Performance Improvement Plan 2024-25 - Summary

Foreword from Mr David Burns, Chief Executive

The recent census information confirmed what we already knew; that through our people and infrastructure we are blessed with significant opportunities. This plan aims to ensure we continue to deliver and support better lives for those who work and live in, or visit, our area.

As a council we want to ensure an inclusive society, which is future-focused and will meet the needs of our community. While one of the most prosperous council areas in Northern Ireland, we also have citizens in need. Our success in delivering our plans will create new opportunities for individuals, families, and communities.

This plan focuses on two performance improvement objectives, on areas that matter most to our ratepayers. Over the next twelve months, we want to build on the work of the last few years in the areas of physical and mental wellbeing and community engagement.

This is YOUR council and we will continue to engage with you and deliver benefits for you.

We will:

continue to improve the customer experience when engaging with council services
provide activities to maintain and improve the physical and mental wellbeing of our citizens
enable our citizens to influence decision making through community conversations
through our Labour Market Partnership, support residents to achieve relevant qualifications needed to seek employment
further develop our activities for all by providing more dedicated and inclusive opportunities across the council
work closely with our communities to build upon community resilience and independence

I want to assure our residents, businesses, visitors and stakeholders we are focused on delivering excellent services in the current economic climate.

David Burns
Chief Executive

Our council area - Lisburn and Castlereagh

Map of Northern Ireland with the Lisburn and Castlereagh area highlighted

Demographics as of 2021

Population:149,100up 11% since 2011

Households with usual residents:60,100up 14% since 2011

Age:

Age range comparison between 2011 and 2021

Age range 2011 2021

0 to 14 years 19% 19%

15 to 39 years 32% 30%

40 to 64 years 34% 33%

65 and over 16% 18%

Since 2011 the proportion of younger people has decreased and the proportion of older people has increased.

Age range comparison between 2011 and 2021
Age range	2011	2021
0 to 14 years	19%	19%
15 to 39 years	32%	30%
40 to 64 years	34%	33%
65 and over	16%	18%

Country of birth:

Northern Ireland: 129,700
Rest of UK/Ireland: 10,500
Outside UK/Ireland: 8,900

The number of people born outside UK/Ireland increased from 5,800 in 2011 to 8,800 in 2021.

Labour market as of 2021

Persons aged 16 and over:118,900

Persons aged 16 and over in employment:71,900

Economic activity and hours worked:

Economic activity

Economic status Percentage

In employment 60.5%

Unemployed 2.2%

Economically inactive 37.3%

Hours worked

Hours Percentage

15 hours or less 9.2%

16 to 30 hours 19.4%

31 to 48 hours 62.1%

49 hours and over 9.3%

Economic activity
Economic status	Percentage
In employment	60.5%
Unemployed	2.2%
Economically inactive	37.3%

Hours worked
Hours	Percentage
15 hours or less	9.2%
16 to 30 hours	19.4%
31 to 48 hours	62.1%
49 hours and over	9.3%

Occupations:

Highest level of qualification
Qualification level	Percentage
No qualifications	17.9%
Level 1 (e.g. 1-4 GCSEs any grade)	5.9%
Level 2 (e.g. 5+ GCSEs A*-C)	13.4%
Apprenticeship	6%
Level 3 (e.g. 2+ A levels)	15.4%
Level 4 (e.g. Degree)	39.2%
Other	2.2%

Highest level of qualification:

Economic activity

Occupation Percentage

Professional occupations 25.8%

Administrative and secretarial occupations 12.6%

Associate professional and technical occupations 11.7%

Managers, directors and senior officials 11%

Skilled trades occupations 9.1%

Caring, leisure and other service occupations 9%

Sales and customer service occupations 8%

Elementary occupations 7.4%

Process, plant and machine operatives 5.5%

Economic activity
Occupation	Percentage
Professional occupations	25.8%
Administrative and secretarial occupations	12.6%
Associate professional and technical occupations	11.7%
Managers, directors and senior officials	11%
Skilled trades occupations	9.1%
Caring, leisure and other service occupations	9%
Sales and customer service occupations	8%
Elementary occupations	7.4%
Process, plant and machine operatives	5.5%

Introduction and context

Why have we a Performance Improvement Plan?

There is a responsibility under Part 12 of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 to set improvement objectives and have arrangements in place to secure their achievement. We must meet this.
A number of performance targets are also set by central government departments, in respect of job creation, planning and waste management.

What will our Performance Improvement Plan do?

