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MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

 

CABINET

 

11 NOVEMBER 2009

 

REPORT OF THE POLICY & PERFORMANCE MANAGER

 

Report prepared by Clare Wood 

 

1.           QUARTER 2 PERFORMANCE REPORT 2009/10

 

1.1        Issue for Decision

 

1.1.1   Cabinet are asked to consider progress made in the second quarter of 2009/10 against the authority’s performance indicators.  Performance against Key Performance Indicators is shown at Appendix A, Local Performance Indicators at Appendix B, National Indicators that are available quarterly are available at Appendix C and National Indicator Out-turns for 2008/09 that have been released are at Appendix D.

 

1.2        Recommendation of the Policy and Performance Manager

 

1.2.1   It is recommended that Cabinet:

 

                       i.       Note the progress being made and agree action to be taken where appropriate;

                     ii.       Agree the targets for the next three years for the national indicators shown at Appendix D; and

 

1.3        Reasons for Recommendation

 

1.3.1   The Council has set 56 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as part of the Strategic Plan 2009-12 and agreed 36 supporting Local Performance Indicators (LPIs) as part of the Best Value Performance Plan 2009-12. These are monitored on a quarterly basis to ensure the Council is on track to meet its annual performance targets.

 

1.3.2   The Government introduced a national set of performance indicators known as National Indicators (NIs) as part of the new inspection framework from 2008/09. The majority of the data is now supplied by government offices, which means there is a delay in reporting the 2008/09 data. NI 2008/09 out-turns will be reported in quarterly performance reports as data is released.   

 

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

 

1.3.4   Key to appendices

 

Performance is
GREEN	On target and projected to meet annual target
AMBER	Within 10% variance and projected to meet the annual target
RED	Target not met and not projected to meet annual target

Performance has
	Improved
	Same/sustained
	Declined
	Direction of travel cannot be currently be assessed

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.4        Performance Summary

 

1.4.1   The appendices (A-C) show out-turn data for all indicators that can be collected quarterly.  As some KPIs and LPIs are collected bi-annually or annually, there are gaps in the indicator reference numbers. The data for the NIs is released at different times of the year will reported as released, data that has been made available in the quarter 2 period is attached at Appendix D.

 

	Green	Amber	Red	N/A	Annual	Total
KPIs	33(84.5%)	3(8%)	3(8%)	1	16	56
LPIs	19(63%)	5(17%)	6 (20%)	1	5	36
Total	49 (74%)	8(12%)	9(14%)	5	21	92

 

	Up	Across	Down	N/A	Annual	Total
KPIs	6(43%)	1(7%)	7(50%)	26	16	56
LPIs	12(60%)	2(10%)	6(30%)	11	5	36
Total	18(53%)	3 (9%)	13(38%)	37	21	92

 

N.B – N/A’s are not included in percent calculations & rounding anomalies can mean that when adding together percentage figures they do not total 100%.

 

1.4.2   Overall, 74% of performance indicators have been rated green (currently on target and projected to meet year-end target) and over half have improved since 2008/09. This is positive given the very challenging conditions created by the economic downturn, including greater demand for services and reduced income in a number of areas.

 

1.4.3   Where an indicator is new and there is no 2008/09 out-turn, or where an out-turn is a number rather than a rate or percentage, no direction of travel can be given. 

 

1.4.4   National top quartile 2007/08 information has been supplied for all indicators that used to be Best Value Performance Indicators (BVPIs).  Limited benchmarking data has been released for indicators that are also national indicators (NIs); these can be distinguished by the indicator reference number. These is currently the only benchmarking data available to the Council to use, but other methods of benchmarking are being investigated.

 

1.4.5   Data for five national indicators which can be reported quarterly is attached at Appendix C. All are on target and, of the four that can be given a direction of travel, all are improving.

