HERTFORDSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL
HIGHWAYS AND TRANSPORT CABINET PANEL
TUESDAY 9 SEPTEMBER 2008 AT 10.00 AM
ANALYSIS OF BEST VALUE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS RESULTS FOR 2007 / 08
Report of the Assistant Director of Environment (Performance and Business support)
Author:Peter Stanley, Performance Improvement Manager, Tel: 01992 555306
Executive Members: David Lloyd, Stuart Pile
1.Purpose of the report
1.1In 2007 the then Performance and Resources Panel determined that service Panels should consider the performance of those BVPIs within their remit. These are attached as an appendix.
2.Summary
2.1The Policy and Resources Cabinet Panel (18th September 2008) look at the BVPI results for 2007/08 as a whole and there has again been encouraging improvement across the range of BVPIs.
For this cabinet panel: comparing the 2007/08 results with those from 2006/07; 89% improved. Comparing the 2007/08 performance with the targets set, 100% exceeded targets set for 2007/08.
Members attention has been drawn to a small number of items which indicate a decline in performance of over 5%.
3.Conclusion
3.1Year on Year results as judged through BVPIs show good improvement.
4Recommendations
Members are asked to note the report and refer any items of concern to Policy and Resources Cabinet Panel at the earliest convenience.
5.Background
5.1Legislation requires that the results (out-turn) for the previous financial year and targets for the current and subsequent two years for BVPIs are published by all authorities by the end of June each year. Hertfordshire County Council has done this through the website for 2007/08 results.
5.2The BVPIs are the indicators which the Government has defined and chosen for local authorities in order to monitor and compare their performance on an annual basis. This is the data we are statutorily obliged to publish by 30th June. It is finalised and published following a rigorous and challenging verification process undertaken by internal audit in conjunction with services and the Performance Improvement Manager. The Government then publishes final data and comparative information for local authorities, usually around December. (Though un-audited data is being collated by PwC for benchmarking).
5.3The BVPIs are categorised by the Government into ‘service’ areas. To aid consistency with previous years and to assist the audit process, the information published on the website follows this categorisation.
5.4As service cabinet panels have been asked to look at the performance of these areas, the information presented in this report has been allocated to service cabinet panels.
5.5Members are reminded that from 2008/09 the National Indicator Set (NIS) – also referred to as ‘the 198’, will replace BVPIs and other national indicators as the only indicators the Government will use for performance management of authorities.
62007/08 BVPI results
6.1Internal audit undertook a rigorous process, including sample checking, to determine the out-turn results for 2007/08 with services. As 2007/08 was the last year that BVPIs must be reported, future BVPI targets have not been published.
7Analysis of 2007/08 results
7.1Tables outlining the performance across the BVPIs can be found in the appendices.
7.2Appendices 1 and 2 show summaries for this Cabinet Panel.
7.3Comparing the 2007/08 BVPI results with those from 2006/07, 89% improved from 2006/07 levels.
7.4Comparing the 2007/08 performance of the BVPIs with the targets set, 100% exceeded targets set for 2007/08.
7.5Members may be interested in the indicators which have shown a drop in performance of more than 5% which cannot be explained by methodological differences. . It is important to consider the results alongside the comments on performance and the notes provided in Appendix 3
7.5.1BVPI 99a (ii) road accidents - change in killed and seriously injured, all categories (Highways and transport cabinet panel)
7.5.2BVPI 99b (ii) road accidents - change in killed and seriously injured, children. (Highways and transport cabinet panel)
7.6All appendices follow this report.Appendix 3 provides details for all the BVPIs. The data and information in these appendices has been taken from that published on the website, with the addition of symbols to indicate performance.2007/08 performance compared to 2006/07:2007/08 performance compared to 2007/08 targets:
7.7Calculation of variances:
The BVPI set comprises very different indicators, measured as percentages, numbers, tonnages, ratios, standards for example. Some indicators are based on very small numbers, others very large ones.
An approach to measuring variance which can be consistently applied to all indicators has been adopted.
To simplify the analysis of the data, the calculations are undertaken so that a positive variance always indicates good performance ie. an improvement from the previous year or exceeding target and a negative variance always indicates poorer performance, ie. a decrease from the previous year or below target.
Where it is good for results to be higher (than target or previous year) e.g. education attainment:
(Result - Target) / Target = variance
Where it is good for results to be lower (than target or previous year) e.g. Numbers of Fires
(Target - Result) / Target = variance
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