Reviewing the Council's performance

Every year, the council produces a report to summarise its performance. The report is a core part of the way we evaluate our performance to ensure we are delivering positive outcomes for people and places in Denbighshire, and to ensure our governance is effective. Being transparent and open about our performance is part of our core values and principles as a council.

Published online here, our executive summary for the year April 2023 to March 2024 seeks to draw out the highlights of our performance against our functions and looks ahead to the challenges that we face. We have highlighted areas we should focus on to ensure performance can be sustained and where needed, improved. Also published online are our detailed six monthly performance reports.

There are some significant issues we are trying to tackle through our Corporate Plan and these will take time to see improvement; particularly given the current economic climate.

During the year 2023 to 2024, we have responded to the financial pressures all local authorities are facing responsibly. We have used our resources economically, efficiently, and effectively, our governance is functioning and effective, and our focus is on securing the best possible outcomes for our environment and communities in Denbighshire. Some achievements for the year up until March 2024 include:

• We have secured benefits for the local economy and our communities through the procurements we have undertaken. The total spend via procurement, including grant funding, during the 2023 to 2024 financial year was £226,978,810 - £83,426,447 of this being spent within Denbighshire (35.2%). 56% of relevant procurements contained community benefits and work is ongoing to align these with the new Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023.

• We've seen a growth during the year in the number of micro-providers delivering personalised, high-quality care and support in the community, from 30 to 57. Micro-providers support personal and community well-being by allowing greater access to services for residents. This helps people to stay safe and well at home and gives them choice and control over their care and support.

• The support provided to promote the development of children in the early years has continued to strengthen, with excellent rates of children taking part in the childcare offer (772) and continued excellent support from Family Link Workers helping entry to nursery. Library services such as Bookstart were also popular, with 99% of parents feeling a positive impact from attending Bookstart and Rhyme-time, and 2,478 children took part in the 2023 Reading Challenge. The Oaktree Integrated Children's Centre was expanded during the year and by January 2024, the universal free school meals offer was made available to all primary pupils across Denbighshire.

• At the end of 2023, our Electric Vehicle Charging Hub at Rhyl's West Kinmel car park reached its first anniversary. Since becoming operational it has provided over 250,000 miles of greener transport for motorists.

• Coastal defence schemes continued in Rhyl and Prestatyn.

• Work by the Energy Team has helped to improve building energy efficiency and also support the reduction of carbon emissions and usage costs over the longer term. Part of the Council's drive to address the climate and nature emergency declared in 2019, and to reduce its own carbon footprint, includes projects which have achieved a landmark of over a megawatt of installed renewable energy capacity (1099kWp). Most of this is generated from roof mounted solar PV panels. This installed capacity will provide around 1.05MWh per year (1,056,431kW), the equivalent to providing zero carbon electricity to run 364 homes. This will also reduce carbon emissions by 306 tonnes per year.

• We’ve also seen a growing confidence amongst officers and members in using Welsh formally and informally in the day-to-day business of the council. This is a core part of our Corporate Plan so that we play our part in achieving one million Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050, making the Welsh language a living, thriving language within the council and our communities.

As with any organisation, there are areas where progress needs to improve. For the year April 2023 to March 2024, the following have been highlighted:

• Perceptions about the council expressed through our annual stakeholder survey are not as positive as we would like.

• There continues to be a high number of people on the housing waiting list, with challenges around homelessness.

• Road and bridge infrastructure remains a challenging area of our work, with discussions with partners ongoing in respect of a replacement Llannerch Bridge.

• Poverty and the vitality of our local economy remain concerning, as long-standing issues. We are also concerned about the number of Year 11 Leavers from schools known Not to be in Education, Employment or Training (NEET). Excellent support from Working Denbighshire aims to upskill and support people to gain experience and grow in confidence, for example by offering fully funded training courses.

Full reports and performance information can be found here.

For more information, contact us by email to strategicplanningteam@denbighshire.gov.uk.