Issue - meetings

To provide an update on how the Council is performing for the period 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022 (report of the Assistant Director – Corporate enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Corporate which provided an update on how the Council was performing for the period 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022.   

The Portfolio Holder – Corporate and Communications presented the report and advised of the following:

·         Customer Services continued to perform below target due to a number of pressures that it had had to deal with.  He would be meeting with officers from PSPS to discuss improvement and the way forward;

·         Homelessness was an area that was performing below target however a significant amount of work had recently been undertaken to address these issues;

·         Housing Voids was an area that was underperforming however, more work was also underway to address these issues.  

The following points were raised:

·         Although there were areas of underperformance, it was important to keep looking forward at improvement. The area of most concern was around Customer Services – it was important that residents could contact the Council. 

·         The Portfolio Holder – Assets and Planning requested that he be included in the meeting with PSPS to discuss the way forward regarding Customer Services. 

DECISION:

That the contents of the report be noted.

(Other options considered:

·         Not to monitor performance – this was not recommended;

Reasons for decision:

·         To ensure Council performance was properly scrutinised.)

To provide an update on how the Council is performing for the period 1st July 2022 to 30th September 2022 (report of the Assistant Director – Corporate enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Corporate to provide an update on how the Council was performing for the period 1 July 2022 to 30 September 2022.

The report was introduced by the Business Intelligence and Change Manager who highlighted the following areas:

• the layout had reverted to the previous format following feedback received at the 19 October 2022 Performance Monitoring Panel meeting;
• performance was now monitored using a business intelligence system which had been implemented across the Partnership;

Key areas of performance were outlined in Appendix A and the following points were highlighted:

• the time taken to process Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support claims (changes and new) was above the threshold target agreed between South Holland District Council and PSPS, and was within the national target set by the Department for Work and Pensions;
• regarding Customer Contact performance:
  • this was still below the target set for calls answered however performance was on a positive trajectory and a breakdown of the data was provided within the report;
  • a 67% increase in demand when compared to the same period last year had resulted from over 100,000 incoming calls regarding the Council Tax Rebate Scheme; and
  • essential training on the new telephone system had taken place during the period.
• Freedom of information and complaint response times had improved slightly but remained below target. The report provided a breakdown of data by service areas. The department was under review so that contingencies could be employed across the Partnership when required.
• Whilst Homelessness indicators remained under target, significant improvements had been made since the previous quarter and performance was on a positive trajectory. A breakdown of data was provided in the covering report and this area was to be monitored closely over the following months. The Assistance Director – Wellbeing and Community Leadership was to bring a report regarding interventions to Leaders of all three authorities within the S&ELCP on the 2 December 2022. The report could be shared with the Panel if this was considered useful; and
• Housing Voids had improved since the previous quarter and performance had been within targets.

Members considered the report and made the following comments:

• Members referred to the market stall occupancy rate and requested that the data be separated to detail occupancy of the different markets within the district, rather than as a total.

• Members referred to the conclusion at point 3 of the report which detailed the performance of 51 per cent of the Council’s metrics and asked for information regarding the remaining 49 per cent.
  • The Business Intelligence and Change Manager  responded that the 49 per cent related to ‘data only’ Performance Indicators where targets were not set. A narrative would be included in future reports so this point would be clear.

• Members noted the 67% increase in calls to the Contact Centre due to the Council Tax Rebate Scheme and questioned whether action had been taken to improve outward communications regarding the scheme to reduce demand on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41