RAG Rating

Target not achieved

Target missed (within 10%)

Target met

No target to measure performance against

Data Only

Direction

Performance has improved

Performance has not changed / been sustained

Performance has declined

No previous performance to judge against

RAG Rating

Green

Amber

Red

N/A

Total

KPIs

3

3

1

4

11

Strategic Actions

12

1

0

13

Direction

Up

Across

Down

N/A

Total

KPIs

6

0

3

2

11

The indicator measures percentage of household waste arisings which has been sent by the Authority for reuse, recycling, composting or anaerobic digestion. This is a key measure of local authorities’ progress in moving management of household waste up the hierarchy, consistent with the Government’s national strategy for waste management. The Government expects local authorities to maximise the percentage of waste reused, recycled and composted.

Current Performance

2015/16 Annual Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

52.34%

53.00%

-0.66%

Target will be slightly missed

Performance Comment: In 2014/15, 49% of waste was recycled against a target of 50%. It should be noted that due to seasonality of the garden waste collections that quarters 1 and 2 have historically have the highest out-turns. Performance has improved compared to the same period last year but the quarterly target has been marginally missed.  Based on the data available at present it is expected that the annual target will be marginally missed however, this will reviewed quarter 2 as part of the quarter 2 performance monitoring.

The Annual Community Safety Plan which supports the strategy and accompanying Strategic Assessment were drafted earlier this year. Following consultation, these reports were presented to OSC, Cabinet Member and Full Council and were endorsed in May 2015. The Annual Community Safety Plan is refreshed annually. For 2015, Maidstone's Community Safety priorities are ASB, Domestic Abuse, Violence Against the Person (Night Time Economy), Substance Misuse and Road Safety (Killed or Seriously Injured). Task and Finish Groups have also been established for Restorative Justice, Hoarding and Self Neglect and Street Population. The next refresh (for 2016) will commence around November 2015, with final Committee endorsement expected by April 2016.

This indicator reports the percentage change in the number of all recorded crime in the borough to provide an indication of the crime trends in the borough and help assess the impact of the work the Council undertakes in relation to Community Safety. The percentage change is the difference between current volume of crime and the volume of crime for the same period in the previous year. Note: Improving performance for this indictor is demonstrated by a negative figure.

Current Performance

2015/16 Annual Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

0.3%

Performance Comment: The overall volume of crime in the borough has increased by 0.3% compared to quarter 1 in 2014/15. In total 93% of crime in the borough during quarter 1 was victim based. Crime data for the year to date shows that anti-social behaviour incidents  have declined by 3.7% and that the number of violent crime has increased by 17% when compared to the same period in 2014/15.

Health Inequalities Action Plan Update

The current Health Inequalities Action Plan expires in 2020. A review and refresh is planned for the Action Plan in April 2016. One area where we aim to improve is the Action Plan's links to other MBC strategies, including the Parks and Leisure Strategy (due to be refreshed) and the Housing Strategy (also due to be refreshed). The Communities Team Leader (currently being recruited) will lead on this work. Kent Public Health are currently considering whether to refresh the Kent Mind the Gap (HI) Strategy, which district Health Inequalities Actions Plans fed into. However, the Housing and Communities team will continue with its refresh of the local Action Plan. Once the Team Leader is in post, a timetable will be drafted and circulated with a refresh milestones/timescales.

Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) are used to provide home adaptations for disabled people, such as access into and around the home and access to, or the provision of, basic amenities such as bathing and WC. They are an important part of the work we do to supporting people who want to remain independent or stay in their own home.

Current Performance

2015/16 Annual Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

13.87 days

35.00 days

-21.13

Target will be met

Performance Comment: The private Sector Housing team have recently been restructured and have introduced new ways of working because of these changes resulting in an improvement in performance for quarter 1. Last year they started the new financial year with a backlog in applications and from quarter 3 last year onwards the Private Sector Housing Manager has been reviewing new applications on a weekly basis. 23 applications were processed in quarter 1 this year (no change in volume from 2014/15). 

54

350

-33.5

Annual will achieved

Performance Comment: In 2014/15, 340 households were prevented from becoming homeless due to intervention from the Housing Team. This was against a target of 350. The team has recently been restructured which resulted in an unfilled post. This combined with sickness meant that there were a limited number of advisors available for this work during quarter 1. From August the team is expected to be fully staffed and in turn performance should improve. It should be noted that this figure usually includes figures from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) however due to changes in staffing at the CAB no figures were provided for quarter 1.  In addition to the preventions outlined above the team made 135 homelessness decisions, which is comparable to the number undertaken for quarter 1 in 2014/15, when the team was fully staffed. The annual target is expected to be achieved as further preventions are expected to come from proactive work the Housing team are doing with the Revenues & Benefits Team in relation to Discretionary Housing Payments.     