Our Performance Improvement Plan 2024-25 sets out what we will do in the year ahead to deliver on our statutory responsibility referenced above. These ‘duties’ relate to sections 84(1), 85(2) and 89(5) of the Act, whereby we have to make arrangements to:

secure continuous improvement
secure achievement of its improvement objectives
exercise its functions so that any central government departmental specified standards are met

Specifically, it provides a rationale for why we have chosen our improvement objectives and details the expected outcomes.

Each objective has been framed so as to bring about improvement in at least one of the specified aspects of improvement as defined in Section 86 of the Act:

Our Performance Improvement Plan 2024/25 sits within a hierarchy of plans which guide our strategic planning process and drive our service delivery arrangements (see figure 1 below).

Figure 1. Strategic planning process

Agreed Performance Improvement Objectives for 2024/25

There are two Performance Improvement Objectives for 2024/25.

We will continue to:

improve our citizen engagement methods and ensure accessible processes for contacting the council
deliver council led activities that seek to maintain and improve the physical and mental wellbeing of our citizens

Why have we chosen these objectives?

Previous success with our performance improvement projects for 2023/24 has established the foundation to achieving the longer-term outcomes. These are aligned to the ambitions of the Lisburn and Castlereagh Community Plan.

We launched our new Corporate Plan in April 2024 for the period 2024-2028. This Plan continues its ambition to ensure the supporting and developing of better lives for all. It details success outcomes and has four key themes of:

civic leadership
people
planet
prosperity

The objectives for the coming period are focussed on citizen engagement and improving the physical and mental wellbeing of our citizens. These are two key areas for the achievement of our vision of achieving better lives for the people who work, live in, or visit the LCCC area.

What will the Performance Improvement Plan do?

It will:

build upon the success of 2023/24 by continuing with the two Performance Improvement Objectives delivered through several existing projects
challenge ourselves on how we can achieve even better outcomes by identifying new improvement projects

Objective 1:We will continue to improve our citizen engagement methods and ensure accessible processes for contacting the council.

We will improve the customer’s experience when engaging with our services by providing outreach support to residents who are not digitally enabled, ensuring no one is left behind.

This means residents who are not able to connect to our services digitally (via the website) will be offered alternatives. Digital devices will be provided in specific council facilities to enable residents to carry out online council service requests.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:

Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Sustainability, Efficiency, Innovation

Community Planning Theme:

Our Community

Continuing or new?

New

Measure of success:

Quarter 1:

Source two devices
Develop data analytics (usage and impact)
Consider security for the devices

Quarter 2:

Install devices in two facilities (Ballyoran CC in Castlereagh and LVI in Lisburn)
Promotion and facility staff training

Quarters 3 and 4:

Usage and impact of devices at each facility

Quarter 4:

Evaluation of usage and impact of devices at each facility
What difference has it made?

We will improve the processing times of planning applications and enforcement cases by developing and implementing a Planning Service Improvement Programme by the end of the financial year 24/25.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:

Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation

Community Planning Theme:

Our Community, Where we live

Continuing or new?

New

Measure of success:

Development and implementation of a Planning Service Improvement Programme during 24/25 through following stages:

Quarter 1:
Development of a validation checklist Y/N

Quarter 2:
Implementation of the validation checklist Y/N

Quarters 3 and 4:
Proportion of invalid applications returned within 5 working days Q3: 75%, Q4: 90%

Development of internal KPIs measuring processing times of planning applications and enforcement cases, with incremental targets working towards statutory KPI targets (over a no. of years):

Reduce the % of older applications that are over 18 months old (Recruiting additional staff to assist with this. Lower targets in Quarters 1 and 2 while staff fill posts and are being trained to fill capacity)
Q1: 20%, Q2: 40%, Q3: 70%, Q4: 90%

Local planning applications processed within an average of 22.5 weeks.
Q1: 42.5, Q2: 37.5, Q3: 30, Q4: 19.5

We will continue to enable our citizens to influence decision making through community conversations in Lisburn South and Downshire West.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:

Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation

Community Planning Theme:

Our Community

Continuing or new?

Continuing

Measure of success:

Development of a Village / Placeshaping Plan in Lisburn South and Downshire West:

One to be completed by end of September 2024.

One to be completed by end of March 2025.

Case studies on the difference the community conversations have made within the areas (capturing quick wins as well as long terms goals) Quarterly.

We will develop a community development toolkit to assist groups to establish and effectively manage sustainable community and / or voluntary organisation.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:

Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation

Community Planning Theme:

Our Community

Continuing or new?

