Agenda item

The Improvement Officer informed the Committee that this would be the last quarter update (Quarter 4 of 2023-24) of the Council’s Ambition targets for 2020-24.  The new plan would be presented to the Committee in due course.

Out of the 25 targets for Quarter 4 of 2024 for the current plan, 16 (64%) had been achieved, 1 (4%) had not been achieved, and 8 (32%) were within target.  Out of the 48 performance indicators, 35 (73%) had a positive outturn, 9 (18%) had a negative outturn, and 4 (8%) were within target.

Out of 17 targets, 1 Council target for Quarter 4 of 2024 had not been achieved; ENV.03 – to achieve a combined recycling and composting rate of 43% by March 2024.  This challenging target had been set to increase the Council’s combined recycling rate from 36% (2022\23) to 43% (2023\24), requiring combined burgundy and green bin material increase of 2,300 tonnes.   However, throughout the 2023/24 period, 1,550 tonnes of material had been diverted, resulting in a 40.5% (approx.) recycling rate.

After a query from a Member, the Improvement Officer confirmed ‘diverted’ meant recycling waste that had been contaminated; the Strategic Director of Services had explained to the Improvement Officer that the cause of this diversion was food waste being contaminated with garden waste.

The Environment Act 2021 now required all English Councils to implement separate weekly collection of food waste from 1^st April 2026 to achieve a combined recycling rate of 65% by 2035; this target had been set within in the Council’s new plan for 2024-2028.  The Portfolio Holder for Resources asked if this would require the use of another bin for collection, and a Member answered a grey bin for food waste would be deployed.

The Improvement Officer highlighted the breakdown of the performance indicators for supporting the Council’s aims presented on Page 17 of the document.

In Customer Services, CSP11 (percentage of telephone calls answered within

20 seconds (Corporate) (Quarterly)) and CSP25 (percentage of Informal (stage 1) complaints responded to within 3 working days) were below target.  The Improvement Officer noted it was at times unfair to only look at the numbers, as with regards to some complaints, these can be difficult to resolve.

240 requests for FOI/EIR had been made in Quarter 4 of 2024.  While below the 95% target (87.9%), the team had been carrying a long term absence which would be resolved in Quarter 1 of 2024/25.

For Revenues and Benefits, the collection of Council Tax Arrears and NNDR Arrears were below target, though the reasons for this were COVID-19 and the ongoing Cost of Living Crisis.  Progress was being made, but this was down to external matters beyond the Council’s control.

A Member noted RS06 (percentage of Council Tax Arrears collected (profiled target)) and RS07 (percentage of NNDR Arrears collected (profiled target)) were improving every quarter throughout 2023/24, and the Portfolio Holder for Resources added it was important the collection of these arrears did not come at the cost of those in financially vulnerable situations; it was better to collect a small amount than nothing at all.

The Improvement Officer highlighted that for NNDR Arrears, whilst the target has not been met for Quarter 4 of 2024, payments of £334k of the arrears had been received and there had been debit changes of £225k, increasing prior years’ arrears and negatively impacting this measure.  A Member commented that companies were struggling/failing nationally.

The Housing Management performance indicators would likely improve with the purchase of new software and a number increase in the team to focus on those in need and either provide that support or forward to those who can.

For Environmental Health, EH03 (percentage of high-risk food interventions undertaken against programme (A, B and C rated premises)) and EH04 (Percentage of business enquiries responded to within 3 working days) were below target.  However, details of these were presented on Page 25 of the document and it was noted that for EH03, the Council could not predict everything, and numbers overall were small; the balance was setting a high target that was still achievable (for EH04 the annual performance was 88%, just outside the 90% target).

In Streetscene, the removal of 95% of hazardous fly tipping within 24 hours of it being reported was below target, achieving 75% for Quarter 4 of 2024.  However, this quarter followed the December Holiday period where an increase in fly tipping always pushed resources.

The Improvement Officer referred the Committee to Appendix 2 of the report, which presented the full ambition target listing by aim.

Moved by Councillor David Bennett and seconded by Councillor Chris Kane

RESOLVED that the quarterly outturns against the Council Ambition 2020-2024             targets and relevant performance indicators be noted.

The Improvement Officer left the meeting.