 

1.5        Key Areas Where Performance is Strong

 

1.5.1   Performance continues to be strong in a number of the Council’s priority areas. 

 

1.5.2   On Housing 387 affordable homes (from all funding sources) are projected to be delivered by the end of the year, more than double the target.  Homeless preventions are above target, as are number of homes occupied by vulnerable people made decent and dealing with empty homes.  There has also been an improvement in disabled facilities grant processing times in the second quarter.

 

1.5.3   All of the performance indicators for Revenues and Benefits are on target.  Collection rates for Council Tax and NNDR are slightly below the levels in 2008/09, but this is to be expected in the current economic climate.  The Council is ensuring that help is available for those most in need: the time taken to process new Council Tax/Housing Benefit claims are still considerably lower than 2008/09 and well within target; which is particularly good performance due to the increase in the number of new claimants. 

 

1.5.4   The museum continues to perform well in terms of satisfaction levels, visitor numbers and providing opportunities for volunteering.

 

1.5.5   Satisfaction levels for refuse collection and the kerbside recycling service have increased since the levels recorded in the 2008/09 Place Survey.  Satisfaction levels with kerbside recycling have increased by around one third to 89%, showing the success of the new recycling scheme. 

 

1.5.6   Recorded crime in the borough continues to improve with over 500 less crimes recorded to date for this year; burglary, criminal damage, violent crime and vehicle car have had fewer reported incidents than for the same period last year. Fear of crime remains stable for daytime hours, there was a small improvement in the percentage of people feeling safe (while walking alone) after dark and there were fewer reported incidents of anti-social behavior during the second quarter.

 

1.6        Key areas where there are performance concerns

 

1.6.1   Park & Ride transactions and season tickets have continued to decline.  Both measures are not expected to meet the end of year targets.  This may reflect the impact of the recession on the service.

 

1.6.2    The on-going recession also seems to have affected ticket sales at the theatre; sales as a percentage of available seats is marginally below target and less than in 2008/09.  However, quarter three will include the Christmas season, which should boost ticket sales.

 

1.6.3   The number of users at the Leisure Centre is not predicted to hit the annual target because of the closures required for the refurbishment works, although user numbers in the second quarter increased when compared to the same period last year. The refurbishment should lead to increased users in the future.

 

1.6.4   Street cleansing satisfaction levels have not yet reached the same level as was reported through the Place Survey, but the out-turn for second quarter  was an improvement. 

 

1.6.5   Whilst satisfaction levels with services has been generally good across the Council, responding to customers generally is also an area where there are performance issues. Response time to complaints and the average wait time for calls to the contact centre have both not achieved the target, although targets are being met overall for the Gateway.  Satisfaction levels of those making complaints are good, but very few people are responding to the survey.

 

 

1.7        Performance by Priority

 

1.7.1   The key performance indicators and local performance indicators have been set out under the Council’s corporate priorities:

 

1.   A place to achieve, prosper and thrive

2.   A place that is clean and green

3.   A place which strong, healthy and safe communities

4.   A place to live and enjoy

5.   A place with efficient and effective public services

 

A place to achieve, prosper and thrive

 

1.7.2   There are 6 indicators relating to this priority.  All have been given a traffic light rating and all (100%) are green.

 

1.7.3   Direction of travel can be assessed for only one of the indicators for which performance has improved (100%).

 

A place that is clean and green

 

1.7.4   There are 13 indicators relating to this priority, but information is not available at quarter 2 for one indicator.  Of the 12 that have been given a traffic light rating:

·         7 (58%) are green;

·         2 (17%) are amber; and

·         3 (25%) are red.

 

1.7.5   Direction of travel can be assessed for 7 of the indicators:

·         5 (71%) have improved;

·         1 (14.5%) performance was sustained; and

·         1 (14.5%) has declined.

 

1.7.6   Indicators where performance is not on target are:

·         C 10 – Council’s water consumption in operational buildings  (Amber)

·         C 11 – Number of missed bins per 100,000 (Amber)

·         C 13– Number of on-board Park & Ride transactions (Red)

·         PI 5 – Satisfaction with Street Cleansing (Red)

·         PI 6 – Number of season tickets sold for Park & Ride (Red)

 

A place with strong, healthy and safe communities

 

1.7.7   There are 12 indicators relating to this priority.  Of the 12 that have been given a traffic light rating all (100%) are currently rated green.

