Date

1^st October 2003

Reporting Area

Council Performance

Lead Director

Peter Rowntree

1. Progress / Issue Reporting

Progress Made

Issues to be addressed

Who

By When

Leadership

Updates on items in previous report

· Hyder Business Services, Aquaterra Leisure and Mott MacDonald have been appointed as strategic partners in business support, leisure and transportation respectively

· Strategic partnership agreements are in place varying between 5 and 10 years and regular progress monitoring will enable efficiencies to be identified and achieved

Res Dir/Ops Dir/EED Dir

Ongoing

· Increasing Customer Satisfaction is a key Council target. Key Performance Indicators are being developed and a full customer satisfaction survey will be carried out Autumn 2003.

· Action Plans are included in Service Plans for achieving increased customer satisfaction

· Further local validation of customer satisfaction through Voice Box survey

· The second 3-yearly national customer satisfaction survey is due to take place shortly - comparative information will be available in 2004 to show how we performed against our peers

Corp Dir

Dec 03

· Projects have started as per the timetable published in the Performance Plan

· 3 improvement projects will begin in 2003/04 (Human Resources, Property, Customer Access and e-government)

Corp Dir/Res Dir

Mar 04

· O&S processes have been improved and documented in the `O&S Toolkit' published on CIS

·

Done

Leadership

· A working group has been established to develop the Corporate Plan

· Key Performance Indicators are included in this report and will be integrated with the Corporate Plan being produced for 2004

ALL Directors

Jan 04

· The Customer Access programme has successfully launched the first "Infoplus" one stop shop in Midsomer Norton, together with 5 information kiosks and 75 free to use computers in libraries

· Further locations under consideration, subject to budget agreement

Corp Dir

Mar 04

People

Updates on previous report

· The development of a Human Resources Strategy is progressing well as part of the Human Resources Improvement Project

· An action plan will be presented to Members end 2003 for approval to include delivering workforce needs effectively, aligning resources to the priorities of the organisation, employee motivation

Corp Dir/Ops Dir

End 2003

People

New items

· Third Staff Survey completed, analysis of the results had lead to areas of improvement and issues being identified

· Main issues to be addressed - poor response from non-office based staff, good performance appraisals, but doubts about usefulness, variability in the way policies and practices are implemented

ALL Directors

Mar 04

· Local Government Pay Council consulted on National Employers initial evidence presented in April 2003. The Commission report should be available by Sept 2003

· Need to monitor developments at national level, especially Commission's report(s) inc. any pay proposals and consequential impact on Council's financial position.

Corp Dir

Mar 04

· Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE) guarantee negotiated with proposed Leisure partner. Staff fully consulted and involved in Leisure partnership project progress - Trade Unions have praised the process

· Investment in new facilities will enable staff to develop their careers in the new partnership

Ops Dir

Ongoing

· Contract now signed with Hyder Business Services who will now implement Business Improvement Service

· Business Improvement Service will implement prioritised projects

Res Dir

Ongoing

Partnership & Resources

· Strategic partnership with Hyder Business Services, Aquaterra and Mott MacDonald now finalised (see above)

· Identification of priorities will take place through the Corporate Plan

ALL Directors

Dec 03

Partnership & Resources

· 2002/03 year-end budget position close to expectation, however for 2003/04 several issues are already emerging which will add strain to this year's budget position

· Lower level of balances will require close monitoring by Directors Group

Res Dir

Mar 04

· Bath Special schools - £4.9m awarded for delivery of new Special schools in Bath, in addition to major capital investment won for Radstock secondary school

· Major project needed to deliver this programme

Edu Dir

Dec 03

· Energy Management - study into procurement options underway

· Will link into Hyder Business Services Partnership project

Res Dir

Dec 03

· The 10 year Leisure partnership transfers most property risks, secures investment and reduces running costs. Recreation Ground issues required an Executive decision to proceed with a lease to be agreed later for Bath Sports Centre

