Agenda item

The report comprised two items:

-                     The Performance Report – which provided details of the key performance measures reported through the corporate performance framework for 2021/22.  The latest performance outturns and targets were reported alongside trend and benchmarking information, where available. The report also included several indicators without targets for this year, that were being monitored to establish a baseline level of performance and monitor trends. A commentary was provided for each indicator explaining what was being measured, explaining the narrative behind each outturn and detailing improvement actions.

-                     The Performance Scorecard – which provided information on four key elements of performance for the Council covering Finance, Customer Service, Performance and Human Resources indicators.  These were arranged in four quadrants.

Within the performance report and performance scorecard, outturns that were performing at or better than target were classified as Green, those that were within 5% of the target were Amber and those that were more than 5% of the target were Red.  At the end of Quarter 4, 93 indicators had outturns reported with a red, amber or green status. Of these, 66 were Green (71%), 7 were Amber (8%) and 20 were Red (22%).  This compared to Quarter 3 where 62 were Green (69%), 12 were Amber (13%) and 16 were Red (18%).

RESOLVED –

(1)               That the Council’s performance for the Quarter 4 period 2021-22 be NOTED.

(2)               That the actions being taken to improve performance, where required, be NOTED.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources, Property and Assets introduced the report which comprised the following two items:

·                The performance report, which provided details of the key performance measures reported through the corporate performance framework for 2021/22. The report also includes several indicators without targets for this year, that were being monitored to establish a baseline level of performance and monitor trends. Commentary was provided for each indicator explaining what was being measured, explaining the narrative behind each outturn and detailing improvement actions.

·                The performance scorecard, which provided information on four key elements of performance for the Council covering Finance, Customer Service, Performance and Human Resources indicators. These were arranged in four quadrants.

Within the performance report and performance scorecard, outturns that were performing at or better than target were classified as Green, those which are within 5% of the target are Amber and those which are more than 5% of the target are Red.  At the end of Quarter 4, 93 indicators had outturns reported with a Red, Amber or Green status. Of these, 66 were Green (71%), 7 were Amber (8%) and 20 were Red (22%).  This compared to Quarter 3 where 62 are Green (69%), 12 are Amber (13%) and 16 are Red (18%).

Cabinet Members then provided comprehensive explanations for the performance marked as red where performance was more than 5% off the target for each of their portfolio’s, these were as follows:

Leader

·                Unemployment Claimant Rate – The indicator compared the Buckinghamshire Claimant Rate with the National Claimant Rate of those claiming 'out-of-work' benefits as a proportion of the working age population. Pre-Covid-19, Buckinghamshire's Claimant Rate tracked at 55% of the National Rate and this had been set as the target for this measure.  Buckinghamshire's Claimant Count Rate was 2.9%, which was lower than the National Claimant Count Rate of 4.3%.  This equated to 67% of the national rate but was above the 55% target. Buckinghamshire’s claimant count rate was one of the lowest in the country (7th lowest of all 38 LEP areas), however, the Wycombe Parliamentary Constituency area had a rate that exceeds the national average (4.4%).  The report included information on the initiatives underway (both nationally led and locally led) to help move people off the claimant count and into work. There was a shortage of labour at the moment in particular social workers and planners for local government, film industry and the hospitality sector.

Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment

·                % of waste collected for recycling, reuse, composting or anaerobic digestion from household sources (household collection and Household Recycling Centres) – target of 60% against a current value of 44.12%.  Performance for Q3 2021/22 showed a drop from Q2 and was lower than the same period in 2020/21.  This was due to a marked drop in organic material (food waste) sent for anaerobic digestion or composting affecting Q2-3, due to disruptions to kerbside collections arising from driver shortages.  While Buckinghamshire’s performance had fallen and was below the South East average (46%), it remained above the England average (42.3%). Q4 outturns (not yet validated) were projected to be much improved at around 53%.

·                Percentage of Missed Bin Collections – the current figure was value 0.24%, which was up on previous quarters and above the target of 0.15%.  The upturn in missed collections was related to an increase in unplanned staff absence amongst the South team (Veolia) due to Covid-19 during January, which resulted in delayed and incomplete rounds.  Although relief staff had been deployed, they often lacked the same level of local knowledge.  Performance consistently improved during February and was below target (good) throughout March, which had been attributed to a decline in unplanned staff absence towards the end of Q4.

