Mid-Year Performance Report 2013/14

PI Status

RED

Target not achieved

AMBER

Target missed (within 10%)

GREEN

Target met

No data to measure performance against

Data Only

Direction of Travel

Performance has improved

Performance has not changed / been sustained

Performance has declined

No previous performance to judge against

Action Status

Overdue

In Progress

Completed

Objective: A transport network that supports the local economy

OUT 001.01

Deliver an integrated transport strategy

31-Mar-2015

Head of Planning & Development

The finalisation of the Integrated Transport Strategy (ITS) is dependent on the agreement of proposed land allocations for inclusion in the Local Plan (progress update at OUT 002.01). Cabinet will consider these allocations in February, after which, work on the ITS can be completed.

OUT 001.02

Implement an infrastructure delivery plan

31-Mar-2015

Head of Planning & Development

The draft Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) will be finalised along with the land allocations proposed for the Local Plan and will support the draft Local Plan in the upcoming consultations now rescheduled for March 2014 from October 2013.

PKG 002

Income from pay and display car parks per space

£273.00

£228.05

£223.66

£242.50

£451.71

£970.00

Jeff Kitson

AMBER

The Parking Services manager anticipates that pay and display income will increase from late October through to Christmas as quarter 3 is historically the busiest. At quarter 3 it will be clearer if the annual target will be achieved.

PKG 007

Number of on board Park & Ride bus transactions

98,421

90,246

90,847

96,000

181,093

400,000

Jeff Kitson

AMBER

This indicator is profiled to take in to account seasonal fluctuations despite this, and the fact that quarter 3 is the busiest with people visiting the town for Christmas shopping and events it is highly unlikely that the annual target will be met. The quarter 2 out-turn is 7.7% lower than for the same period last year.

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

OUT 002.01

Local Development Framework and Core Strategy

31-Mar-2015

Head of Planning & Development

Work on the draft Local Plan including allocations is continuing. There has been a delay as a result of a challenge in relation to the accuracy of calculations for the 5 year housing land supply, and because of the need for additional work to accurately define the borough’s housing and employment targets for the plan period.

The 5 year supply matter has been debated at full Council and examined by Scrutiny and has now been accepted and resolved.

This delay has impacted on the timetable for consultation which is now scheduled for March 2014 at which time the draft Local Plan will be considered in full.

OUT 002.02

Review Economic Development Strategy

31-Mar-2015

Economic Development Manager

The Regeneration & Economic Development Strategy has been reviewed and a draft updated strategy has been prepared including action plan. We are currently awaiting development of the Local Plan land allocations and economic development policies before consultation on the draft strategy as these will have a direct impact on the strategy.

OUT 002.03

Assistance for businesses

31-Mar-2015

Regeneration & Communities Directorate; Steve Goulette

The second business breakfast was over subscribed and very successful. Work continues to encourage inward investment and several meetings have been held with developers and the cabinet member in London and other venues. The Council supporting local business has been promoted through business visits, breakfasts and talks to local trade associations. A showcase will be held later in the year and linked to Kent Institute of Medicine and Surgery (KIMS).

OUT 002.04

Review Parkwood Industrial Estate and implement a strategy for its regeneration

31-Mar-2015

Steve Goulette

Discussions have been held with key tenants and a regular programme of meetings has been established. Meetings with key owners of development sites have commenced and proposals are being finalised for improvements to the entrance and Bircholt Road

OUT 002.05

Work with partners through the LSP to deliver a step change in Maidstone’s learning and skills performance to ensure a high-quality skills base sufficient to enable people in Maidstone to realise their full potential.

31-Mar-2015

Sarah Robson

The Maidstone Locality Board no longer exists, but the priority sub group for Tackling Worklessness and Poverty remains, with the lead being taken by the Economic Development team to develop a programme of apprenticeships, work placements and training/skills development opportunities.  

In order to inspire young people the Council has teamed up with Inspiring the Future to recruit people from a broad range of sectors and professions to go into schools and colleges as volunteers to help young people understand the working world and the jobs it has to offer.

