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Performance Improvement Plan 2025/26 - Draft Summary

Contents:

Foreword from Mr David Burns, Chief Executive

As Chief Executive, I am pleased to introduce our Performance Improvement Plan for 2025/26 – a key document that reflects both our ambition and our accountability to the residents, businesses, and communities we serve.

Over the past year, we have continued to operate in a complex and rapidly changing environment. Pressures on public services remain high, but so too does our determination to deliver better outcomes, smarter working, and meaningful engagement with those who rely on us most. This plan outlines how we intend to build on our progress, learn from challenges, and deliver improvements that matter.

Our approach is focused, evidence-based, and driven by a shared commitment across the organisation to continuous improvement. We’ve listened to feedback from residents, staff, and partners, and have embedded these insights into our priorities and actions for the year ahead. From enhancing the quality of core services to driving innovation through digital transformation, we are clear about where we need to go – and how we will measure our success.

We are proud of what we’ve achieved so far, but we are not complacent. This plan sets out ambitious but realistic targets, alongside a renewed emphasis on collaboration, transparency, and inclusive growth. Our aim is not only to meet expectations, but to exceed them – ensuring that every pound spent and every decision made brings real benefit to our citizens.

Thank you for taking the time to engage with this plan. I look forward to working with all of you – residents, partners, elected members, and staff – as we deliver on our commitments and continue striving for excellence in 2025/26.

 

David Burns
Chief Executive

Our council area - Lisburn and Castlereagh

Map of Northern Ireland with the Lisburn and Castlereagh area highlighted
 

Lisburn and Castlereagh is one of 11 councils. It includes the larger settlements of Carryduff, Lisburn City and part of Castlereagh.

Facts and figures

Population (2022 estimate):149,915up 9.8% since 2012

7.8% of Northern Ireland population. The 7th largest population of the 11 councils.

Population density (2022 estimate):297.7people per square kilometer.

Age (2022 estimate):

Age range comparison between all of Northern Ireland and Lisburn and Castlereagh
Age range Northern Ireland Lisburn and Castlereagh
0 to 15 years 20% 20%
16 to 39 years 20% 28%
40 to 64 years 32% 33%
65 and over 18% 18%

Household size (2011 census):

Household size comparison between all of Northern Ireland and Lisburn and Castlereagh
Household size Northern Ireland Lisburn and Castlereagh
1 person 31% 28%
2 people 30% 33%
3 people 16% 16%
4 people 14% 15%
5 or more people 9% 8%

Work and wages (2023):76,000 people employed.
£572 median weekly salary.

Work status of adults (2023):

Work status of adults comparison between all of Northern Ireland and Lisburn and Castlereagh
Work status Northern Ireland Lisburn and Castlereagh
Employed 74% 78%
Unemployed 2% less than 1%
Inactive 25% 22%

Type of work (2022):

Type of work comparison between all of Northern Ireland and Lisburn and Castlereagh
Type of work Northern Ireland Lisburn and Castlereagh
Construction 5% 6%
Manufacturing 11% 9%
Services 83% 84%
Other 2% 1%

Type of businesses (2023):

Type of businesses comparison between all of Northern Ireland and Lisburn and Castlereagh
Type of business Northern Ireland Lisburn and Castlereagh
Agriculture 24% 12%
Production 14% 14%
Construction 7% 8%
Services 55% 66%

Employees in businesses (2023):

Employees in businesses comparison between all of Northern Ireland and Lisburn and Castlereagh
Number of employees Northern Ireland Lisburn and Castlereagh
0 employees 28% 19%
1-9 employees 61% 69%
10-49 employees 9% 10%
50-249 employees 2% 2%
250 or more employees less than 1% less than 1%

Selected business sectors:Agriculture (2024): 907 farms (3% of NI).
1,492 farmers (3.7% of NI). Tourism (2019): 4,817 jobs (6.8% of NI).
109 accommodation establishments (2.3% of NI).

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 2025/26 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:

  • strategic effectiveness
  • service quality
  • service availability
  • fairness
  • sustainability
  • efficiency and innovation

Our Performance Improvement Plan 2025/26 sits within a hierarchy of plans which guide our strategic planning process and drive our service delivery arrangements (figure 1 below).

Figure 1. Strategic planning process

  1. Community Plan and Local Development Plan
  2. Corporate Plan
  3. Investment Plan, Performance Improvement Plan and Council Strategies
  4. Departmental Service Plans
  5. Annual Individual Performance Plans

Agreed Performance Improvement Objectives for 2024/25

There are two Performance Improvement Objectives for 2025/26.

