Meeting documents

Date

14^th January 2004

Reporting Area

Council Performance

Lead Director

Peter Rowntree

1. Progress / Issue Reporting

Progress Made

Issues to be addressed

Who

By When

Leadership

Updates on previous report

· The draft Corporate Plan framework has been approved by Council, setting out the improvement priorities over the period to March 2006. More details will added to the draft following the latest round of service planning and budget setting

· Achieving Corporate Plan priorities depends on the ability of the organisation to shift resources to support these priorities

· Action Plans detailing how these priorities will be implemented are required together with a set of Key Targets

ALL

ALL

Feb 2004

Mar 2004

· Targets reported as Amber and Red require actions as stated to meet the agreed targets

ALL

Mar

2004

· Education also remains a `two star' service but in the upper part of that band. The Council has gained from the fact that there are now no schools in special measures

ALL

RES

March 2004

March 2004

· A "round table" meeting is planned for April 2004 to review our new priorities with our external regulators

ALL

April 2004

EDU

Jan

2004

Leadership

New items

EDU

Jan

2004

HSS/

EDU

HSS

Jan 2004

Mar

2004

· Local Government Pay - Report of national commission on local government pay awaited

· Recommendations will need to be evaluated in terms of affordability and impact on budgets and Council priorities

CORP

Mar

2004

People

Updates on previous report

· Human Resources (HR) Strategy published as part of corporate Improvement Programme

· Strategy & Action Plan approved at December Executive for implementation

CORP

Ongoing

· Radical proposals for Development Control structure issued for consultation

· Structure to meet challenges of new planning system and issues raised through Best Value Review

EED

Mar

2004

· A Social & Housing Services Workforce Development Group has been established

· Agree the priorities for action to ensure an adequate supply of suitable skilled and trained staff to meet the future requirements of the service

HSS

Ongoing

People

New items

· Performance review process review underway in light of staff survey feedback & issues identified as part of development of HR Strategy

· Change Management training and Coaches in place

· Recommended changes will need to be well publicised with appropriate support for 2004 process

· To be fully effective, change management initiatives across the Council will need to be adequately resourced (including staff development)

CORP

ALL

Feb 2004

Ongoing

· Recruitment Review. Successful pilot fair held and cross-service event planned for Autumn 2003

· Development of micro-jobs web site and related e-recruitment activity planning underway

CORP

Jan 2004

· Transport Access & Waste Management reorganised to provide a clear approach to managing the new partnership arrangement and to translate a business ethos across the whole service area

- Removal of Engineering Consultancy

- Creation of Partnership Manager and Design Group

· Implementation of the Action Plan arising from the Best Value Review

· Integration of the new partnership arrangements

EED

Mar 2004

· Formal consultation on the improvement of homecare services has been completed

· Recommendations for changes to the service considered by the Executive Member in December

HSS

Dec 2003

· Library and Customer Services being merged via a staff restructure

· To achieve a more customer focused service; better address challenges to the service

CORP

Complete

· Homeworking - initial result is an increase in productivity and next group of staff for pilot have been selected

· Cost and efficiency benefits will be reported periodically as pilot progresses

RES

Ongoing

· Restructuring of The Education's Children's and Young People's Service to focus more on inclusion issues

· Successful implementation of new structure

EDU

March 2004

Partnership & Resources

Updates on previous report

· Current budget position shows projected overspend

· Recovery plans have been developed to reduce the year end deficit and need to be monitored and managed

ALL

Mar 2004

· Overspend on the Council's Elderly Persons Homes budget caused by increased staffing levels to meet the new National Care Standards and agency staff costs to cover vacancies and sickness

· Stringent efforts are required to control and reduce this overspend further

HSS

Mar 2004

· `Passporting' of money to schools will this year take the form of a per pupil guarantee

· Meeting Government requirements for schools' funding and the requirements of the Corporate Plan

EDU

Mar 2004

· The Business Improvement Partnership is now in transition phase establishing key mechanisms for delivery of service improvements, other working groups, and the Business Improvement Service (BIS)

· Consolidation of ICT service delivery

· Marketing and communication of role of Business Improvement Service.