· Achievement of top 25% performance for the service

Ops Dir

Ongoing

· The Housing Corporation has awarded Bath & North East Somerset £2.4m Social Housing Grant for 2003/04 - an increase of £0.5m on last year's allocation

· 2002/03 target of £3.3m spent on affordable housing has been achieved with 100 units of accommodation completed on time. This brings the total to 369 since the stock transfer in 1999

· 2003/04 target is a further 110 units

HSS Dir

· Agreement progressing across the ex-Avon authorities on nursing home and residential care fees for 2003/04, for Older People, following work in partnership with representatives of the independent sector

· Further work on costs of specialist placements for people with Learning Difficulties and people with Mental Health Problems being progressed

· Some homes in areas of shortage are raising fees unilaterally

HSS Dir

Nov 03

· Detailed Transport Business Plan sets out need for additional resources to achieve improved Comprehensive Performance Assessment and Local Transport Plan ratings

· Level of resources applied to future years of financial plan critical to any significant improvement

EED Dir

Oct 03

· Partnership working - since the publication of a District Audit Report in December 2002, a working group has been established to help the Council to meet the key recommendations

· All partnerships need to be mapped to identify the contribution to Council's priorities and objectives, and alignment with the Local Strategic Partnership

· Policy and partnership engagement plans need to be agreed which address the concerns raised in the District Audit report 2002

Corp Dir

Dec 03

· Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) held its first Annual General Meeting in June 2003. Council Leader Paul Crossley was elected as chair and Liz McIntyre, from Learning Partnerships as Vice Chair.

· Membership and operation of LSP to be reviewed by LSP, and any proposals for change will need to be put to B&NES Council

Corp Dir

Dec 03

Policy and Strategy

· Development of Draft Community Strategy

· Consultation on the draft Community Strategy, supported by an extensive publicity campaign.

· The outcomes of this consultation will be collated and analysed in mid September, results of consultation to be incorporated in final version

· Final draft of the Community Strategy will be issued in October

· A comprehensive response at both political and practical level is required by all services

· Aspirations within the Strategy will be considered within the Corporate Plan

ALL

ALL

Oct 03

Dec 03

· The Comprehensive Performance Assessment identified the lack of a Corporate Plan as a weakness

· A Corporate Plan will be developed end financial year 2003/2004. Need to ensure that issues arising from the draft Community Strategy and Corporate Plan are given due regard in Service Plans

ALL

Mar 04

· The Public Service Agreement (PSA) was agreed in August. It contains 30 targets that will stretch our performance beyond that expected without PSA funding. There is £919,000 of pump-priming available to support the new targets

· Interim targets and monitoring processes need to be finalised

Ops Dir

Nov 04

Policy and Strategy

· The Housing Strategy for Bath & North East Somerset 2002-2011 achieved an "above average" rating, but did not meet all the "Fit For Purpose" criteria (only one local housing authority in the Country met all the FFP criteria). The work required to achieve the criteria and a submission date for a revised Strategy have been agreed with Government Office for South West

· The `affordable housing strategy' workplan has been extended for completion in December 2003 to allow for involvement of Overview & Scrutiny. Discussions and investigations underway as to how Overview & Scrutiny can be involved in this policy development

HSS Dir

End 03

· The Review of Homelessness and the Homelessness Strategy document was completed and published at the end of July 2003

·

· The consultation exercise on the Housing Renewal Policy has been completed

· The comments received on the Housing Renewal Policy were generally positive, however the response rate was disappointing

HSS Dir

Oct 03

· Library Vision approved by the Executive Member and will now be implemented

· Library staff restructure to ensure Vision achieved

Corp Dir

Dec 03

· Plan For Sport being written

· Full strategy to be developed next quarter - will focus on social benefits of sports participation

Ops Dir

Mar 04

· 20 Year transportation vision consultation complete

· 20 year Transport vision will be integrated into the Community Strategy and Corporate Plan

EED Dir

Oct 03

Processes

· The Council's performance plan was published in June 2003 reporting actual results rather than estimates as in previous years. Estimates have overstated the end of year position by about 10%.