We will:

  • deliver better services that meet people’s needs
  • support our people to thrive in vibrant communities

Why have we chosen these objectives?

The Council has had the same two objectives for the past four years with different improvement projects each year. Previous success with our performance improvement projects for 2024/25 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 performance objectives for the coming period are new and are linked directly to the themes detailed above. The first objective is within the Civic Leadership theme of the Corporate Plan 2024-28, focussing on our internal performance is a priority for the Council. We understand that public services must continuously evolve to stay relevant, responsive, and effective. By focusing on service improvement, we are committing to listening to people, understanding their needs, and designing services that are easy to access, timely, and of high quality.

The second objective is outlined within the People and Prosperity themes of the Corporate Plan 2024-28. Thriving people are at the heart of strong communities. We want everyone to feel supported, connected, and empowered to lead fulfilling lives. This means working collaboratively across sectors and with local people to build inclusive, safe, and resilient places to live and work. By strengthening communities, we strengthen wellbeing, opportunity, and local pride.

We have chosen these two objectives because they reflect what matters most to the people we serve and the vision we have for our communities. These are key areas for the achievement of our vision of achieving better lives for the people who work, live in, or visit the Lisburn and Castlereagh area.

What will the Performance Improvement Plan do?

It will:

  • challenge ourselves on how we can achieve even better outcomes by identifying new improvement objectives and projects
  • build upon the success of 2024/25 by continuing with the delivery of several existing improvement projects

Objective 1:We will deliver better services that continue to meet people’s needs.

We will continue to improve the processing times of planning applications by monitoring the implementation of the agreed Planning Service Improvement Programme by the end of the financial year 25/26.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:
Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation
Corporate Plan 2024-2028 Strategic Theme:
Civic Leadership - Deliver high-quality, cost-effective services that meet people’s needs, making use of new approaches to data-driven decision-making, continual improvement, innovation and performance management.
Community Planning Theme:
Our Community, Where we live, The Economy
Programme for Government:
Stronger Economy, Better Homes
Continuing or new?
Continuing - the Planning Service Improvement Programme is a 2 year programme.
Measure of success:

Proportion of invalid applications returned within 5 working days 90% per quarter

Reduce the % of older applications that are more 18 months old (*based on ?? older applications as at 31st March 2025)
Q1: 20%, Q2: 40%, Q3: 70%, Q4: 90%

Local planning applications processed within an average of 15 weeks.
Q1: 30, Q2: 25, Q3: 20, Q4: 15

(We are continuing with the targets from 24/25 as this improvement project is in its second year.)

We will improve our prompt payment indicators by reducing the number of days taken to pay suppliers.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:
Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation
Corporate Plan 2024-2028 Strategic Theme:
Civic Leadership - Deliver a suite of sustainable plans, including our Investment Programme, Financial Plan, Workforce Plan and Asset Strategy, ensuring effective, transparent governance in all we do.
Community Planning Theme:
The Economy
Programme for Government:
Stronger Economy
Continuing or new?
New
Measure of success:

Stat KPI: 90% of supplier invoices paid within 10 days 
(we will use a baseline of the annual figure for 23/24, this was 64.39% and quarterly incremental targets will be set using this.)

PI KPI: % of supplier invoices paid within 10 days
Q1: 65%, Q2: 70%, Q3: 75%, Q4: 80%

Stat KPI: 100% of supplier invoices paid within 30 days
(we will use a baseline of the annual figure for 23/24, this was 88.71% and quarterly incremental targets will be set using this.)

PI KPI: % of supplier invoices paid within 30 days
Q1: 88%, Q2: 90%, Q3: 92%, Q4: 95%

We will increase our staff attendance levels.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:
Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation
Corporate Plan 2024-2028 Strategic Theme:
Civic Leadership - Deliver a suite of sustainable plans, including our Investment Programme, Financial Plan, Workforce Plan and Asset Strategy, ensuring effective, transparent governance in all we do.
Community Planning Theme:
Our Community
Programme for Government:
Stronger economy
Continuing or new?
New
Measure of success:

The average number of working days lost due to absences reduced. Rolling year absence – days lost per employee.
(we will present the 12 month rolling average as of the end of 23/24 as the baseline, this was 18.37.)

Suggesting an improvement of 0.5 each quarter, the quarterly targets will be:
Q1: 15.5, Q2: 15.0, Q3: 14.5, Q4: 16 

Consideration has been given to consider the wellbeing initiatives that are delivered each quarter, although it may be difficult to make linkages between these and whether they have reduced absence.