· Delivery of new People service including new payroll upgrade

· Scanning in Planning identified as high priority

RES

April 2004

· Bath Community Partnership Delivery Plan agreed by Regional Development Agency and Council

· Ensuring projects are developed & delivered

EED

Mar 2004

· Rural renaissance bid being prepared on behalf of sub region

· Ensure cross-Council support

EED

Apr

2004

· Environment Park - External Advice on procurement contract documentation and strategic partner agreement - contracts placed with specialist consultants

· Ensure key milestones are met

EED

Mar 2004

· Tourism Company near completion

· Service Level Agreement to be finalised

EED

Jan 2004

· Roman Baths is a partner in £100,000 Campaign for Learning project - 'Foyers'

· Engage hard-to-reach audience

OPS

Mar 2006

· Leisure Partnership: transfer of property risk and improved development proposals negotiated while still delivering target savings on running costs

· Over 4% increase in Sports & Leisure Centre visits and 10% increase in income due to improved facilities and new promotions. Over £40,000 per month now collected through direct debit

· Higher than budgeted costs in early years offset by savings in later years of contract

· Top 25% performance requires more visits - performance improvement now built into Partnership contract

OPS

OPS

End of contract

End of contract

Partnership & Resources

New items

· Procurement Project - being developed with HBS and Buying Team with prospect of real savings

· Payroll and HR Admin staff transferred to HBS to create People Service

· Telephones improvement strategy presentation made to Customer Access Programme staff and Heads of Service

· Link to the National Procurement Strategy and will require Business Process Re-engineering within services

· Successful establishment of People Service in single location with implementation of `Peoplelink'

· Reconfiguration of Retained HR Service to deliver HR Strategy and other Council priorities

· Business Improvement Service (BIS) to produce Business Case and Project Plan to gain approval and funding to progress with project

RES/

OPS

CORP

Ongoing

Ongoing

· Interim Pensions valuation - increase in employers contribution inevitable from 2005

· Substantial financial pressure -will be incorporated in financial plan process

RES

Feb 2004

· Regular meetings, chaired by a representative of the Royal United Hospital (RUH), are now being held with B&NES Primary Care Trust (PCT), Wiltshire social services, Wiltshire PCT and B&NES Social Services to negotiate the plans for delayed discharge fines. A `dry run' to implement cross charging began at the start of October 2003

· Finalising of agreement and protocols with the PCT and RUH as to how any fine incurred will be treated

HSS

Mar 2004

· Proposals have been discussed for the re-structuring of the Community Safety and Drug Action Team Partnerships in line with government direction

· New structures to be agreed and implemented by the Partnerships

HSS

Apr 2004

B7 Partnership Review under way in response to DA issues and CPA issues

· Rationalisation of Council participation in partnerships to focus on delivery of Corporate Plan and Community Strategy

All

Policy and Strategy

Updates on previous report

· The Local Plan now agreed by Council for 2nd Deposit consultation.

· Advice received to indicate that it is essential to progress Local Plan to Inquiry

· This will help achieve robustness of planning decisions

· Important for public perception of plan process and to properly test key policies

EED

May 2004

· Accommodation Strategy - Development of the strategy ongoing with completion of next phase report due by Feb 2004

· Need to progress rationalisation as short and medium term plan

RES

Ongoing

· Corporate Governance - eg Risk strategy, freedom of information, IT security and Data Protection - being strengthened

· Risk management strategy will be integrated into the planning processes, together with our response to the Freedom of Information Act. Proposals have been made to achieve compliance with ISO 17799 Standard

RES

Mar 2004

· The Local Transport Plan is to be aligned with the Community Strategy and will be considered in the consultation on the Corporate Plan

· Ensure that Transportation is adequately represented in key planning strategies and recognised as a priority area

EED

Mar 2004

· Technical advice being sought about the implementation of TRC

EED

Jan 2004

· The first Public Service Agreement (PSA) monitoring report has been produced setting out the interim targets between now and 2006

· On-going support to staff involved in the Project is required to ensure that the Council benefits from as much of the performance award as possible

ALL

Mar 2006

· Implementation of Early Years Plan, particularly planning agreement for Keynsham Neighbourhood Nursery

· Keynsham Neighbourhood Nursery built in timescale set

EDU

April 2004

EDU

April 2005

· Licensing Act - major changes to alcohol and entertainment licensing

· Licensing Forum leading to establishment of Licensing Policy

EED

Jan

2004

· A revised draft of the Community Strategy has been approved by the LSP and subsequently by Council

· Establishment of Key Partnerships for Transport and for Culture

· Establishing effective performance management system

CORP

Apr 2004

Policy and Strategy

New items

· A workshop for staff and portfolio holders held to confirm priorities for the 2002-2011 Housing Strategy

