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APPENDIX 3

ERL: Part B – 2021/2022 End of Year Outturn

A Thriving Place

Annual Performance of KPIs

Notes

·         Direction of travel for targeted performance indicators shows if performance has improved or declined. For data only performance indicators direction of travel shows if there has been an increase or decrease in volume.

·         Date for ‘Customer satisfaction with the Hazlitt’ has not been collected for Q1 and Q2 as the theatre was closed in the period due to the pandemic restrictions.

Summary of 2021/22 year

Comments from the Regeneration and Economic Development Manager:

The outbreak of COVID-19 had a significant effect on the Borough’s economy which is still being felt today.

At its height unemployment rose from 2.2% in March 2020 to 5.5% in May 2020, with March 2022 figures falling to 3.5% but still higher than pre-pandemic figures and the beginning of 2021/2022. There are wards with higher unemployment levels such as High Street ward (8.0%), Parkwood (5.4%) and Shepway South (5.3%). Youth unemployment is 5.6%. With a quarter of Maidstone residents being furloughed the predicted steep rise in unemployment levels once the scheme ended in September 2021 has not been seen yet.

The impact on individual business sectors has varied significantly but still remains higher in retail and hospitality. This is as customer spend patterns and behaviour changed over the pandemic to reflect the closure restrictions, with a rise in internet sales and continues as people’s confidence to return to the high street returns to the ‘new normal’. This may also be related to the early effects of the rise in living costs and peoples spending priorities. This is reflected in the town centre footfall figures which are improving but have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels. These sectors are also most affected by vacant employment positions as people who traditionally worked in these sectors found new jobs and careers due to Covid closure restrictions making it harder to recruit.

“Percentage of vacant retail units in the town centre” indicators saw an improvement for 2021/22 against last year (18.02% down to 15.6%), however, the indicator still falls short of pre-pandemic figures (12.9% in 2019). The data for this indicator is collated from a survey of the town centre carried out by One Maidstone on our behalf and fed into a national survey by our partner Springboard.

Comments from Leisure Manager:

The total figure for “Number of users at the Leisure Centre” in 2021/22 is 275,096, which is 43% of the annual target figure. In the last year prior to the full pandemic (2019/20), the Centre achieved 94% of the target for customer numbers.

The operator describes an ongoing, but improving, challenging period for staff recruitment and there are several vacancies, most notably in the typically busy wet-side services where lifeguard availability is limited nationally. Swim memberships are down, possibly due to a lesser service being available due to staff shortages and the operator is actively recruiting new staff and providing the necessary training courses for them on site. As these staff numbers increase so can the pool capacity to its maximum of 200. The operator has reviewed its pay structure for many operational staff and this will be implemented from April 2022 and should increase interest in applications for vacancies.

There has been an increase in customers booking holiday parties as consumer confidence increases post-Covid; there is currently an average of 25 parties booked per month compared to the pre-Covid average of 40 per month.