Key to performance ratings

Priority 1. For Maidstone to be a growing economy

Objective 1. A transport network that supports the local economy

PKG 002

Income from pay and display car parks per parking space (£)

£277.14

£228.05

£232.74

£228.05

£970.00

Jeff Kitson

AMBER

The quarterly target was missed by less than £5. However, the Parking Manager believes this is good performance considering the economic climate and therefore it is anticipated that income levels will remain stable and achieve target in quarter 2.

PKG 007

Number of on board Park & Ride bus transactions

94,034

90,246

96,000

90,246

400,000

Jeff Kitson

AMBER

Park & Ride transactions have continued to decline and the target has not been achieved. Long Stay parking tariffs have recently increased and it is hoped that this will have a positive impact on the Park and Ride figures. The Parking Manager is investigating the potential of reducing the impact on income through alternative savings within the service.

Priority 1. For Maidstone to be a growing economy

Objective 2. A growing economy with rising employment, catering for a range of the skill sets to meet the demands of the local economy

DCV 001

Percentage of commercial planning applications completed within statutory timescales

83.33%

83.87%

90.00%

83.87%

90.00%

Rob Jarman

AMBER

There has been a 42% increase in the number of commercial planning applications received during quarter 1 compared to the same period last year. The target has been marginally missed as many of these applications needed to be reported to Planning Committee. Although there has been an increase in volume performance has improved slightly when compared to quarter 1 in 2012/13. It is expected that performance will follow the same profile as last year in which quarter 1 was the weakest in terms of performance.

E&S 001

Work experience placements delivered (by the Council) across the borough (NEW)

N/A

21

13

21

50

Ellie Kershaw

GREEN

E&S 002

Number of employers that have engaged with NEETs (not in education, employment or training) through MBC (NEW)

N/A

0

25

0

100

Ellie Kershaw

RED

Initial work has been focussed on how MBC can help to get young people into work by offering work experience and engaging with Job Centre Plus. We have attended business breakfast to start talking to employers about how they can help young people in the borough. Across the next quarter, contact will be made with targeted businesses, and visits made with the portfolio holder. We are also investigating Inspiring the future, a programme to encourage employers to give work experience talks in schools.

LVE 002

Percentage of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance

2.4%

2.2%

2.7%

2.4%

2.7%

John Foster

GREEN

Priority 2. For Maidstone to be a decent place to live

Objective 3. Decent, affordable housing in the right places across a range of tenures

DCV 003

Percentage of residential planning applications processed within statutory timescales

84.85%

62.16%

75.00%

62.16%

75.00%

Rob Jarman

RED

50% of the major residential buildings determined were over the statutory time period and this was due to the Section 106 negotiation. The minor applications that were out of time were due to either clearance of backlogs, being reported to planning committee or delays to the publicity/registration.

DCV 014a

Average time taken (weeks) to process planning applications (Majors) (NEW)

N/A

22.70

24.00

22.70

24.00

Rob Jarman

GREEN

Median: 13.00 weeks

DCV 014b

Average time taken (weeks) to process minor planning applications (NEW)

N/A

15.65

15.00

15.65

15.00

Rob Jarman

AMBER

The target has been marginally missed (by 0.65 weeks). This partly due to the clearance of 2 backlog applications from 2010. It is expected that performance will be on track to meet the annual; target at the end of quarter 2.

Median: 7.71 weeks

DCV 014c

Average time taken (weeks) to process other planning applications (NEW)

N/A

8.81

11.00

8.81

11.00

Rob Jarman

GREEN

Median: 7.57 weeks

HSG 001

Number of affordable homes delivered (gross)

100

70

28

70

200

John Littlemore

GREEN

HSG PS 003

Number of private sector homes improved (NEW)

N/A

65

45

65

180

John Littlemore

GREEN

This indicator replace the old ‘Decent homes’ measure. The new measure includes all improvements to private sector homes that have a positive impact on the residents health, welfare or wellbeing.

