Welcome to the Lee Valley park website

In 2003 the Authority implemented a new process of monitoring the delivery of services internally and externally to make the Authority more accountable.

 

A Performance Management System was adopted which is widely used in organisations such as FTSE 100 companies and public sector authorities.

 

This Performance Management Framework focuses on identifying, programming and reviewing performance against a number of set corporate objectives. These objectives are used as the basis to develop annual delivery programmes for each department integrated with financial management, budgeting and facility business plans. The systems closely monitor performance by setting quarterly and yearly targets and performance indicators through agreed departmental service plans.

 

 

The Authority has 5 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which are tracked to give a headline indication of performance across the key areas of the organisation’s activities (for more information see the Performance Report in the Reference Library). The KPI concerned with internal performance measures achievement of service plan targets - in 2006-07 93% of targets were achieved or exceeded.

 

The Authority aims to achieve continuous operational improvement through the delivery of departmental service plans and part of this process is an annual self assessment programme using the widely recognised EFQM Excellence Model. This enables the identification of strengths and areas for improvement, from which appropriate steps are taken to continue to achieve successful results. In 2006-07 19 actions resulting from the self assessment were completed. The current action plan has 43 actions which are being progressed.

 

 

Following the introduction of this Performance Management System internally it was decided that results should also be challenged against national performance.

The Authority has identified a number of government set performance indicators (Best Value Performance Indicators) used to track local authority performance. These are relevant to the Authority and are used as a benchmark to monitor performance against national league tables of performance across London, Hertfordshire and Essex.

 

Nineteen Performance Indicators have been identified that track against the corporate objectives of the Authority. When comparing 2006-07 performance with the London region, the Authority's performance is the best across London in three areas:

In two other areas the Authority's performance is better than the best across London, however in these aspects there is not the same data collection methodology as the BVPI definition due to the scope of the Authority's population. The best methodology to track this data is being reviewed.

When comparing 2006-07 performance with the London region, the Authority's performance is in the top quartile in three areas:

 

Proactive visitor tracking is conducted via a market research agency, covering all sites and incorporating a sample of 3000 customers per year. Through these visitor tracking surveys, customers’ satisfaction with services and their expectations are researched, along with information regarding their profile e.g. demographics, where they live, how they travel to the park etc, allowing business decisions to be made based on customers’ actual perceptions and profiles.

 

A key aim for the Authority is to ensure that usage of the regional park reflects the regional population. 2006-07 results have show a good level of regional usage, as the graph below demonstrates.

Further results from the visitor tracking survey, along with more detailed performance management information, can be found in the Performance Report which is available to view in the Reference Library.

 

 

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority has been announced as a runner up in the Management Systems category of the London Region Excellence Awards 2007. The Excellence Award was launched in 1994 to recognise organisations which have excelled when measured against the EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) Excellence Model. EFQM is a performance management framework which is used to examine an organisation’s capability and drive towards business improvement.

 

The Authority’s submission was put together by Performance Team, with staff from each directorate involved and contributing to their areas of expertise within the submission criteria. London Excellence received submissions from 74 organisations across London and the South East and finalists are selected from those that are assessed as being of the highest quality, following rigorous assessment. Having been named as a finalist a presentation on the submission was given to a select panel in June 2007; the winners and runners up were announced in July 2007.