Issue - meetings

Q1 Performance Report

Purpose

To provide an update on progress on the Council’s priorities and service performance

Recommendation

That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee note and scrutinise the report.

Invited

Councillor Joe Harris, Leader of the Council;

Rob Weaver, Chief Executive;

Gemma Moreing, Business Information Lead

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The purpose of the report was to provide an update on progress on the Council’s priorities and service performance.

The Chief Executive introduced the report.

Members discussed the report and raised the following points;

· Spending money on utilising consultants for developing an asset management strategy. Officers and the Cabinet Member stated that due to the specialised skills required, this expertise was not available ‘in–house’. This recommendation to develop the strategy was made by the previous Interim Chief Finance Officer and was intended to inform the Council’s response to the financial challenges it faced.

· Only 11 affordable homes had been delivered, which was below the target. The Chief Executive stated that work in this area had focussed on creating a dialogue with social rent providers, and ensuring that reporting is accurate, and that by Q4 the target would be closer to being met.

· Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging points in the Rissingtons car park. The Assistant Director for Property and Regeneration stated that the Council was close to receiving an installation date from the contractor.

· The report reflected that several climate related targets were not on track, and members asked what the reason for this was. The Chief Executive stated that there were individual factors outside the Council’s control related to several of the projects in this area, such as the aforementioned delays with EV charging points, and having to re-evaluate the approach to the Solar Panel installation, but interest was high.

· Members would like references to a flood officer to also include drought, as this was also a related environmental challenge. The Chief Executive confirmed that work was being undertaken to do this.

· References had been made to Clean and Green, which had been temporarily funded, the Chief Executive and Cabinet Member confirmed this and welcomed that one of the Officers was now part of the broader Environmental Health Team.

· Ensuring meaningful as well as accurate reporting e.g. for missed bin collections.

· Bromford Housing have appointed a new Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) provider. The overall viability of the scheme in Down Ampney was not expected to be impacted.

Members also asked about the overgrowth in the Chesterton Cemetery. The Assistant Director for Property and Regeneration stated that work had begun to remedy this, and would provide a more detailed update to members outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

1) NOTED the report contents.

Voting record- 9 for, 0 against, 0 abstention

Meeting: 12/09/2023 - Cabinet (Item 169)

Webcast for 12/09/2023 - Cabinet

169 Council Priority and Service Performance Report - 2023-23 Quarter One PDF 196 KB

Purpose

To provide an update on progress on the Council’s priorities and service performance.

Recommendations

That Cabinet resolves to:

1) Note overall progress on the Council priorities and service performance for 2023-24 Q1.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The purpose of this report was to provide an update on progress on the Council’s priorities and service performance.

The Chief Executive introduced this report to Cabinet, and highlighted that revised format to demonstrate the service performance for different areas.

The following points were highlighted:

· The council entered into a partnership with Make My House Green which will encourage Solar PV installation with the private sector.

· Reducing sewage discharge is a priority for officers and councillors. Thames Water had been engaging with council and partner councils to tackle this concern.

· The work by the Active Cotswolds team in promoting activity and healthy lifestyles with ‘Mr Motivator’.

· The changing places toilets facilities had been completed at Cotswold Farm, in Cirencester Abbey Ground and the Birdland country park would be delievered in early 2024.

· The development and implementation of an Asset Management Strategy is slightly behind schedule but would be presented to November Council.

· The work with Cirencester College on the T Levels Programme would be rolled out in January 2024.

· The collection of Council Tax had increased above target alongside the processing of change of circumstances.

· Customer satisfaction is above the target of 90% at 98%

· Processing of planning applications within the agreed timescales is 84% against a target of 80%

· The performance of leisure centres is above target in terms of memberships and overall visits.

· The processing time of Council Tax new claims is 29 days against a target of 20 days with a number of actions highlighted to improve this.

· The percentage of official land charge searches in 10 days is 86% against a target of 90%, and work is being done internally to prioritise this.

The Cabinet noted the format change to show comparisons with other Publica partner councils is helpful.

Whilst the improvement of Council Tax collection rates was welcome, there was some concern around the rate of non-domestic rate collection. It was also noted that this was behind other rural councils in the rankings presented.

Following queries raised, a response to the concerns regarding the low ranking for the collection of non-domestic rates would be compiled by the Deputy Chief Executive and the Managing Director of Publica to provide reassurance.

It was also noted that the processing time for Housing Benefit change of circumstances needed to be examined.

It was also noted by Cabinet that Building Control satisfaction was 100% following changes made.

It was highlighted that this report was a Q1 report and therefore only shows a limited picture in terms of provision.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet

1) NOTED overall progress on the Council priorities and service performance for 2022-23 Q4 and the post reporting period events.

Issue - meetings

Q1 Performance Report

Meeting: 26/09/2023 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 285)

Meeting: 12/09/2023 - Cabinet (Item 169)

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