The Chief Executive presented the Council’s Annual Report 2014-15, which evaluated the Council’s performance against the priorities set in the Corporate Plan 2013-17 and also reiterated the Council’s Improvement Objectives (priorities) for 2015-16.  He reported that the Annual Report was prepared in order to meet the requirements of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009, which summarised how well the Council did in progressing these priorities in 2014-15.  He stated that the Council had carried out to completion 47 (81%) of its 58 commitments and missed only marginally in a further 11 (19%).  Targets had been set for 62 of the 69 indicators included in the Corporate plan, with 44 (71%) of the 62 indicators meeting their target, 9 (14.5%) missed the target by more than 10%.  He informed Council that it had successfully managed both revenue and capital budgets and achieved the savings target. 

The Chief Executive informed Council that Annual Report also evaluates the Council’s performance against the 43 national indicators and the Council in 2014-15 is among the five local authorities in Wales that had improved the most and among the nine that had performed the best. 

The Chief Executive reported that once approved, the Annual Report would be published on the Council’s website and shared with stakeholders.

A member of Council stated that she would like to see improvements in that children in receipt of free school meals have as much success throughout their education as those who do not receive free school meals as it was not consistent across all schools as the gap had widened in the academic year 2013-14 of pupils achieving GCSE A*-C in English or Welsh first language and Mathematics.  The Deputy Leader informed Council that 50% of pupils in receipt of free school meals had achieved 5 GCSEs Grade A*-C in English / Welsh and mathematics in 2014-15 and that the gap had been narrowed across the authorities which made up the Consortium.    

A member of Council questioned whether the target set by 2017 that every school was improving at a faster rate so that at least two thirds of young people achieve a minimum of 5 GCSEs Grade A*-C in English / Welsh and Mathematics was realistic.  The Deputy Leader informed Council that there is a significant difference across secondary schools, however the three schools which were the lowest performing had seen improvements but middle ranked schools had not seen improvements.  The Head of Strategy Partnerships and Commissioning informed Council that a lot of the data for this year’s GCSE results had yet to be validated but results in Bridgend had seen greater improvements than the authority’s partners in the Consortium.  The Chief Executive informed Council that some of the targets had been designed in order that there was a deliberate push behind them.  He stated that the data included in the Annual report was historic and that the performance for achieving GCSEs would be reflected in the Corporate Plan, which could be looked at by the Children and Young Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

A member of Council questioned the steps being taken by managers in relation to absence levels which despite absence management train g being developed and a concerted effort being made had seen levels increasing.  The Chief Executive informed Council that sickness levels are reviewed regularly by the Corporate Management Board and the reasons behind sickness was being looked at.  The Council has been working with the WLGA to compare how sickness is managed in local authorities across Wales; the results of this exercise were awaited.  The Leader informed Council that the Chief Executive had been tasked in his appraisal with reducing sickness absence in the authority as this was a cost to the public purse. 

RESOLVED:               That the Annual Report 2014-15 be approved.      

RESOLVED:               That Council approved the Annual Report 2014-15.