· A workshop on the Affordable Housing Strategy was held for senior staff and relevant portfolio holders in October

· The housing strategy for the Drug Action Team has been published

· A rural housing strategy has been drafted in partnership with North Somerset and South Gloucestershire. The strategy is intended to support a bid to the Housing Group for funding for a 3 year programme of investment in rural housing and a rural enabling officer (REO) post

· The reviewed and updated Strategy is due for submission to GOSW by February 2004

· The draft strategy is to go out to consultation, it is proposed that the Overview & Scrutiny panel drive this consultation process

· Work with Somer Community Housing on developing their 93drugs policy94

· The role & objectives of the REO are the subject of negotiation between the three local authority partners and the voluntary organisation managing the REO. The Rural Housing Strategy cannot be finalised until agreement has been reached on this issue

HSS

HSS

Jan 2004

Apr

2004

· The first review of a Supporting People funded service has been completed

B7 Reflection on the first review has highlighted areas for improvement

HSS

Jan 2004

· The review of the pilot for the Homeseekers Register is underway and due to report in December

· The review will consider how to lessen the impact of the pilot on the length of stay in bed & breakfast

HSS

Jan 2004

Processes

Updates on previous report

· Revenues and Benefits Service backlogs - HBS are assisting. Call distribution system has gone live with significant improvement in telephone response times.

· Recent Benefit Fraud Inspectorate Inspection recognised improvement

· Must continue to tackle backlog and improve performance indicators in the current financial year, although it is expected that these will not be achieved until the year-end

RES

Mar 2004

· Decriminalised Parking now operational. Targets established and weekly joint service operational meetings to review performance

· Performance management framework introduced, together with various operational initiatives which are improving efficiency

· Business Plan Financial targets over ambitious

· Implement Recovery Plan

· Review Parking Attendant levels - to cope with problems with sickness and leave

EED

Aug

2004

· The number of reports dealt with by the community wardens has risen steadily; they are currently resolving 87% of issues referred to them immediately

· A monitoring report has been prepared for the first five full months of operation of the Community Warden scheme. Issues arising will be addressed

HSS/

OPS

Jan 2004

· An Occupational Therapist has been seconded to undertake medical assessments of housing applicants, to speed up homelessness decision making

· A B&B task group has been established to reduce the usage of B&B accommodation for homeless people

· Careful monitoring of speed of decision making to assess the impact of this initiative

HSS

Mar

2004

· New Planning delegation scheme implemented to achieve government targets

· Development Control Charter now approved. Audit of Development Control Process carried out by Internal Audit and actions agreed

· This is important to help improve performance, and reduce the workload of committees

· We need to deal with our performance in major applications within 13 weeks

· Probity, transparency and perception of democratic process by the public

EED

Mar 2004

· Impacts of e-government and customer access reviewed with Heads of Service

· Translate common themes into strategic projects

CORP

Jan

2004

· Learning Skills Council has agreed to fund both a data officer for the Council and a value-added system in every secondary school to measure progress between GCSE and `A' level

· Using value-added information to identify weaknesses in progress and forming action plans to address this

EDU

Mar

2004

Processes

New items

· The Education `Service Improvement Group' has been reviewed to improve the quality process for both schools and services with weaknesses

· Dealing with all current issues in a reasonable time scale

EDU

Sept 2004

· Parking security - Car crime is increasing

· Parking staff are working with the police to resolve

OPS/

EED

Mar 2004

· Data on bus journeys made has been adjusted following new information from bus companies. Additional 125,000 passengers by 2006 remains the target

· Seeking legal advice on potential to operate Council vehicles on public service routes in line with PSA

EED

2004

· A positive report has been received following the Inspection of Fostering Services by National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) in April 2003

· Respond to and implement action plan arising from inspection report

HSS

Mar 2004

· PARH: the Partnership Against Racial Harassment established as a subgroup of the Community Safety Partnership to reduce the level of racial harassment and increase support to victims.

· Identify a range of other places including council offices and community venues where people can report incidents which will then be passed on to SARI, the victim support agency

HSS

Jan 2004

· New Emergency Planning Bill - Dissemination of information supplied prior to the introduction of new legislation in late 2003

· New responsibilities and functions are to be placed on the Council to perform a wider range of Emergency Planning duties

RES

April 2004

· Regular review of impact of media coverage on reputation of Council

· Effective forward planning of work with major public impact to achieve improved reputation management

ALL

ongoing

Performance Targets

No.