OUT 002.06

Deliver the High Street Regeneration Project

31-Mar-2015

John Foster

Phase 1 of the High Street regeneration project was completed in June 2012. Work began earlier in 2013 on the lower High Street and is now almost complete. An opening ceremony is scheduled for 16^th November.

OUT 002.08

Local Implementation Plan Homes and Community Agency milestones

31-Mar-2015

John Littlemore

Whilst the Local Implementation Plan (LIP) is no longer functioning progression with the affordable housing, schemes that received funding under the original scheme remains on track. Between the LIP period of 2010 to March 2015 over 700 affordable housing units will have been delivered A further 180 units are due to be completed in 2013/14. The current affordable housing programme, overseen by the Homes & Communities Agency, ends in March 2015. Government has just announced an extension for a further 3 years. Schemes are being worked up in conjunction with housing providers to ensure Maidstone benefits from the new bidding round. The new programme is expected to fund 165,000 new affordable homes nationally after 2015, with £23.3 billion of public and private investment.

DCV 001

Percentage of commercial planning applications completed within statutory timescales

94.12%

83.87%

90.48%

90.00%

87.67%

90.00%

Rob Jarman

AMBER

Although performance has improved during quarter 2, with 38 out of 42 applications processed within timescales compared to 26 out of 31 in quarter 1, it has not been enough to put performance back on track for the year to date. Last year quarter 3 was the best in terms of performance therefore it is possible that the annual target could be achieved.

DCV 002a

Percentage of major business planning applications having pre-application discussions

100%

N/A

95.65%

92%

95.65%

92%

Rob Jarman

GREEN

DCV 002b

Percentage of those taking pre-applications advice where the application was then approved (Major Business Apps)

100%

N/A

100%

100%

100.00%

90.00%

Rob Jarman

GREEN

E&S 001

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

N/A

21

3

0

24

50

Ellie Kershaw

GREEN

The targets for this indicator are profiled. The majority of work experience placements come from the jobs fairs run in conjunction with Job Centre Plus. There was no fair held in quarter 2 and therefore the target was profiled accordingly. There are jobs fairs planned to take place during quarters 3 and 4.

E&S 002

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

N/A

0

17

25

17

100

John Foster; Ellie Kershaw

RED

This work programme that this indicator monitors did not begin until part way through quarter 2. We have now launched inspiring the future project and expect to engage a large number of businesses this quarter via this route. Therefore it is possible that the annual target could be achieved.

LVE 002

Percentage of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance

2.4%

2.2%

2.0%

2.7%

2.0%

2.7%

John Foster

GREEN

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

OUT 003.01

New Housing: Enable the delivery of a range of high quality homes that are desirable and affordable to all sections of the community

31-Mar-2015

Andrew Connors

A total of 91 affordable homes have been provided so far during 2013/14 across a range of tenures. The targets for the indicator that monitors the work programme are profiled and performance is currently on track to meet the annual target of 200, with 75 homes expected to be delivered during quarter 3. Funding has also been secured for the majority of schemes in the development pipeline.

OUT 003.02

Existing Housing: Ensure our existing housing is suitable and able to meet future challenges; providing sought after homes now and into the future

31-Mar-2015

John Littlemore

Housing Assistance Policy was adopted in September 2013 and provides a revised focus on specific areas that will contribute towards ensuring the housing stock remains suitable and desirable. These areas include assistance to landlords to ensure their properties are maintained or improved; returning empty homes back into use; removing the most serious defects from existing homes (referred to as Category 1 Hazards), assisting disabled residents to remain in their homes through aids and adaptations and improving home energy efficiency. The landlord loans and empty homes provisions are linked to nomination rights that the council can use to assist those who need housing and are currently on the housing register. 