New

Measure of success:

Quarter 1:
Development & launch of community development toolkit by end of June 2024

Quarter 2:
Provide training to users by end of September 2024

Quarter 3:
Implementation of community development toolkit by end of December 2024

Quarter 4:
Difference made by community development toolkit captured by end of March 2025

Objective 2:We will continue to deliver council led activities that seek to maintain and improve the physical and mental wellbeing of our citizens.

We will continue to improve the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of our citizens through a number of programmes which include:

developing skills in horticulture and biodiversity
physical activity programmes
health programmes (GP referral / cardio referral)

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:

Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation, Sustainability

Community Planning Theme:

Health & Wellbeing, Where we live, Our Community

Continuing or new?

Continuing

Measure of success:

The wellbeing project will run a range of physical activity programmes; yoga, pilates, bowling, walking, self-defence, circuits and baby massage.

Horticulture and nutrition programmes will be available for school groups, older and disability groups and community organisations.

Number of wellbeing programmes: 60 per annum

Number of participants: 1,450 per annum

Case studies of differences made:
Quarter 1: 16 programmes, 400 participants
Quarter 2: 10 programmes, 200 participants
Quarter 3: 20 programmes, 450 participants
Quarter 4: 14 programmes, 400 participants

The ‘LCCC Journey to Sustainability Project’ will run a range of horticultural/woodland management workshops to provide knowledge and skills to people through accredited training programmes.

Number of Woodland programmes: 30 per annum

Quarter 1: 6 programmes, 650 participants
Quarter 2: 6 programmes, 75 participants
Quarter 3: 10 programmes, 150 participants
Quarter 4: 8 programmes, 300 participants

Number of horticulture programmes: 20 per annum

Number of woodland and horticulture participants: 1,500 per annum

Quarter 1: 5 programmes, 200 participants
Quarter 2: 4 programmes, 35 participants
Quarter 3: 8 programmes, 160 participants
Quarter 4: 3 programmes, 30 participants

Biodiversity projects will include: tree ID talks/walks, bat talks/walks and a litter clean up along the River Lagan. The projects will be available to all ages to participate, with the aim to improve the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of people using green open spaces.

Number of Biodiversity projects: 40 per annum

Number of participants: 1,550 per annum

Quarter 1: 3 projects approx. 160 participants
Quarter 2: 5 projects approx. 150 participants
Quarter 3: 15 projects approx. 585 participants
Quarter 4: 17 projects approx. 663 participants

Physical Activity Referral Scheme (PARS)

PHA Annual target: 215 participants

Quarter 1: 54 participants
Quarter 2: 54 participants
Quarter 3: 54 participants
Quarter 4: 53 participants

We will continue to respond to local labour market needs by delivering a range of employability programmes. We aim to support residents within our area to achieve relevant qualifications that will enable them to gain employment.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:

Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation

Community Planning Theme:

Health & Wellbeing, Our Community

Continuing or new?

Continuing

Measure of success:

We aim to support 90 people within our council area to achieve relevant qualifications that will enable them to gain employment.

Frequency of reporting - quarterly

Case studies on the difference the qualifications have made

We will further develop our activities for all by providing more dedicated and inclusive opportunities across the council.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:

Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation

Community Planning Theme:

Health & Wellbeing, Our Community

Continuing or new?

New

Measure of success:

Museum:
Improving digitisation of the museum collection (compare with baseline).

Providing inclusive and accessible access to museum programmes (video of museum by disabled user e.g. sensory room).

Testimonies of users

Sports Services:
Inclusive events incorporating Leisure Pool ASD sessions, silent discos, Disability Skate & Sled Hockey, IndianaLand ASD Sessions and access to Sensory Room.

Annual target: 3,000 participants

Quarter 1: 750 participants
Quarter 2: 750 participants
Quarter 3: 750 participants
Quarter 4: 750 participants

Personal testimonies

Annual target: 40

Quarter 1: 10 testimonies
Quarter 2: 10 testimonies
Quarter 3: 10 testimonies
Quarter 4: 10 testimonies

Economic Development:
Delivery of specialist employability support and advice for those with a disability.

Measure: Number of people supported

Case Study to showcase positive impact. Y/N

Recruitment onto programme (PMcC tbc numbers)

We will progress a pilot community ownership / lease initiative of a council owned football pitch.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:

Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation, Sustainability

Community Planning Theme:

Health & Wellbeing, Where we live, Our Community

Continuing or new?

New

Measure of success:

Milestones of the project

Pitch at Lough Moss:
Club identified and business case by end of Q1 (LV) Yes / No

Lease developed by Q2 (LV) Yes / No

Handed over to community by end of Q2 (TBC GL & LV) Yes / No