1.        PURPOSE OF REPORT AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1.1     Heritage, Culture, & Leisure Committee is asked to review the progress of key strategies, plans, and performance indicators that support the delivery of the Strategic Plan 2015-2020

2.        INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.1     Having a comprehensive set of actions and performance indicators ensures that the Council delivers against the priorities and actions set in the Strategic Plan.

2.2     A midyear update has been provided for any objectives in the Strategic Plan Action Plan that were due between 1 April and 30 September 2016. Updates for these objectives can be found in Appendix II. These are progress updates against specific milestones through the last two quarters.

2.3     The Strategic Plan now has 33 Key Performance Indicators that were agreed by Committee in April 2016. This is in addition to the existing 14 plan and strategy updates.

2.4     Performance indicators are judged in two ways; firstly on whether performance has improved, sustained or declined, compared to the same period in the previous year. This is known as direction. Where there is no previous data, no assessment of direction can be made.

2.5     The second way is to look at whether an indicator has achieved the target set and is known as PI status. If an indicator has achieved or exceeded the annual target they are rated green. If the target has been missed but is within 10% of the target it will be rated amber and if the target has been missed by more than 10% it will be rated red.

2.6     Some indicators will show an asterisk (*) after the figure, these are provisional values that are awaiting confirmation. Data for some of the indicators were not available at the time of reporting in these cases a date has been provided of when the information is expected.

2.7     Contextual indicators are not targeted but are given a direction. Indicators that are not due for reporting or where there is delay in data collection are not rated against targets or given a direction.

3.        Quarter 2 Performance Summary

3.1     There are 33 key performance indicators (KPIs) which were developed with Heads of Service and unit managers, and agreed by Policy & Resources Committee for 2016/17.  Five of these relate to the Heritage, Culture & Leisure Committee

3.2      Overall, 50% (2) of KPIs reported this quarter achieved their annual target for quarter 2. For 67% of indicators, performance improved compared to the same quarter last year.

4.       Performance by Priority

Priority 1: Keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all

4.1     User satisfaction with the Leisure Centre has shown a slight improvement on quarter 1, but satisfaction remains below the 82% target. Historically, quarter 2 is the worst performing quarter of the year, which may be due to increased footfall over the summer. It is expected that quarter 3 will see an improvement on this quarters result. The café brought the satisfaction down more than any other section, and we are looking at ways to improve the café satisfaction score. This is a relatively small sample and users with a complaint are more likely to complete the forms. The operators are looking at a new system for collecting responses, which could potentially increase the sample size.

4.2     The percentage of parishes satisfied with the level of communication and engagement with Maidstone Borough Council is 38.3%. A total of 62 responses were received from Parish Councillors and Clerks. Almost a third (32%) were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with engagement. Comments for this question and others from the survey as a whole are being reviewed and will help shape future communication and engagement.

Priority 1: Keeping Maidstone an attractive place for all & Priority 2: Securing a successful economy for Maidstone Borough

4.3     Footfall at the Museum and Visitor Information Centre was 16,610 against a target of 19,625. This is comparable the footfall for quarter 1 but almost 20,000 down on the same quarter last year. This may be due to the unprecedented success of the Lego Exhibition during the same quarter in 2015. The drop in visitors may also be explained by a late period of hot weather, and the lingering effect of Monday closure. Steps are being taken to improve the visual appeal, exhibitions, and activities available in an attempt to increase footfall. We are working with schools that traditionally visited on a Monday to come on an alternative day of the week, and we are increasing our outreach programme on a Monday.

4.4     The number of children taking part in formal educational activities at the museum was 1598. This is a reduction on quarter 1, and the target of 2085 has been missed for quarter 2. This quarter was comparable with the same quarter last year. The reduction quarter-on-quarter was due to the Summer School Holidays. Schools sessions and Arts Award continue to be popular and highly regarded by schools. The Learning Service works with schools across Kent with reduced fees for schools in the Maidstone Borough.

4.5      Footfall in the High Street has exceeded its target of 2,058,735 for quarter 2. Footfall was slightly higher in comparison to the same quarter of 2015/16, and we are pleased to see that the Bridge Gyratory works have not had an impact.  

5.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

5.1     The Strategic Plan Performance Update will be reported quarterly to the service committees; Communities Housing and Environment Committee, Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport Committee, and Heritage, Culture, and Leisure Committee. The report will then go to Policy & Resources Committee following these meetings, with any feedback from the Committees.

6.       PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

6.1     That Heritage, Culture and Leisure Committee review the performance data presented and request further information to understand previous, current and future performance where relevant.

7.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix I: Strategic Plan Performance Update Q2 2016/17

·         Appendix II: Strategic Plan Action Plan 6 Monthly Update

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS