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Issue - meetings

Service Performance Report 2025-26 Quarter 1

 

 

Meeting: 04/09/2025 - Cabinet (Item 129)

129 Service Performance Report 2025-26 Quarter 1 pdf icon PDF 564 KB

Purpose

To provide an update on progress on the Council’s priorities and service performance for Q1 2025-26 (April-June 2025).

 

 

Recommendation(s)

That Cabinet resolves to:

1.    Note overall progress on the Council priorities and service performance for Q1 2025-26 (April-June 2025).

Additional documents:

Decision:

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

 

Councillor Mike Evemy, Leader of the Council, introduced the item, which was for noting.

 

RESOLVED that Cabinet 

·         Noted overall progress on the Council priorities and service performance for 2025-26 Q1 (April-June 2025).

Minutes:

The purpose of the report was to provide an update on progress on the Council’s priorities and service performance Q1 (April to June 2025).

 

Councillor Mike Evemy, Leader of the Council, introduced the item, which was for noting.

Cabinet considered the Service Performance Report for Quarter 1 (April–June 2025), which had also been reviewed by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. The report highlighted key achievements, including the successful transition of staff back from Publica on 1 July 2025, delivery of the Parish and Town Council Summit in June with over 100 attendees, and continued success of the Crowdfund Cotswold initiative.

 

Performance data showed strong results in several areas, including non-domestic rates collection ahead of target, planning applications determined within timescales, and a reduction in missed bin collections to below target for the first time in over a year. Leisure centre visits had increased significantly, and gym memberships were broadly on target. Areas for improvement included planning appeals, where outcomes varied depending on committee and officer recommendations, and affordable housing delivery, which had achieved two completions in the quarter.

Officers confirmed minor amendments to the report, including updated information on biodiversity work at Cotswold Lakes and a correction to a chart legend.

Positive comments were made on the clarity of the report, the importance of improving affordable housing delivery, and the need to monitor planning appeals and enforcement more closely. Members also noted the value of cross-team working, improvements in climate action, waste management, food premises inspections, and the successful media campaign on fly-tipping. Metrics for planning enforcement were agreed to be included in future reporting.

Thanks and congratulations were extended to officers for their work across a wide range of service areas, with particular recognition of progress on climate change, waste management, planning performance, and the support provided to residents through initiatives such as the Low-Income Family Tracker.

 

Councillor Blomefield, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, was invited to make any comments around the report resulting from the Committee meeting on 1 September 2025.  There were no formal recommendations, however key points highlighted included:

  • Planning enforcement, which would be considered at the November meeting.
  • The value of the retrofit officer was emphasised, with concern that her contract was due to end in September; continuation of the role was encouraged if funding allowed.
  • Improvements in the Council’s relationship with Ubico were welcomed.
  • The importance of promoting wider awareness of the Low-Income Family Tracker was highlighted.
  • Adequacy of electric vehicle charging points was to be reviewed.
  • Monitoring of planning applications, including solar installations, was suggested and a greater uptake of renewable energy was encouraged

 

Members noted that the first meeting of the Moreton-in-Marsh Working Group was scheduled for the following week, with a wider meeting planned for later in September or early October, in line with the Local Plan timetable.

Cabinet noted that solar installations generally did not require planning permission except for listed buildings, and that monitoring could be explored using digital tools to identify trends and improve data collection.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129

Meeting: 01/09/2025 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 223)

223 Service Performance Report 2025-26 Quarter 1 pdf icon PDF 565 KB

Purpose

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

 

Recommendation

That the Committee scrutinises the report and agrees any recommendations it wishes to submit to Cabinet on 4 September 2025.

 

 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Mike Evemy, and Lead Performance analyst, Gemma Moreing, made the following points:

·         Positive performances included council tax and business rates income, and processing planning applications on time.

·         Areas below target included processing times for council tax support and housing benefit changes, planning appeals allowed (Q1 showed 50% of appeals lost vs. 20% last year), and the delivery of affordable homes, partly due to developer delays and Thames Water issues at Down Ampney.

 

In questioning and discussion, the following points were noted:

·         There was limited feedback on cleanliness at Chipping Camden Leisure Centre and members questioned whether feedback cards fully captured customer experience at the three leisure centres operated by Freedom Leisure. Officers would check the progress toward more robust reporting.

·         Producing quarterly service performance reports took around four weeks per quarter to collate and review. Operational improvements were driven by regular dashboards and ongoing monitoring rather than overview reports.

·         Delays in processing council tax support changes were due to a temporary pause in applications, creating a backlog. Performance was now improving, with processing times in July at 3.5 days though cumulative metrics meant that overall tolerance may not be achieved until quarter three.

·         The Spine Road crossing project was on hold because the intended government REPF funding could not be secured in time. Updates were requested by the Committee.

·         The Waterloo car park was now in a designated flood zone, so plans for a multi-storey car park there had been removed. Future use of the site would be considered as part of the Cirencester town centre masterplan and the Local Plan Regulation 18 consultation.

·         An all-member briefing on planning enforcement was planned for September.

·         Members received regular updates on planning appeals, including whether decisions were delegated or made by Committee. The Council recognised that overturns could be costly, so additional funds were allocated to cover appeal costs and ensure adequate legal representation.

·         There was a request for a follow up on the biodiversity indicator for the Cotswold Lakes Nature Recovery Plan, as the six-monthly review had no status or update currently provided.

·         Clarification of the process for reporting and supporting rough sleepers was sought from the homelessness team.

·         Affordable housing delivery remained below target, largely due to factors beyond the Council’s control, including developer viability negotiations and delays in project execution. Historical averages since the 2018 Local Plan showed around 125 completions per year on average.

·         Solar PV support under the “Make My House Green” scheme saw 27 homes installing solar panels with a further 18 in progress. This was out of a total of 46,109 dwellings in the district. Bromford housing installations were not included in these figures and further information was sought on the installation of other homes across the District.

 

Break 18:22 – 18:30

Councillors Tony Slater and Lisa Spivey left the meeting.

 

 

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