There are 2 important things to take from this message:
- PAS has tools to help you manage and monitor performance - the
'PAS Crystal Balls' (attached).
- We have a range of performance improvement support; free to
councils in most need (contact martin.hutchings@local.gov.uk
directly for more information and help)
There are 2 parts to the ‘designation’
regime – ‘Speed and Quality’. A full explanation of how it all works
can be found HERE.
-
Speed of Decision Making
Current assessment period: October 2017 - September 2019
Quarters that have elapsed so far: 5
-
Quality of decision making*:
Current assessment period: April 2017 – March 2019 (decisions
made), April 2017 – December 2019 (appeals received).
Quarters that have elapsed so far: 3
* visit PAS
blog where I have made an additional explanation of how the
Quality measure works
How PAS Supports councils (1) - avoiding designation
PAS' job on
Designation
is to help councils with how to recognise, measure and most
importantly how to avoid designation.
Attached are the latest versions
of the PAS 'Crystal Ball(s)'. They allow you to measure
performance in as close to real time as you care to feed in your
most up to date performance data. I'd encourage ALL councils to
use the crystal balls as part of their performance management
framework – don't get caught out - poor performance often ‘creeps
up’ and over a 2 year reporting period just a couple of poor
quarters can really drag overall performance down leaving little
time to recover.
How PAS Supports councils (2) - how best to respond if you're
in danger
PAS monitors councils’ performance each time the government publishes
a new set of statistics (the ‘live’ tables). We look out for
performance scores that are either close to or below the designation
thresholds, or are on trajectory that is pointing towards trouble. We
write to the head of planning in the spirit of: “we assume
everything is in hand, BUT if you’d like some support, we have a
range designed to help you improve performance in your specific
circumstances”. PAS support ranges from the simple and
straightforward e.g. a review of your PS1/2 returns to a more in-depth
on-site service improvement review or a peer challenge of your
planning committee operations and processes.
The 2 year reporting period, plus
the quarterly publishing of the performance data means that new
councils can appear on our radar each time the government
publishes the latest statistics - so keep an eye on your inbox.
Either join the discussion here
or contact martin.hutchings@local.gov.uk
directly for more information and help.