· A greater scrutiny of progress throughout the year will be supported by an increase in performance reporting.

ALL

Mar 04

· Business Process Change pilots have been implemented in Revenues and Benefits and Planning

· Revenues & Benefits amalgamation and call centre improvements have been slower than planned to achieve effectiveness. Action Plans are in place for review end 03

· A pilot group of 6 staff have received Change Management coaching. This group will support the work of teams delivering change management projects, i.e. Customer Access Programme

Res Dir

Corp Dir

End 03

End 03

· Roll out of Electronic Data Management is progressing

· Revenues and Benefits have installed electronic document software. The new Agresso financial system will incorporate the scanning of all invoices. Planning Services will prepare a business case to scan all planning applications

Corp/EED Dirs

Mar 04

Processes

· The annual complaints report has been drafted and is being analysed

· Annual Complaint report will be published in November

· The Corporate Complaints Procedure is being reviewed with new corporate guidelines available shortly

Ops Dir/ Solicitor

End 03

· To complement revised Service & Budget Planning the Performance Management System is being reviewed to incorporate best practice

· We are one of only 2 Unitary Councils with an "excellent" performance management system (Comprehensive Performance Assessment report 2002)

· A Head of Service Performance Sub-Group will develop proposals to enhance performance management and systems

Ops Dir

Mar 04

· Passenger Transport Client Group established

· Provides forum for issues between client representatives and service providers as recommended in the Best Value Inspection Report

EED Dir

Oct 03

· Agreement in principle has been reached to establish a single point of entry for a range of adult care and primary care trust related services, including intermediate care, at Lewis House

·

· Audit of services against recommendations of Climbie Inquiry Report completed and submitted to SSI. Report broadly very positive with some areas for improvement

· Implement report action plan

HSS Dir

Dec 03

· Over 7,000 Active Leisure Cards currently in use including 1,200 annual memberships & 1,300 advance booking.

· 8,500 B&NES Resident's Discovery Cards (for museums) issued

· Maintain and update membership to ensure maximum effectiveness

Ops Dir

Mar 04

· Homeless numbers have increased partly due to increased demand (while supply of permanent homes is static) and partly because of the introduction of the Lettings and Choice pilot scheme where homeless households are deciding to stay in temporary accommodation longer while they wait for a better home

· Good progress has been made to reduce the number of outstanding nominations under the Choice Based lettings Pilot. The policy is now being reviewed and the system refined to simplify processes. Extra resources are being examined

HSS

Oct 03

Performance Targets

No.

%

RED

13

5%

AMBER

18

8%

GREEN

158

66%

NOT KNOWN

49

21%

TOTAL

238

Ref No

Indicator

Best 25% in 01/02 all English Councils

01/02 actual

02/03 actual

03/04 target

03/04 estimate

Status

Comment

3

% of citizens satisfied with the Council's overall service

70

N/a

Not Measured

58

N/K

Measured every 3 years - next survey in November, although local research is done in "Voicebox" (54% in Apr 2003 although not statistically comparable)

157

% of electronic interactions

45

37

54

63

GREEN

Local 62

Would you recommend the Council as a place to work?

N/a

49

59

62

62

GREEN

Will be measured through a sample of the workforce annually

78a

Speed of Benefits Processing - new claims (days)

35

39

49

40

40

GREEN

78b

Average time for processing changes of benefits circumstances (days)

8

6

16

9

9

GREEN

80g

Overall satisfaction with the benefits service

85

N/a

Not measured

85

85

GREEN

8

% of undisputed invoices paid within 30 days

94

91

90

90

90

GREEN

9

% of Council Tax collected

98

96.8

96.5

97

97

GREEN

10

% of business rates collected

98.8

99.6

96.9

99

99

AMBER

Some large businesses have chosen to change the method of payments from a lump sum to more spread throughout the year, adding uncertainty to the end of year position

