve

Duty to Improve:

• Under the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014, councils have a duty to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of their functions.
• ‘Improvement’ means an activity that enhances the sustainable quality of life and environment for ratepayers and communities.
  It is more than gains in service outputs, efficiencies, or in internal effectiveness.
• We must set Improvement Objectives and have arrangements in place to achieve them.
  A Performance Improvement Plan, setting out these objectives, must be published by 30 June each year.
• The objectives should bring about improvement in at least one of the following areas:
  • Strategic effectiveness
  • Service quality
  • Service availability
  • Fairness
  • Sustainability
  • Efficiency
  • Innovation
• Each year, we must also publish an assessment of our performance in:
  • Discharging our duty to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement, and
  • Meeting our self-imposed performance indicators, improvement objectives, and statutory performance indicators applicable to that year.
• The publication must include an assessment of our performance in exercising our functions during a financial year compared with:
  • Previous financial years, and
  • So far as is reasonably practicable, our performance during that year and the previous financial years of other councils.
• The assessment must be published on our website by 30 September each year.

Arrangements to Secure Continuous Improvement

• Our arrangements to secure continuous improvement are set out in our Performance Management Framework.
  This framework drives performance at all levels within the organisation by linking our corporate strategies, aims and objectives to each employee’s individual work plan.
  These arrangements are audited by the Northern Ireland Audit Office every year.

Table: Mid and East Antrim Borough Council Performance Management Framework

Community Plan “Putting People First” (2017-2032)	This 15-year plan sets the vision for Mid and East Antrim as “a strong, vibrant, safe and inclusive community, where people work together to improve the quality of life for all”. It was developed by partners from the public, private and voluntary sectors, and is led by Council. For more information, visit our Putting People First section.
Corporate Plan (2024-2028)	This is Council’s 4-year strategic plan. It adopts the same vision as the Community Plan and delivers our ambitions through the 4 pillars of People, Place, Planet and Performance. For more information, visit our Corporate Plan section.
Performance Improvement Plan	This is Council’s annual improvement plan. It sets out our Improvement Objectives and aligns with the aims of the Community Plan and Corporate Plan. For more information, visit our Performance Improvement section.
Business Plan	This annual plan is developed by each of our service areas. It sets the priorities and targets for the year ahead, and links to the Corporate Plan and Performance Improvement Plan.
Employee Personal Development Plan	This annual plan links our strategic objectives to each employee’s individual work plan. It also identifies learning and development needs.

Identifying Areas for Improvement

What we are responsible for:

• Environmental Health, Animal Welfare and Dog Control
• Tourism, Arts, Culture and Heritage
• Bin Collection and Recycling
• Planning and Building Control
• Parks, Cemetries and Open Spaces
• Community Planning and Development
• Public Conveniences
• Council-operated off-street car parks
• Economic Development
• Leisure, Recreation and Sport
• Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships
• Licensing

What we are not responsible for:

• Roads, potholes, footpaths, streetlights, bridges and on-street parking:
  • Contact: Department for Infrastructure
• Water and sewage, including septic tank clearance:
  • Contact: Northern Ireland Water
• Electricity:
  • Contact: Northern Ireland Electricity
• On-Street Parking Tickets (Penalty Charge Notices):
  • Contact: Parking Enforcement Processing Unit
• Housing:
  • Contact: Housing Executive
• Flooding:
  • Contact: Flooding Incident Line
  • Telephone: 0300 200 0100 (24-hour)

What is Improvement:

• Improvement means focusing on the issues that are important to our citizens and communities, helping us achieve our vision of improving the quality of life for all.

• Self-Imposed Indicators and Standards
  • This is how we, as a council, have decided to measure our own performance.
    These indicators are set at a strategic level within our Corporate Plan and at an operational level within our annual business plans.
  • Our Corporate Plan is based on the priorities of the Community Plan for Mid and East Antrim, the Programme for Government, regional statistics, our own surveys, strategies and policies, and feedback from our staff and customers.  

• Improvement Objectives
  • Our Improvement Objectives are based on local needs and our ability to meet those needs.
  • We use a range of information to inform the development of our objectives.
    This includes feedback from the general public and staff, regional statistics, a review of legislation and statutory guidance, and the priorities set out in the Programme for Government, Community Plan and our own Corporate Plan.
    We also look back on our performance during previous years, for example, Performance Self-Assessment Reports and audit results.

• Benchmarking
  • We carry out a wide range of benchmarking activities and best practice learning throughout the year.
  • The Department for Communities sets statutory indicators in the areas of Planning, Economic Development and Waste.
    We publish our results every three months and can compare our performance with other local councils.
  • We also benchmark levels of absenteeism, invoice processing times and our general day-to-day performance.

• Performance Audits
  • Our arrangements to secure continuous improvement are subject to an audit and assessment by the Northern Ireland Audit Office each year, in accordance with section 93 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 and the Code of Audit Practice for local government bodies.
    These audits help us to identify areas for improvement.
  • The latest audit took place in autumn 2024.
    The Local Government Auditor noted the Council had discharged its performance improvement and reporting duties and had acted in accordance with the guidance.
    They found the Council is likely to discharge its duties during 2024/25 and had demonstrated a track record of improvement.
    No issues were identified requiring a formal recommendation under the Act, and there were no proposals for improvement (which represent good practice).
  • One prior year proposal for improvement remains active “The Council should continue to work with other councils and the Department for Communities to agree a suite of self-imposed indicators and standards that would allow for meaningful comparisons to be made and published”.
    To progress this proposal, we continue to participate in the Local Government Performance Improvement Working Group, whose membership includes the Department for Communities, the Northern Ireland Audit Office and each of the 11 Northern Ireland councils.
    A sub-group has been formed to look specifically at benchmarking.

Monitoring, Reporting and Governance

• Our monitoring, reporting and governance arrangements are designed to ensure proper oversight, accountability and transparency.
• The Corporate Resources, Policy and Governance Committee oversees the Council’s performance improvement responsibilities. The role of the committee is to:
  • Review corporate performance and make recommendations for course correction when targets are not met, and
  • Consider opportunities for innovation and best practice to ensure quality service delivery and continuous improvement.

Table: Performance Management Framework Reporting Arrangements

Community Plan “Putting People First” (2017-2032)	Reported to: The Community Panel every quarter, The Strategic Alliance every 6 months, and The Neighbourhoods and Communities Committee as appropriate.
Corporate Plan (2024-2028)	Reported to: The Senior Management Team and Full Council every 6 months.
The Performance Improvement Plan	Reported to: The Senior Management Team and the Corporate Resources, Policy and Governance Committee every quarter.
Business Plans	Reported to: The assigned Director every quarter.
Performance Self-Assessment Report	Reported to: The Senior Management Team and Full Council every year.

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