Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive and Community and Corporate Planning Manager

Summary

This report covers the Council’s performance for the period 1 October to 31 December 2009 as measured through the Performance Management Framework.

Recommendations

The Executive is recommended to:

(1)               Note the many achievements referred to in paragraph 1.3 of the report.

(2)               Request that officers report in the fourth quarter on the items identified in paragraph 1.4 of the report where performance was below target or there are emerging issues.

(3)               Agree the responses identified to issues raised in the last quarterly performance report in paragraph 2.1 of the report or to request additional action or information.

Agreed

The Chief Executive and Community and Corporate Planning Manager submitted a report which covered the Council’s performance for the period 1 October to 31 December 2009 as measured through the Performance Management Framework.

Resolved

(1)               That the many achievements as set out below be noted:

Cherwell: A District of Opportunity

·        In November 2009 Councillor Gibbard and Chairman Diana Edwards joined staff and tenants of Charter Community Housing in planting a tree to mark the opening of twenty affordable flats at Merton Street in Banbury. The council supported the development of these flats by investing gap funding so that Sanctuary Housing Group could make use of homes which a developer was struggling to sell.

·        The council continues to work with partners to hold weekly job clubs. An apprenticeships scheme is being finalised to support opportunities for younger people.

A Cleaner Greener Cherwell

·        Successful roll out of the food waste collection to 17,000 properties before Christmas. 

·        We have launched a resource point for recycling of redundant equipment from local businesses to voluntary organisations.

A Safe and Healthy Cherwell 

·        Successful opening of the new Spiceball Leisure Centre, ahead of schedule. 

·        The first Drinks Banning Order in the country has been obtained in Banbury and the success recognised by the Home office.

·        An ASBO has been granted for a persistent offender in Bicester.

·        The ‘Scores on the Doors’ website (for information about local food hygiene ratings) achieved 3415 hits during December.

An Accessible Value for Money Council

·        As at 31 December 2009 we have secured £924,000 of our £1 million savings target for 2009/10. We are also projecting £693,000 of efficiencies against a target of £600,000.

·        The council has received its Comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) organisational rating and has scored strong threes across all assessment areas:

o       Managing performance 3 out of 4

o       Use of resources 3 out of 4

o       Managing finances 3 out of 4

o       Governing the business 3 out of 4

o       Managing resources 3 out of 4

The CAA is a tougher test of performance than the CPA (Comprehensive Area Assessment) and whilst we have not achieved our aim of scoring a four there are several areas of excellence and strong performance that have been identified through the assessment. These include our performance in helping local people and businesses respond to the recession, community leadership and the pace of improvement, the way we deal with waste, clean streets, falling crime, affordable housing, homelessness and temporary accommodation performance, access to services, electronic transactions, our website and improved value for money.

(2)               That officers be requested to report in the fourth quarter on the items set out below where performance was below target or there are emerging issues:

Cherwell: A District of Opportunity

·        Processing of major planning applications (NI 157a processing of major planning applications within 13 weeks), performance is off target but improving. The service expects to be within target by the year end. This target has been affected by the reduced number of major applications received.

·        The percentage of planning appeals upheld against a refusal. This target is reporting red (33% against a target of 30%), however, performance is improving and in December all appeals were won by the Council. It is anticipated that this target will be met by the year end. 

A Cleaner Greener Cherwell

·        NI195b (street and environmental cleanliness – detritus), this is the second quarter this target has been reported as red. The service expects to be on track in quarter four.

An Accessible Value for Money Council

·        We have improved our performance in terms of benefits processing this quarter both in relation to new claims and changes to circumstances. However, this is still an area for improvement and we will keep it under review and provide a further update in the quarter 4 report.

(3)               That the responses identified to issues raised in the last quarterly performance report be noted.

(4)               That Officers be requested to provide a briefing to the Leader on the performance of NI195b (street and environment cleanliness – detritus) over the past two quarters.

Reasons – This report sets out the Council’s performance in the third quarter of 2009/10 as measured through the Performance Management Framework. Central to this is the Corporate Scorecard, which is made up of the Council’s priority performance targets. The Corporate Scorecard covers seven areas of performance. These are performance against The Local Area Agreement; the Community Plan; the Corporate Plan promises; Priority Service Indicators; Financial Performance; Human Resources and Customer Feedback.

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