Agenda item

Report of Assistant Director Customer Focus

Purpose of report

To report to the committee the council’s performance position at the end of Quarter 1 2025-26.

Recommendation

The Overview and Scrutiny resolves:

1.1           To consider the contents of the council’s performance Quarter 1 report and agree comments to the Executive for consideration.

Resolved 

(1)        That having given due consideration, the Council’s Performance Monitoring Report Quarter 1 2025 - 2026 performance be noted, and no comments be submitted for Executive consideration.

The Committee considered a report from the Assistant Director – Customer Focus that detailed the council’s performance position at the end of quarter 1 2025-2026.

In introducing the report, the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Property & Regeneration advised that the Council was performing well against its quarter 1 objectives, with 82% of measures on target or within tolerance.

Out of 38 total measures 0 were red, 7 were amber, and 31 were green. On the annual delivery plan there were 23 milestones to deliver in quarter 1, 20 of which had been achieved or were within the agreed tolerance, and 3 slightly behind target. The actions with milestones behind target were Strengthen community cohesion - Produce Annual EDI General Duty Compliance report; Deliver Planning Service Improvement - establish performance improvement indicators, targets and resource needs; and Create vibrant economic centres and thriving rural villages - complete an asset register and agree future plan for each, with focus on those that are underutilised or suitable for community transfer.

Members were advised that work had begun on the milestones but was not yet completed.

Members were also advised that of the nine targeted corporate key performance indicators, five achieved their Q1 target or reported within the agreed tolerance, and four reported slightly behind target.

Officers then responded to a series of pre-submitted questions from members.

In response to a question regarding indicator BP2.2.03 the Q1 Climate Actions, and elaboration on the red status of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) within the report, the Climate Action Manager had provided a detailed written response, stating that since the publication of the agenda some of the action points had achieved a green status., The remaining were in progress and a comprehensive detailed response on the status of the remaining KPI’s would be published after the meeting. 

In response to a question regarding membership of the Climate Change Programme Board (CCPB), and were others able join it, the Corporate Director Communities explained that the CCPB was a closed officer led board, comprising of a number of assistant directors, heads of service and senior officers, used to monitor the progress of the climate action programme. Members were also advised that a Climate Action Working Group was due to be formed, at which appointed members would receive updates and have the opportunity to provide feedback on the Climate Change Programme.

In response to a question regarding educating public facing officers in British Sign Language (BSL) as part of EDI General Duty Compliance, the Performance Team Leader relayed a response from the Assistant Director of Human Resources stating that the Council’s language bank had been launched and internal resources had been identified. Information had also been sought for sign language courses, including the associated costs.

In response to a question relating to indicator BP2.2.05 total greenhouse gas emissions for the year, and whether the report took into account changes made to residential properties by householders to reduce emissions as well as any retrofitting to commercial buildings, the Assistant Director Communities explained that the council monitored two distinct sets of emissions., Organisational emissions, which were those directly linked to council operations, and District-wide emissions; which included emissions from homes, businesses, transport, and other sectors across Cherwell  Any changes to residential and commercial were not tracked at an individual  property level, they were captured indirectly via the cumulative effect becoming visible in national and regional emissions data.

In response to a question regarding the delivery of Planning Service improvements, and whether this would diminish residents and parish council input into the planning process, and if it would also include improvements to external input from such bodies as Oxfordshire County Council Highways, the Assistant Director - Planning and Development advised that there would be no reduction in parish or resident input to the planning process. It was the responsibility of said bodies to provide their input, but the action plan for the management of strategic planning applications included more structured tracking and chasing of consultation responses in the interest of avoiding unnecessary delays.

In response to a question regarding the implementation of the Parish Liaison Flood Toolkit, the Corporate Director Communities explained that a parish flooding workshop was due to be held which would help with the creation of the toolkit.

In response to a comment from the Committee regarding the collection of council tax and business rates, the Chair agreed to record the thanks given from the committee to officers for their efforts in achieving such high collection rates.

In response to a question regarding indicator BP1.2.10, % of major planning applications overturned at appeal, and whether the Councils position had fluctuated or remained close to the stated 16% and how that effected the risk of designation from the Planning Inspectorate, the Assistant Director – Planning and Development explained that the council had been contacted regarding its previously high percentage of 10.4% over a two year period for major applications overturned at appeal., Officers subsequently submitted an exceptional circumstances case to government, which resulted in no designation being made, as recognition was given to the councils’ commitment and efforts to rectifying the situation. Members were then advised that due to an error in the recording of the data the Councils’ Q1 total was not 16% and was below 10%., One of the two applications overturned at appeal had been minor and not major.

In response to a question relating to the amber designation of the production of the Annual EDI General Duty Compliance Report and whether the report would be produced in time, the Performance Team Leader explained that despite a slight delay, work on the report had begun, and officers were confident that the report would be ready in time.

Resolved 

(1)        That having given due consideration, the Council’s Performance Monitoring Report Quarter 1 2025 - 2026 performance be noted, and no comments be submitted for Executive consideration.