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MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

 

CABINET

 

08 FEBRUARY 2012

 

REPORT OF THE POLICY AND PERFORMANCE MANAGER

 

Report prepared by Clare Wood and Ryan O’Connell 

 

 

1.           QUARTER 3 KPI REPORT 2011/12

 

1.1        Issue for Decision

 

1.1.1   Cabinet are asked to consider progress made in the third quarter of 2011/12 for the authority’s key performance indicators (KPIs) at Appendix A.

 

1.2        Recommendation of Policy Manager

        

1.2.1   It is recommended that Cabinet

 

a)   Note the progress and out-turns of the Key Performance Indicators (Appendix A), definitions are included for reference at Appendix B; and

                                              

b)   Agree action to be taken where appropriate.

 

1.3        Reasons for Recommendation

 

1.3.1   The Council has set 59 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), as part of the Strategic Plan 2011-15; there are 24 indicators that can be monitored on at the third quarter point to ensure the Council is on track to meet its annual performance targets.

 

1.3.2   The Council’s quarterly performance reporting cycle is aligned with financial reporting to enable Management and Cabinet to effectively oversee financial performance against corporate priorities and assess whether value for money is being achieved in the delivery of services.

 

1.4        Context

 

1.4.1   The Key Performance Indicators which are set in the Strategic Plan were reviewed and reduced last year by the Cabinet and we will continue to review these annually to ensure that they are aligned with the Council’s priorities. When setting targets for performance indicators service managers are asked to consider any impacts on performance. Despite a budget reduction of 1.9 million continuous improvement is still expected.

 

1.5        Performance Summary

 

1.5.1   The appendix shows out-turn data for all indicators that can be collected quarterly.  Some indicators are collected annually and bi-annually; these indicators have not been included in this report.

 

1.5.2   Where an indicator is new and there is no quarterly or bi-annual 2010/11 data, no direction of travel can be given. The direction of travel for pre-existing indicators compares the current out-turn for quarter 3 with the 2010/11 quarter 3 out-turn. 

 

1.5.3   The following tables show the status of performance indicators in relation to target and direction of travel.

 

	Green	Yellow	Red	N/A[1]	Total
KPIs	11 (55%)	8 (40%)	1 (5%)	4	24

 

	Improved	Declined	N/AΉ	Total
KPIs	2 (15%)	11 (85%)	11	24

 

 

1.5.4   The following graph shows the expected outcome of the performance indicators based on the information available to date. Managers are asked to update this each quarter so that early intervention can be taken where necessary. 

 

1.5.5   In 2010/11 at the quarter 3 point there were 57% indicators rated green, 40% were rated yellow and 19% were red. Performance to date for this year could be considered improved as there are currently only 4% of all KPIS have been rated red, though this could also be due to managers setting more realistic targets. Overall 85% of all targets are expected to be achieved or exceeded for 2011/12 compared to 63% for quarter 3 in 2010/11, it should be noted that in 2010/11 at quarter 3, 10 (20%) indicators were expected not to meet their annual targets, currently all indicators are expected to achieve 90% of the annual target.

 

Highlighted Performance Indicators

 

1.5.6   LVE 002 – Percentage of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance – The provisional figure for the 3^rd quarter shows a slight increase (negative performance) though the indicator has been predicted to meet its targets this now represents 3 quarters that have not met target making meeting the target difficult especially as this is a target where any impact the council has is unlikely to be apparent in the short term.  Please note, the figures provided are provisional until the end of January when they will be updated.

 

1.5.7   DCV 003 – Percentage of residential planning applications processed within statutory timescales – All 3 quarters have missed target meaning that the target will at best be slightly missed (within 10%) with good quarter 4 performance.  Reasons given for this are the recurring issues of the length of time to draft Legal Agreements and the time taken to process applications through the committee process versus a low number of major applications overall.

 

1.5.8   MUS/LVE 011 – Visits or uses of the museum per 1,000 population – Whilst the 3^rd quarter achieved above target the impact of a low performing 1^st quarter (due to museum extension works) means that this target is now predicted to slightly miss its annual target.   With the full opening in March 2012 it is predicted that performance for 2012/13 will improve and a good 1^st quarter for 2012/13 is predicted.

 

1.5.9   WCN 001 – Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting – This indicator remains on course for being on annual target.  To support this a qualitative indicator of the waste and recycling service will be provided through the residents satisfaction survey with early indications pointing toward a high level of satisfaction with the service.

 

1.5.10                HSG 002 – Number of homes occupied by vulnerable people made decent – As predicted this target has now substantially exceeded its annual target by the end of the 3^rd quarter.

 

1.5.11                HSG 004 – Average time taken to process and notify applicants on the housing register – Performance remains very strong on this indicator, however, the figures have been updated for all quarters to reflect changes to the calculations to more accurately reflect performance.  The average time to date is therefore 4.1 days against a target of 20 days.

 

1.5.12                HSG 005 – Number of households prevented from becoming homeless through the intervention of housing advice - As predicted this target has now substantially exceeded its annual target by the end of the 3^rd quarter.

 

1.5.13                R&B 004 – Time taken to process Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit new claims and change events (NI 185) – Performance against this target continues to be very strong and has improved further in 3^rd quarter to 8 days.  This reflects well on the revenues and benefits partnership arrangements.

 

1.5.14                R&B 007 – Value of fraud identified by the fraud partnership – The target for this indicator in 2011/12 was reduced in order to allow for the fraud partnership to bed in.  However, the performance has substantially exceeded the reduced target and is on course to substantially exceed the previous year’s target of £891,450.  This year’s performance will be used to benchmark an indicator for 2012/13.

 

1.6        Alternative Action and why not Recommended

 

1.6.1   KPIs reflect local priorities and measure progress towards the Council’s key objectives.  They are the Council’s top level indicators and are linked to the Council’s strategic plan.

 

1.6.2           Not monitoring progress against the KPIs could mean that the Council fails to deliver its priorities and would also mean that action could not be taken effectively to address performance during the year.

 

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 our corporate objectives as well as covering a wide range of service and priority areas; for example, waste and recycling.

 

1.8        Risk Management

 

1.8.1   The production of robust performance reports contributes to ensuring that the view of the authority’s approach to the management of risk and use of resources is not undermined and allows early action to be taken in order to mitigate the risk of not achieving targets and outcomes.

 

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
7.           Human Rights Act
8.           Procurement
9.           Asset Management

 

Financial

 

1.9.2   Performance targets are closely linked to the allocation of resources and are taken into account in the budget setting process, ensuring that resources are allocated in the most efficient and economic way.

 

1.9.3   The progress of performance indicators could have an effect on the authority’s savings and efficiency targets.

 

1.9.4   Considering progress against targets at this stage, and throughout the financial year, will identify potential areas of concern where intervention may be required.

 

Staffing

 

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

 

Legal

 

1.9.6   Failure to monitor performance indicators and set targets could impact on the authority’s governance arrangements.

 

Environmental/Sustainable Development

 

1.9.7   The performance indicators cover and are used to monitor progress in these areas.

 

1.10    Appendices

 

• Appendix A – Quarter 3 Key Performance Indicator Out-turns
• Appendix B – Key Performance Indicator definitions

 

1.10.1                Background Documents

 

• Strategic Plan 2011-15
• Report of the Head of Change & Scrutiny – Performance Indicator Targets 2011-15

 

 

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