Issue - meetings

Members gave consideration to the final quarterly report for Progress and Delivery for 2020/21. The Assistant Director for Finance, Business Support & Property Services provided a summary of each section, with Members invited to ask questions per portfolio.

Members heard the following summary.

Executive Summary

• Report presented performance for quarter 4 (Jan-Mar)
• Summary of year-end performance was attached as Appendix A for information
• 59% of KPIs were on or above target for quarter 4
• 38% of KPIs were below target
• The remaining 3% were within agreed tolerance levels

Corporate Health

• Customer satisfaction had improved and was now back on target. The number of complaints had also reduced by 16%.
• Calls answered within 21 seconds remained below target. This was a combination of higher than usual demand, call handling staff being affected by closure of schools and the team temporarily taking on responsibility for administering Land Charges calls and payments. The Customer Experience Strategy was currently being reviewed and this would include call handling times to ensure performance improvements.

Finance and Property Services

• No performance concerns within this portfolio

Homes and Communities

• Demand for homelessness support continued to increase during quarter 4. The Protect Plus and cold weather initiatives, designed to end rough sleeping led to an increased use of B&B accommodation to ensure that nobody slept rough in the district.
• The Council’s partners (P3), were releasing 6 new accommodation units in quarter one to support people with a history of street homelessness as part of the Next Steps Accommodation Programme. This was in addition to the Council’s Viable Housing Solution and should lead to a reduction in the need for B&B accommodation. Following queries raised at Prosperous Communities Committee, the Change and Performance Officer would circulate additional information to members following the conclusion of this committee meeting. 
• As detailed in previous P&D reports, DFG completion times remained impacted by the initial lockdown in March 2020, which added 90 days to the average completion time. This was due to a combination of not being able to access customers’ homes to complete the work in the first lockdown, plus a national shortage of building materials. Larger and more complex cases had now been completed and, as of the meeting date, there were 115 DFGs ongoing which was comparable to pre-COVID levels. The service therefore had high confidence that completion times would improve significantly by the end of quarter two. In future, P&D reports would include data on the average number of days from receipt of a completed DFG application until completion of works, which was the period of time that West Lindsey had full control over performance. This would be provided in addition to existing KPIs.

Operational and Commercial Services

• Building Control market share was now back above target, having been below target in the previous quarter. Market share was also up 8% on the same period last year.
• Garden waste had had a strong start to its new year with a 4.7% increase in subscription take-up on last  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7

Members gave consideration to the Progress and Delivery report for quarter four of the 2020-21 financial year. The Assistant Director, Commercial and Operational Services, summarised the highlights of the report per portfolio. Members heard that the report presented performance for quarter four (January to March 2021) and a summary of the year-end performance was attached as Appendix A for information. Of note, 59% of KPIs were on or above target for the quarter, 38% of KPIs were below target and the remaining 3% were within agreed tolerance levels.

In considering the report in relation to Corporate Health, it was explained that customer satisfaction had improved and was now back on target. The number of complaints had also reduced by 16%. Calls were being answered within 21 seconds, remaining below target. A combination of higher than usual demand, call handling staff being affected by closure of schools and the team temporarily taking on responsibility for administering Land Charges calls and payments had had an impact. The Customer Experience Strategy was being reviewed and would include call handling times to ensure performance improvements.

There were no performance concerns within the Finance and Property Services portfolio.

Members heard that, within the Homes and Communities portfolio, demand for homelessness support had continued to increase during the quarter. The Protect Plus and cold weather initiatives, designed to end rough sleeping had led to an increased use of B&B accommodation to ensure that nobody slept rough in the district. The Council’s partners (P3), were releasing six new accommodation units in quarter one to support people with a history of street homelessness. This was in addition to the Council’s Viable Housing Solution and should lead to a reduction in the need for B&B accommodation. As detailed in previous P&D reports, DFG completion times remained impacted by the initial lockdown in March 2020, which added 90 days to the average completion time. Larger and more complex cases had now been completed and a reduction in completion times was expected during the first half of 2021/22.

In relation to Operational and Commercial Services, it was explained that the Building Control market share was now back above target, having been below target in the previous quarter. Market share was also up 8% on the same period last year. Garden waste had had a strong start to its new year with a 4.7% increase in subscription take-up on last year. This was the largest increase since the service was introduced. The number of garden waste bins sold was expected to exceed the target during quarter two. Operations at the leisure centres, and the Trinity Arts Centre continued to be severely impacted by a third lockdown during the whole of quarter four. The leisure centres re-opened on 12 April 2021 for gym, swim and squash. Dance classes resumed on 17 May, with virtual classes available as an option for members. No issues had been reported since re-opening and the Council maintained a stringent watch over the centres to ensure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5