 

1.7.8   A direction of travel can be assessed for 5 of the indicators:

 

·         4 (80%)have improved; and

·         1 (20%) performance was sustained.

 

A place to live and enjoy

 

1.7.9   There are 18 indicators relating to this priority.  Of the 17 that have been given a traffic light rating:

·         14 (82%) are green;

·         2 (12%) are amber; and

·         1 (6%) is red.

 

1.7.10   Direction of travel can be assessed for 6 of the indicators:

·         3 (50%) have improved; and

·         3 (50%) have declined.

 

1.7.11                 Indicators where performance is not on target are:

·         L 9 – Percentage of available tickets sold at the Hazlitt (Amber)

·         L 11 – Number of users at the leisure centre (Red)

·         PI 16 – Time taken to process disabled facilities grants (Amber)

 

A place with efficient and effective public services

 

1.7.12   There are 22 indicators relating to this priority.  Of the 22 that have been given a traffic light rating:

·         13 (59%) are green;

·         4 (18%) are amber; and

·         5 (23%) are red.

 

1.7.13   Direction of travel can be assessed for 15 of the indicators:

·         6 (40%) have improved;

·         1 (7%)performance has been sustained; and

·         8 (53%) have declined.

 

1.7.14   Indicators where performance is not on target are:

·         E 8 – Average wait time for calls to contact centre (Red)

·         PI 19 – Percentage of invoices paid within 30 days (Amber)

·         PI 20 – Proportion of working days lost to sickness absence per employee (Red)

·         PI 22 – Percentage of complaints resolved within the specified timescale (Red)

·         PI 23 – Value of bids made through the invest to save scheme (Amber)

·         PI 31 – Percentage of top 5% of earners who have a disability (Amber)

·         PI 33 – Ill health retirements as a percentage of the total workforce (Amber)

·         PI 34 – Percentage of disabled staff in the workforce (Red)

·         PI 35 – Percentage of staff from ethnic minorities in the workforce (Red)

1.8        National Indicators 2008/09 out-turns and targets

 

1.8.1   There are nine National Indicators (NIs) where data has been made available (Appendix D) since the last quarterly report. Of these, two are currently in the bottom quartile nationally.

·         NI 47 - People killed or seriously injured in road traffic accidents

·         NI 191 - Residual household waste per household

 

1.8.2   In addition there is a further indicator that is in the lower median nationally.     

·         NI 156 - Number of households living in Temporary Accommodation

 

1.8.3   Targets have not been set for all the national indicators as for some out-turn levels are not available or further discussion is required with partners and/or the Audit Commission.

 

1.9        Alternative Action and why not Recommended

 

1.9.1           Not monitoring progress against the indicators and especially the KPIs and LPIs 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.

 

1.10    Impact on Corporate Objectives

 

1.10.1         The Key Performance Indicators are part of the Council’s overarching Strategic Plan 2009-12 and play an important role in the achievement of our corporate objectives. National Indicator and Local Performance Indicators cover a wide range of service and priority areas; for example, waste and recycling.

 

1.11    Risk Management

 

1.11.1   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 objectives.

 

1.12        Other Implications

 

1.12.1                 

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

 

1.12.2   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.

 

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

 

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

 

Staffing

 

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

 

Legal

 

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

 

Environmental/Sustainable Development, Community Safety and Procurement

 

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

 

1.13        Background Documents

 

·         Strategic Plan 2009-12

·         Best Value Performance Plan 2009-12

·         Quarter 1 Performance Report 2009/10

 

NO REPORT WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT THIS BOX BEING COMPLETED     X     Is this a Key Decision?        Yes                        No        If yes, when did it appear in the Forward Plan? _______________________     X   Is this an Urgent Key Decision?     Yes                  No   Reason for Urgency   [State why the decision is urgent and cannot wait until the next issue of the forward plan.]