Communications & Engagement Strategy Update

Cabinet approved the Communication and Engagement Strategy in April 2015. Work is just starting on the bi-annual resident’s survey, which will be going out to residents in September/October. This year we will also be looking at how we engage and communicate with parishes. The Parish Charter and a survey of Parish Councils will support and help us monitor this work. The Annual Report, which shows the Council’s progress towards achieving our priorities, was approved by the Policy & Resources Committee in July and will be advertised in Borough Update and through social media. A social media campaign has been scheduled throughout summer 2015 informing people how to take part in local decision making and encouraging traffic to the “Have Your Say” pages on the council’s website. A new Social Media policy and strategy will be presented to Corporate Leadership Team in the autumn.

Festivals & Events Strategy Update

Strategy adopted in August 2014. Work now being undertaken to develop an on-line toolkit for event organisers which will be tested with local stakeholder organisations. We have been successful in bringing a new major music festival to Mote Park – Ramblin’ Man which successfully took place at the end of July 15 and has resulted in excellent feedback from those that attended and has raised the profile of Maidstone Borough as a festival destination.

Destination Management Plan Update

The Destination Management Plan was agreed by the Steering Group on 3 July and adopted by  Heritage, Culture and Leisure  (HCL) Committee on 13 July 15. The plan has wide stakeholder support and will be officially launched with the sector in September 2015.

The action plan focuses on four key areas: Embedding the Shared Story & destination branding; Improving the County Town’s appeal to visitors; Improving the impact of events on the visitor economy and making the most of the countryside.

We are currently undertaking a short period of consultation and research leading to the production of a Brief for a Cultural Strategy which has buy-in from key stakeholders. This brief will in essence be the first key stage in the development of the Cultural Strategy, and its findings will form an important part of the emerging strategy.

The objective is to establish the appropriate balance with the Cultural Strategy Brief between the following themes:

·         Cultural Heritage – understanding and interpreting Maidstone’s past in order shape its future

·         Cultural Assets - maintenance, usage and development

·         Festivals and Events – overview and opportunities for enhancement

·         Supporting and Developing Maidstone’s Creative Economy – artists, cultural organisations, Creative Industries – fulfilling the growth potential

·         Building Social Capital, Health and Wellbeing through Culture – encouraging and developing cultural participation

·         Cultural Place Making:  Maidstone town / rural areas; connectivity; twilight economy; future opportunities; identity.

The Council recognises that access to leisure services plays an important role in making somewhere a good place to live. This indicator measures customer satisfaction with the Leisure Centre.

Current Performance

2015/16 Annual Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

81.58%

82.00%

-0.42%

Target will be met

Performance Comment: In 2014/15 this indicator achieved an annual out-turn of 81.78%. Although the quarterly target has been marginally missed it is expected that the annual target will be achieved. The number of survey responses to date for the year is 38 and an annual sample size of at least 200 is expected by the end of the financial year. 

The Council has a Commercialisation Strategy, which is looking into the opportunities for the Council to make better use of our assets to provide increased leisure opportunities for the borough’s residents and visitors. This indicator is to assess the performance and progress of the Commercialisation Strategy in monetary terms.

Current Performance

2015/16 Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

£0.00

Establish Baseline

N/A

N/A

Performance Comment: The Commercialisation Strategy was adopted in August2015. Prior to this the Council has already begun to look at how better use could be made of our assets. Cabinet considered a report on a Sustainable Future for Mote park in February 2015 and agreed the creation of a pay-to-use leisure facility within the park consisting of high wire/ropes courses, a climbing wall, crazy golf and segway hire. Further work on the operating model for this scheme is now being undertaken.

The Council recognises that access to leisure services plays an important role making somewhere a good place to live. This indicator measures customer satisfaction with the Hazlitt.

Current Performance

2015/16 Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

87.5%

80%

7.5%

Target will be met

Performance Comment: Although satisfaction with the Hazlitt is high this result is based on a very small number of returned surveys. As more surveys are done throughout the year the validity of this result will become more certain. There is no comparative data from quarter 1 2014/15 as there were no surveys undertaken during this period.

Town Centre Vision 

During the development of Maidstone’s Draft Economic Development Strategy, the Town Centre was identified as an area of specific focus, and three visioning meetings were held where council officers had an open forum discussion about the future of the Town Centre. The discussions considered the strengths and weaknesses of the Town Centre, as well as the challenges and opportunities moving forward.

The result of this work was the creation of a draft action plan, which has been prioritised based on the delivery timescale of the actions. The work undertaken to date has only sought the views of internal council officers and some councillors and we are now at the point where we need to seek the views of those external to Maidstone Borough Council.  We have commissioned consultants to work with us through this stage.