Cabinet Member for Communities

·                % of total economic recovery spend across all Community Boards compared to profiled spend – this figure showed a current value of 29.33% against a target of 100%.  This indicator measured a priority area of spend for the Community Boards total budget. Having reduced the funding available to Community Boards and given the Boards had more autonomy over how they spent their funding, these measures were no longer relevant.  New performance indicators were currently being developed for Community Boards.

Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure

There were no indicators for this portfolio area marked as red where performance was more than 5% off the target.

Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services

·                % of assessments completed in 45 working days – target was 84% – during Q4 the percentage of children’s assessments completed within 45 working days had been 74%. The overall number of children that the social care service was working with rose by 22% in the year ending March 2022. As a result, the number of assessments starting rose by 30% between 2020/21 and 2021/22. During Q4, there was an average of 585 assessments started each month, compared to 489 started during Q4 in the previous year. In response to this increased demand, capacity within the service had been increased leading to improved performance during Q3.  During Q4 the percentage of children’s assessments completed within 45 working days was 74%, which was positive given the increase in demand highlighted.

·                % of children with Initial Child Protection Conferences completed within 15 working days of the strategy discussion – the target was 85% against a current value of 76% (34% in Q2, 61% in Q3).  Additional resource had been put in place to support the administration of ICPCs, and capacity within the service had increased to help manage the rise in demand.  This had led to continued improvement in performance in Q4, during March 84% of ICPCs had been completed on time.

·                % of Children in Need seen within 4 weeks – target was 90% - at the end of March 2022, 80% of children on a CIN plan were seen within 4 weeks.  This was a decrease from 88% at the end of December 2021.  The overall number of children that the social care service was working with had risen by 22% in the year ending March 2022 and the increased activity has also resulted in a rise in the number of children on CIN plans (a 28% rise).  Of the 1,318 children on a CIN plan at the end of March 2022, 96% were seen within 6 weeks.  Managers were working closely with social workers to manage visits week by week to ensure visits took place as soon as possible.  Recruitment activity was also being prioritised to ensure resources were available to manage the increased demand.

Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing and Resources

·                Average % of phone calls in Customer Service Centres abandoned before being answered – target was 10% - Q4 performance was 11.3% against a target of 10%.  This was a reduction in performance against Q3 of 6.1 percentage points.  The higher abandonment rate was due to the normal annual billing exercise undertaken during Q4 which generated a high number of Council tax enquiries.  Excluding Revenues and Benefits, the abandonment rate for Q4 had been 9.3%.

·                Average call wait time – target was 3 minutes – Q4 average call wait time was 9 minutes and 4 seconds (Q3 – 2 minutes, 27 seconds).  The Wycombe and Aylesbury Revenues and Benefits system had been suspended during Q3 to allow a new system to be implemented.  This had created a backlog plus a number of issues as the new system bedded in during Q4.  The average call wait time excluding Revenues and Benefits had been 2m 49s.

·                Staff voluntary turnover % (BC - rolling year) – target 12% - Q4 performance was 14.5% (Q3 at 13.6%).  There had been a reduction in voluntary turnover during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic quarters. Turnover rates had consistently increased as the economy continued to recover and as the labour market changed. Turnover was monitored on a monthly basis.

Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing

·                % of service users due an annual review that receive their review – target 61% - Q4 performance was 55%, which had been impacted by the Omicron variant during Q3 and Q4, and by increased safeguarding activity during the year.  Additional agency resource had been brought in to support the completion of Annual Reviews that were overdue on 1 April 2022, to allow long-term teams to continue to undertake reviews that were due to be undertaken during April2022 to March 2023.

·                % of births that receive a face-to-face New Birth Visit within 14 days by a health visitor in the quarter –target of 90% with a current value of 69.3% (69.9% in Q3, 79% in Q2).  The proportion of visits had decreased due to staff shortages within the Aylesbury and Wycombe teams.  The majority of visits (94%) have taken place within 21 days. There had not been any significant changes to the proportion of children with no recorded visit which has remained at less than 2% across the contract year.  Information was provided on improvement actions being taken to improve future performance.