156

% of Council buildings suitable for and accessible to disabled people

47

13

25

35

35

GREEN

82a+b

% of household waste recycled

16%

23%

26%

33%

30%

AMBER

Very high Govt. imposed target based on previous good performance. There have been delays with the roll-out of the green waste and cardboard collections

84

Kg of household waste collected per head

487

492

500

500

490

GREEN

102

Passenger journeys on local buses (millions per annum)

N/a

6.7

6.8

6.95

No Data

N/K

Figures provided by operators at year end

103

% of population satisfied with local provision of public transport information

53

N/a

Not measured

39

No Data

N/K

Measured every 3 years - next survey in November (Apr 03 Voicebox 21%)

Local 58

% of delegated Planning applications determined within 8 weeks

N/a

63

77

78

76

AMBER

Too early to assess impact of new delegation scheme introduced in May 2003. May pick up later in the year to meet target.

96

% of defective principal roads

6

19

22

21

21

GREEN

Local 17

Average annual room occupancy in hotels and guest houses

N/a

N/a

63.5

57

No Data

N/K

Collection of these stats is outside our control and is produced a quarter in arrears

89

% of people satisfied with street cleanliness standards

71

N/a

Not measured

71

No Data

N/K

Measured every 3 years - next survey in November (Apr 03 Voicebox 47%)

Local 53

"Streetscene" issues identified and reported

N/a

New

New

300

1500

GREEN

38

% of 15 year old pupils achieving 5+ GCSEs at grades A*-C

53

57

61

62

60

AMBER

Provisional result to be confirmed

39 (new)

% of 15 year old pupils achieving 5+ GCSEs at Grade A*-G

N/a

N/a

90.8

95

87

RED

Every pupil now has to sit English & Maths, therefore failure rate is higher

40

% of pupils achieving Level 4+ Key Stage 2 Mathematics

74

74

78

87

76

RED

Unrealistic target set by Govt. This will change next year.

41

% of pupils achieving Level 4+ in Key Stage 2 English

78

78

79

87

78

RED

Unrealistic target set by Govt. This will change next year.

34a

% of primary schools with 25%+and 30+ of their places unfilled

7.4

11.5

14.7

14.7

14.7

GREEN

34b

% of secondary schools with 25%+ and 30+ of their places unfilled

0

7.7

7.7

7.7

No Data

N/K

Changed method of measuring capacity

44

Number of pupils permanently excluded per 1,000 pupils

0.85

1.7

1.4

1.7

No Data

N/K

43a

% of SEN statements prepared within 18 weeks

97

97

95

98

100

GREEN

126

Domestic burglaries per 1,000 population

8.3

21.6

16.85

15.97

No Data

N/K

Statistics are reported on an annual basis from the Police

128

Vehicle crimes per 1,000 population

9.3

22.6

21.11

20.05

No Data

N/K

Statistics are reported on an annual basis from the Police

49

% of children looked after with three or more care placements during the year

10

12

10.1

11

8

GREEN

50

% of children looked after who are leaving care aged 16+ with GCSE at grades A*-G or GNVQ

49

60

80

80

No Data

N/K

Exam data collected in autumn

161

% of young people looked after, aged 16, who were engaged in education, training or employment at the age of 19

60

31

45.5

40

No Data

N/K

162

% of child protection cases reviewed

100

96

100

100

100, old definition

AMBER

Confirmation of full operational definition of revised indicator still being sought from ODPM/DoH

C26

Supported admissions of older people to residential / nursing care per 10,000 population aged 65+

70-100

96.2

106

estimate

99

(This indicator does not appear in this year's BVPP)

53

Households receiving intensive home care per 1,000 65 or over

16

4.1

4.9

5.3

No Data

N/K

Annual survey in September

56 (new)

