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Issue - meetings

Service Performance Report - Q4 2025/26

 

 

Meeting: 01/07/2026 - Cabinet (Item 261)

261 Service Performance Report - Q4 2025/26 pdf icon PDF 656 KB

Purpose

To provide an update on progress on the Council’s priorities and service performance for Q4 2025/26.

 

Recommendation

That Cabinet resolves to:   

1.    Note overall progress on the Council priorities and service performance for 2025-26 Q4 (January – March 2026).

Additional documents:

Decision:

The purpose of this item was to provide an update on provide an update on progress on the Council’s priorities and service performance for Q4 2025/26.

 

Councillor Mike Evemy, Leader of the Council, introduced the regular quarterly report. It was noted that overall performance against corporate plan targets was generally positive, with a number of indicators performing above target. In particular, missed bin collections were reported as being below target levels, gym membership performance was strong, and residual household waste had reduced, indicating a positive trend in waste reduction.

Members were also asked to note that also noted that a small number of performance areas were below target and had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, whose recommendations were included within the report pack. Concerns had been highlighted in relation to land charges turnaround times, with performance not consistently meeting the 10-day target. It was noted that action was underway, including the appointment of a new member of staff, with an expectation that performance would improve.

It was further noted that some historic pressures relating to housing benefit and council tax support processing were continuing to stabilise, with in-quarter performance showing improvement. In relation to planning appeals, Members noted that a higher proportion of appeals had been allowed than the 30% target, although this did not place the Council at risk of designation by Government. It was also noted that this position was linked to the absence of a five-year housing land supply.

Finally, Members noted that while recycling performance had declined in line with national trends, the Council continued to perform comparatively well against other authorities, remaining within the top quartile. It was further noted that although residual waste had decreased, recycling rates had also fallen slightly, reflecting broader national pressures in this area.

Cabinet RESOLVED to note the overall progress on the Council priorities and service performance for 2025-26 Q4 (January – March 2026).

Minutes:

The purpose of this item was to provide an update on progress against the Council's priorities and service performance for Quarter 4 of 2025/26.

 

Councillor Mike Evemy, Leader of the Council, introduced the regular quarterly performance report. He noted that overall performance against the Corporate Plan targets remained positive, with a number of indicators exceeding target. In particular, missed bin collections remained below target levels, reflecting continued improvements in waste collection performance. Strong gym membership figures and lower levels of residual household waste were also highlighted as positive outcomes, indicating continued progress in reducing general waste.

 

Members noted that a small number of performance measures remained below target and had been considered in detail by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, whose recommendations accompanied the report. Particular concern had been expressed regarding land charges turnaround times, which had not consistently met the 10-day target. It was noted that recruitment to the team had recently taken place and that performance was expected to improve as additional capacity became established.

 

Members also noted that historic pressures relating to housing benefit and council tax support processing continued to improve, with in-quarter performance showing positive progress. In relation to planning appeals, Members acknowledged that a greater proportion of appeals had been allowed than the Council's target of 30%. Whilst this reflected the continuing impact of the Council's reduced five-year housing land supply, it was noted that performance remained above the Government's threshold for designation. Members also recognised the continued strong performance of the planning service in managing a high volume of applications and noted that planning income had exceeded expectations.

 

In discussing environmental performance, Members welcomed the continued reduction in residual household waste and acknowledged that, although recycling rates had declined slightly in line with national trends, the Council continued to perform well compared with other authorities and remained within the top quartile nationally. Members also commended the work of the Environmental Services team and Ubico in responding promptly to fly-tipping incidents and undertaking proactive enforcement activity.

 

Members further welcomed the strong financial performance of a number of climate initiatives, noting that the Council's rooftop solar installation and electric vehicle charging infrastructure had both exceeded projected income and savings, delivering environmental benefits alongside reduced operating costs.

 

The Leader also highlighted improvements in council tax support processing times and provided additional context regarding long-term empty homes. Members noted that a significant proportion of empty properties were either actively being marketed for sale or rent, formed part of retirement housing stock, or were subject to probate or other transitional circumstances. It was further noted that officers continued to work proactively with owners to bring long-term empty properties back into use, supported by the Council Tax premium applied to qualifying empty homes.

 

Cabinet RESOLVED to note the overall progress on the Council's priorities and service performance for Quarter 4 of 2025/26 (January to March 2026).

Meeting: 29/06/2026 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 356)

356 Service Performance Report - Q4 2025/26 pdf icon PDF 689 KB

Purpose

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

 

Accountable Member

Councillor Mike Evemy, Leader of the Council

Report Author

Yemi Olu-Opaleye, Senior Performance Analyst

 

**Report to follow**

Additional documents:

Minutes:

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

 

The report was introduced by Councillor Mike Evemy, Leader of the Council and Gemma Moreing, Business Information, Performance & Improvement Manager.

 

In questioning and discussion, the following points were noted:

·         Council tax collection rules were set nationally. If a Direct Debit was missed, the system currently treats this as a loss of the right to pay by instalments, triggering recovery action. Officers encouraged anyone to contact the council early, before formal recovery letters are issued.  Government was consulting on changes to this process and has indicated plans to extend the time before enforcement action was triggered.

·         The council did not use a single organisation-wide system for performance improvement; instead, different services use a mix of approaches, with business partnering and dashboards used to monitor performance and support decision-making.  Local Government Reorganisation was expected to drive a more unified, service-user-focused approach to performance and improvement.

·         Land charges’ performance had been affected by staffing changes.  The service also depended heavily on other internal teams providing timely responses, and this was contributing to ongoing performance issues.

·         The rise in empty properties was recognised but not fully explained.  Officers continued to work on incentives and engagement through the relevant teams to reduce the number.

·         Empty properties were categorised by broad reasons (eg. probate or contact issues), but detailed reporting was restricted by data protection, with members suggesting a higher-level summary to improve transparency.

Recommendations to Cabinet

1.    Processing time for Land Charges: To inform the Cabinet of concerns regarding extended processing times for land charges and the impact on residents and businesses buying and selling properties in the district.

2.    Council Tax support applications: To commend officers on the improvement in processing time for council tax support applications.

3.    Empty Homes: To express concern regarding the growing number of empty homes in the district and seek information from officers on the actions that the Council is taking to address this problem, recognising that the powers available to the Council are limited.

 

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