Performance Report 2006 - 2007

Welcome to North Lanarkshire Council's Performance Report for 2006-2007.

In this report you will find details of our performance against the targets we set to help us deliver our priorities in the third year of our Corporate Plan. Our Corporate Plan documents the main priorities we want to address to help improve the area and the lives of the people of North Lanarkshire for the four year period between 2004 and 2008.

This year, our elected members and our workforce have again worked hard to achieve almost all of our key targets. We have continued to make positive developments across the whole of North Lanarkshire by initiating and supporting social and economic regeneration, promoting and encouraging learning opportunities for our residents and supporting our business community especially in the social economy sector. We have put in place measures to enhance our environment and improve safety within our communities. We have invested in the properties we own and helped increase the choice of housing options available to people who want to live in North Lanarkshire. We have continued to develop the range of support services we offer to assist people that need extra help or who have particular needs, to live contentedly in North Lanarkshire.

To achieve these priorities, our organisation must be responsive to the needs of the people using our services and we continually look at ways to improve how we are delivering our services. This report sets out the details of targets we set for 2006-07, where we have met them and it also explains why, in some instances, we have not achieved them.

We are particularly proud of the progress we have made in a number of our major projects.

·        Ravenscraig: In October 2006, the House of Lords approved the alteration to the structure plan granting the Ravenscraig development town centre status. Now, after a two year delay, work has started on one of the largest urban regeneration projects in Europe. The development will include housing, retail, the new Motherwell College Campus and a landmark regional sports facility.

·        Education 2010. This year we opened two new primary schools, six joint campus primary schools, two new secondary schools and refurbished three more secondary schools.

·        Gateway Project: We are the first local authority in Scotland to participate in the Gateway Protection Programme, offering some of the world's most vulnerable refugees a safe place to live away from the severe trauma they have experienced in their home country. Around 70 Congolese refugees have set up home and are receiving practical help to start a new and safe life in Motherwell.

·        The Antonine Shopping Centre, Cumbernauld. Following years of planning and partnership working, and in partnership with London and Regional Properties and Campsie Centre Cumbernauld Ltd, the Antonine Shopping Centre opened in June 2006 and is one of the biggest single commercial investments in the town's history creating 600 jobs.

·        Council tax level and collection. We have continued to keep council tax increases to a minimum with a rise of 3.5%, maintaining our position as one of the lowest increase in Scotland over the last decade. We have continued to improve our council tax collection rate with the figure now at nearly 95%. Eight years ago we were collecting just 84%. This better collection rate has occurred because we have made more methods available to people to pay their council tax.

To help improve the lives of North Lanarkshire's residents, we work in partnership with a number of organisations. Also included in this pack is the annual report from the North Lanarkshire Partnership. The partnership, led by the Council, is fully supported by Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, NHS Lanarkshire, Scottish Enterprise Lanarkshire, Communities Scotland, Job Centre Plus, our further education colleges and representatives of the voluntary sector. The report gives details of the progress the partnership has made this year to develop and improve programmes which support the economic, environmental and social regeneration of North Lanarkshire.

In November 2006, we approved a major five year change management programme, "Service and People First". This programme will support and drive our aim to continuously improve the quality of our frontline services and other priority services by focussing on three key priorities: efficiency measures, workforce development and changing our organisational culture, including addressing our values and how we deliver quality services to the people of North Lanarkshire. Our organisational structure has changed and we have introduced five service groupings replacing the previous seven departments. Each service is managed by an Executive Director and the new structure has already delivered additional financial savings towards our overall target of £50m over the next five years. The changes that the "Service and People First" programme will deliver, will help us to be in a better position to address the remaining priorities of the final year of the Corporate Plan 2004 -08 and better equip us in meeting the challenges of the new Corporate Plan 2008-12.

We hope you find this report informative and interesting.

1. Mission statement, vision and values
2. Priority themes
   
   2.1  Stimulating business and the economy
   2.2  Promoting social inclusion
   2.3  Encouraging lifelong learning
   2.4  Promoting health, wellbeing and care
   2.5  Improving housing and the environment
   2.6  Promoting community safety and development
   2.7  Developing the organisation
   
   
3. Quality awards and accreditations
4. Performance indicators
5. Council budgets
6. Corporate goverance

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