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year Community Plan for the Borough, “Putting People First”.
5.0 Update on previous Performance Improvement Plan Objectives
The following table provides an update on objectives that were not taken forward into the next year’s Performance Improvement Plan. Some of these were not fully complete by the end of the last financial year.
We have outlined our progress towards meeting our objectives as follows:
Green | Achieved / On track Amber | Delayed but progressing Red | Not achieved / Stopped Grey | Not due yet / Not available
Objective Outcome Key Performance Indicator 2021 to 2022
Reduce the impact of poverty through the delivery of a Slow Cooker programme. A “Slow Energy Efficient” cookbook for households to prepare low cost, enjoyable and nutritious meals.
Cookbook launched by the end of July 2021.
Status
The cookbook was successfully launched in summer 2021, and is available for download on Council’s website, or in hard copy. It has also been made available to other organisations, to support their activities.
It was promoted across our social media platforms, and in the Community Health and Wellbeing e-zine.
98 hard copies have been distributed so far, with 1,749 views online (in the UK and internationally).
Delivery of free slow cookers to vulnerable households. 50 slow cookers provided to vulnerable households.
A series of fun and interactive virtual demonstration sessions for using a slow cooker. 6 slow cooking demonstrations completed by March 2022 (virtually or in person).
70% of attendees of slow cooking demonstrations stating they are more confident to 25 | Performance Improvement Plan 2022 to 2023produce healthy, nutritious meals using a slow cooker. This objective is now fully complete, and therefore will not form part of the 2022 to 2023 Performance Improvement Plan. It will continue to be delivered and reported as ‘business as usual’. 53 vulnerable households received slow cookers by 31 March 2022.
By March 2022, six demonstrations were delivered. 89 people attended, with 94% feeling more confident to produce healthy, nutritious meals in a slow cooker.
Five more demonstrations took place throughout April and May 2022. 2021 to 2022
Development of Sullatober Household Recycling Centre. A larger site with improved infrastructure and accessibility to maximise re-use and recycling.
2020 to 2021
Financial savings by compacting waste and reduction in fuel consumption.
A more effective and efficient service with increased customer satisfaction and value for money for ratepayers.
6500m2 by 31 March 2022.
The new Sullatober Household Recycling Centre (HRC) opened to the public on Monday 16 May 2022.
Increase recycling rate by 23.2% by 31 March 2022.
1046 additional tonnes of recycled materials by 31 March 2023.
12 additional tonnes of reused materials by 31 March 2023. 50% reduction in containers hauled per newly compacted material by 31 March 2023. Due to the revised opening date, it is anticipated that Council will have robust recycling data available by September 2022.
Progress in relation to the remaining outcomes and indicators will continue to be measured and reported in this year’s Performance Improvement Plan updates, as appropriate.
On-going progress updates will be reported in this year’s Performance Improvement Plan updates, as appropriate.
Reduce tCO2e by 800 by 31 March 2023. Increased rate of customer satisfaction.
A customer satisfaction survey is expected to take place in summer 2022.
Encourage people to value our natural environment through the promotion of the Green Dog Walkers scheme. Responsible dog ownership through increased participation and support of the Green Dog Walkers Scheme. At least 1,500 active Green Dog Walker Pledges by March 2021.
A marketing and promotional campaign to challenge attitudes and change behaviours. A further 2 organisations committed to taking action by March 2021. Pledge numbers were greatly affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant that Council were unable to attend road shows, and promotional activities were restricted. The number of active pledge numbers at March 2021 was 1160 pledges.
Council’s focus is currently on building community participation and reducing dog foul in the borough. An update on the progression of the scheme is being provided in the annual Environmental Performance and Carbon Footprint Report (2021 to 2022), which is being reported to Council’s Direct Services Committee, as an example of an environmental initiative. 14 community groups are now participating in the Green Dog Walkers Scheme.