Priority 2. For Maidstone to be a decent place to live

Objective 4. Continue to be a clean and attractive environment for people who live in and visit the borough

DEP 001

The percentage of relevant land and highways that is assessed as having deposits of litter that fall below an acceptable level (NI 195a)

1.66%

1.10%

1.70%

1.10%

1.70%

Jonathan Scott

GREEN

DEP 007

Percentage of fly-tipping reports responded to within one working day

99.69%

97.24%

99.00%

97.24%

99.00%

Jonathan Scott

AMBER

The target has been marginally missed and there has been a 23% increase in the number fly-tipping reports compared to the same period last year. During quarter 1 cleansing staff were diverted from their normal duties for a short period to clear the backlog of waste bins for delivery. This is being monitored to identify if there are any trends in location or type of fly-tip.

WCN 001

Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting (NI 192)

47.40%

46.26%

48.00%

46.26%

48.00%

Jennifer Shepherd

AMBER

This figure is higher than the previous quarter due to seasonal peak in garden waste. However there has been a decrease in the amount of food waste collected, this could be interpreted as positive with less food being wasted . Mixed recycling levels have remained constant, but are expected to increase from August 2013 due to the addition of other recyclables in the recycling collection. Figures are continuing to be monitored and following the communications campaign to advise residents of service changes due to the new contract, additional communications campaigns will be carried out to increase participation in the recycling service.

WCN 005

Residual household waste per household (NI 191)

110.61

116.47

109.20

116.47

420.00

Jennifer Shepherd

AMBER

Although performance is higher than the target for the first quarter based on previous figures for the past 2 years is at a realistic level as the target is profiled to take into account seasonal variations. The changes to be introduced in August 2013 as part of the new waste collection contract are projected to significantly decrease the level of waste per household. Therefore performance is still on track to achieve the annual target.

DCE 001

Percentage of planning enforcement cases signed off within 21 days

81.82%

95.1%

90%

95.1%

90%

Rob Jarman

GREEN

Priority 2. For Maidstone to be a decent place to live

Objective 5. Residents in Maidstone are not disadvantaged because of where they live or who they are, vulnerable people are assisted and the level of deprivation is reduced

HSG 004

Average time taken to process and notify applicants on the housing register (days)

1.5

25.6

3.5

25.6

3.5

John Littlemore

RED

Owing to the new Allocations Policy at the start of April this year applications from the 27 February until 31 March were not processed until after April 01 2013 in order to process in accordance with the new policy. This has led to a waiting list of applications to process in the first quarter of this year. It is unlikely that the annual target will be achieved.

HSG 005

Number of households prevented from becoming homeless through the intervention of housing advice

110

87

113

87

450

John Littlemore

RED

Performance has not met the target due to the high levels of homeless applicants presenting as homeless after the point in time where their homelessness can be averted. New Home Guide software is due to be introduced during quarter 3 to provide early intervention advice and guidance to assist customers with self-help solutions.

MFM 001a

Number of families accepted on the Maidstone Families Matter programme (NEW)

N/A

76

21

76

81

Ellie Kershaw

GREEN

MFM 001b

Percentage of those accepted to the Maidstone Families Matter programme that have been engaged with (NEW)

N/A

0.22%

Set baseline

0.22%

Set baseline

Ellie Kershaw

N/A

Families for year one have been identified. Further information is being gathered about them from partners to ensure that we find the right person to engage with them and bring them on to the programme. As MFM is a voluntary programme and participation is not compulsory it is important that initial engagement is effective and therefore a lot of effort is being put into research before engagement commences. In addition to this, some agencies have been reluctant to volunteer to take this role- this is currently being addressed at County level as it is a Kent wide issue.

