Agenda item

(a)  That the Council’s current performance as measured by the performance indicators within the balanced scorecard, the progress status of the gold projects, and progress against the Manifesto commitments be noted.

(b)  That the Cabinet receive a report in the summer of 2021 on safety in public spaces, particularly in the town centre.

The Lead Member for Governance & Customer Services and the Strategic Programme Management Office Manager introduced a report that provided Cabinet with the latest performance information for the third quarter of the 2020/21 financial year to the end of December 2020.

It was noted the updates relating to education should be read with caution given the fact exams were cancelled in 2020 meaning these indicators were not directly comparable with previous years.  The report also showed the other ongoing impacts of Covid-19, which had significantly influenced several indicators.  The Cabinet noted that eight key performance indicators were rated ‘green’, eight were ‘amber’ and five were ‘red’.  In terms of projects twenty-four were ‘green’ or ‘amber’ and just two were ‘red’.  Performance improvements included a 2.2% year-on-year improvement in the recycling rate and 36 more Houses in Multiple Occupation being licenced compared to the previous quarter.  There had been performance deterioration in areas including Business Rates and Council Tax collection due to the pandemic, unemployment had risen to 8.4% and crime levels remained relatively high since restrictions were eased after the first Covid lockdown.

The Cabinet discussed the crime figures and community safety issues facing the borough, both in terms of short term trends impacted by Covid lockdowns and longer term underlying issues that had been consistently reported for several years.  The Lead Member for Health & Wellbeing commented on the ‘national conversation’ about crime and safety for women that had begun following the recent murder of Sarah Everard in London.  It raised a number of wider issues which directly related to some of the concerning crime statistics in the report such as the increase in violent crime.  Members discussed the fear of crime, measures that were needed to tackle the culture of harassment of women, the work of the Safer Slough Partnership and the need to ensure the design of place and buildings took safety fully into account.  It was agreed that that Cabinet would receive a report in the summer of 2021 on safety in public places in Slough, particularly in the town centre, which set out the work being done and the further improvements that could be made.

At the conclusion of the discussion the report was noted.

Resolved –

(a)  That the Council’s current performance as measured by the performance indicators within the balanced scorecard, the progress status of the gold projects, and progress against the Manifesto commitments be noted.

(b)  That the Cabinet receive a report in the summer of 2021 on safety in public spaces, particularly in the town centre.