Issue - meetings

The Committee gave consideration to the Progress and Delivery Report for period four of the 2018/19 civic year. The Senior Performance Officer explained it was a report of exceptions, that was to say, the report covered areas that were above or below target and did not detail the areas that were on target. She explained that the report was seen by both policy committees and Members were provided with the minutes from those committees. The Senior Performance Officer highlighted a couple of areas for Members, specifically Trinity Arts Centre which had shown particularly good service over the past 12 months and Waste Collection Services which were above target in all areas. She also highlighted the Home Choices service as an area of concern but explained that there had been a performance workshop held, the results of which, including the action plan, would be covered in the period one report for the 2019/20 civic year.

The Chairman invited comments from the Committee and there was significant discussion regarding the areas that were under-performing over two or more periods. The Chairman suggested it was important for the performance measures to accurately reflect the day to day functioning of each service. She gave an example that the number of paid for market stalls might not always match with the number of active market stalls. It was also noted that targets had to be realistic to ensure a service was not consistently shown as under- or over- performing simply because the target was unrealistic.

The Senior Performance Officer reiterated that this was the final report for the previous year and confirmed that performance measures had been reviewed. These would be reflected in the first period report which would be seen by the Committee at the September meeting. The Monitoring Officer highlighted that the purpose for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was to review whether the two policy committees had given sufficient challenge to the data within the report and whether it was felt there were other areas to be addressed.

There was further discussion regarding the services highlighted by the policy committees, such as the Home Choices Team, and the Senior Performance Officer confirmed that the details for the action plan for this service would be included in the next report. The Monitoring Officer commented that there had been legislative changes in some areas, which had understandably had an impact on teams’ performance, however the updated performance measures had now taken those changes into account and performance would be measured more accurately against the amended legislation from period one onwards.

The Chairman read aloud the recommendation from the report and with no further comment it was

RESOLVED that Members be assured that suitable challenge had been made by both policy committees to the information contained within the report.

Members considered a report on progress and delivery for period 4, 2018/19.

This report looked at how services were performing against key performance indicators.  It revealed that 36% of indicators were exceeding their target, 48% were meeting their target, and 16% were below their target.

The following points were highlighted:

·         A number of areas started the year below target and ended there too.  There had been no upward shift in homelessness prevention, or the time taken to resolve housing enforcement.  Community safety had moved from an amber target to a red target at month’s end;

·         For the first 2019/20 report there would be new performance measures. A performance workshop had taken place for enforcement; it was felt that the measures being used for this report were not reflective of the service;

·         The Home Choices Manager was due to come to the next Corporate Policy and Resources meeting to give more information on their department;

·         Markets was a volatile area, and the success or failure of it was reliant on the stallholders.  A markets appraisal was underway;

·         In some cases it was taking over 8 months to complete the process of Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs).  A new county-wide framework was being put in place from July 2019, combined with the six other districts in Lincolnshire.  The current arrangement for DFGs had 8 suppliers; the new framework would have 28 suppliers;

·         There had previously been a policy of renovating long-term empty properties and bringing them back into use; however this was a very costly process.  The approach now was to make available grants and aids for landlords.  There had currently not been a high level of appetite for these grants;

·         The targets set in the progress and delivery report go through a robust process.  The targets were subject to scrutiny from the Performance and Programmes Team, the Executive Directors of Resources and Operations, as well as the teams involved in the work;

·         Members were also consulted for their comments on the targets being set;

·         The figures used in the report regarding market stalls on a Saturday were an average for a three month period.  This took into account the number of stalls that were paid for; there would be occasions where stalls had been paid for but the stallholder was not present on a Saturday.  There were also some stallholders that paid for several pitches; this could appear to some as one stall, when it fact it was several.

RESOLVED to note the report.

Members gave consideration to a report which assessed the performance of the Council’s services through agreed performance measures, as at the end of Period 4.    Members were asked to review performance and recommend areas where improvements should be made, having regard to any remedial measures already included within the report.

The report summary was structured to highlight those areas that were performing above expectations, and those areas where there was a risk to either performance or delivery.

Section 2 of the Executive Summary included comparison tables showing a summary of performance across the four periods to-date, as well as the direction of travel over the four periods.  These were brought to Members’ attention.

Areas described as performing well included:

*           Trinity Arts Centre

*           Waste Collection

Those areas described as risks included:

*           Home Choices

*           Local Land Charges

*           Housing

Further information was given on each of the above.

Debate ensued and with regard to the Trinity Arts Centre Members sought assurance that the targets set were stretching.  Officers advised that in 2011/12 the Centre had been struggling, however since that time there had been a continuous improvement plan in place and the Centre had improved year on year.  The targets had also been reviewed each year and “stretched” accordingly.

Several concurred with this view and spoke of the major changes and improvements which had been realised, praising the new centre manager. 

It was also confirmed the Centre was losing less money. Closing the Centre would have cost the authority in the region of £80k and therefore if losses were less than £80k the Centre was in effect in profit.

Officers undertook to provide Members with information detailing the current level of subsidy in respect of the Centre.

In response to comments regarding the Director of Travel table contained within the Executive Summary, the Executive Director of Operations confirmed that the report format would be improved for 2019/20.

Making reference to Markets, some Members questioned the figures stated as too high in light of the fact that often on a Saturday there was no more than three or four stalls.

In response the Executive Director of Operations advised that the figures related to the number of stalls paid for and it could be that a trader pays for a stall but then does not trade.  Markets had been in decline for a considerable period and a lot of soul searching had taken place as to how the situation could be reversed.  An improvement plan was in place.  The Council was working closely with Marshall’s Yard to further promote the Markets, the re-location of the Farmers Market was part of this programme.  A number of operational changes had also been made to reduce costs and make trading more attractive and easier.

Clarity was sought and provided in respect of the data relating to Council Tax and Business rate collection rates, and it was clarified how more money could be collected whilst the collection rate had fallen.  Officers advised that benchmarking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7