Regular social media messages have been posted about the scheme and targeting dog foul. New themed signage has also been displayed throughout the Borough.
In February 2022, Council gave a presentation to the Outdoor Recreation NI Webinar, as a best practice showcase.
A cleaner borough. A 10% reduction in the number of dog fouling complaints by March 2021.
A reduction in the number of residents perceiving dog fouling to be an issue in our local areas. New video content is currently in development. 2021 to 2022 saw a greater balance between enforcement and education, with an increase in the number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued on the previous year. This resulted in a 25% reduction in dog foul complaints from 2020 to 2021. A dedicated Green Dog Walkers facebook page has now been set up as a key engagement tool. Focus groups will be organised for community participants by the end of this year.
6.0 Informing our Improvement Objectives
How we identified the Improvement Areas for 2022 to 2023
The Community Plan for the Borough, “Putting People First”, was developed with widespread stakeholder engagement and was heavily consulted upon. The Plan identified the areas that our citizens viewed as being most important and where improvement would have maximum impact.
Our Corporate Plan for 2019 to 2023 complements the Community Plan, and aligns with its key themes and priorities. In shaping the Corporate Plan, we actively engaged with residents, community groups, employees and local businesses. This was to make sure we listened to what our stakeholders felt was most important for our Borough and to identify how satisfied they were with us as a Council.
88% 82%
* Household Survey 2018 of residents are satisfied with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council*.
of residents believe that the Council helps to make the borough a good place to live*.
Top five priorities
for making residents’ areas a good place to live are:
1. Supporting local businesses, attracting investment and jobs. 2. Improving skills, employability and job prospects. 3. Improving people’s health and wellbeing. 4. Improving community relations. 5. Supporting our older and most vulnerable residents.
Criteria for Selecting Improvement Objectives
The following criteria were developed and applied to help us select our Improvement Objectives for 2022 to 2023.
1. Does it support delivery of the Draft Programme for Government? 2. Will it support the achievement of at least one of the five Community Planning Themes? 3. Will it support delivery of at least one of the Council’s Strategic Themes? 4. Will it demonstrate improvement in at least one of the seven improvement areas?
Strategic effectiveness Service quality
Service availability Fairness Sustainability Efficiency Innovation
5. Are outcomes SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time Bound)? 6. Are resources in place or committed (budget, capacity, leadership, skills/knowledge) in order to successfully deliver the project?
On reviewing the improvement areas stipulated within the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014, Council will prioritise the following improvement areas for the 2022 to 2023 year:
• Strategic effectiveness; • Service quality; • Service availability; • Fairness; • Sustainability; • Efficiency; and • Innovation. Council has gone through a process of reviewing the six Improvement Objectives against the criteria set out above. As a result of this process, we believe that our Improvement Objectives are:
• Legitimate – making a demonstrable contribution to at least one of the improvement areas listed above; • Clear – setting out the visible improvement that citizens can expect; • Robust – with defined terms of success; • Deliverable – with established links to individual service programmes and budgets; and • Demonstrable – capable of being supported by objective evidence.
6.1 Improvement Area
Strategic effectiveness
Growing the economy and creating jobs.
Supporting the historic conservation of Carrickfergus, contributing to the sustainability of the local economy.
Supporting MEA citizens’ health and wellbeing by providing quality, inclusive play and recreation facilities, and promoting safe and responsible outdoor recreation.
Improving infrastructure to encourage electric vehicle uptake in the Borough to reduce emissions and protect the environment for future generations.
Creating an Autism Friendly Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Improving customer engagement and service delivery by enhancing Council’s use of information technology.
Service quality Service availability Fairness Sustainability Efficiency Innovation
6.2 Alignment with other key strategies
Programme for Government (Draft Outcomes Framework 2021) Community Plan (2017-2032) Corporate Plan (2019-2023)
Growing the economy and creating jobs.