OUT 003.03

Homelessness & vulnerable groups: Commission and provide services with partners that meet identified needs, reduce inequalities, are responsive and timely, promote stable, strong communities, self-reliance and encourage positive aspirations

31-Mar-2015

John Littlemore

A review of the Housing Service is being undertaken in conjunction with the Business Improvement Team as part of the council’s Customer Service Improvement Strategy.  Processes will be redesigned to be customer focussed and digital first where appropriate, so that they are delivered in a cost effective way, non-statutory functions will be reviewed to identify where they are not delivering value for money outcomes. There are 4 priorities in working towards achieving this new way of delivering customer services:

·         Efficient, accessible and customer focussed services

·         Secure and well managed information

·         Enabling people to do more for themselves

·         Affordable and sustainable customer service delivery

The review is due to be completed by December 2013 with a view to implement by March 2014.

DCV 003

Percentage of residential planning applications processed within statutory timescales

75.00%

62.16%

77.50%

75.00%

70.13%

75.00%

Rob Jarman

AMBER

Although the quarterly target has been achieved, the low performance level for quarter 1 means that this indicator is marginally under target for the year to date. Dependent on the volume of residential applications received for the rest of the year, it is possible that the annual target could be achieved. However it should be noted that the overall volume of residential applications received to date for 2013/14 is down by 9%.

DCV 014a

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

N/A

22.70 weeks

32.24 weeks

24.00 weeks

27.33 weeks

24.00 weeks

Rob Jarman

RED

Six major applications were out of time this quarter. Two were as a result of a Highways Agency article 14 directive preventing the granting of permission until it was lifted and these were not able to be granted until 89 and 80 weeks had passed respectively, thus skewing the average considerably. Median: 14.86 weeks

DCV 014b

Average time taken (weeks) to process minor planning applications

N/A

15.47 weeks

9.83 weeks

15.00 weeks

12.26 weeks

15.00

weeks

Rob Jarman

GREEN

Median:7.71 weeks

DCV 014c

Average time taken (weeks) to process other planning applications

N/A

8.81 weeks

8.1

weeks

11.00 weeks

8.45 weeks

11.00 weeks

Rob Jarman

GREEN

Median: 7.57 weeks

HSG 001

Number of affordable homes delivered (gross)

37

70

21

17

91

200

John Littlemore

GREEN

HSG PS 003

Number of private sector homes improved

N/A

65

101

45

166

180

John Littlemore

GREEN

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

OUT 004.01

Deliver focussed enforcement activity to ensure high impact on the cleanliness of the Borough

31-Mar-2015

Steve Goulette

Area based enforcement has been trialled and the revised scheme has been implemented. A new contract is now in place and campaigns on littering, dog fouling and fly-tipping are being undertaken.

OUT 004.02

Work with partners to ensure that all areas of the Borough are clean and well-maintained

31-Mar-2015

Steve Goulette

Area based cleaning is now embedded and there is a new approach for the Town Centre to ensure that Jubilee square is maintained.  

OUT 004.03

Ensure provision of timely specialist advice and services on heritage and landscape design to protect and enhance Maidstone's environment

31-Mar-2015

Deanne Cunningham

For the year to date 78% of enquires from development control have been dealt by the team within 21 days and 61% of requests for specialist advice  were responded to within 15 days. In addition so far this year 11 tree preservation orders have been granted. Working procedures and processes are still subject to regular review with minor amendments being made as necessary.

OUT 004.04

Deliver the Carbon Management Plan to ensure that the Council reduces it’s carbon footprint by 3% per annum

31-Mar-2015

John Newington

Highlight reports to CLT have been completed on time. The Greenhouse gas report to DECC was delayed due to problems obtaining data from SERCO and SITA. If data from last year is used for these two components and it is assumed they performed as well as last year then it is estimated that the CMP is on target to achieve the 20% reduction by 2015 and in the year 2012-2013 the council achieved approximately 4% carbon saving. Data validation and quality assurance is on-going. The project sponsor has now changed from Steve Goulette to John Littlemore, and the project board chair (Zena Cooke)has been informally updated with progress. Projects for final year of the CMP have been identified in the highlight report to CLT (Oct 2013).

