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MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

 

CABINET

 

8 JUNE 2011

 

REPORT OF HEAD OF CHANGE & SCRUTINY

 

Report prepared by Clare Wood 

 

 

1.           END OF YEAR PERFORMANCE REPORT 2010/11

 

1.1        Issue for Decision

 

1.1.1   To consider the draft out-turn results for 2010/11.

 

1.2        Recommendation of Head of Change & Scrutiny

 

1.2.1   It is recommended that Cabinet:

 

a)   Agree the Performance Out-turns for 2011-15 at Appendix A for inclusion with the Annual Report;

 

                     i.        Note the performance out-turns and narrative for 2010/11 (page 5); and

 

                    ii.        Note the areas where data has not been provided as requested (KPI 013 and 050) or is currently unavailable; and

 

b)   Decide if any further action is required.

 

 

1.3        Alternative Action and why not Recommended

 

1.3.1  Having a comprehensive and relevant set of performance targets is vital to ensure that the Council delivers the priorities and outcomes set for the next four years.  It is important to look at these measures and set targets that reflect the Council’s overall aim of continuous improvement.

 

1.3.2  During 2010 the Government abolished the National Indicators (NIs) set as part of its programme on reducing the data burden for local government. This year we have reduced the number of outcomes in the Strategic Plan and the number of performance indicators in line with the message from central government and to allow focus on priority areas.

 

1.3.3  Previously the Local Authority had a duty to produce a Best Value  Performance Plan setting out the annual out-turns for all performance indicators and  targets for the next three years. In 2009 this duty was removed it is still considered best practice to produced an annual performance report as well as set and publish targets for the next three years.

 

1.4        Performance Out-turns 2010/11

 

1.4.1   From 2009 Cabinet have received quarterly monitoring reports with year to date information. This level of detail is now included in the annual performance report to allow trends and fluctuations in data to be seen.

 

1.4.2   As the Annual Performance Out-turn (Appendix A) is a backward look at how we have achieved against the targets set it is proposed that they are published as part of the Annual Report.

 

1.4.3   Not all the performance indicators from 2010/11 were retained for 2011-15 details of deleted indicators are available at Appendix E.

 

1.4.4   Overall 66% of all indicators achieved the targets set for 2010/11 and 54% of all indicators have improved, with 18% just missing their target. Last year 75% of the targets were met and 58% of all indicators improved. In terms of priority themes performance has been strong for the Strong, healthy and safe communities theme but weaker in Clean and green. It is clear that the economic climate and service changes have impacted on performance for example there have been lower numbers of planning applications received and the introduction of a food waste collection service has created changes to service which have resulted in an initial decline in performance.

 

1.5        Performance Summary

 

1.5.1   Performance against target

 

Performance against target	On Target	Missed target (within 10%)	Target not achieved	N/A[1]	Total
Achieve, prosper and thrive	7 (64%)	3 (27%)	1 (9%)	2	13
Clean and green	7 (46.6%)	4 (26.6%)	4 (26.6%)	2	17
Strong, healthy and safe communities	5 (83%)	1 (16%)	0	0	6
Live and enjoy	17 (77%)	2 (9%)	3 (14%)	0	22
Efficient and effective public services	16 (64%)	4 (16%)	5 (20%)	3	28
Total	52 (66%)	14 (18%)	13 (16%)	7	86

 

 

 

 

 

1.5.2   Direction of Travel

 

Direction of Travel	Improved	Sustained	Declined	N/A	Total
Achieve, prosper and thrive	6 (66%)	0	3 (33%)	4	13
Clean and green	5 (38%)	3 (23%)	5 (38%)	4	17
Strong, healthy and safe communities	3 (50%)	1 (16.6%)	2 (33.3%)	0	6
Live and enjoy	9 (45%)	0	11 (55%)	2	22
Efficient and effective public services	17 (65%)	0	9 (35%)	2	28
Total	40 (54%)	4 (5%)	30 (40.5%)	12	86

 

Strong performance

 

1.5.3   Unemployment rate is down from 2.7% at quarter 4 last year to 2.4% (KPI 006). A baseline has been set for vacant retail units at 13.25% and the Council is aiming to reduce this to 12.25% for 2011/12 (KPI 008).

 

1.5.4   Housing has performed strongly throughout 2010/11. The number of households in temporary accommodation (NI 154), the number of households prevented from becoming homeless through intervention (KPI 009), the number of people helped through the staying put partnership (KPI 010) and the number of homes occupied by vulnerable people made decent (KPI 011) all exceeded the annual targets. There was an increase of 490% in the number of people helped through the Staying put Partnership. Changes were made to expand the programme in 2010, the large increase coupled with only slightly lower figures for households in temporary accommodation compared to this point in 2010 illustrates that the impact of the recession is still being felt by Maidstone’s residents.

 

1.5.5   The indicators relating to key objective 15: Encourage more adults and to participate in sport have all achieved target. There was a 20% increase in take-up of council funded activities provided through Sports and Play (KPI 034). Satisfaction with the leisure centre (KPI 035) increased from 52% in 2009/10 to 60.8% for 2010/11 and the number of users at the leisure centre (KPI 036) has increased by 18%.

 

1.5.6   Planning performed well in 2010/11 with five out the seven indicators under objective 20: Improve the quality of the built environment including protecting the borough’s heritage and ensure new buildings are well designed achieving the annual target. In relation to ensuring good design 93.75% of major planning applications had pre-application discussions (KPI 047). On protecting heritage 29.27% of conservation areas have up to date character appraisals (BV 219b) and 80.65% of planning enforcement cases were signed off within 21 days (KPI 046).

