Members received the report of the Corporate Programme, Risk and Improvement Manager, which gave details of the current Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), broken down into eight service areas: Environmental Health, Housing, Customer Services, Neighbourhood Services, Estates, Corporate Core, Planning Development Management and Revenues and Benefits.

Appendix B to the report detailed the current KPIs within the eight service areas. Quarterly KPI Performance Reports were expressed in a table format which showed the target and quarterly achievement against that target, expressed by three symbols for ‘on target’, ‘not achieving target’ or ‘improving towards target’. Managers provided a commentary on each of their KPIs, explaining reasons why they were not being met or providing any other pertinent or contextual information. Members would also be provided with an annual State of the District Report, showing details of any wider changes to profiles, demographic, housing and economic landscape of the district to ensure monitoring was realistic and current.

A Senior Leadership Team led Performance Board had been established in July 2023 as part of the new Governance arrangements to sit alongside the (officer led) Risk and Programme Boards, which brought together Heads of Service and relevant Service Managers to discuss performance and service risks collectively and individually across the Council.

Appendix A to the report provided details of Members’ feedback and recommended amendments to the existing KPIs. Members had requested that the district’s performance be rated against the OFLOG Local Government Authority’s Comparison Data and would therefore be shown as a RAG rating (red/amber/green) from the start of the 2024/25 monitoring cycle. However, the OFLOG data only covered some areas of the Council’s work and was not aligned to the KPIs.

A new KPI for Progress of the Climate Strategy had been added to the set and Members noted that the words ‘Scope 1 and 2’ would be added to describe the organisation emissions, which were those directly under the control of the Council.  Scope 3 emissions would be included at a later stage when service contracts were renewed.

Minor changes had been recommended to the Planning Development and Revenues and Benefits KPIs and a reduction in the number of KPIs for Customer Services was proposed, to focus on key performance areas and to reflect the channel shift towards digital. Contextual information would also be provided in the main body of the performance report for Customer Services, to provide more information about types of enquiries received.

Since the paper had been published, officers recommended that the Housing KPI for Average weeks a household was in temporary accommodation before placement, be changed from Not Set to 15 weeks, which Members were happy to agree.

Members recommended and agreed that Planning Development KPIs P3 and P4 be combined, to read ‘Major and minor development planning appeals allowed by the Planning Inspector’, with the target of 10%, as the Government took this measurement as one rather than two.

Members were concerned that the Estates KPI, Income from all assets, had remained the same rather than being increased.  The target was a reflection of the anticipated income from assets as they currently stood, as the Property Investment Strategy programme had now come to an end.  It was hoped that a programme of rent increases would be driven over the year.  Members were happy to recommend the target as written but requested that the Deputy Chief Executive and S151 Officer kept this under review.

The OSC agreed to recommend all the suggested KPIs, as amended, for consideration by Cabinet and requested that KPIs be listed in alphabetical order for ease of reference.

RESOLVED: That Cabinet be requested to approve the following Key Performance Indicators for 2024/25:

1)   Climate Strategy

•     Scope 1 and 2 emissions reduction: Target 50% reduction

2)   Corporate Core

•     FOI - % answered in 20 days: Target 100%

3)   Customer Services

•     Percentage of enquiries that are resolved on the first contact with customer services: Target 85%

•     Channel Shift – online vs traditional: Target 65% online

4)   Environmental Health

•     % of planning food inspections carried out: Target 90%

•     % of service requests resolved on time: Target 90%

5)   Estates

•     Income from all assets: Target £2,375,310 (to be kept under review by the Deputy Chief Executive and S151 Officer)

6)   Housing

•     Number of households either prevented (P) from homelessness or relieved (R) from homelessness: Target 30 per quarter, 120 per annum

•     Average cost per TA Placement: Target £1,200 per month

•     Average Number of weeks spent in TA: Target 15

7)   Neighbourhood Services

•     Waste collections missed bins/100,000: Target 62/ 100,000

•     % of public land found with unacceptable levels of litter: Target 2.50%

•     % of public land found with unacceptable levels of detritus: Target 7%

•     Fly tips recorded on public land/month: Target 69

•     Fly tip fines issued: Monitor

8)   Planning Development Manager

•     Percentage of major development applications determined in 13 weeks or agreed extension: Target 80%

•     Percentage of minor development applications determined in 8 weeks or agreed extension: Target 80%

•     Major and Minor development planning appeals allowed by the Planning Inspector: Target 10%

9)   Revenues and Benefits

•     Percentage of Council Tax owed for the year that has been collected: Target 98.3% yr

•     Percentage of business rates owed for the year that have been collected: Target 98.3% yr

•     Average calendar days to process a new housing benefit claim and/or Council Tax Reduction Claim: Target 20 days

•     Average calendar days to process a change to an existing housing benefit claim and/or Council Tax Reduction Claim: Target 14 days