The aims for this report
In preparing this update report, we have been mindful of comments made about our public performance reports by Audit Scotland through the Best Value Assurance process and the Best Value Thematic Review 2022-23. Essentially, these advised us to provide a more balanced picture of performance in our annual reports and to use data to help readers track the Council’s progress over time.
Sources of data have been used throughout this report, linking to the Shetland Partnership Plan, national quantitative data such as the Scottish Neighbourhood survey, Local Government Benchmarking Framework and local surveys we have undertaken. It is hoped that this will help provide a more rounded picture of the Council’s performance, drawing on comparator data from outwith the islands, so we can provide audiences with a better understanding of how we are performing in relation to others.
In addition, indicators to help measure the delivery of Our Ambition were developed and agreed by Council on 22 February 2023. However, in their Best value Thematic report which was reported to the Council in September that year, Audit Scotland made the following recommendations on the Council’s public performance report:
- ‘Links to data in the interactive dashboard should be made in addition to the narrative.
- The performance indicators and actions are not clearly linked to the objectives or key to the commitments in the Our Ambition plan. Existing indicators have been aligned to priorities in the plan but more work is needed to reflect the priorities of the plan and a review of the number of indicators should be undertaken'.
The agreed management actions for these were
- The Annual Progress report 2023 will present a balanced view of progress and demonstrate links to date in the interactive dashboard and
- We will review the Performance Indicators with Services to ensure that they reflect the priorities in Our Ambition and that there is no overlap/duplication. Since Performance Indicators are approved by Council, we would look to take a report to Council in the final quarter of 2023/24 in order to begin 2024/25 with the revised indicators.
This report and the streamlined Our Ambition indicators therefore contribute to addressing these actions. All of the indicators that have been removed from the “Our Ambition indicators list” are still available on relevant Directorate and Service Plans on the Council’s performance page. The full set of Local Government Benchmarking Framework indicators are available on the LGBF dashboard, which shows Local Authority performance against time and against other Authorities.