Glasgow Life Performance Management. Final Report

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Glasgow City Council Internal Audit 1 Glasgow Life – Performance Management

Glasgow Life

Performance Management

Final Report

INTERNAL AUDIT

October 2013

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GLASGOW LIFE

Performance Management Table of Contents

Section No Section Title

1 Introduction and Background 2 Audit Remit

3 Audit Opinion 4 Conclusions 5 Recommendations

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GLASGOW LIFE

Performance Management 1. Introduction and Background

As part of the agreed programme of work for 2013/14, Internal Audit has undertaken a review of Glasgow Life’s performance management and reporting arrangements. As Audit Scotland is ultimately responsible for the verification of the Statutory Performance Indicators these have been excluded from this review.

2. Audit Remit

The purpose of the audit was to gain assurance that Glasgow Life has effective arrangements in place to monitor performance of the organisation using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and targets.

The scope of the audit included testing of the controls in operation to ensure that:

• A performance management strategy and written procedures have been

devised in accordance with the key objectives of the organisation, and these have been approved by the Board of Directors and are subject to regular review.

• Written policies and procedures relating to the performance management

processes exist (including definitions of what each KPI is measuring and how it is calculated), and these policies and procedures are being adhered to by staff.

• Reliance can be placed upon the calculated figures by checking a sample

of these against the supporting evidence and investigating any discrepancies.

• There is consistency with previous years and explanations are provided

for any significant variances.

• KPI figures being reported are consistent with any figures that have been

reported elsewhere.

• Performance monitoring reports are regularly produced and reported to

senior management and the Board. .

3. Audit Opinion

Based on the work carried out a reasonable level of assurance can be placed upon the control environment. The audit has identified some scope for improvement in existing arrangements and 5 recommendations which management should address

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4. Conclusions

Based upon the work carried out, the main conclusions reached during the audit were as follows:

.

• KPIs have been identified and approved by each Head of Service and

these are aligned to the organisation’s business plan and are reviewed on an annual basis to ensure they remain relevant.

• Performance monitoring reports are regularly produced and reported

internally to the Senior Management Team (SMT) through the Strategic Programme Board, and the Glasgow Life Board, and externally to the Council.

• At the time of the audit fieldwork, definitions for 1 of the 6 KPIs within the

sample had not been formally documented.

• For the sample of 6 KPIs reviewed, 4 could be traced to source

documentation. However, the auditor is concerned about the current arrangements for the calculation of the other 2 indicators: (1) Number of Attendances at Learning Opportunities and (2) Number of Attendances at Non-Ticketed Events. The current methods for collecting data are not robust and, as there is no evidence available to support the reported figures, the current figures are deemed unreliable.

• The Quarter 1 figure reported to the Strategic Programme Board for the “Number of Attendances at Learning Opportunities” indicator was different than the figure published on Glasgow Life’s intranet site due to ongoing discussions regarding the calculation method.

5. Recommendations

Resulting from the conclusions, 5 recommendations for improvement, 1 rated high, and 4 rated medium priority were identified. These recommendations and the organisation’s responses are shown below.

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Title of the Audit: Glasgow Life – Performance Management

Risk Ratings for Recommendations High Key controls absent, not being

operated as designed or could be improved. Urgent attention required.

Medium Less critically important controls absent, not being operated as designed or could be improved.

Low Lower level controls absent, not being operated as designed or could be improved.

No. Audit Recommendations Priority Accepted Comments

(if appropriate) Officer Responsible for Implementation Timescale for Implementation Key Control: Definitions have been formally documented for all performance indicators

1 Glasgow Life must ensure that a formal definition is documented for the number of attendances at non-ticketed events indicator.. The definition must clearly set out what the indicator is measuring and its purpose, the source of the information and methodology for calculating it. Having a formally documented definition for every indicator assists both in calculating performance and also in understanding what the indicator is communicating to the user.

Medium Yes A formal definition for the number of

attendances at non-ticketed events will be prepared during Glasgow Life’s annual target setting exercise which will be complete by the end of January 2014. Business Improvement will engage with Karen to develop a template pre-target setting (by the end of November 2013) to test the robustness of the data.

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Title of the Audit: Glasgow Life – Performance Management (continued)

(if appropriate) Officer Responsible for Implementation Timescale for Implementation Key Control: Performance information can be relied upon and can be traced to source documentation

2 Glasgow Life must ensure that whenever performance figures are reported to a number of stakeholders, the figures reported are consistent

High Yes The intranet figure referred to in the report is the PMF Q2 figure (2,741) which was published mid July. The attached SPB learning paper (3,750) was presented to the SPB in August. The SPB report states, ‘As this is the first report on the learning offer from Glasgow Life, the Q1 figures represent an initial baseline which will change over time’. The difference in reported figures is NOT due to the calculation method being changed, but that there has simply

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been more learning opportunities identified. Glasgow Life

document all

backdated changes in the subsequent PMF report to ensure that a clear audit trail exists. When a backdated change occurs the subsequent PMF report will include

• Description of the indicator • What was reported previously • The update figure • The difference between the previously

reported and the updated figure. This be detailed in the Q2 report and can be evidenced via previous examples on request

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Title of the Audit: Glasgow Life – Performance Management (continued)

(if appropriate) Officer Responsible for Implementation Timescale for Implementation 3 Glasgow Life must ensure that the

performance figures reported for the number of attendances at non ticketed events and number of learning attendances can be reconciled to the source data.

Medium Yes The Team are currently in process of creating a log of all published figures and their source

Margaret Rizza Ongoing

4 In order to improve the consistency of information being provided by each of the Service Areas, Glasgow Life must give consideration to using a template which restricts the options of what Services can input into the template (e.g. the use of drop down menus) to only what information is required.

Medium Yes Draft paper explaining principles, guidelines for Service and Draft Template all in place and will be further developed during 13/14

Jane Edgar Apr 2014

5 Glasgow Life Learning Services must ensure that all service areas identify the learning opportunities that they provide. Senior Management must ensure the identified learning opportunities are formally documented and are reflected in the options available to user’s inputting data into the template referred to recommendation 3.