Agenda item

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.

The Cabinet received a report that set out the latest performance information for the fourth quarter of 2020/21 which included the corporate balanced scorecard, project updates and progress in delivering manifesto commitments.

(Councillor Pantelic joined the meeting)

The report contained data for the full financial year and the impacts of both the first and second waves of Covid were apparent in several performance indicators.  The pandemic had significantly changed the health, social and economic context in which the Council operated and it was recognised that this would inevitably impact on some performance measures.

The progress on key projects were summarised and significant issues with red rated projects were highlighted and action noted.

Performance indicators showing improvement over the period included street cleanliness, an increase in the number of HMOs licensed and reduction in peak journey times. There had been a deterioration in several indicators most directly impacted by the pandemic including Council Tax and Business Rates collection, an increase in the number of referral for temporary accommodation and the backlog of service requests.

It was noted that the refreshed Five Year Plan approved by Council in March set out a more streamlined balanced scorecard and new performance targets would be established for each indicator. Quarterly reports would continue to be provided to the Cabinet and Scrutiny to monitor performance.

Lead Members asked questions about a range of specific performance issues including the current position on collection rates and plans to recover outstanding sums owed to the Council. Members welcomed the increase in the number of HMOs in the licensing scheme and the Director explained the proactive work taking place to promote the scheme. Speaking under Rule 30, Councillor Strutton commented on the relatively low number of HMOs in the scheme. It was explained the scheme introduced by the Council was only mandatory in the two target wards but overall the numbers were continually rising as it was rolled out. The action to deal with the backlog of service requests was noted and it was recognised that the restrictions on visiting properties and operational caused by Covid had led to spikes in demand which would take some time to work through. The Cabinet asked that more work be done on the data to understand if there were any underlying performance issues that needed to be addressed that could have been disguised by the impact of Covid. A report was planned to go to scrutiny to ensure there was Member oversight of the position.

There was a discussion about crime rates with the more detailed information previously requested by Cabinet included in the appendix to the report. Concern was expressed about the rises in violent and sexual offences. The Lead Member said he would pick up these issues with the Thames Valley Police & Crime Panel and it was noted that the Police and Crime Commissioner would usually attend a meeting of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee during the coming months.

At the conclusion of the discussion the Cabinet noted the report and agreed to receive quarterly reports on projects and performance.

Resolved –  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.