Agenda item

Neal Barton, Policy, Performance and Partnerships Manager introduced the report noting that 71% of indicators shown are at green and therefore meeting target. It was noted that this report reflects continuing impacts of the pandemic as restrictions only started to be lifted after the end of this quarter. He drew Members attention to extra areas of work as a result of the pandemic, particularly an increase in Covid-compliant inspections carried out by Environmental Health, an increase in people placed in temporary accommodation, and extra business grants issued by the Revenues and Benefit Teams. He noted that there are no updates on priority projects in this report as there are no current projects listed in the Corporate Plan. Projects that are ongoing will be updated through reports to individual Scrutiny Committees, Cabinet reports and the Member Information Service.

The Chairman thanked Cllr Anne Eves for pre submitting questions which helps Officers in providing answers for the meeting.

Discussion was held on the key performance indicators for electric charging points to ensure they capture meaningful data. The Business Unit Leader for Community Services, Policy and Performance confirmed that there is an opportunity to review the KPI’s as a result of the contract awarded in partnership with West Sussex County Council. A range of KPI’s will be reported on a regular basis including operational uptime, turnaround times for repairs and usage.

Members discussed the traffic light system for the performance report. It was confirmed that indicators will show red if it is felt that the target will not be reachable by year end, and any amber and red indicators will have accompanying reasons.  Some indicators did not have targets to reflect where the Government had dictated action nationwide, particularly regarding the closure of leisure centres and increase in temporary accommodation requirements. Members expressed a wish to look at long term trends in areas such as temporary accommodation and footfall in leisure centres, to see comparisons over time.  It was agreed that this would be considered as part of the reporting options available to the committee for future meetings.

Members discussed statistics relating to waste and fly tipping. The increase in the amount of waste taken to landfill reflects a national trend as result of the pandemic where commercial waste moved to domestic waste as people were furloughed and more people were required to work at home. It was confirmed that there are prescribed standards for street cleaning across both towns and rural areas, with an inspection of a cross section of each area taking place every 3 months. With regards to fly-tipping, the number of fly tips is pro-actively measured as a statutory requirement for the Government. Consideration can be given to adding these targets back into the performance report at the next KPI review. It was requested by Members that more consideration be given on the subject, including the ability to issue enforcement notices. This falls under the portfolio of the Cabinet Member for Environment and Service Delivery and could be considered by the Scrutiny Committee for Community, Customer Service and Service Delivery.

Discussion was also held on the compliments received for the Play Days and customer satisfaction figures. It was confirmed that the Council records customer data across all communication channels and reviews the information to shape improvements in the way that information is shared and to improve customer transactions.

Members also discussed the targets relating to building control and planning enforcement and a request was made to include information on the number of enforcement notices issued verses successful prosecution in the year-end report.

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

RESOLVED

The Committee:

(i)         Noted the Council’s performance in the first quarter of the year and identified any 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 18th October 2021 being year on year trend analysis and a further look at fly tipping.