Agenda item

Performance Monitoring for the Second Quarter of 2020-21.

Minutes:

Neal Barton, Policy and Performance Manager introduced the report, noting that the number of indicators at green is 84%, with 9% on amber and 7% red. He acknowledged that the current Covid pandemic has significantly impacted on the delivery of Council services in Quarter 1 and this continues into Quarter 2.

 

The Committee asked for additional information about the closure of the Early Intervention Project.  The Business Unit Leader for Community Services, Policy and Performance explained that the Early Intervention post had been redeployed to work on youth related projects connected to community safety, which had been highlighted as a need in the Strategic Intelligence Assessment.  The post is funded by the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner.

 

The Wellbeing service was discussed and likelihood of hitting the revised targets for interventions, given that social distancing had meant that face-to-face sessions were not possible.  It was noted that good progress had been made in switching to more telephone and virtual interventions and that reaching the revised annual target was feasible.  Public Health remain happy with progress on the service recovery.

The Committee asked about the additional responsibilities of Environmental Health in dealing with the pandemic. The Head of Regulatory Services updated on the service’s role in test and trace and pointed to the increase in service requests dealt with by Environmental Health shown in the report.  Additional staff resources had been allocated to the service financed by specific Government grants through the County Council.

 

The Land Charges service was discussed and the increase in demand for searches given the extremely busy property market.  The Head of Regulatory Services provided assurances that searches were being completed within 7 days and therefore were not delaying property transactions.  Additional income was being received by the Council, which would be reflected in the next budget monitoring report.

 

The Committee asked about the prosperity of the Orchards Shopping Centre, given the figures for collection of rents and footfall.  The Head of Corporate Resources updated on engagement with tenants on rent repayments.  There had been some bounce bank in shopping at the Orchards, with additional use of click and collect and potential interest in the letting of vacant units.

Progress with the provision of electric vehicle charging points in the District was discussed and concerns about some downtimes for the operation of the existing points.  It was noted that the Council had just awarded a contract for the provision of EVCPs in the Council’s car parks. The Business Leader for Community Services, Policy and Performance agreed to provide a written response on the usage of charging points at Hazelgrove Road and Chequer Mead.

 

Members noted that the HR figures remained positive despite the current pandemic, and were pleased to note the number of compliments received.

 

Discussion was held around the speed of processing revenue and benefit claims, and the percentage of rent being collected, including what deferral options may be available during the pandemic and current lockdown. The funding for temporary housing was discussed and Members also sought future updates on the metrics for car park utilisation levels, composition of litter (in terms of the amount of discarded PPE equipment) and household waste levels.

 

The Chairman took Members to the recommendations contained in the report, which were agreed.

 

RESOLVED

 

The Committee:

(i) Noted the Council’s performance and progress with Council Priority

Projects in the second quarter of the year and identified areas where

further reporting or information is required;

 

(ii) Agreed to advise the Cabinet of any issues that the Committee considers should

be given particular consideration at the Cabinet meeting on 23rd November 2020.

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