OUT 004.05

Maximise our leisure and cultural offer to enhance the quality of life for our residents whilst attracting visitors, new residents and businesses

31-Mar-2015

Zena Cooke

Parkwood Theatres is now managing the Hazlitt Arts Centre on behalf of Maidstone Borough Council. A 15-year contract to run the 350 seat theatre and Exchange studio came into effect on 1 October 2013. Following the completion of the Mote Park improvement project, the park has been awarded a green flag and won bronze in the Green Flag People’s Choice Awards. Footfall in the park shows has also gone up 2.5% for the first six months of this financial year compared to the previous year. In addition Maidstone Visitor Information Service has been selected as a finalist in the “Tourism Information Service” category at the 2013 Beautiful South Tourism Awards. The awards ceremony takes place on the 27 November.

OUT 004.06

New Waste Contract

30-Apr-2013

Steve Goulette

Maidstone council’s joint waste collection contract with Ashford and Swale Borough Councils came into effect from August. The new contract will save Maidstone taxpayers over £1 million each year and provides residents with the ability to recycle more items using the doorstep service.

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)

1.67%

1.10%

1.67%

1.70%

1.67%

1.70%

Steve Goulette

GREEN

DEP 007

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

99.70%

97.24%

98.74%

99.00%

97.67%

99.00%

Lionel Doll; Steve Goulette;

AMBER

The quarterly target was missed by 0.26% due to the cleansing staff being diverted to ‘non’ Street Cleaning duties to assit in the roll out of the new waste contract for a short period.

WCN 001

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

47.60%

46.26%

TBC

48.00%

TBC

48.00%

Jennifer Shepherd

WCN 005

Residual household waste per household (NI 191)

108.56

116.47

TBC

100.80

TBC

420.00

Jennifer Shepherd

Unfortunately there has been a delay in getting the data for August and September from Kent County Council.  This is due to a more complex calculation required to determine the food and recycling tonnage as this waste is taken to a transfer station and no longer directly delivered to the treatment facility. 

DCE 001

Percentage of planning enforcement cases signed off within 21 days

92.06%

95.1%

94.92%

90%

95%

90%

Rob Jarman

GREEN

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

OUT 005.01

Reduce inequalities within communities through preventative action

31-Mar-2015

Sarah Robson

There are two strands of work being undertaken by the Community Development team with regards to inequalities; 1. The development of a health inequalities action plan, which will look at both universal and targeted actions to reduce health inequalities in the borough and; 2. The roll-out of Operation Civic (a partnership engagement event in targeted communities) and the Shepway North/South neighbourhood action planning, which focuses on community engagement tackling key issues in health, employment and skills, community safety and environment.

OUT 005.02

Promote active citizenship – to facilitate and support increased involvement by local people in decision making and involvement in their neighbourhoods

31-Mar-2015

Regeneration & Communities Directorate; Sarah Robson

The Community Partnerships team has organised a series of training events and workshops to promote active communities and citizenship;

June 2013: Launched Maidstone Community Payback scheme in partnership with Kent Probation Service

June 2013: Community Asset Transfer information event at Heather House, providing a focus on process, funding, pros and cons

July 2013: Social Enterprise event: delivered in partnership with VAM, to provide support around setting up a social enterprise, funding, marketing etc.

July and August 2013: Hosted a Neighbourhood Engagement workshop and Participatory Appraisal workshop for local voluntary and community groups and parish/ward councillors.

May and October 2013: Held Operation Civic in Shepway and Park Wood wards, promoting community and partnership engagement.

Community Development will link up with Democratic Services to discuss how to bridge any gap in promoting active citizenship between councillors and residents.

OUT 005.03

Review the Parkwood Planning for Real activity to inform further work and activities supporting communities in identifying and meeting their needs, opportunities, rights and responsibilities

31-Mar-2015

Zena Cooke; Sarah Robson

The Park Wood Neighbourhood Action Plan Evaluation and Recommendations Report and End of Project Report have been completed and submitted and will be taken to CLT for review on 23/4/13. Neighbourhood Action Planning is now at the consultation stage working in the Shepway wards.