The Indicator compares the on bus transaction figure (these are the cash sales to passengers boarding buses) on Park and Ride with the one for the same period of the previous year therefore, assessing fluctuations in the service usage. A calculation is made to take into account ten trip passes and other concessions. The target for this indicator is profiled to take into account seasonal variances.

Current Value

2015/16 Annual Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

83,157

378,000

-7,563

Target will be slightly missed

Performance Comment: Compared to this time last year on-board Park & Ride transactions have declined by 7.45% and are currently 8.3% below the quarterly target. The detail reveals that in May the service did experience a more pronounced reduction in patronage. This quickly recovered in June; however, Parking Services and Arriva have not been able to identify a specific event that caused this anomaly. From August, the service is being expanded at the London Road site so that people can use the service in the evening. Between 6pm and 11:12pm Monday to Saturday, those who have a valid Park & Ride ticket can use it on the Arriva 71 or 72, alighting at the Sir Thomas Wyatt stop. In addition, the service will be re-launched in January.

JSA claimant count records the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (JSA). People claiming JSA must declare that they are out of work, capable of, available for and actively seeking work during the week in which the claim is made. This indicator is expressed as a proportion of the resident population of the area aged 16 to 64 years old and is provided by the office of National Statistics.

Current Value

2015/16 Annual Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

1.1%

1.3%

-0.1%

Target will be met

Performance Comment: The number of people claiming JSA has dropped since the start of the financial year. In March there were 1,327 people claiming this benefit (1.3%), the figures for June 2015 show that 1,057 people are now claiming JSA.  The last time the level of JSA claimants was this low was in July 2008 with 1,039 (1.1%). 

Non-participation in education, employment or training between the ages of 16 and 18 is a major predictor of later unemployment, low income, depression, involvement in crime and poor mental health. The figures are based on the monthly submission made to DfE via NCCIS for Kent County Council. Academic age is the age of the young person on 31st August (i.e: prior to the start of the academic year).

Current Value

2015/16 Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

5.73%

Performance Comment: In anticipation of the next academic year, the Kent County Council’s (KCC) Skills and Employability Service ran a series of county wide tracking briefings for all types of schools and PRUs in June to clarify expectations and processes for the collection of data. These have proved popular, with 70% of the Kent schools attending. Those who were unable to attend have been followed up. Improving this process at the start of the next academic year will create a solid foundation for tracking during the remainder of the year and will enable the percentage of Not Knowns to be significantly reduced and the early identification of NEETs. When compared to the other Kent districts Maidstone has the 5^th lowest NEETs figure and the lowest overall proportion of unknowns.

Local Plan Update

Following Regulation 18 public consultation on the draft Maidstone Borough Local Plan in 2014, a series of reports have been presented to the former Planning, Transport and Development Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Cabinet, and to the current Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee (SPS&T). The reports have recommended amendments to the draft local plan following consideration of comments received during the consultation and as a consequence of updates to the Council’s evidence base. Key changes to certain policies and site allocations will be subject to further public consultation (Regulation 18) before the local plan is published in its entirety for Regulation 19 consultation (known as Publication) and submission to the Secretary of State for Independent Examination. Subject to the decisions of SPS&T Committee in July, August and September, a 4-week partial Regulation 18 consultation will be undertaken late September.

Housing Strategy Update  (Repeated)

The action plan within the current 2010/15 Strategy has been reviewed and the actions noted as completed. The new Strategy is being formulated and a draft document will be provided to CLT in September and then to the October 2015 Communities, Housing & Environment Committee for consideration and approval. This document will form the basis for consultation with stakeholders and service users, with the final document going to Council in December 2015 for adoption. Key emerging themes include the supply of affordable housing through traditional routes and more innovative approaches such as the council's aspiration to deliver housing directly through a housing company. Other key themes will include the housing and health agenda explaining why the council has adopted this approach and how it will be delivered in practice. The new Strategy will the link with the Housing Register to enable best use of subsidised housing, promoting access to the private rented sector, and the provision of our own temporary accommodation.

Housing supply has simply not kept pace with demand. Many families are locked out of the housing market by unaffordable prices and unobtainable mortgages.  Affordable dwellings includes social-rented housing and intermediate housing. These can be new build or acquisitions; the figure does not taken into account any losses.  

Current Performance

2015/16 Annual Target

Value Vs Target

Direction

Status

Expected Outcome

54

150

14

Target will be met

Performance Comment: Last year 163 affordable homes were delivered against a target of 200. The quarterly target for this indicator is profiled to take into account seasonal varriences. The annual target of 150 is expected to be achieved at the this stage. However, it should be noted that in relation to new build affordable homes servere weather can impact on the delivery programme.