Resolved
(1) That the following many achievements be noted:
Cherwell: A District of Opportunity
· Promote inward investment and support appropriate economic growth within the district is reporting as Green. New marketing material for Local Plan sites is due to be prepared. Existing marketing material maintained on Cherwell Investment Partnership's (CHIP) website - www.cherwell-m40.co.uk. News stories added and e-newsletters sent to all businesses on the database every month. Development of a self-search database of available commercial property also available through website. Distribution of leaflets to promote the Velocity business grants to Cherwell businesses together with an information day for businesses held at Bodicote in June.
· Develop a whole Council ‘Better Business’ approach to support new and existing businesses is reporting as Green. Progress continues to embed the Regulatory code. Briefing sessions for regulatory staff took place in November. The draft Enforcement Policy has been approved by Executive and is out for consultation. Work continues with the Economic Development Team to improve support to businesses. A successful first workshop resulted in a number of innovative ideas including a checklist for pop-up shops to enable them to "get it right" first time. Economic Development and Environmental Health officers are now meeting through SEMLEP to develop this initiative further. This will include exploring the Better Business for All Initiative across the SEMLEP region and implementation in Cherwell.
Safe, Green and Clean
· Customer satisfaction with Household Recycling services is reporting as Green; this has increased by 5% to a satisfaction rate of 88%. Food and garden waste collection and dry recycling have both increased as reported through the annual satisfaction survey. Our Waste Collection service has recorded customer satisfaction at 82% which is the highest level achieved to date.
· Number of All Domestic Burglary incidents reported is reporting as Green*. Burglary has continued to fall over the year as against last year. Burglary initiatives and communication packages have lifted community awareness. However the most likely positive effect has been the lack of cross border offending. YTD: 86 incidents reported against target of 105 - reduction on same period 13/14 of 20.4%.
Thriving Communities
· Processing of major applications within 13 weeks is reporting as Green*. A figure of 95% has been achieved this quarter. This figure represents sustained and significant progress, compared with historic performance.
· Processing of minor applications within 8 weeks is reporting as Amber, an improvement from last quarter. Performance this quarter is below target but this does not represent a long term trend and is expected to recover by the end of quarter three. Year to date performance is 73.88%. The figure for October was 75%.
Sound Budgets and Customer Focussed Council
· Increase our use of social media to communicate with residents and local businesses is reporting as Green. Facebook and Twitter are now an integral part of the communications function. A wide range of service areas are using the social media channels to promote their messages and generate sales, with a limited budget. In the last quarter the Communications Team were announced the winners of the APSE (Awards for Public Service Excellence) for the campaign they delivered through Facebook ‘A Rubbish Guide to Christmas’. Other successes include the uptake in the Summer Holiday Hubs – which reached a record high attracting 2609 bookings.
· Deliver a new approach to communications for the Bicester Master Plan is reporting as Green, an improvement on the last quarter. A draft marketing and communications strategy for Bicester has now been developed, bringing together all of the different aspects we are trying to promote under the banner of www.all-about.bicester.com. A multi-functional team will now be formed to ensure the delivery of this plan.
(2) That the following performance related matters be identified for review or consideration in future reports:
Cherwell: A District of Opportunity
· Bicester town centre regeneration including the Council Community Building is reporting as Amber. Since July 2014 there has been a prolonged period of seeking clarification and reduction in the construction costs for the Community Building, which have substantially increased due to construction inflation and specification. A report was submitted on 20 Oct to confirm the way forward with a start on site expected in Jan 2015.
Safe, Clean and Green
· Number of fly tips enforcement actions are reporting as Red for this quarter. Despite the number of fly tips to date this year, little evidence has been found thereby reducing the opportunity for enforcement actions. During the quarter, there were two successful prosecutions, one fixed penalty notice and three formal cautions. However performance year to date is on a par with last year. Year to date 123 against target of 120
· Tonnage of waste sent to landfill is reporting as Amber this quarter. Quarter 2 saw a small increase in waste sent to landfill although still on track for the year thanks to good performance in Quarter 1. Year to date: 12,911 tonnes against target of 12,926
Thriving Communities
· Number of visits to Woodgreen Leisure Centre (WGLC), North Oxfordshire Academy (NOA) and Cooper School is reporting as Red for this quarter. Overall an exceptionally good performance for both Quarter 2 and full year to date. Performance was up 45,159 against target in Quarter 2. Full year 739,163 visits up by 90,834 on same period in 2013 (648,329). This is due to an all-round good performance at the District Leisure Centres but particularly a good performance at Bicester Leisure Centre as a result of the reopening of the play and teaching pool. All centres have seen an increase generally with Health and Fitness performing particularly well. This is a positive position to be in the contract year 5 benchmarking test period. Visits to North Oxfordshire Academy and Cooper are on track but are affected by continued fall in visits to Woodgreen Leisure Centre during Quarter 2.
· This is due to a reduction in several areas:-
· 3607 less pool users particularly in August due to the inclement weather
· less event and party bookings, particularly weddings - this year has dropped by c6670
· Boxing Club has relocated to a dedicated facility with a loss of approximately 2,100 throughputs
· 250 less on bowling due to a later season start attributed to heater replacement works
Officers are working with Parkwood Leisure to develop the programme to address the fall in throughputs. YTD 62,952 against target of 75,604.
· Processing of minor applications within 8 weeks is reporting as Red for this quarter. Performance this quarter is below target but this does not represent a long term trend and is expected to recover by the end of the next quarter. Year to date performance 73.88%. The figure for October was 75%.
Sound Budgets and Customer Focussed Council
· Identify and remove unnecessary work from service delivery processes to help deliver savings and efficiencies is reporting as Amber this quarter. The planned corporate project to co-ordinate a shift to online channels and with it remove unnecessary work from service delivery processes remains on hold pending decisions about three way service delivery although additional services may be implementing their own process changes and reporting these separately.
(3) That the feedback from the 25 November 2014 meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee during which it considered the quarter two performance report and referred to the “red” rating for the number of fly tip enforcement cases be noted.