Council's Annual Report 2023-2024
Well-being Objective 4
To further modernise and develop as a resilient and efficient Council (Our Council)
Overview of Progress
The Council, like all other public services, faces significant financial pressures, increasing demand and workforce challenges over coming years as well as responding to the net-zero agenda, the impact of demographic change and inequality.
Budgetary pressures mean that some services have experienced significant real-terms funding reductions over recent years whilst demand increases, and the complexity of that demand increases as well.
This is having a significant impact on our workforce who are faced with increasing demand at a time of reduced resources. Recruitment pressures in certain areas continue and budgetary pressures mean that any vacancies have to be considered carefully before being filled. Additionally, the Council is experiencing a significant increase in stress-related sickness absence, with an exponential increase of staff being referred to our Well-Being Support Service. The increase in sickness absence compounds the current workforce pressures. Staff commitment and resilience is to be commended but current pressures cannot be sustained long-term and work is on-going to address workforce pressures going forward.
Thinking in a long-term and joined up way is difficult when faced with such challenges and depleting resources, however, we recognise that to continue our important work in service-delivery we must do things differently, fully maximising the opportunities that the sustainable development principle offers.
We are actively modernising and developing as a resilient and efficient organisation to ensure our future sustainability. There is a strong emphasis on planning and supporting the development of a skilled and agile workforce, maximising opportunities within digital transformation to improve service delivery, reduce costs, and enhance customer experience and satisfaction.
Our Transformation Strategy supports the strategic objectives of our new Digital Strategy for 2024- 2027 to deliver a better experience for customers. This includes the implementation of electronic signatures, hybrid mail solutions, and the rollout of robotics technology in specific processes, which has led to productivity improvements and cost savings. Work is also on-going to introduce a Commercialisation Strategy, to allow us to capitalise on income generation, to help address the financial challenges ahead of us.
Significant investments have been made to enhance operational efficiency and agility. We have also focused on upgrading on-premises environment to provide enhanced resilience.
The new Digital Strategy for 2024-2027 emphasises leveraging digital, data, and technology to enhance public services, aiming to create a digitally inclusive environment that empowers every resident.
How are we doing?
We place significant emphasis on the importance of the views of our residents. As such the primary way of measuring progress against WBO 4 is through our annual resident’s survey. The results for 2023 are provided below with a comparator for the previous year. These statements relate directly to the Council and our performance.
Of the nine statements posed in relation to the Council and its performance, respondents agreed or strongly agreed with 56% of them. This is consistent with trends seen for the previous year.
However, whilst this is the case, eight of the nine AIS scores saw slight decreases on the previous year’s result which suggests that on balance disagreement levels were slightly higher for 2023.
Several findings from the evidence received, namely:
Most respondents believe that the Council provides good quality services overall. However, many residents took the opportunity to share comments to the contrary with the main themes aligning with evidence received last year. These themes include:
- Unreliable and infrequent waste collection;
- Perceived lack of town centre regeneration;
- Poor road conditions e. potholes;
- Lack of street cleansing;
- Long waits for housing repairs;
- Increased litter and fly-tipping;
- Lack of public transport;
- Lack of street lighting;
- A perceived underperforming social care
Most respondents find staff to be approachable and friendly when they access Council services
The Council’s communication process is mainly effective in terms of allowing residents to access up to date information about our services and most agree that they find contacting the Council simple and easy. However, there are some issues with direct contact processes such as on occasions when residents utilise the main switchboard, utilise email to connect with officers or wish to speak directly with officers within individual departments. These findings are consistent with the previous year.
On the whole respondents believe that the Council does not make good use of the financial resources available to us and that investment is not focussed on the right areas. These were the two lowest scoring statements, a consistent trend with last year.
Similarly to last year, statements on Council communications in relation to performance and opportunities to participate in decision-making received mixed responses. Overall, more people disagree with these statements, however, a significant number reported ‘neither’ which may indicate a wider issue with the type of information shared with residents on these themes and how this information is shared.
For progress and data on this objective see pages 4-18 -