OUT 005.04

Implement meaningful community commissioning of services for local people

31-Mar-2015

Zena Cooke; Sarah Robson

A pilot project was undertaken with the voluntary and community sector to review Social Return on Investment (SROI) and its impact on the Service Level Agreement funding received through the Community Partnerships team. University of Kent was commissioned to undertake a SROI Research Paper (completed April 2012). Meaningful community commissioning can be undertaken through the NAP process, rather than SROI to ensure greater community engagement and inclusion.

OUT 005.05

Increase targeted support for families with children aged 0-3, particularly the most vulnerable and deprived

31-Mar-2015

Sarah Robson

A Task and Finish group was set up with partners to develop a partnership approach and action plan to target families with 0-5s. The action plan has now been completed and adopted by partners. In terms of reporting line, the 0-5s focus group will sit under the Children's Operational Group (replacing the Local Children's Trust) and will link in with the children centres steering group, which will be extending its reach from 0-11 years.

HSG 004

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

1.5

25.6

12.0

3.5

18.2

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 them in accordance with the new policy. This led to a backlog of applications to process in the first quarter of this year. The Housing Options team have now processed all of the waiting applications from this period have continued to catch up with processing. There is still a small backlog as they are currently processing September applications. It is highly unlikely that the annual target will be met. 

HSG 005

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

127

112

450

John Littlemore

The data for this indicator is not currently available as the data is currently being verified. It is expected to be available from 5^th November.  

MFM 001a

Number of families accepted on the Maidstone Families Matter programme

N/A

76

49

40

125

161

Ellie Kershaw

GREEN

MFM 001b

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

N/A

22.37%

59.18%

Set baseline

36.80%

Set baseline

Ellie Kershaw

GREEN

R&B 004

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

12.38

10.91

7.74

10.00

9.23

10.00

Steve McGinnes

GREEN

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

OUT 006.01

Ensure we use performance management data, customer satisfaction and customer feedback to improve services

31-Mar-2015

Angela Woodhouse

The new complaints system has been implemented and the complaints survey has been revised and is now sent out weekly rather than quarterly which has improved the response rate. Several complaints have resulted in improvements this quarter:

·     the council now has the facility to scan for micro-chips in lost or deceased pets;

·     We are reviewing the way that documents for other council departments are handled by the Gateway; and

·     Parking Services are currently in the process of implementing a system of virtual permits that will allow permits to be valid for a full year.

The Residents survey has gone out to 6,000 households to gage levels of satisfaction with the council and its services. This will inform the next Strategic Plan.  

OUT 006.02

Review the way we interact with our customers

31-Mar-2015

Georgia Hawkes

The customer focussed services review was completed in October 2012. It included focus groups, interviews and surveys with residents and businesses, visits to other councils, analysis of customer transaction data and use of Mosaic Public Sector to look at the types of people who contact us, how they contact us, how frequently and for which services. The main aim of the project was to make recommendations on how the Council should be delivering customer services for the future. The new model is essentially digital first - a full range of services provided via the website or through apps, a reduced desire for person to person calls and an increased automated telephone service, face to face available through appointments at our offices and partners supporting transactions and the possibility of online and telephone points throughout the borough and hosted by partners. The new model of customer service delivery for the future and the actions we plan to take to deliver it was detailed in the Customer Service Improvement Strategy adopted by Cabinet on 10 April 2013.

CTC 001

The average wait time for calls into the Contact Centre (seconds)

108

221

276

70

248.50

70

Sandra Marchant

RED

Average wait times for calls into the Contact Centre have again increased in the last quarter to 4 minutes 35 seconds. There was a 5% increase in the number of calls answered in the last quarter compared to the previous quarter and this was attributed to the new Waste Contract which started from 5^th August. There was a 21% increase in the overall number of calls offered in the last quarter compared with the same quarter last year. This presumably was a result of long wait times and customers redialling. Calls answered just for the Waste service more than doubled in the last quarter.

