Agenda item

The Committee considered the Corporate Performance Monitoring Report (in relation to quarter 2 of 2021-22), which had been submitted as part of the Council’s evolving performance monitoring framework.

The Committee had been invited to submit comments and questions regarding the report itself and specific performance indicators in advance of the meeting, details of which, together the officer response, were included in the Supplementary Information Sheet circulated prior to the meeting.

The Leader of the Council commented that this was still an evolving process, but it was moving in the right direction in terms of active engagement by officers and councillors in addressing issues around key performance areas.

During the debate, the following points were made:

·       In response to a request for further information as to why the figure in respect of homeless families being placed in B&B accommodation was rising (H & J5), officers explained that the number of families in B&B temporary accommodation varied significantly throughout a typical month, and throughout the course of a year, the number would typically vary between zero and seven or eight.  It was suggested that this KPI might need to be altered perhaps showing an average amount of a time families occupied B&B accommodation.  It was noted, however, that as this KPI was a nationally recognised indicator an alternative option would be to provide background information to put the figures into context.  This would be clarified in future reports.

·       In relation to ENV3 (fly-tipping), it was noted that performance was going in the right direction, but more prompt information would be useful.

·       It was felt that the climate change officer’s role should not be collating data for ENV9 (energy use by the Council; gas, electricity and fleet), but should be far more proactive in looking at ways to improve our climate change position.  The Chairman asked whether a specialist was required to obtain and monitor this data, or whether there was insufficient staff capacity to monitor the data even though it was readily available.  A written response on these matters would be circulated to the Committee.

·       The Leader of the Council reassured the Committee that the Council was putting in place measures to work with Surrey County Council and Waverley Borough Council in order to maximise resources on our climate change agendas, but it was important that decisions made were based on reliable performance data.

·       In relation to H & J4 (Affordable new homes completed each year), officers agreed to separately identify new social housing and affordable housing completions by having separate targets for these in future reports.

·       In relation to COU2 (staff turnover), an enquiry was made as to whether there was a common theme emerging from exit surveys.  The Lead Specialist – HR would be asked to circulate a response on this point to the Committee.

·       In response to concerns regarding COU11 and COU12 (speed of determining planning applications), the Leader of the Council reported that the Council had spent in excess of £1million in additional staffing resource to deal with the significant backlog of outstanding planning applications, a position which was reflected across the south-east region, which also meant that recruitment of suitable officers was increasingly difficult.  The Leader was pleased to note that the number of outstanding applications was reducing as a result, and that the pre-application advice service would resume in early February, which would bring in additional income and improve the quality of applications.

·       A response to an enquiry relating to ENV2 (household waste recycled and composted), with regard to the measure against which the percentage of household waste recycled and composted was determined, and whether the figures actually reflected recycled and composted waste or whether any of that waste was rejected as being contaminated, would be circulated to the Committee

·       In relation to COM3 (number of community hot meals delivered), it was suggested that, for clarity, the metric should show not only the number of hot meals delivered, which fluctuated according to demand, but also perhaps a qualitative metric showing the number delivered on time that were still hot.

The Committee, having reviewed the report

RESOLVED: That the contents of the report along with the Performance Monitoring Report for 2021-22 quarter 2, shown in Appendix 1 thereto, be noted, together with the update information set out in the Supplementary Information Sheet.

Reasons:

To support our corporate performance monitoring framework and enable the Committee to monitor the Council’s performance against key indicators, as well as review key data relating to the ‘health’ of the borough.