E&S 003

Number of NEETs tracked to employment

N/A

9

Set baseline

9

Set baseline

Ellie Kershaw

N/A

R&B 004

Time taken to process Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit new claims and change events (NI 181)

11.17

10.91

10.00

10.91

10.00

Steve McGinnes

AMBER

Whilst the service experienced an increase in workload as a result of welfare reform which impacted on performance in the first quarter, customer satisfaction remains high and the service expects to achieve target going forward.

Priority 3. Corporate & customer excellence; 3. Corporate and customer excellence

Objective 6. Services are customer focused and and residents are satisfied with them

C&S 001

Percentage of complaints resolved within the specified timescale

94.25%

95.70%

95%

95.70%

95%

Angela Woodhouse

GREEN

Four complaints were responded to out of time. Of these four, two were directed at Environmental Enforcement, one for parking and one for revenues. One of the Environmental Enforcement complaints was delayed due to a request for further information from the complainant. Parking missed a complaint as this was originally allocated to finance incorrectly.

C&S 002

Satisfaction with complaint handling

45%

20.00%

45.00%

20.00%

45.00%

Angela Woodhouse

RED

Only ten responses were received for the complaints satisfaction survey. There were over 90 complaints received during quarter 1 and all that were closed were sent a survey. At present there can be a significant delay between the customer receiving a response to their complaint and when the survey is sent out. The Policy & Performance team are looking at changing this process so that customers receive the survey a week after they have had a response to their complaint and a new electronic survey for those who raise their complaint via email. It is hoped that this will improve the response rate. If the response rate is still low telephone surveys will be conducted. The responses to the survey have been assessed and it appears that the majority of those that were not satisfied with the way their complaint was handled could not separate the outcome of their complaint and how it was processed. Most were not satisfied as they did not get their desired outcome for example littering penalty notice to be cancelled or compensation requests rejected.

R&B 009

Overall satisfaction with the benefits service

84.87%

88.57%

80%

88.57%

80%

Steve McGinnes

GREEN

CTC 001

The average wait time for calls into the Contact Centre

79

221

70

221

70

Sandra Marchant

RED

Average wait times for calls into the Contact Centre reached an all-time high during the last quarter. Although there was a 5% drop in the number of calls answered in the last quarter compared to the same quarter last year, there was a 13% increase in the overall number of calls offered. This presumably was a result of long wait times and customers redialling. During the last quarter there was a 45% increase in the number of emails coming in to Customer Services that are also dealt with by the Contact Centre compared to the same quarter last year. This is good news for channel shift and more enquiries are coming through from the website. During April, call numbers increased due to the new Housing Allocations scheme as a large number of customers had been removed from the register, the impact of Welfare Reform changes especially with the new Local Council Tax Support Scheme and a benefits payment file had not been processed resulting in lots of calls from irate benefit customers. The Contact Centre has again lost a lot of experienced Advisors during the quarter and emphasis has been placed on training all Advisors in more of the complex services in order that adequate cover can be provided in the future. Five new Advisors were appointed during April and their training programme has commenced. In addition another seven Advisors have been offered positions and will be starting during July to cover the remaining vacant posts and forthcoming maternity cover. This number of new staff, around 40%, has had a huge effect on performance of the team.

CTC 002

Percentage of Visitors to the Gateway responded to by a CSA within 20 minutes

72.12%

79.93%

75%

79.93%

75%

Sandra Marchant

GREEN

Priority 3. Corporate & customer excellence

Objective 7. Effective, cost efficient services are delivered across the borough

BIM 003a

Percentage of customer contacts made in person in the Gateway (NEW)

N/A

7.82%

7.00%

7.82%

7.00%

Georgia Hawkes

RED

BIM 003b

Percentage of customer contacts made online by visiting the councils website (NEW)

N/A

75.99%

77.00%

75.99%

77.00%

Georgia Hawkes

AMBER

BIM 003c

Percentage of customer contacts made by phone through the contact centre (NEW)

N/A

16.20%

16.00%

16.20%

16.00%

Georgia Hawkes

AMBER

We have seen nearly a 1% decrease in transactions compared to the same quarter last year (8.68% Q1 12-13) and this is usually our busiest quarter for face to face transactions. It is disappointing that we have seen a slight increase in visits to the Gateway compared to the previous quarter (7.28% Q4 12-13) but it is only slight and this is against the back drop of continued falling contact numbers for both face to face and telephone (-4450) with a considerable increase (15678) in website visits.