 

1.5.7   Revenues and Benefits have performed well for 2010/11. The collection rates for Council tax (BV 009) and National Non-domestic rates have both achieved target and improved slightly since last year. The fraud partnership identified over a million pounds of fraud an increase of 120%. The team also reduced the time taken to process housing benefit/council tax benefit new claims and change of events by over a day giving an annual result of 7.66 days.

 

1.5.8   Corporately, the number of day lost to sickness absence (BV 012) has improved and for 2010/11 averages 6.22 days per employee.  The introduction of invoice manager has helped increase the percentage of invoices processed within 30 days (BV 008).

 

Weak performance

 

1.5.9   Performance indicators related to key objective ten: Reduce the amount of waste produced by local people and increase the proportion of waste reused or recycled have struggled to achieve the annual targets set this year. The roll out of the food waste collections has increased the number of missed bins (BV 88) for the last quarter which has resulted in the annual target not being achieved. The food waste collection and the recycling collections have helped reduce the amount of residual household waste (NI 191) by 2.5% and increase the amount of waste recycled (NI 192) by 2.5% however these changes are lower than predicted and both indicators have marginally missed the annual target.

 

1.5.10                Looking ahead to 2011/12 the Council is keen to improve customer satisfaction and recognizes the importance of improving complaint handling. Satisfaction with complaint handling (KPI 051) dropped from 55.25% (2009/10) to just 26.53% (2010/11) and although rated as amber the percentage of complaints resolved within timescales (KPI 052) dropped from 98% to 90.03%. During 2011 a new correspondence system will be introduced which should help improve the tracking and monitoring of complaints. The Head of Change and Scrutiny will also be taking an action plan to Standards Committee for improving satisfaction including training for staff, revising and updating the policy and monitoring responses.

 

1.5.11                There has been a 15% decrease in the number of people visiting parks and open spaces measured by footfall compared to 2009/10 (KPI 015). This could be due to a number of variables such as weather. Footfall in quarter 1 was unexpectedly low compared to previous years, 32% down on the 2009/10 figures for quarter 1.

 

1.5.12                Of the six indicators relating to key objective seven: Maintain a clean and pleasant environment for people who live and visit the borough, three have not achieved the annual target. Satisfaction with street cleansing (KPI 019) has declined by 2% since 2009/10 resulting in the annual target being marginally missed. Environmental cleanliness –litter (NI 195a) also missed the annual target and declined during 2010/11, cleanliness has declined and this has been noticed by residents as demonstrated by satisfaction scores. Fly-tipping (NI 196) also failed to achieve the annual target but is moving in the right direction from ‘Not effective’ in 2009/10 to ‘Effective’ for 2010/11.

 

1.5.13                Overall, the Revenues and Benefits section has performed well during 2010/11. However, two indicators have marginally missed their annual targets; satisfaction with the benefits service (KPI 055) and the percentage of benefit claims calculated correctly (KPI 056). Although the satisfaction rate remains high, performance has dropped from 96% to 93.42%. Analysis of the survey results shows that there has been an increase in the number of respondents stating that they are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with the service. The percentage of claims calculated correctly has also marginally missed the target. A high priority is given to ensuring the accuracy of benefit decisions and regular feedback is provided to staff.

 

1.5.14                Performance for some areas of the Museum is also down but to be expected as 40% of the building was closed due to the East Wing refurbishment. Usages (KPI 037) are down 10% to 722.5 visits per 1,000 population and only £51,820 was raised during 2010/11 against the target of £330,000. Council officers are still actively seeking external funding.

 

1.6        Data Quality

 

1.6.1   The Council’s Data Quality Policy which has been updated for 2011-15 to take into account the changes in service planning, reporting of NIs and BVPIs. The policy was previously reviewed and published as part of the Best Value Performance Plan, it will now go to Cabinet in July as a Policy Framework Document.

 

1.7        Impact on Corporate Objectives

 

1.7.1   The Key Performance Indicators are part of the Council’s overarching Strategic Plan 2011-15 and play an important role in the achievement of corporate objectives. Other Performance Indicators cover a wide range of service and priority areas for example waste and recycling, customer contact, planning and costs.

 

1.8        Risk Management

 

1.8.1   The production of a robust performance plan contributes to minimising risks, good data quality and improving use of resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.9        Other Implications

1.9.1    

1.            Financial	X
2.           Staffing	X
3.           Legal
4.           Equality Impact Needs Assessment
5.           Environmental/Sustainable Development	X
6.           Community Safety	X
7.           Human Rights Act
8.           Procurement	X
9.           Asset Management

 

         Financial

 

1.9.2   Performance targets are closely linked to the allocation of resources and determining good value for money.

 

1.9.3   The financial implications of any proposed changes are also identified and taken into account in the Council’s budget setting process with issues highlighted as part of the budget monitoring reporting process.

 

Staffing

 

1.9.4   Having a clear set of targets enables staff outcomes/objectives to be set and effective action plans to be put in place.

 

Environmental/Sustainable Development, Community Safety and Procurement

 

1.9.5   The performance indicators cover and are used to monitor a number of priority areas.

 

1.10    Relevant Documents

 

·         Strategic Plan 2011-15

·         Performance Plan 2010-13

 

 

 

1.10.1                Appendices

 

·         Annual Performance Report 2010/11

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IS THIS A KEY DECISION REPORT? X     Yes                                               No     If yes, when did it first appear in the Forward Plan?   December 2010 ..     This is a Key Decision because: ..   .       Wards/Parishes affected: ..   ..