Issue - meetings

To receive and consider the report of the Deputy Chief Executive.

Councillor Peter Wilson, Executive Member Resources highlighted that the overall performance of the directorate had been good, 11 projects were rated green, 1 amber, and 1 completed. It was acknowledged that Covid-19 impacted performance.

There was a slight overspend on the budget, with the largest being the Lancastrian event space. Covid-19 restrictions limited the potential for revenue, although as restrictions eased, the number of bookings increased.

There was a decrease in engagements with social media and views to the Chorley Live website, this was concluded to be the results of fewer events being held than usual. Members enquired if there were further figures that related to site visitors to ‘Check Out Chorley’, as it was the default page users were navigated to after connecting to the free wi-fi, and if there was information on the number of users that immediately navigated away from the page.

There was a decrease in supplier payments within 30 days, appropriate actions had been taken to rectify this figure.

The complaints to the Chief Executive responded to within 10 working days was lower than Q2, 2020/21 but still above target, it was clarified that the complaints were usually more complex and substantial. It was confirmed that there was no figure for complaints received by Councillors as they were dealt within services or by Directors.

Transformation and Partnership’s performance had been good, although there were one or two targets off track.

Work at Astley Hall progressed positively, although further structural issues were discovered which would require additional work. Members praised the Astley Hall work and felt that the G7 demonstrated the fantastic achievement.

It was clarified that the information related to the figures of 16 and 17 year old’s that were not in education, employment or training (NEET) came from the County Council and the Department for Education. There was no personalised, broken down data available. Members believed further investigation was required into the numbers at ward level, and greater understanding of what caused young people to become NEET. It was proposed that future work could be completed at Neighbourhood Area Meetings and Scrutiny.

Some Members felt that too much Member Training was offered as there had been 23 training sessions in three months, with varied levels of attendance. It was noted that the training offered came from suggestions and requests from Members themselves. Members praised the World Café Event that was held to allow Members and Directors to interact and felt that it was a positive session and would like the event to run again in the future.