Our economy is globally competitive, regionally balanced and carbon-neutral
Everyone can reach their potential Sustainable Jobs & Tourism
Progress in Education Learning for Life
Supporting the historic conservation of Carrickfergus, contributing to the sustainability of the local economy.
Supporting MEA citizens’ health and wellbeing by providing quality, inclusive play and recreation facilities, and promoting safe and responsible outdoor recreation.
Improving infrastructure to encourage electric vehicle uptake in the Borough to reduce emissions and protect the environment for future generations.
Creating an Autism Friendly Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Improving customer engagement and service delivery by enhancing Council’s use of information technology.
We live and work sustainably – protecting the environment Sustainable Jobs and Tourism
Our Environment
Our children and young people have the best start in life
We all enjoy long, healthy and active lives Our Environment
Good Health and Wellbeing
We live and work sustainably – protecting the environment
Our economy is globally competitive, regionally balanced and carbon-neutral
We have an equal and inclusive society where everyone is valued and treated with respect
We have a caring society that supports people throughout their lives
Our Environment
Good Health and Wellbeing
We live and work sustainably –protecting the environment Our Environment High Performing Council
The consultation process undertaken for the Performance Improvement Plan for 2022 to 2023 is outlined below:
The Senior and Operational Management Teams identified key performance improvement areas for the year.
A draft plan was developed, which was aligned with the Community Plan for the Borough, Council’s Corporate Plan, and the investment and improvement priorities identified through our Residents’ Survey 2018 (consisting of a representative sample of 775 people across the Borough).
Following approval from Council, a public consultation on the draft Performance Improvement Plan was held over an elevenweek period from 8 March 2022 to 24 May 2022, including: • A consultation document was published on Council’s website, with a link provided to an online survey.
• A hard copy summary document was provided at key Council reception areas.
The consultation was promoted through:
• Emails to local businesses and community groups who engage with
Council. • Emails from our Acting Chief Executive to Elected Members and staff requesting their views via the survey. • Council’s social media platforms. • Local press coverage.
Survey Responses
59 people responded to our online survey, which is similar to last year’s response rate. Consultation Review
We asked “Have we got these Improvement Objectives right?” The results are summarised below:
Improving customer engagement and service delivery by enhancing Council’s use of information technology.
Creating an Autism Friendly Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Improving infrastructure to encourage electric vehicle uptake in the Borough to reduce emissions and protect the environment for future generations.
Supporting MEA citizens’ health and wellbeing by providing quality, inclusive play and recreation facilities, and promoting safe and responsible outdoor recreation.
Supporting the communities within the historic conservation area of Carrickfergus, contributing to the sustainability of the local economy.
Growing the economy and creating jobs.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Yes No Don’t know Significant support was given for the following objectives: • Growing the economy and creating jobs (81% said ‘yes’). • Supporting MEA citizens’ health and wellbeing by providing quality, inclusive play and recreation facilities, and promoting safe and responsible outdoor recreation (81% said ‘yes’). • Creating an Autism Friendly Mid and East
Antrim Borough Council (74% said ‘yes’).
A reasonable level of support was given for the following objectives: • Supporting the communities within the historic conservation area of Carrickfergus, contributing to the sustainability of the local economy (53% said ‘yes’, 20% said
‘no’). The main point raised was that the objective appeared to have a narrow geographic focus. It is recommended that the wording of the objective is changed to
better reflect the intent of the objective, to read, ‘Supporting the historic conservation of Carrickfergus, contributing to the sustainability of the local economy’. • Improving infrastructure to encourage electric vehicle uptake in the Borough to reduce emissions and protect the environment for future generations (59% said ‘yes’, 24% said ‘no’). Whilst there was support for this objective in terms of satisfying a need within the Borough, concerns were raised as to the cost of electric vehicles and the scale of the project and its potential to make an impact. • Improving customer engagement and service delivery by enhancing Council’s use of information technology (57% said ‘yes’, 19% said ‘no’). Respondents were generally supportive of this objective; however, it was highlighted that Council must take account of and support the needs of all members of society in its implementation.
