Consideration was given to the report of the Director – Place and Climate Change on the Performance Report of the Third Quarter 2021/22.  Members were given the opportunity to scrutinise the progress towards the Council’s stated aims, outcomes and actions in the Corporate Plan and make any necessary recommendations to Cabinet for future service delivery. 

A summary of the Council’s performance against the selected Key Performance Indicators (KPI) areas (Housing and Communities, Economic Development and Poverty, Waste Collection, Additional Income and Planning Processing) at the end of the third financial quarter (1 October 2021 to 31 December 2021) was set out in the report.  Performance was compared to the previous quarter result and to the same quarter the previous year.

Housing and Communities:  During quarter three, one measure had met its target (Number of affordable homes delivered (gross) (supply target)) and four measures did not meet their target (Number of all Households in Temporary Accommodation (TA), Average Weeks in TA, Number of Households on the Housing Register and Net Additional Homes Provided Supply target). 

Economic Development and Poverty: During quarter three, all three measures met their target (Number of Council Tax Reduction Claimants, Council Tax Collection Rates and Business Rates Collection Rates).

Waste Collection:  The reported figures were for quarter two as the data received was one quarter in arrears from Waste Data Flow.  This measure (East Sussex County Council (ESCC) Waste re-used, composted and recycled) did not meet its target, largely due to contamination at bring-sites.  ESCC had advised that the recycling rates for the districts and boroughs were under review due to discrepancies between ESCC figures and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ for some authorities and were subject to change.

Additional Income:  During quarter three, both measures did not meet their targets (Net Income from all Investment Assets and Additional Income Generation).  The property team was actively looking to improve revenues from existing assets.  Work had commenced with Heads of Service to identify proposals that would be presented to the Financial Stability Programme Board in due course. As a result of the continuing pandemic, this work and the subsequent implementation of proposals had been delayed and therefore it was unlikely that the target for 2021/22 would be met. 

Planning Processing: During quarter three, both measures did not meet their targets (Major Applications days to process and Minor Applications days to process).  However, there was a marked improvement in the third quarter, compared to the second quarter, for processing of both major and minor applications.  Work was continuing on processing improvements and the impact would be clearer with the fourth quarter results. 

Members had the opportunity to ask questions and the following points were noted during the discussion:

•           the Housing and Communities indicators that did not meet their targets were of concern.  The length of time in TA was a helpful indicator, but TA was in the process of being transformed into a supportive scheme to prevent rough sleeping or returning to abusive situations; and

•           performance in planning processing was disappointing, but Members were reassured that work was on-going and performance had continued to improve, although the rate had slowed.  Performance figures were reported to the Planning Committee on a monthly basis.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.