During the last quarter there was a 46% increase in the number of emails coming in to Customer Services compared to the same quarter last year and a 29% increase just in August compared to July.

The Contact Centre had another seven new Customer Service Advisors join during July and August so there has been a lot of training in the last quarter. This has impacted greatly on performance levels and has affected more of the complex services like Benefits, Council Tax and Planning.

CTC 002

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

69.14%

79.93%

59.38%

75%

69.70%

75%

Sandra Marchant

AMBER

The Gateway Team have appointed a lot of new staff during the quarter resulting in a lot of training going on. In addition, one Customer Service Advisor (CSA) was on long term sick after an operation but has now returned to work fully and another CSA does term time working so this affected the holiday period. In addition one member of staff left to take up a full-time position at KCC. The Gateway has not seen an increase in enquiries during the last quarter over the previous quarter but the Gateway CSAs have now started helping the Contact Centre to answer all the emails that come in on a daily basis. During August and September there was a 29% increase in the number of emails received by Customer Services compared to July. The enquires that have come in via email will be monitored and categorised next quarter to assess the most common enquires to identify if improvements can be made e.g. providing more information on our website.

PIT 001

Percentage of complaints resolved within the specified timescale

92.72%

95.75%

97.14%

95%

96.65%

95%

Angela Woodhouse

GREEN

PIT 002

Satisfaction with complaint handling

41.67%

20%

40%

45%

40.00%

45%

Angela Woodhouse

RED

Whilst our satisfaction rate has improved since last quarter it is disappointing that we are still not on target. We have changed our survey to separate satisfaction with complaint handling and satisfaction with outcome and we will also be introducing an electronic survey which will hopefully improve our response rate. An effective complaint handling course has been arranged for the 13th of November and handling complaints by telephone training has now been organised for December.

R&B 009

Overall satisfaction with the benefits service

82%

88.57%

93.86%

80%

90.95%

80%

Steve McGinnes

GREEN

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

OUT 007.01

Seek out and implement new ways of delivering services that are not our core business, such as the Theatre and the Museum

31-Mar-2015

Zena Cooke

Hazlitt Arts Centre - The contract terms have been agreed, the TUPE details finalised and confirmed and the formal transfer completed at the end of September. The implementation of the transfer includes a 3 month period to complete the formal handover in relation to assets, the condition survey and undertaking capital works. This work is progressing as planned. The organisational restructure to establish Maidstone Culture and Leisure are being implemented and the recruitment process for the Cultural Services Manager (CSM) post is underway. The CSM will be the lead officer for reviewing the current governance arrangements for the Museum and identifying options for the future.

OUT 007.02

Progress the shared services programme for those services that it is practical to do so and savings can be achieved.

31-Mar-2015

Georgia Hawkes

Business cases for Planning Support and Environmental Health were agreed on 12 June 2013 at a tri-Cabinet meeting and are being implemented. Supporting those projects is the procurement and delivery of a joint environmental health and planning system, the procurement element of which was completed in September with contracts due to be signed in October. The shared services and ICT procurement are on course to deliver their planned savings.

Fraud Team - Options for joining up the existing fraud partnership between Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells with Swale are being explored and proposals are expected to come forwards in December 2013. The proposed partnership is in response to significant changes proposed by government whose timetable changes regularly and this will be carefully monitored.

Building Control – all strategic options for the future of the building control service are to be assessed as part of a business case to the MKIP Board in the new year. The options include outsourcing, joining existing partnerships, forming a 2 way shared service with Tunbridge Wells and the potential for a 4 way shared service. There is a lot more work to do on these options before more detail can be provided.

OUT 007.03

Undertake a programme of business improvement service reviews to ensure services are customer focused and delivered efficiently and effectively.