Cabinet Member for Homelessness and Regulatory Services

·                Number of applicants with/expecting children who have been in non-self contained Bed & Breakfast accommodation for longer than 6 weeks – there was one family affected against a target of 0.  For Q4, one family who had been in non self-contained B&B accommodation for longer than 6 weeks had been moved to B&B accommodation on safety grounds. The family was now in alternative self-contained accommodation.

·                Number of households living in temporary accommodation for over 12 months – the current value was 85 (86 in Q3, 78 in Q2) against a target of 32.  Numbers had increased due to a change in how they were recorded.  The target would be reviewed going forward. In addition, there had been a significant upturn in demand for TA compared to pre-pandemic levels which meant some households were spending longer in TA due to the supply of social housing.

·                % of homelessness decisions taking over 56 days – the target was 40% but the current value was 55% (50.7% in Q3, 52% in Q2, 57.7% in Q1).  There had been a significant upturn in applications – over 4,000 applications in 2021/22 compared to 1,918 in 2020/21.  This increased case load had a knock-on impact on decision times and the ability of the housing service to try and prevent people from becoming homeless.  Improvement actions included changing some procedures and stronger performance monitoring, and the recent recruitment of new Homelessness Advisers although the new recruits would require training and development.

Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration

·                % of enforcement appeals allowed – the current value was 50% (28.5% in Q3, 25% in Q2) and the target 20%. Cabinet Members noted that the results were affected by low numbers of appeals. In the last quarter, 4 out of 8 appeals had been allowed.  The 12 month rolling appeal performance was 31% of appeals allowed (7.5 out of 24).  The position would continue to be monitored closely and appropriate action taken, if necessary.

Cabinet Member for Transport

·                % of gullies cleaned against the cyclical gully programme – the target was 88% against a current value of 83%.  The last quarter had continued to be a challenge in terms of the difficulties in delivering this programme due to a greater number of driver and operator absence issues and the severe storms in February had also caused further delay as the gully crews were deployed on emergency measures, with the gully boom inoperable in such high winds.

·                National Highways and Transport (NHT) Public Satisfaction on the condition of road surfaces – In 2021 Buckinghamshire had scored a satisfaction score of 20%, which was down from 24% in 2020.  This was below the cohort regional average of 22%.  All members of the agreed cohort (which was used for benchmarking in this and previous samples as they were similar authorities and as such a suitable comparison) had reduced scores in this indicator year on year.  Whilst Buckinghamshire’s score dropped by 4%, the NHT average dropped by 5%. This was likely to be because the level of satisfaction was influenced by external factors most importantly the severity of the winter.

·                NHT Public Satisfaction Survey: (KBI 15) % of customers satisfied with their local Rights of Way Network – In 2021, Buckinghamshire scored a satisfaction score of 54% against a South East 2021 average score of 57%. This was down from 2020 (scored 58%) and was the worst in the South East region alongside Kent, Southampton, Medway and East Sussex. Milton Keynes scored highest with 61%.  The reason for the poor performance had been attributed to the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown periods, which had seen an increase in footfall damaging footpaths. There had also been an increase in complaints of trespassers from landowners, and associated preventative measures taken by landowners obstructing footpaths. Furthermore, path volunteers were stood down during Covid-19, which had meant some maintenance tasks could not be completed.  The Council had successfully bid for funding to recruit a new Rights of Way Officer to reduce the current backlog of outstanding issues on the network.

·                Major transport schemes: % of profiled spend achieved – current value of 93.97% against target of 100% - after a delay to the start of works, good progress had been made on site on the A41 project. Both Westhorpe and ABLIS continued to experience significant delays due to external design approvals and significant optioneering requirements respectively.  The Crest Road project had been completed onsite and the Princes Risborough project had delivered significant accelerated in year spend. Total year end spend would continue to be monitored, it was anticipated there would be less than 10% slippage.

RESOLVED –

(1)               That the Council’s performance for the Quarter 4 period 2021-22 be NOTED.

(2)               That the actions being taken to improve performance, where required, be NOTED.