Public Performance Reporting 2024/25
Our Public Performance Reports provide a clear summary of how we’re performing and what we’ve achieved in delivering local priorities. These reports help track progress on key community and council goals. You can also view our Public Performance Policy (PDF) for more details.
Our Corporate Plan
We’re committed to making Moray a place where people prosper, free from poverty and inequality. Our 2024-29 Corporate Plan outlines our vision and four key priorities: our people, our place, our future, and working towards creating a financially sustainable council.
You can find more details on our Corporate Plan pages.
Introduction 2024/25
The council continued throughout 2024/25 to respond to the Accounts Commission’s Best Value Assurance updated report of 2024. The Commission indicated it will monitor progress but does not need to conduct a follow-up report.
Best Value is about making sure there’s good governance and effective management of resources. There should be a focus on improvement while delivering the best possible outcomes for the public. The duty of Best Value applies to all public bodies in Scotland. It is a statutory duty for local authorities, such as councils.
Moray Council’s Best Value action plan hosts 64 actions focusing on the key themes of vision and leadership; governance and accountability; effective use of resources; partnerships and collaborative working; working with communities; sustainable development; and fairness and equality.
At the latest update to March 2025, from 64 actions within the Best Value Action Plan 30 are completed, 19 are on target, 14 require monitoring, and 1 has yet to begin.
Key Highlights include improvements in collaborative leadership and ongoing transformation strategies where there has been significant progress. However, 14 areas are identified for close monitoring, including leadership development, partnership working, and ICT developments, to ensure timely progress.
Performance Updates
We regularly publish performance updates to show progress on our key goals. Click the links below to see the latest results and how we’re delivering for Moray.
| ACTIONS | PIs | |
| 2024-25 QUARTER 1 | √ | √ |
| 2024-25 QUARTER 2 | √ | √ |
| 2024-25 QUARTER 3 | √ | √ |
| 2024-25 QUARTER 4 | √ | √ |
As the council continues its transformation journey key highlights show updates on:
- Leisure review: workshop held with councillors provided direction for the development of the review. Work is underway with Moray Leisure Centre on options to provide future leisure services across Moray.
- Libraries review: following consultation feedback work is now underway with user groups on opening hours.
- Learning estate: engagement within all Associated School Groups (ASGs) completed. Work on the new Forres Academy and future planning with the learning estate have progressed with options being considered for Elgin and Buckie High Schools.
- Depot review: draft project plan was agreed and Full Business Case due to report in May 2025.
- Education HQ and Schools Business Support projects have a project officer in place, having previously been on hold for some time.
Corporate Plan Priorities
Most recent data on the number of children living in poverty is from 2022/23 and shows a reduction in the number. To tackle this further, work continues on improving attendance rates, with an attendance working group being set up, and reducing exclusions with continued development of positive relationship polices in schools. Attainment remains a focus by offering more subject choices; providing better support for pupil wellbeing; focusing extra help where it’s most needed; and making teaching and assessment more consistent. A new Moray Literacy Strategy has also been put in place to help strengthen pupils’ reading, writing and communication skills.
The latest education information is from 2023/24 and shows the percentage of pupils at the level we expect them to be at in P1, P4 and P7 in literacy and numeracy has improved, moving up to 70.6% and 76.5% respectively. We compare our data with other councils of a similar size, known as a family group. On both literacy and numeracy Moray is 2% below our family group meaning it's a positive trend but there's room for improvement.
While there was no change to the percentage of secondary pupils achieving five or more Level 5 awards (equivalent to a National 5), staying at 62%, it meets our target. It is, however, 2% below our family group. The number of pupils achieving five or more Level 6 awards increased to 30% and brings us closer to our target of 33%. Level 6 awards are closer to HNC level of learning.
The number of pupils going on to positive destinations after school decreased slightly in 2023/24 from the previous year, from 95.1% to 93.8%, and sees Moray drop below the groups we compare with by 2%. However, we remain close to our target of 95%.
The number of 16-29 year olds within Moray had increased slightly according to latest figures from 2023/24, from 14.4% to 14.6%, remaining under the national number of 16.9%.
