Issue - meetings

To provide an update on how the Council is performing for the period 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024 (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 October 2024 to 31 December 2024. 

The Portfolio Holder – Corporate, Communications and Environmental Services presented the report.

Consideration was given to the report and the following issues were raised:

·       Data within the Healthy Lives section suggested a large increase in homelessness – what was the reason for this?

o   The Portfolio Holder for Strategic and Operational Housing advised that there was no specific reason for this.  Officers were working more closely with partners such as those dealing with domestic abuse, the Citizens Advice Bureau etc and the new Housing team structure provided more resilience and increased working with the private sector.  There were many complex issues around homelessness and potential homelessness, and it was vitally important that individuals spoke to the Authority sooner in order that they could be helped. 

·       The Performance Monitoring Panel had picked up similar issues around potential increases in homelessness.  Was there sufficient funding and staffing to deal with the issues?  Consideration also needed to be given to more imaginative ways of making the public aware of services available to them.

o   The Portfolio Holder for Strategic and Operational Housing responded that the new staffing structure provided resource and resilience, and that it was important to compare current to past data to understand the improvements that had taken place as a result of the new structure.  The situation around homelessness was a country-wide trend and it was important to understand that it was a big challenge.  The new staffing structure could assist by bringing in staff to deal with the private sector and build relationship with them, and assisting individuals in dealing with life skills issues.

·       It was encouraging to see the gradual improvement in the percentage of recycling collected that was unable to be recycled due to contamination.

·       Concern was raised in respect of the increased number of working days lost to sickness. 

o   The Chief Executive commented that it was not unusual to see an increase at this time of year however, the figures still compared positively with others in the public sector.

o   The Business Intelligence and Change Manager added that the figure was a cumulative figure over the quarters, and not a new figure for each quarter.  He would ensure that this point was made more clearly in future performance reports. 

·       It was noted that the number of website visitors had reduced and that this seemed unusual. 

o   The Business Intelligence and Change Manager advised that he was awaiting an explanation on this from Customer Services and would advise members of the response once received.  However, whilst website usage appeared to have dropped, usage of other digital services had increased.

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 is properly scrutinised).

To provide an update on how the Council is performing for the period 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024 (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 had performed for the period 1 October 2024 to 31 December 2024.

The Assistant Director – Strategic Growth and Development presented the report to members on behalf of the Business Intelligence and Change Manager who had given his apologies, and the following points were highlighted:

• Performance had improved since the Q2 position with 81% of performance metrics in a positive position for Q3;
• Performance under pressure included:
  • Homelessness prevention;
  • Recycling contamination and composting;
  • Corporate complaints;
  • Business rates collection;
  • Housing benefits speed of processing; and
  • Average answer rates for Revenues and Benefits.

Members considered the report and made the following comments:

• Members were concerned by the negative performance trend relating to the homelessness prevention duty. Were sufficient resources in place to ensure that improvements were possible.
  • The Portfolio Holder for Strategic and Operational Housing, who was in attendance at the meeting for items 11, 12 and 13, responded that:
    • 50% of prevention cases were domestic abuse cases where the council had little or no notice period to act prior to the prevention duty being required;
    • A recent service review had concluded that the council’s ambitious target for prevention had resulted in a distorted impression of achievements and progress made and that the council had performed well when benchmarked against average regional and national performances;
    • The service review report was also extremely supportive of the work undertaken by the homelessness team and the current Homelessness Reduction and Housing Solution Manager had made significant improvements and progress within the service area;
    • The Portfolio Holder had recognised the need for extra resource. A service review, which had resulted in the creation of a Life Skills Officer post to assist individuals to improve their position, had recently been agreed at Full Council; and
    • Prevention work would also involve working with the private sector.
  • Members welcomed the response which had provided a greater context for the ‘underperformance’ (red) status of the Prevention Duty performance indicator. Members suggested that such explanations be provided within future reports to provide a greater understanding of the performance information to satisfy the panel. The Portfolio Holder agreed that more information was required for future reports.

• Members were concerned by the underperformance of the percentage of household waste collected for recycling and composting and agreed that a recommendation go forward from the committee that improved publicity be provided to educate the public of the issue including the financial implications to the council of contaminated recyclable waste.

• Members requested an explanation of the performance regarding the following:
  • ‘Percentage of Corporate Complaints responded to within corporately set timescales’: what are the challenges and what is being done to resolve the challenges;
  • ‘Housing Benefit Changes speed of processing (Year to Date)’: with clarification within future reports of the unit being reported (days?);
  • ‘Revenue and Benefits answer rate’: members requested assurance of how the underperformance was being addressed.; and
  • ‘Number of Business registered via Grants4Growth’ where  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67