We will reduce the percentage of household waste being disposed of in landfill sites.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:
Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation, Sustainability
Corporate Plan 2024-2028 Strategic Theme:
Planet - Continue to meet our waste management targets, making our area cleaner, greener and more sustainable.
Community Planning Theme:
Where we live
Programme for Government:

Cleaner Environment, Better Homes, Healthier Lives

Continuing or new?
New
Measure of success:

A maximum of 10% collected waste will be sent to landfill
(data will be a quarter in arrears due to availability on waste data flow)

Objective 2:We will support our people to thrive in vibrant communities.

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
Corporate Plan 2024-2028 Strategic Theme:

Civic Leadership - Be resilient in emergency situations, providing leadership for our community

People - Provide appropriate support for community initiatives and interventions which grow our community, enhancing the quality of life for all

Community Planning Theme:
Our Community
Programme for Government:

Healthier Lives, Brighter Futures, Stronger Economy, Equal Society (possibly), Safer Communities

Continuing or new?

Continuing from 24/25. Not delivered in 24/25 due to vacant post

Measure of success:

Development of a Village / Placeshaping Plan in Lisburn South (Ballymacash) and Downshire West (TBC).

1 to be completed by end of Q2.
1 to be completed by end of Q4.

Agreement & implementation of Village plan and where applicable case studies on the difference the community conversations have made within the areas.

We will improve our engagement methods by developing and implementing a Citizen Consultation Framework.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:
Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation
Corporate Plan 2024-2028 Strategic Theme:
Civic Leadership - Provide open and transparent communication and promotion of the Council area with a clear and positive identity
Community Planning Theme:
Our Community
Programme for Government:

Healthier Lives, Brighter Futures, Stronger Economy, Equal Society (possibly), Safer Communities

Continuing or new?
New
Measure of success:

Development and launch of community consultation strategy – Q1: (Yes or No)

Measure the number of consultations by directorate – Q3: (Yes or No)

Create a consultation page on website, providing links to each live consultation, contact details for the service consulting etc – Q3/Q4: (Yes or No)

We will continue to deliver a range of employability programmes that will help our residents to achieve relevant qualifications that will enable them to gain new or better  employment. This will also include the delivery of specialist support and advice for those with a disability.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:
Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation
Corporate Plan 2024-2028 Strategic Theme:

Prosperity - We will help education and training providers to equip our local workforce with the right skills to secure employment or start a business

People - Encourage inclusivity and equality of opportunity across our community, promoting the benefits of a diverse society, celebrating culture and good relations between people of different backgrounds and identities

Community Planning Theme:

The Economy, Health & Wellbeing

Programme for Government:

Healthier Lives, Brighter Futures, Stronger Economy, Equal Society (possibly), Safer Communities

Continuing or new?
Continuing
Measure of success:

This project is subject to funding from DfC, TBC April 2025.

We aim to support 125 people within our Council area to achieve relevant qualifications that will enable them to gain employment.
e.g. 100 (LMP) and 25 (disability)

Frequency of reporting – quarterly

LMP – support for 100 people
Q1: 0, Q2: 20, Q3: 40, Q4: 40

Support for 25 people with a disability 
Q1: 0, Q2: 5, Q3: 10, Q4: 10

Case studies on the difference the qualifications have made. Frequency of reporting - quarterly

We will support the progression of actions in the Glenavy Village Plan in partnership with new and established groups.

Improvement area stipulated in S.84(2) LG Act (NI) 2014:
Strategic Effectiveness, Service Quality, Service Availability, Fairness, Efficiency, Innovation
Corporate Plan 2024-2028 Strategic Theme:

People - Provide appropriate support for community initiatives and interventions which grow our community, enhancing the quality of life for all

Promote volunteering and participation in public and community life, developing community ownership and management of local assets and facilities

Community Planning Theme:
Our Community
Programme for Government:

Healthier Lives, Brighter Futures, Stronger Economy, Equal Society (possibly), Safer Communities

Continuing or new?
New
Measure of success:

Physical Measures
Installation of new play park in Killultagh housing development end of Q1 (tbc G.Lennox)

Installation of new bus shelter at Lyngrove by end of Q2

Feasibility study and upgrade of existing path at COI in Glenavy in addition to the establishment of an extension of existing path. 

  • Feasibility by end Q1
  • Upgrade and extension by end Q3

Replacement of existing bins and increased capacity of bins in Glenavy area.

Establishment of a pedestrian crossing in the village of Glenavy.  

Community and Wellbeing Measures
Capacity building with local community groups

Environmental Measures
Biodiversity projects with schools in Glenavy throughout year

Woodland and horticulture events in Glenavy throughout year