Performance Self-Assessment Report 2023-2024 document
For further information, or to request a copy of this report in an alternative format, contact:
Corporate Performance and Improvement Team
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council
1-29 Bridge Street
Ballymena
BT43 5EJ
Welcome
As the Interim Chief Executive of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, I would like to welcome you to our Performance Self-Assessment Report for 2023/24.
As a Council, and as a community, we have faced considerable challenges over the last number of years. As an organisation, this has presented us with an opportunity to take a closer look at our operations, and to determine what we can do better, more efficiently, and more cost-effectively, and we have designed and implemented significant change to achieve this.
We recently launched our new four-year Corporate Plan, which alongside our annual Performance Improvement Plans, will help to improve the quality of life for everyone who lives, works, does business in, or visits our borough.
It is crucial that we have adequate arrangements to measure our performance in achieving our goals and in evaluating the impact of our actions.
This report does just that. It looks at our performance in discharging our duty to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement, and in meeting our Improvement Objectives, statutory standards, and other key performance indicators.
The report also identifies areas where improvements can be made, and the steps we will take to do so.
As the transformation of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council continues, we are working hard to further align our operations with the challenges we face.
We are always looking for new ways to adapt and thrive, and we are committed to engaging with our communities to make sure that we not only understand local needs, but that we make the best use of our resources to meet them.
With the recent introduction of public questions at meetings of the Full Council, we have demonstrated our commitment to championing openness and transparency.
Ideas for improvement can also be submitted at any time throughout the year by contacting the Performance and Improvement Team at: performance@midandeastantrim.gov.uk
While this report looks back on our past performance, I also look forward to the year ahead, as we continue to bring our ambitions and vision to life.
Valerie Watts
Interim Chief Executive
Duty to Improve
Under the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014, councils have a general duty to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of their functions.
For each financial year, a council must set itself Improvement Objectives, and have arrangements in place to secure their achievement.
The objectives must be framed to bring about improvement in at least one of the following areas: strategic effectiveness, service quality, service availability, fairness, sustainability, efficiency, and innovation.
Councils must make arrangements for the publication of an assessment of its performance during a financial year:
- In discharging its duty to make arrangements to secure continuous improvement,
- In meeting its Improvement Objectives applicable to that year; and,
- In meeting the statutory performance indicators and self-imposed indicators applicable to that year.
The publication must also include an assessment of the Council’s performance in exercising its functions during a financial year as compared with:
- Its performance in previous financial years, and
- So far as is reasonably practicable, the performance during that and previous financial years, of other councils.
The Performance Self-Assessment Report must be published by 30 September each year.
You can view our Performance Self-Assessment Reports on our website.
What is improvement
For us, improvement is not limited to gains in service output or efficiencies.
It is about focusing on the issues that are important to our citizens and businesses, helping us to achieve our vision of improving the quality of life for all.