Agenda item - Progress update Corporate Key Performance Indicators Q2 2018-19

Report of the Executive Lead Strategy Governance & Law (copy attached)

RESOLVED: That the Committee reviewed progress in relation to Corporate KPIs, particularly the corrective measures outlined for ‘red’ and ‘amber’ indicators and provide ongoing support and challenge to lead officers to bring performance back on track.

83.1                The Committee considered the report of the Executive Lead Officer, Strategy Governance & Law, which set out the performance progress for the period 1 April 2018 to 30 September 2018 in relation to Corporate Key Performance Indicators. The report was introduced by the Chief Executive.

83.2                Councillor Sykes said that recycling rates had increased and asked how much of that was dry recycling. He noted that some waste went to anaerobic digestion, and asked for more information on that. He noted that there had been some issues with missed collections and one of the reasons given was that the fleet was too large to access some narrow streets, and felt that the Council should know the width of the city’s streets. He referred to Purchase Orders and was concerned that the performance was declining, and that the Council was taking longer to pay suppliers and asked if that was a concern. The Executive Director Economy Environment & Culture responded to the issues of refuse collection and said that there had been some problems with access to some roads, and that was being addressed with the use of smaller vehicles. He added that since September 2018 the collection rates had improved. With regard to the increase in residual waste, dry recycling and anaerobic digestion he said that he didn’t have that information and would need to get back to Councillor Sykes after the meeting. The Executive Director Finance & Resources responded to the issue of Purchase Orders and said that prompt payment had dipped slightly but that it was still at 92.61%, and so was not a concern.

83.3                Councillor Wealls referred to the performance of the Planning Department and noted that the speed of determining applications for non-major developments had reduced, which was a result of a number of factors one of which was that two Principal Planning Officer posts were vacant and said that the issues with staff recruitment seemed to be on-going. The Chief Executive said that there was an issue of pay and retaining staff, and as budgets had reduced so had the number of people working within Planning. He said the Council did pay a market supplement, but it was now necessary to review pay across the board and a decision would need to be made on that and discussions had with trade unions. If salaries were increased it would have a knock on impact on the number of staff overall. The Executive Director Economy Environment & Culture said that although the rate for determining applications for non-major developments had reduced, it was currently at 77.01% which was above the Government target of 70%.

83.4                Councillor Janio referred to the level of missed refuse collections, and noted that a new Assistant Director was in place and hoped that the level would improve.  He referred to the reduction of the number of children in care, and thanked the Director for Families, Children & Learning and his team for their work.

83.5                Councillor Mitchell said that recycling levels had gone above 30%, which was the highest percentage in the Council’s history. With regard to missed collections, the Committee were reminded that Cityclean undertook 45,000 collections per week, and only 94 were missed.

83.6                Councillor Meadows said that there was a small team working on empty properties, and was pleased to note that 150 houses had been brought back into use.

83.7                RESOLVED: That the Committee reviewed progress in relation to Corporate KPIs, particularly the corrective measures outlined for ‘red’ and ‘amber’ indicators and provide ongoing support and challenge to lead officers to bring performance back on track.