Moray’s mid-point weekly earnings by place of work increased in 2024/25 from £647.50 to £688.80, although there was a decrease by place of residence. This is alongside the percentage of people earning less than the living wage decreasing from 14.4% to 14%, a downward trend that brings us closer to our target of 11.4%.
The gender pay gap in Moray continues to grow, increasing in 2024/25 from 12.5% to 16.3%.
The Community Wealth Building Strategy was approved by council, this confirmed the council’s approach to the local economy of encouraging local spending to benefit Moray. A decision was made to withdraw the council’s full membership from the national Supplier Development Programme (SDP) for the financial year 2025/26 onwards and instead allocate that budget to provide personalised local support to businesses.
The number of parents supported by the employability partnership saw a significant increased from 60 in 2023/24 to 123 in 2024/25.
Seven of the eight Moray Growth Deal projects are in delivery.
The number of empty properties in town centres is unknown for 2024/25 but the closure of the St Giles Centre in Elgin at the start of 2025 will contribute to a loss of occupied units in Elgin.
New community action plan figures will be available soon but 2024/25 saw a substantial increase in support agreements linked to community assets. This went from 9 to 21 in 2024/25, with the number of residents engaged in locality planning in Buckie and New Elgin increasing by 124 to reach 556. The number of people engaged with the participatory budgeting process will be available at a later date.
We saw a decrease in social housing for rent completions but construction began on 219, well above our target of 100.
Five-yearly surveys were started on assessing schools on condition and suitability with a target of having them rated B or better in both categories. Engagement was carried out with the school community in all Associated School Groups across Moray on the future of the learning estate.
Data is not yet available for CO2 emissions for 2023/24 or 2024/25.
Significant regeneration work linked to the £20m Levelling Up Fund projects in Elgin and the £20m Elgin Long-Term Town Plan (now call the Neighbourhood Plan) started with demolition and excavations.
Extensive community engagement took place on the Neighbourhood Plan to submit to the UK Government for approval, with more planned for the coming year.
Consultation, including voting, was carried out with communities for play parks at Cameron Playing Field, Hopeman and Pilmuir Play Area, Forres. This contributed to the £2.17m of council budget allocated for participatory budgeting in 2024/25, an increase from 2023/24.
Management Commentary
Our main risks are:
- Future funding, with Scottish Government finances under pressure and being targeted to specific priorities;
- Significant funding at UK and Scottish Government level coming from bid funds, requiring expertise and effort to access and with considerable monitoring requirements;
- Risks arising from recent higher inflation and increased interest rates, with impact on pay claims and general increases in prices across the board;
- Demographic pressures and emerging social needs;
- Significant difficulties in recruiting staff and attracting suppliers to bid for works;
- Moray Integration Joint Board (MIJB) is overcommitted against its budget and we will have to fund our share of any overspend.
- Increasing demand and investment required to maintain standard of asset base, including learning estate, leisure estate and roads infrastructure;
- Meeting our target of carbon neutral by 2045 at the latest will be a financial and technical challenge;
- Continuing to find budget savings after a prolonged period of making increasingly challenging savings will be difficult.
How we are managing these risks:
- Implementing our Best Value Action Plan;
- Financial planning, monitoring and review, including planning in the short to medium and medium to long term;
- Working within Moray Economic Partnership to support the local economy;
- Developing Community Wealth Building;
- Creating teams with expertise in bidding for funds;
- Workforce planning;
- Tackling capital plan slippage by implementing stronger capital reporting and challenging budget manager optimism.
- Joint monitoring reviews with MIJB officers and officers and Board members from NHS Grampian;
- We are carrying out a comprehensive Learning Estate Review;
- We have mapped out a high-level route map to net zero.
- The Moray Growth Deal, which is continuing to see significant investment in Moray’s economy;
- The Levelling Up Fund and Neighbourhood Boards provide further opportunities to improve Moray’s economy;
- Our Community Wealth Building Strategy also looking to strengthen Moray’s economy;
- Our Transformation Strategy, redesigning how we deliver services in today’s world to deliver efficiencies, building on our investment in ICT for flexible working and a range of other projects
- Our Learning Estate Review, looking at how we can improve the learning experience by enhancing the environment in which it takes place;
- Our Leisure Estate Review, looking to develop a strategic network of good quality leisure facilities across Moray;
- Our Climate Change Strategy, looking to become carbon neutral by 2045 at the latest.