%

RED

29

10%

AMBER

26

10%

GREEN

165

62%

NOT KNOWN

48

18%

TOTAL

268

100%

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2003-2004

Ref No

Indicator

Best 25% in 01/02 all English Councils

BD 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

Available shortly

GREEN

Measured by a survey of the population in Dec 2003

157

% of electronic interactions

45

37

54

63

68

GREEN

This figure is based on the current recording system in place

Local 62

Would you recommend the Council as a place to work?

N/a

49

59

62

Available shortly

N/K

This will be measured by asking a sample of employees In Dec 2003

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

98

AMBER

Collection rates are gradually improving and a switch from annual up front payment to direct debit may explain the deficit

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

30.4

AMBER

Recycling centre problems.

Delayed start to Garden Waste & Cardboard scheme

84

Kg of household waste collected per head

487

492

500

500

483

GREEN

102

Passenger journeys on local buses (millions per annum)

N/a

6.7

6.8

6.95

Available shortly

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

Available shortly

N/K

Measured by a survey of the population in Dec 2003

Local 58

% of delegated Planning applications determined within 8 weeks

N/a

63

77

78

76

AMBER

New delegation scheme implemented; will take time to achieve 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

Available shortly

N/K

No data yet available. Collection of stats is produced at year end

89

% of people satisfied with street cleanliness standards

71

N/a

Not measured

71

Available shortly

N/K

Measured by a survey of the population in Dec 2003

Local 53

93Streetscene94 issues identified and reported

N/a

New

New

300

2000

GREEN

Introduction of Community Warden scheme has been successful

38

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

53

57

61

62

60

RED

Good result compared with other similar Councils, but unrealistic target set by Government

39 (new)

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

N/a

N/a

90.8

95

92

RED

Good result compared with other similar Councils, but unrealistic target set by Government

40

% of pupils achieving Level 4+ Key Stage 2 Mathematics

74

74

78

87

76

RED

Good result compared with other similar Councils, but unrealistic target set by Government

41

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

78

78

79

87

79

RED

Good result compared with other similar Councils, but unrealistic target set by Government

34a

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

7.4

11.5

14.7

14.7

11.8

GREEN

Continued fall in pupil numbers. Primary area review will have an impact in medium term

34b

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

0

7.7

7.7

7.7

15.4

RED

Review of secondary education aims to address surplus places.

Change in Target for 2003/04 is due to change in method of calculating % of schools with surplus places

44

Number of pupils permanently excluded per 1,000 pupils

0.85

1.7

1.4

1.7

0.9

GREEN

These figures are always reported a year in arrears. 0.9 has already been achieved for 2002/3, but this will not be recorded until 2003/04

43a

% of SEN statements prepared within 18 weeks

97

97

95

98

96

AMBER

This has been changed to a rolling average which more accurately reflects performance. The Team has been affected by staff changes in an area that requires considerable expertise

126

Domestic burglaries per 1,000 population

8.3

21.6

16.85

15.97

15.97

GREEN

128

Vehicle crimes per 1,000 population

9.3

22.6

21.11

20.05

20.05

GREEN

49

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

10

12

10.1

11

11

GREEN

50

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

49

60

80

80

60

AMBER

At 80% we were 10% higher than the next highest in the country - 60% ensures we stay within the top 10.

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

50

GREEN

162

% of child protection cases reviewed

100

96

100

100

97

RED

One review has failed to meet the much stricter new definition

C26

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

70-100

96.2

106

estimate

99

123

RED

There has been a significant increase in admissions for elderly people with mental health problems

53

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

16

4.1

4.9

5.3

5.3

GREEN

Survey analysis ongoing, likely that target will be exceeded

56 (new)

Percentage of items of Social Services equipment delivered within seven days

N/a

N/a

New

80

75

AMBER

Performance has been improving -target may be met. Note recent change in indicator definition

196 (new)

Assessment of older people in less than 4 weeks

N/a

N/a

New

80

90

GREEN

Statistic based on sample, not all teams surveyed yet

Local 8

New affordable housing units

N/a

92

78

110

134

GREEN

Local 9

% of affordable housing on brownfield sites

N/a

N/a

100

60

87

GREEN

183a

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

N/a

N/a

7.5

4

7

RED

An action plan is being implemented

183b

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

N/a

N/a

10.2

10

16

RED

An action plan is being implemented

Reduce accidental fire related deaths and injuries in the home

N/a

New

17.4 per 100,000

16.0 per 100,000

Available shortly

N/K

Data is made available at the end of the year