Percentage of items of Social Services equipment delivered within seven days

N/a

N/a

New

80

70

RED

It is proving difficult to meet the 7 day target for equipment which requires minor adaptations to dwellings

196 (new)

Assessment of older people - & less than 4 weeks

N/a

N/a

New

80

No Data

N/K

Still trying to get SW teams to record data on client database

Local 8

New affordable housing units

N/a

92

78

110

116

GREEN

Local 9

% of affordable housing on brownfield sites

N/a

N/a

100

60

77

GREEN

183a

Homeless households with children in Bed & Breakfast (average time in weeks),

N/a

N/a

7.5

4

4

GREEN

183b

Average time (in weeks) in hostels, households with children

N/a

N/a

10.2

10

16

RED

Further management action required to ensure that stays by households with children in hostels are limited

Reduce accidental fire related deaths and injuries in the home

N/a

17.4 per 100,000

16.0 per 100,000

(This indicator does not appear in this year's BVPP)

Theme

Performance Measure

Base

Line

PSA

Target

1. Cost-performance index

Improvement in the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of local services

100

107.5

2. Increasing Bus Usage

Local bus journeys (millions)

(Target is accumulative over 2 years)

6.730m

14.055m

Percentage satisfied with public transport information

34%

55%

Households receiving intensive home care per 1,000 population aged 65 or over

4.1

8.5

Number of people aged 65 years and over who received 5 or more hours of home care over a minimum of 6 visits a week for a period of four or more continuous weeks during the year

444

550

Older people aged 65 or over receiving a Direct Payment

3

26

Supported admissions of older people to permanent residential /nursing care per 10,000 population aged 65 or over

96.2

92.0

8. Improving pupil attendance in secondary schools

Percentage of half days missed due to absence in secondary schools

8.1%

7.1%

Percentage of half days missed due to unauthorised absence in secondary schools

1.1%

0.7%

10. Improving educational attainment for young people leaving care

Number of young people leaving care aged 16+ obtaining 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C (Target is accumulative over 2 years)

0

4

Percentage of Children Looked After who are engaged in education, training or employment at the age of 19

30%

75%

Number of young people leaving care aged 16 or over with at least 1 GCSE at grade A* - G or a GNVQ (Target is accumulative over 2 years)

6

16

13. Reducing vehicle crime

Number of vehicle crimes

3,766

2,520

14. Improving our Local Environment

Percentage of trade waste (including rubble) which is recycled

0.56%

3.00%

Percentage of household waste at Household Waste and Recycling Centres which is recycled

33.21%

38%

Percentage of graffiti cleared from public buildings within 2 working days of reporting

30%

95%

Visitor survey:

Score for availability of public toilets

3.03

3.37

Visitor survey:

Score for cleanliness of public toilets

3.53

3.70

19. Reducing the incidence of accidental fire-related deaths and injuries in the home

Number of deaths and injuries arising from accidental fire in dwellings per 100,000 population (2-year mean)

17.4

13.1

20. Improving access to sustained employment to people with disabilities

Number of disabled people helped by the Council into sustained employment of 16 hours or more per week lasting for at least 13 weeks

7

93

Number of disabled people helped by the Council to enter voluntary work of 8 hours or more per week lasting for 13 weeks or more

6

88

Number of employers who hold the `Positive About Disabled People' award given by Jobcentre Plus

7

19

Number of visits to sports centres to participate in physical activity as recorded by sports centre till records (millions)

1.048m

1.150m

Number of people attending sports centres, not with a club or school group, to participate in a physical activity twice a week or more

3,700

6,160

Number of families in Bed & Breakfast accommodation for more than 4 weeks

13

0

Total household nights spent in Bed and Breakfast

12,295

7,377

Percentage of homelessness applications on which the authority makes a decision and issues written notification to the applicant within 33 working days

74%

95%

Number of visits to public libraries

799,734

875,281

Percentage of residents satisfied with libraries

64%

80%

Number of books and spoken word items issued

972,842

1,035,026