Given the level of support indicated through the survey, all six Improvement Objectives are recommended for inclusion in the Performance Improvement Plan for 2022 to 2023.
Despite a reduction in support for the objectives in relation to conservation in Carrickfergus and Council’s use of information technology, these projects are ongoing from previous years. From an accountability and audit perspective, it is important that Council continues to report on the endeavours to achieve the outcomes before removing them entirely from the Performance Improvement Plan.
6.4 Statutory Key Performance Indicators
In addition to the improvement areas identified by us, the Department for Communities also sets statutory targets for Councils in the functional areas of Planning, Economic Development and Waste.
Our arrangements to meet these are through the delivery of our statutory services. They are outlined in our annual business plans, and as far as possible, within our Improvement Objectives.
This will ensure, through a project management approach, that these indicators are progressing and the arrangements are in place for the targets to be met. Specifically, for Waste, we are continuing to work to reduce the level of recyclates placed in black bins by householders that end up in landfill. This will enable us to continue to meet and exceed our statutory targets. We submit progress updates against the indicators to the relevant regional bodies and reports are issued showing comparisons against all 11 Councils.
We closely monitor these indicators to ensure they are progressing in line with our targets and publish our performance on our website every three months at www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/ improvement
*¹⁵ Target likely to increase to ‘111’ during the 2022 to 2023 financial year, pending changes to legislation.
Indicators Targets
The average processing time of major planning applications.
Major applications processed within an average of 30 weeks.
The average processing time of local planning applications.
The percentage of enforcement cases concluded within 39 weeks.
70% of all enforcement cases progressed to target conclusion within 39 weeks.
The number of jobs promoted through business start-up activity.
The percentage of household waste collected by district Councils that is sent for recycling.
The amount of biodegradable Local Authority Collected Municipal Waste that is landfilled.
The amount (tonnage) of Local Authority Collected Municipal Waste arisings. 85 jobs*¹⁵.
50%
16,387 tonnes
N/A.
6.5 Self Imposed Performance Indicators
In addition to statutory performance indicators, a series of self-imposed performance indicators are included within our Corporate Plan; these are outlined on the opposite page.
We set targets against the indicators, where possible, and monitor and report on them regularly.
Progress updates are provided to Elected Members at Full Council every six months, and are also published on our Council website.
Due to the longer-term nature of some of these indicators, which link to our Community Plan, it is not appropriate to set annual targets. However, these indicators are monitored. For instance, they are published by regional bodies, such as the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), to track changes and improvements and, therefore, providing strategic context and direction for Council’s Improvement Objectives.
You can view the Corporate Plan at www.midandeastantrim.gov. uk/corporateplan
Sustainable Jobs & Tourism
Our Environment
Community Safety & Cohesion
Learning for Life
Good Health & Wellbeing
High Performing Council • Number of businesses engaged across business support programmes. • Visitors at strategic tourist attractions.
• Major awards secured and maintained. • Level of external investment secured per annum for regeneration projects. • ‘Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’ Cleanliness Index.
• Number of anti-social behaviour incidents. • Number of hate crime incidents recorded. • Percentage of people reporting that fear of crime has a minimal impact on their quality of life. • Percentage of people with a sense of belonging to their area.
• Number of participants securing employment as a result of employability programmes. • Number of days per employee spent on training. • Number of apprenticeship, work placements or work experience opportunities delivered by Council. • Number of education and training programmes delivered by Council.
• Employee attendance. • Gap in life expectancy between the most deprived areas in the borough and the borough as a whole. • Percentage of available Grant Support Scheme funding awarded.
• Average escalation rate of complaints. • Net cost of Council services per head of population. • Customer satisfaction. • Staff satisfaction.