The council approved significant savings as part of its budget for 2025/26. The indicative budgets for 2025/26 and 2026/27 show the need to make further significant savings in these years.
The council has a short-term plan to make savings based on three strands. The thematic and review led approaches look across council services at what is being delivered, based on the Corporate Plan and reviews services. The partnership approach with Moray Integration Joint Board.
The council’s focus for the future is on transformation of services. This needs a radical rethink and management of expectations of which services the council can continue to deliver. The first step in this was approval of a Transformation Strategy, including support for educational attainment; expansion of digital services; asset management projects, including a depot review; and a review of council processes.
Other external factors, like the ongoing impact of war and Scottish Government proposals for a National Care Service, which affect the council’s plans. Discussions are also on-going between COSLA and Scottish Government officers regarding the potential make up of a Fiscal Framework for Scottish Local Authority funding.
What we invested in:
Link to papers published for the same meeting as PPR (25 June – published 18 June).
Headline LGBF performance results from 2023-24 (latest data) are:
Results that improved by 5% or >
- The cost per Pre-School Education place reduced by 10% to £9,834, a 4% reduction in gross expenditure and a 6% increase in number of places contributory factors.
- Tariff score in SIMD Quintile 2 improved by 7% to 620, albeit result remains in lowest quartile.
- 14% reduction in the cost of collecting Council Tax per dwelling, due to an overall cost reduction and a slight increase in the number of dwellings.
- An initial decision was made within 15 days for almost all Community Care Grants.
- Proportion of Discretionary Housing Payments spent increased to 90%.
- Reduced gross expenditure and a minor change in the number of long-stay residents supported has led to a reduction in the residential care home cost per week per resident.
- Proportion of adult care services graded good or better improved to 81%.
- The number of bed days people (75+) spend in hospital when ready to be discharged fell by 44%, against a slight increase in population (+75) leading to an improved delayed discharge rate.
- Increased attendance and reduced net expenditure resulted in a reduced cost per attendance at sports facilities.
- Proportionately greater increase in number of library visits than net expenditure reduced the cost per library visit.
- Reduced cost of street cleaning due to decrease in net expenditure against a slight increase in estimated population.
- Decreases in gross expenditure in Trading Standards and Environmental Health, has resulted in a decrease in cost per 1,000 population across both indicators.
- Slight improvement in proportion of council dwellings meeting SHQS, the indicator remains in the lowest quartile.
Results that worsened by 5% or >
- Tariff scores dropped in five of six measures, and by over 5% in SIMD Quintile 1. All feature is the lowest quartile.
- Sickness absence days for both Teacher and Employee (non-teacher) have increased, due to an increase in days lost and reduction (teachers) or minimal change to staff numbers.
- £490k of Scottish Welfare Fund budget was spend, 112% of budget.
- Homecare costs per hour for people aged 65 or over increased with a 27% increase in homecare expenditure against a slight increase in care hours.
- Satisfaction relating to adult social care dropped in all four measures, and by over 5% in two measures.
- Proportionately greater increase to parks and open spaces net expenditure than that of mid-year population estimate resulting in a greater cost per 1,000 population.
- Cost of roads per kilometre increased slightly due to rise in gross expenditure, the indicator result remains in the top quartile.
- Drop in proportion of adults satisfied with street cleaning based on 3 year rolled averages.
- The percentage of unemployed people assisted into work from council employability programmes reduced by over 50% dropping into the lowest quartile.
- Average time per business and industry planning application (weeks) increased slightly but result remains within the top quartile.
- Gross expenditure on Economic Development & Tourism decreased from £8.2m to £7.4m, reducing investment per 1,000 population to £78k, performance remains below the national average and in the bottom quartile.
- Total usable reserves as a percentage of annual budgeted revenue dropped to 19%.
