The Director of Strategy, Engagement and Growth introduced the report and stated that it covered the Council’s corporate performance from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021. She stated that 63% of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) had met target, which was 10% lower than in 2019/20 when 74% of KPIs had reached target. She highlighted that this was largely not due to service performance, but due to the impact of COVID-19 and subsequent restrictions. She explained that in Quarter 2 when COVID-19 restrictions had eased, 75% of KPIs had reached their targets, and she hoped to see this again in the figures for Quarter 1 of this municipal year. She described how each KPI that had not hit target had commentary and a ‘route to green’ attached, which explained the reason for the missed target and any action being taken to ensure it hit future targets. She summarised and highlighted point 3.4 of the report which outlined the KPIs that had achieved target.

The Vice-Chair questioned page 26 of the agenda and the KPI regarding the occupancy percentage of council-owned business centres. He queried what marketing and incentives the Council were undertaking. The Director of Strategy, Engagement and Growth replied that although the Council were not providing any direct incentives for council-owned business centres, but they were working hard to ensure the units were marketed and occupancy take up increased.

Councillor Akinbohun arrived 7.05pm.

Councillor Okunade questioned the KPI relating to the turnaround time of re-lets. She queried whether this KPI had been affected by the pandemic, and if the Council had a plan in place to ensure the time to re-let properties was reduced. The Director of Strategy, Growth and Engagement responded that the report highlighted the direction of travel for the KPI, and explained that in Quarter 1 the choice-based lettings programme had been suspended due to COVID-19, so the time to re-let had increased to sixty days. She explained that the re-let time had now decreased to thirty days, and was continuing to travel in the right direction, but had not hit the end of year target. She added that the team were seeing improvement in Quarter 1 this year, which would be shown to the Committee at the meeting in September.

Councillor Kent stated that this had been a tough year for the Council due to COVID-19, and felt that the KPIs reflected this. He thanked officers across the Council for their hard work throughout the pandemic, and felt that they had continued to deliver services during a difficult year. He highlighted page 21 of the agenda, and asked if the Committee could see the raw data for the KPI regarding the completion of treatment in the Young People’s Drug and Alcohol service. He also questioned the KPI regarding the Council’s support of cultural, social, and health and wellbeing events outlined on page 22, and asked if these had taken place virtually during the pandemic. He also asked if the Committee could see more detail on the type of events that took place, and what future events were planned. Councillor Kent then drew the Committee’s attention to page 27 of the agenda and the KPI relating to payment of Fixed Penalty Notices. He felt that the repayment figure was still low, and asked what extra steps had been put in place to ensure this figure met target in the future. He then queried page 28 of the agenda, and asked if the figure of 195 homes permitted through the Planning Committee was correct. He also wished to see the percentage difference between sites suppressed due to the pandemic and site availability. Councillor Kent then moved on and highlighted the KPI on page 30 of the agenda relating to the number of houses at risk of homelessness. He stated that only 211 cases had been accepted, which was a rate of 11.5%, and questioned whether this was due to officers turning people away or ensuring they were not losing their homes. He added that it would also be useful to see a full report relating to the asset disposal strategy. The Director of Engagement, Strategy and Growth thanked Councillor Kent for his feedback, and stated that she would respond to his questions in writing after the meeting.

Councillor Snell agreed with Councillor Kent that lots of KPIs had missed their targets due to COVID-19 restrictions, but also agreed that parts of the report needed more clarity, such as site availability of housing. He highlighted page 29 of the agenda, and the KPI relating to the number of initial health assessments for children completed, and felt that 57% completed within 28 days of a child becoming Looked After was low. He felt that this was a hidden impact of the pandemic, and although the team had done a good job in the circumstances, they would need to work hard to catch-up on those initial health assessments that had been missed. The Director of Engagement, Strategy and Growth replied that the team were currently finalising this year’s KPIs, which would be brought before the Committee in September. She added that any feedback made by the Committee would be taken back to the team, and KPIs would continue to be monitored and reviewed.

The Vice-Chair summarised and stated that the Council would continue to work hard during these unusual times, and felt that KPIs would continue to improve now COVID restrictions were easing.

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

1. Noted and commented on the performance of the key corporate performance indicators, in particular those areas which are off target, and the impact of COVID-19.

2. Identified any areas which required additional consideration in 2021/22.