7.0 Management, Reporting and Governance Arrangements
We designed our reporting structures to ensure there is proper oversight and accountability for all business, and to provide our Chief Executive, Senior Management Team and Elected Members with assurances that our governance arrangements are robust.
You can view last year’s SelfAssessment Report at www. midandeastantrim. gov.uk/PIP
We also publish a Self-Assessment Report for our citizens, service users and stakeholders by 30 September each year, in line with statutory requirements.
You can view previous Self-Assessment Reports on our website at www. midandeastantrim.gov. uk/performance
Plan
Community Plan
Corporate Plan
Performance Improvement Plan
Annual Business Plans (Directorate) Report to
Strategic Alliance
Community Panel
Direct Services Committee
Council and SMT
Council (approval and annual report)
Audit and Scrutiny Committee
Senior Management Team
Project Boards
Relevant Committee (for noting)
Audit and Scrutiny Committee Frequency
Every six months
Quarterly
As appropriate
Every six months
Annually
Quarterly
Quarterly
As appropriate
Annually
Every six months
8.0 Performance Improvement Plan 2022 to 2023 Summary Table
Improvement Objective
Growing the economy and creating jobs.
Supporting the historic conservation of Carrickfergus, contributing to the sustainability of the local economy.
Supporting MEA citizens’ health and wellbeing by providing quality, inclusive play and recreation facilities, and promoting safe and responsible outdoor recreation.
Improving infrastructure to encourage electric vehicle uptake in the Borough to reduce emissions and protect the environment for future generations.
Creating an Autism Friendly Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.
Improving customer engagement and service delivery by enhancing Council’s use of information technology. What you will see
• A series of pre-employment programmes to upskill and enable residents to access employment opportunities that provide a progressive career pathway. • The promotion of new jobs in the Borough by successfully delivering the ‘Go for it’ Programme. • An effective and efficient Planning Service to maximise economic development.
• Up to 10 buildings of historical and architectural interest restored (including eight existing awarded schemes), through the Townscape
Heritage Initiative, with Council and Heritage Lottery grant assistance, by 31 March 2023. • The local community will have a better understanding of built heritage. • Increased inward investment and local employment opportunities related both directly and indirectly to heritage and tourism growth.
• The delivery of four replacement Play Parks across the Borough. • Three new or upgraded Multi Use Games Areas (MUGAs) or ‘kick about’ areas. • A programme of training and development opportunities for people to take part in safe and sustainable outdoor recreation.
• A target of three ‘rapid’ electric vehicle chargers (50kW, 80% charge in 20 minutes) installed at strategic locations in the Borough by December 2023, as part of the cross-border FASTER project. • A minimum of 12 ‘fast’ chargers (22kW, charge in 1 to 2 hours) installed throughout the Borough by September 2023, as part of the On Street
Residential Chargepoint Scheme (ORCS) *¹⁷. • A communications and awareness campaign to influence behavioural change towards electric vehicle use.
• The continued rollout of an awareness raising programme. • Additional Council venues becoming ‘Autism friendly’ places. • Additional Council staff recognised as ‘Autism Champions’, to advocate on behalf of individuals with autism within Council venues and events. • The continued rollout of ‘Just A Minute’ (JAM) Awareness Training to
Council staff.
• The continued implementation of Council’s Agile Framework, through delivery of a number of citizen focused projects to include: - A redesign of Council’s website, developed from user experience feedback (Phase 3). - An expansion of the Automated Customer Call System into an additional service area. - The implementation of the new Northern Ireland Planning Portal for Mid and East Antrim. - The digital transformation of at least one customer facing service.
We welcome ongoing feedback on our Performance Improvement Plan. If you would like to make any comments, our contact details are on our website www.midandeastantrim.gov.uk/PIP
*¹⁶ Timelines are subject to change. *¹⁷ Subject to a successful funding application.
By when *¹⁶
March 2023
March 2023
March 2023
December 2023
March 2023
March 2023