BIM 004

Reduction in number of out-going post items (NEW)

N/A

-4.26%

-11.00%

-4.26%

-11.00%

Georgia Hawkes

RED

Work to deliver a reduction in outgoing post items is in its early stages.  This reduction will be achieved in part by the managed print/post solution, to be introduced later in the year, which includes a sending more post items to Corporate Support to be managed through a comprehensive software package that controls the process from creation of letter or document through to its presentation to the Royal mail for delivery.  The other main way that post will be reduced will be through the service efficiency reviews as part of the Customer Service Improvement programme.  Reviews have started in Parking and Housing and implementation of the recommendations from these reviews is due to complete by December.  Reviews of Depot Services and Finance are also due to start this year.

CTC 004

Avoidable contact: the proportion of customer contact that is of low or no value to the customer (NI 14)

6.2%

5.0%

4.3%

5.0%

4.3%

Sandra Marchant

RED

This is the first time since this indicator was introduced, as part of the national indicator set in 2009, that the target has not been achieved. During quarter 1 a lot of cases were logged as unavoidable under the category of service failure due to benefit calls received as a result of a benefits payment file not being processed in April.

R&B 007

Value of fraud identified by the fraud partnership

£169,899.79

£281,969.76

£187,500.00

£281,969.76

£750,000.00

Steve McGinnes

GREEN

BIM 002

Percentage of financial transactions not carried out on-line or by direct debit/standing order

10.35%

10.69%

10%

10.69%

10%

Paul Riley

AMBER

There has been a 4.6% (8799) increase in the overall volume of financial transactions during quarter 1 compared the same period last year. There has also been an increase of 8% of transactions that are not carried out online, by DD or SO. Quarter 1 historically is the busiest year for payments and therefore performance is expected to recover by year end.  It is thought that this increase is due to increased card payments in the Gateway most likely in relation to Council Tax payments and changes to the Council tax discount scheme which has meant that some people now have to pay council tax whereas previously they did not.  

DCV 009

Percentage of planning decisions taken under delegation

88.31%

92.84%

92.50%

92.84%

92.50%

Rob Jarman

GREEN

HRO 001/BV 12

Working Days Lost Due to Sickness Absence (rolling year) (BV 12)

8.19 days

9.39 days

8.50 days

9.39 days

8.50 days

Dena Smart

RED

The sickness relates to long term absence as this is currently at 6.24 days and short term sickness is 3.15 days. We are managing the sickness by obtaining occupational health advice but due to the type of sickness it has not been possible for the individuals to return to work earlier as they need further medical treatment. This has overall increased the number of days sickness at the council. The Council’s Human Resources department runs wellbeing activities throughout the year and there is an employee assistance programme where staff can get advice and support.

WCN 006

Missed bins

20.62

20.51

25

20.51

25

Jennifer Shepherd

GREEN

R&B 005

Percentage of Non-domestic Rates Collected (BV 010)

34.32%

33.48%

34.32%

33.48%

97.70%

Steve McGinnes

AMBER

We are continuing to keep to our recovery timetable with the sending of reminders, finals and summonses. Local benchmarking demonstrates the out-turn level to be a consistent picture across the county with authorities reporting collection down compared to this time last year.

R&B 006

Percentage of Council Tax collected (BV 009)

30.10%

29.90%

30.10%

29.90%

98.30%

Steve McGinnes

AMBER

We are only 0.2% down on this time last year, and are continuing with recovery as per our timetable. The former 100% benefit cases will be having an impact on collection, although given the small amount we are down on collection has not had such an impact so far.