31-Mar-2015

Georgia Hawkes

The majority of work of the Business Improvement team over the past 6 months and for the next 3 years will be focussed around delivering the Customer Service Improvement Programme. This includes: a programme of working with all customer facing services to help them become more customer focussed, efficient and deliver services 'digital first' wherever appropriate, looking at how to get the best value out of our customer facing accommodation, working with partners

 to increase digital access and skills in the borough, ensuring we manage information effectively and securely and improving the website to make it easier to navigate and more transactional. The Business Improvement team has been working with Parking Services to look at residents parking permits and some quick win recommendations have been agreed and work is starting to implement them e.g. stopping sending out reminder letters and offering email reminders instead, postal applications not accepted in the future, Gateway staff to verify proofs rather than them being scanned, sorted by Corporate Support and verified in the back office, clearer list of proofs on the website, electoral register to be used to verify applications if possible etc. A cost/benefits analysis is being undertaken for delivery options for resident’s permits in the future to see if it is worth buying a new system and moving to virtual permits or simply introducing an online application form. The team has also been working with Housing and several processes have been mapped. The most urgent priority is to reduce the cost of placing people in temporary accommodation. Support is also being provided to Environmental Services to implement a mobile working solution to improve the reporting of issues, the capacity to feedback to customers and the efficiency of the service. Additional reviews are due to begin in Finance and Bereavement Services in 2013/14. We are currently working with partners to understand and map the provision of public access computers and training which will help identify which communities require more support to get online. A consultant has worked with us to find ways the Council can manage information better and we have looked at what is important in the way we manage customer information. The website has been redesigned and a new online forms package has been purchased which will enable us to make more services available through the website to our customers 24/7 and save staff time and money. The team has also supported work to set up MKIP shared services in Environmental Health and Planning Support.

OUT 007.04

Ensure that the authority has a productive, proactive

and flexible workforce

31-Mar-2015

Dena Smart

The Cabinet have now agreed the workforce strategy which will continue to be delivered through the action plan. Systems and processes are in place for effective recruitment, training and performance management of staff. The employee engagement plan is in place and the development of the ambition to reach IiP Gold by 2015 should ensure this focus continues.

R&B 005

Percentage of Non-domestic Rates Collected (BV 010)

60.80%

33.48%

61.12%

60.08%

61.12%

97.70%

Steve McGinnes

GREEN

R&B 006

Percentage of Council Tax collected (BV 009)

58.40%

29.90%

58.20%

58.40%

58.20%

98.30%

Steve McGinnes

AMBER

We have continued to chase unpaid amounts in line with our recovery timetable and we are just under target. The former 100% benefit cases have had an impact on collection, albeit not as much as we originally thought. We will continue to ensure we actively chase unpaid amounts and arrears.

BIM 003a

Percentage of customer contacts made in person in the Gateway

8.15%

7.80%

8.75%

7.50%

8.23%

7.00%

Georgia Hawkes

RED

BIM 003b

Percentage of customer contacts made online by visiting the councils website

74.49%

75.77%

71.00%

76.00%

73.59%

77.00%

Georgia Hawkes

AMBER

BIM 003c

Percentage of customer contacts made by phone through the contact centre

17.36%

16.43%

20.25%

16.50%

18.18%

16.00%

Georgia Hawkes

RED

The percentages of contacts made by telephone, face to face and through the website are all off target because there has been a large unexpected drop in the numbers of people visiting the website when compared with Q1 2013/14 and with Q2 2012/13: there were 34,289 fewer website visits than in the same quarter last year. It is probable that an 'Olympic effect' may have meant a larger number people than would normally be expected visited our website during quarter 2 last year, but even taking that into consideration, figures for this quarter are below that seen in Q2 2011/12. Fewer people are also contacting the Council through the Gateway (1,520 fewer visits than in the same quarter last year) and by telephone through the Contact Centre (404 fewer telephone calls than in the same quarter last year), so we seem to be seeing a pattern of fewer contacts overall. It could be that people do not like the new design of the website therefore they are not using it. However, this seems less likely because people have not moved to other ways of contacting the Council and numbers of online self-service forms completed have increased from 1918 in quarter 2 2012/13 to 2620 in Q2 2013/14. This is not just due to more CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) processes being completed: online self-service forms as a percentage of the total processes has also increased: from 9.88% in Q2 2012/13 to 10.89% in Q2 2013/14, which shows that people are able to find these self-service forms on the website more easily. Another possibility is that people are finding what they need more easily on the redesigned website so are having to visit fewer times. Number of website visits and online self-service forms will be monitored monthly for the next quarter to try to better understand the situation.

