Agenda item

Report of Deputy Chief Executive.

The committee considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive regarding Quarter 4 2017/18 performance against the Corporate Plan priority actions, performance indicators and targets.

Key discussions and officer actions arising from the report were detailed below.

Tourism - members commented that the figures presented in the report were from 2016. It was explained that the data comes from the Cambridge Model, a respected and widely used tourism report which draws on a complex and wide-ranging dataset. Members asked if the report containing the data could be circulated to members.

Devonshire Park - members requested that an update be circulated by the Project Lead regarding the anticipated completion dates for each of the component sections of the Devonshire Quarter project.

Conservation area appraisals - members requested that the Conservation Officer circulates a list of when appraisals were last done for the various conservation areas before the next meeting of the committee.

Parks and open spaces - members queried the length of time for the ongoing signage project. It was however noted that signage for Children’s Play areas had recently been completed to ensure that all signs included the postcode and an emergency telephone number. 

Clear Futures - members requested that a relevant officer attend the next meeting of the committee to provide more information on the Clear Futures programme of work and specifically what was meant by ‘local energy’.

Garden Waste Recycling –members questioned whether the unregistered bins were an indication that households were disposing of their garden waste in other ways. A view was also expressed that it was important to monitor whether the new charged service for garden waste would start to have a negative impact on recycling rates.  Officers responded that the garden waste charged service was optional which was why some bins were not registered. Alternative disposal options were available such as composting.

Disabled Facilities Grant - members requested that both the original performance indicator as well as the new performance indicator be presented to future meetings. Officers responded that they would investigate, but assured members that the Council would continue to put pressure on partners to improve the application waiting time.

Homelessness – officers noted members’ comments that homelessness figures should include numbers of people rough sleeping to give a complete picture.

Contact Centre – members commented on the importance of the wellbeing of the contact centre staff, especially considering the 7 vacancies in the department. Officers responded that the Assistant Director of Human Resources and Transformationhad recently spent days shadowing the team and their wellbeing was an ongoing priority.

Council Tax Collection Rates – members requested more information regarding how many people paid their Council Tax by Direct Debit.

Community Lottery – members enquired about the total revenue obtained from the new Lottery so far. Officers took note and would look into this.

Sickness – members were unsatisfied with the 2018/19 proposed target of 9 days. They requested that the Assistant Director of Human Resources and Transformation be invited to the next meeting of the committee to provide absence reasons for 2017/18, a breakdown of absence by department and a further discussion on the 2018/19 proposed target. 

Resolved:

That the Scrutiny Committee note the achievements and progress against Corporate Plan priorities for 2017/18, as set out in this report.

Reason:

To demonstrate the discharge of the Scrutiny Committee function to monitor all aspects of performance management activities, as required by Part 3 section 2.2 (7) of the Constitution of the Council.