Agenda item

The Committee received an overview report from the Director of Corporate Services which provided details of key achievements and challenges in 2025-2026 for the different services within this area and the emerging issues. Key points highlighted included:

• Corporate Services had a wide range of functions including governance, legal, elections, workforce, communications, performance, risk, and digital, and while these were seen to be back-office services it was emphasised that without them the front line could not operate. The functions being carried out supported colleagues and service from all directorates.
• Being accessible to residents was important for the Council and that included both social media presence and ensuring that the website could be accessed by people with different needs. There had been 1.6 million social media impression in April 2006, and the website had a high accessibility score of 99.6%.
• The Service was also involved in modernising the Council, putting in place a new corporate governance compliance system, project management tools, and performance clinics.
• Work was ongoing with Team Stockton, which was a collection of public sector bodies such as Police and Health as well as others, to share data and information which would assist in better understanding where pressures were coming from and what was affecting residents.
• Implementation of livestream meetings had been very complex to ensure that it was properly accessible and streamlined for all residents to view.
• Engagement with young people was taking place to ensure that they were registering to vote in future elections and aware of the democratic processes.
• The approach to recruitment had been updated to attract the best quality of staff in what was now a challenging and competitive market. A recent example was carrying out recruitment in-house for the Director of Neighbourhoods post rather than buying executive recruitment and research. A recruitment video for the Council was also shown which showcased the variety of careers available. Workforce wellbeing, development, and engagement was also important to retain staff.
• There was a high expectation from residents for more openness and transparency, and this was reflected in a higher number of Freedom of Information requests being received along with a higher number of Data Subject Access Requests.

The Cabinet member for Resources and Transport highlighted key points from the overview report for Revenues, Benefits, and Welfare members had received with their agenda, which included:

• There had been investment in digital software to ensure effective administration of council tax collection and business rates and identifying households not claiming welfare they were entitled to such as pension credit which had generated over £1.2million in support to 270 households.
• There had been work carried out to identify where circumstances had changed for single occupancy Council Tax discounts, property valuations, occupied properties and small business rates relief to ensure that not only was the Council receiving the income it should, but residents and businesses were getting the support that they need. 
• There had been a change in the billing system, replacing emails for electronic bill with the online portal, which was more secure, and nearly 60% of residents had signed up to the portal.
• The North East Council Tax Care Leavers scheme, giving support for eligible care leavers up to the age of 25, which the Council had taken a lead on designing and implementing, had been rolled out across the North East Authorities.
• The Household Support Fund had enabled the Council to assist 26,000 residents on low incomes. This included choosing to provide vouchers to care leavers and adult carers, giving recognition from the Council to adult carers of the massive role they play in society.
• There had been a high number of changes in welfare taking place which was a challenge, and the Council along with local authorities across the country would be working with the Department for Work and Pensions to implement these. The government had also changed the rules regarding how residents could pay council tax, and this was something to be managed.

The Cabinet member also reminded members that if they had any queries regarding Council Tax or benefits from their residents, these could be forwarded to either himself or the Service for a response.

The Committee gave positive feedback on the recruitment video and highlighted the importance of digitalisation as well as the move towards livestreaming meetings to increase transparency and communication with residents.

An officer from the SBC Strategic Planning Team was also in attendance and briefly outline how future performance information would be presented. Work was ongoing to finalise key performance indicators (KPIs) linked to the Stockton-on-Tees Plan, and reporting would involve the relaying of tier 1 measure (Council outcomes) bi-annually to Cabinet and annually to the Executive Scrutiny Committee and Full Council. Tier 2 measure (service outcomes and progress update, including data that supports SBC strategies/plans) would be reported bi-annually to the five Select Committees, with the first due to be presented to People Select Committee in December 2026.

AGREED that the Overview Reports be noted.