BIM 004

Reduction in number of out-going post items

N/A

-3.83%

9.54%

-5.50%

2.27%

-11.00%

Georgia Hawkes

RED

The cumulative increase of number of items of outgoing post from this time last year is 4454. As the indicator was on target last quarter, we have either seen a particularly busy Q2 for post being sent out in 2013/14, or we had a particularly quiet Q2 in 2012/13. Many services have sent out fewer letters than at this point last year e.g. Housing Options have sent out 4,782 items of post. However, the main reason for the numbers being higher this year than last year is because Council Tax have sent out 14,066 more post items April - Sept 2013 than in the same period last year. The service believes this is because of the more than 6,000 benefits recipients who have had to pay something towards their Council Tax for the first time this year. 8,500 reminders, final reminders and summonses have been sent to these cases and on top of this there will be ad-hoc correspondence and other letters. Council Tax are currently planning how to maximise the number of people opting to receive their Council Tax bills by email, which will reduce paper correspondence in the future. Other work to reduce outgoing post is being pursued as part of the service review of parking permits, where options are being explored like issuing email rather than paper reminders and introducing virtual rather than paper permits, but any changes implemented will not show an effect until next year. Housing is also part way through a Business Improvement efficiency review which will identify ways of reducing the amount of post sent out by the service.

CTC 004

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

4.5%

5.0%

9.3%

4.3%

7.1%

4.3%

Sandra Marchant

RED

There were a lot of avoidable contacts in the period July to September 2013 mainly due to the introduction of the new waste contract. 83% of the avoidable contacts were due to service failure where many customers had to keep chasing because their bins had not been emptied or they were awaiting delivery of replacement bins.

R&B 007

Value of fraud identified by the fraud partnership

£261,385.81

£281,969.76

£130,732.55

£187,500.00

£412,702.31

£750,000.00

Steve McGinnes

GREEN

Performance in quarter has reduced due to staff absence and the timing of cases progressing to court. The service remains confident of achieving its annual target by March 2014.

BIM 002

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

9.77%

10.69%

9.92%

10%

10.31%

10%

Paul Riley

AMBER

Although the quarterly target has been achieved the year to date figure is marginally behind target. This is not a concern at present as historic information shows that the second and third generally perform the best.

DCV 009

Percentage of planning decisions taken under delegation

93.30%

92.84%

94.26%

92.50%

93.60%

92.50%

Rob Jarman

GREEN

HRO 001/BV 12

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

8.11 days

9.39 days

9.84 days

8.50 days

9.84 days

8.50 days

Dena Smart

RED

The sickness target is unlikely to be met this year largely due to long term sickness. Several of these people have now left the council however their sickness will continue to be shown in the rolling figures for 11 months (on a pro-rata basis) after they have left. Details of sickness are being monitored by Corporate Leadership team and managers and is being pro-actively managed. 

WCN 006

Missed bins

21.62

20.51

186.04

25

104.61

25

Jennifer Shepherd

RED

There has been a significant increase in missed collections this quarter due to the change in waste collection contract resulting in substantial operational changes. This level of missed collections represents 0.186% of all collections made. Overall the service has provided significant improvements to the services residents receive including enhanced recycling collections. New technology has also been introduced which will improve the customer’s experience through greater visibility of the service and allow any problems to be resolved more swiftly. However there have been some teething troubles during the introduction whilst the operatives become familiarised with the new technology and receive the appropriate training. There is an action plan to address the high level of missed collections and to ensure performance reaches the required standard. The Performance Officer does not think that with the level of missed bins reported for the year to date that the annual target will be achieved.