Agenda item
Mid-Year Corporate Performance Report 2019/20
- Meeting of Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Tuesday, 14th January, 2020 7.00 pm (Item 17.)
Minutes:
The Chair stated that the
agenda would be amended, and this item would be heard first. The
Director Strategy, Communications and Customer Services introduced
the report and stated that this was the Quarter 2 performance
report, which was being heard at this time due to the cancellation
of meetings because of purdah. She felt that this was a positive
report as 74% of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) had achieved
their target, and overall there had been a positive direction of
travel. She summarised and added that in line with a suggestion
made earlier in the year by the Committee, any indicators that had
missed their target included a ‘route to green’, which
outlined steps being taken to ensure the KPI met its target in the
future.
The Chair opened the debate and highlighted page 25 of the agenda
and the improvement in the KPI relating to tenant satisfaction. He
felt that this was a positive KPI as it had exceeded its target and
hoped this was partly down to focus placed on the KPI by the
Committee. The Director of Strategy, Communications and Customer
Services stated that feedback from tenants had been about the lack
of communication between the Council and tenants, rather than
specific repair complaints. She highlighted that because of the
feedback the Council had started a resident’s newsletter and
developed upon engagement with the Tenants Excellence Panel, which
kept residents up to date with any necessary information. She felt
this was having a direct impact on the KPI, and had therefore
increased tenant’s satisfaction.
The Chair then highlighted page 26 of the agenda and the KPI
relating to the percentage of bins collected on the correct day and
felt it was good to see this KPI had also met its target, and added
it was good to see a monthly breakdown. He then commented on page
31 of the agenda, and the percentage of waste recycled, as he felt
it was disappointing to see this KPI had missed its target, and had
shown a negative direction of travel in the monthly breakdown. The
Director of Strategy, Communications and Customer Services
responded that a Cross-Party Waste Management Working Group had
been set-up in relation to recycling and waste management, which
was currently consulting to get residents feedback on recycling.
She added that pilot schemes had been tested for particular areas
of difficulty, such as recycling in flats, to find options that
could work across the borough. She also commented that Thurrock
were running a social media campaign and regular press releases,
which were tied into national media campaigns to increase plastic
recycling. The Director of Strategy, Communications and Customer
Services summarised and mentioned that officers were also going
back into schools and visiting assemblies, so that 4000 children
would receive additional education regarding recycling.
Councillor Fletcher stated that he was pleased to see that
‘routes to green’ had been added to the report, as he
felt it showed a clear statement of how improvement would be
achieved. He also asked how the information was collected regarding
the percentage of tenant satisfaction KPI, and queried whether all
tenants were surveyed or simply those that had complaints. The
Strategy Manager replied that it was a random spread of tenants
taken by an independent survey company, but would clarify the
details with the relevant officers and reply via email. Councillor
Fletcher then discussed the KPI regarding the number of library
sign-ups and asked if there was a long-term library strategy in
place, as many young people no longer used them. He also asked a
question regarding the relevance of the KPI relating to the number
of permanent admissions of older people to residential care homes.
The Assistant Director Adult Social Care replied that although
libraries had seen a large uptake of users, it had also seen large
numbers of people become inactive, so the KPI had not been met. He
added that a libraries strategy had been developed which would
improve the libraries offer and improve IT facilities available, as
well as making them more commercially viable and financially
self-sufficient. He felt that as libraries became more linked with
community hubs, the uptake of library memberships would increase.
The Assistant Director Adult Social Care then answered Councillor
Fletcher’s second question relating to older people in care
homes, and stated that in recent years the perception of
residential care homes and their need in the community had changed.
He felt that in previous years the Council had wanted to reduce the
number of people in residential care, as the theory was to keep
people in their homes for as long as possible, but recently this
idea had become untenable. He quoted a study which had been
undertaken and had compared the type of residents in care homes in
2010 and now, which had found that people in care homes were now
older (often having their first admittance over the age of 85) and
had more complex care needs. He stated that for those people,
residential care was appropriate, and so the needs profile of
people had changed. He commented that Thurrock’s first desire
was still to keep people in their homes for as long as possible,
but felt that it was sometimes necessary for people to be in
residential care. He felt that although the KPI had not met its
target, this was not related to poor performance, but simply a
reality of life that some people needed residential care. He added
that the KPI also included self-funders, compared to other Councils
who did not include these people in their figures.
Councillor Rigby arrived 19.15
Councillor Hague echoed the Chair’s comments that the
direction of travel for the majority of KPIs was good. He
questioned the figures around the recycling KPI as he felt these
had not made any progress, and asked if the way of measuring the
KPI had changed. The Strategy Manager replied that the measurements
had remained the same, but the KPI was dependent on numerous
factors some of which could not be controlled; one example being
the weather, for example, a wet month would see reduced garden
waste. Other factors included recycling in flats and contamination
of bins. She added that low recycling rates was not just a problem
for Thurrock as different boroughs and councils had different
recycling policies dependent on which recycling centre they used,
which could be confusing.
The Chair asked what level of recycling data the council had across
the borough, and the Strategy Manager replied that the data could
be broken down by round, and by day, and this helped pinpoint
hotspots around the borough. She stated that these figures were
provided to the Waste Management Working Group for their oversight.
Councillor Fletcher added that he was the Chair of the Waste
Management Working Group and had seen data relating to why people
did not recycle, and their problems regarding recycling policies,
which he felt would be good for the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny
Committee to see. He added that a successful pilot had been run to
tackle recycling in flats, which had seen positive results.
Councillor Rigby added that at the previous Cleaner, Greener and
Safer Overview and Scrutiny Committee, a detailed report on
recycling had been presented, and felt it would be useful for the
Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee to see the minutes of
this meeting. Councillor Churchman added that education regarding
recycling was important, particularly around contamination and
types of plastic that could be recycled.
The Chair then highlighted page 29 of the agenda and the KPI
relating to the number of places accessed by two year olds for
early years education, and asked what the policy was on expanding
placements at settings. The Assistant Director Adult Social Care
replied that he would consult with officers and would answer via
email. He mentioned that the performance of this KPI was dependent
on the season, as over summer there was lots of movement of
children, which settled down in September when children took up
their places. He stated that the Quarter 3 figures showed that 80%
of places had been accessed by two year olds, which showed
improvement and met the KPI target.
RESOLVED: That:
1. The Committee noted and commented upon the performance of the
key corporate performance indicators, in particular those areas
which are off target.
2. The Committee identified any areas which required additional
consideration.
Supporting documents: