Performance management

Why do we manage performance?

Having clear targets makes it easier to hold organisations accountable.

We manage our performance using performance indicators (PIs), Service Plans and our Strategic Plan, and by ensuring we complete the tasks we have committed to, within the given time. This enables us to monitor our performance in an effective and transparent way.

Performance management is partly about monitoring performance indicators but importantly, the framework also monitors strategies, service development tasks and recommendations, and action plans from our internal reviews and external inspections.

Much of the Performance Management Framework concentrates specifically on our Strategic Plan which is our business plan. In the Strategic Plan we state our targets for the future.

Our Strategic Plan is supported by Service Plans. These are used by Service Managers as part of the day-to-day management of our services. The Service Plans are directly linked to our Strategic Plan and Pendle's Sustainable Community Strategy.

Service plans set out what the service aims to develop over the coming year and the performance targets it strives to meet. Individual service plans are owned by the managers of the services.

Evaluation processes

Our Central Services Unit provides the first level of monitoring, which examines the data and information provided.

Performance is managed at a number of levels:

  • Council - responsible for setting overall priorities and the budget,
  • Policy and Resources Committee - receives regular progress reports about performance against our Strategic Plan,
  • Scrutiny - Councillors meet every quarter to review performance,
  • Council's Management Team - the Directors and Managers receive regular performance reports,
  • Directors - regularly review performance overall,
  • Service Managers - responsible for all performance matters in their Service Grouping

How performance information is collected

Staff in our Central Services Unit gathers performance information from all of our different service areas.

They produce the quarterly, bi-annually and annual monitoring reports and collect data for indicators.

We use a performance management software system to collect all this information. This makes the links between our corporate objectives, strategies and plans, and performance indicators even stronger.

This system is called Covalent