To consider the report.

Adele Taylor introduced the report and said that the performance was based on the new interim strategic framework which had been agreed by Cabinet in July 2020 and was primarily focussed on responding to the current pandemic situation that RBWM found itself in. Three of the targets were green, five were amber and one was red. Despite the impact of the pandemic, business rate collection was above target. The issues with waste and recycling last year had a knock on effect with the number of calls that were received at the customer contact centre. However, since December 2020 the percentage of calls answered had improved.

The Chairman asked about the diversity and inclusion target and said that there was a lot of words in the report but no figures so it was hard to gain an understanding on how diverse the council was.

Nikki Craig said that the annual workforce profile provided the best information on diversity across RBWM. Work on the profile was planned to start in April 2021 and it would be brought to the Panel for consideration in the summer. Links would be made with the new values and the profile would allow a greater understanding of who worked at the council. Improvements could then be made where required.

Councillor L Jones pointed out that the current period was Q4 now so the comments on the Q2 performance would therefore not have much impact. She suggested that it might be better to circulate the report at the time at which it was available for any comments from Panel members, it could then come back to a future meeting at the appropriate time if any issues arose.

The Chairman said that this idea made sense and suggested it was something that officers could have a think about.

Councillor Sharpe agreed with Councillor L Jones comments. He asked officers if there was anything in the report which was a concern.

Councillor Rayner passed on her thanks to Adele Taylor and her team for the report. Services across the council had been able to continue in the current circumstances and had adapted well. She hoped that the report could be considered by the Panel closer to the time period which it was reflecting. Answering Councillor Sharpe’s question, Councillor Rayner said that the waste issues had proved to be a challenge, especially with all the extra calls which had been a direct consequence.

Adele Taylor said that a number of the performance indicators related to the delivery of services for businesses and vulnerable residents. She passed on her thanks to Louise Freeth and her team who had been doing a huge amount of work behind the scenes.

The Chairman put forward his and the Panel’s thanks to the team and said that it would be good to review the report sooner in future, if possible.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel noted the report and:

i)             Noted the 2020/21 Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Panel Q2 Performance Report in Appendix A.

ii)            Requested relevant Lead Members, Directors and Heads of Service to maintain focus on improving performance.