Cabinet considered progress and performance outturns against the Council’s key priorities for Quarter 1 2016/17.

The Deputy Lead Member explained that performance in the first quarter of the financial year was down compared to the previous quarter, with 43% of measures on target and 29% off target. It was noted that the number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) had reduced from 27 to 24, however performance was not where the council wanted it to be. The Deputy Lead Member explained that he was working with officers to review the format of the report to ensure it looked at strategic aims and was accessible to all.

The Lead Member for Culture and Communities explained that the council had negotiated a new contract with ISS Waterers in January 2016 for grounds maintenance, resulting in a saving of £140,000. However there had been numerous problems including staffing and management issues, which were now sorted. The council had also imposed higher KPIs to achieve a better quality service. Regular weekly meetings were being held with the management at ISS Waterers to bring performance back on target. A financial penalty of £20,000 had also been imposed. The Strategic Director for Operations and Customer Services confirmed that ISS Waterers now had staff in place to fully support the contract obligations and he was confident that performance would be back on track by November 2016. He would be attending inspections alongside officers. The target was cumulative therefore significant improvements would be needed to get performance back on track.

The Lead Member for Environmental Services highlighted that incredible performance continued in waste disposal, however the issue now needed to be looked at in a different way to increase the amount recycled rather than being sent for incineration. Income from parking had seen a significant dip between May and June 2016. The figures for July would bring the target back on track. It was noted that the figures for April had been down by £30,000; in May over by £130,000; and in June down by £180,000. The Strategic Director explained that this may be due to a profiling issue and he would be undertaking an investigation. He would be able to give a confident statement of the reasons for the fluctuations by the time of the next report.

The Lead Member for Children’s Services referred to the comments made by the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny (O&S) Panel in relation to targets in her portfolio area. She explained that the way of reporting progress with Troubled Families did not reflect the way the programme worked. The target had always been met by year end, but showed underperformance during the year. The KPI would therefore be removed from the next report. The Lead Member suggested an annual report including case studies would be more appropriate, with regular monitoring by Overview and Scrutiny. In relation to indicator SG40 she explained that the target had been amended to be more realistic. She believed that there had been some confusion at Corporate Services O&S as the reference to no intervention being required related to the fact that the target was not off-track. She confirmed that intervention plans were in place for each child. There were more avenues for people to report Child Sexual Exploitation than ever before.

The Lead Member for Planning explained that to address performance in relation to lost appeals, a number of measures had been taken. Mandatory training for Development Control Panel Members would take place in September 2016 to look at overturns. There would also be increased reporting on performance to Development Control Panels. The Chairman requested that this item be listed as the first substantive item on Panel agenda. The Lead Member highlighted that performance in relation to Major and Minor applications was on target. Performance on ‘Other applications’ was always difficult due to the variety of applications including permitted development, certificates of lawfulness and listed building consent. The number of enforcement cases being dealt with was improving, with the aim of being ‘green’ in the next report. The Chairman stated that if additional resources were required, a business case should be put forward.

Councillor Mrs Jones commented that the additional resources referred to in the report had been to provide maternity cover; the issue of resourcing had not been addressed. The enforcement officers were working very hard but could not cope with the workload. She also highlighted that a 0.5FTE Support Officer had been removed in November 2015. The Lead Member responded that this was not accurate, as maternity cover had been found but unfortunately had proved not to meet the council’s exacting standards and the individual had subsequently left the authority. The Strategic Director commented that a replacement had been recruited and he expected performance to get back on track for the year as a whole. A consultation on the restructure of the planning department was underway and therefore the issue of additional resources could be addressed, with recruitment starting as early as 14 September 2016.

The Lead Member for Finance commented that as a Ward Councillor in an area with a number of enforcement issues, he had much appreciated the personal intervention by Strategic Directors, which had given residents greater confidence.  Unfortunately officer did not have the bandwidth to deal with the lower profile enforcement issues .

The Principal Member for HR and Legal highlighted that voluntary staff turnover was 14.5% compared to a target of 7% in the first quarter. The council wanted to be an employer of choice and retain the skills of good employees. A number of steps were being taken to address issues raised as part of the staff survey and from exit interviews. To address the desire for improved training and career opportunities, the Learning and Development team had set up a calendar showing all training available and a skills based register. The team had achieved this whilst also realising a cost saving.

The Chairman commented that there was lots of work still to do; he expected the number of indicators on target in November 2016 to have risen from 10 out of 24 to at least 20 out of 24. Lack of resources was not an acceptable argument and therefore proposals should be put forward if this was required.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Cabinet:

i.          Note the progress made against the performance measures listed in the IPMR Quarter 1 2016/17 report.