REPORT OF:
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
AUTHOR:
JOHN KISTNER
TELEPHONE:
(01737) 276022
E-MAIL:
[email protected]
TO:
OVERVIEW & SCRUTINY COMMITTEE
DATE:
25TH JANUARY, 2005
AGENDA ITEM NO:
4
WARD(S) AFFECTED:
ALL
SUBJECT:
THE COUNCIL’S PERFORMANCE 2004/05
(QUARTER 3)
PURPOSE OF THE REPORT:
TO CONSIDER THE SCHEDULE OF 'CORPORATE
HEALTH' PERFORMANCE INDICATORS AND THE
OUTTURN FIGURES FOR THE THIRD QUARTER
OF THE CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR 2004/05.
RECOMMENDATION:
That this Committee comment on the schedule of ‘Corporate Health’ performance
indicators appended to this report, by way of recommendation to the Executive.
BACKGROUND
1.
This Committee considered the schedule of ‘corporate health’ performance
indicators and the outturn figures for the second quarter of the current financial
year (July - September 2004) at it’s meeting on 17th November 2004. A number
of questions were raised at the meeting relating to the schedule of indicators and
these are set out in Annex A alongside detailed responses from officers.
2.
The schedule of ‘corporate health’ top-level indicators and outturn figures for the
third quarter of the current financial year (October – December 2004) appears at
Annex B of this report. It sets out current performance, and allows Members to
question Portfolio Holders, Directors and Service Managers, as appropriate, on
the reasons for, and responses to, under-performance. It also highlights areas of
significant achievement. This Committee will also be able to identify particular
issues that might require more detailed scrutiny.
3.
As previously reported, the indicators are aligned to reflect the Portfolio structure
and their related functions and priorities. The schedule is ‘business focused’ with
a greater emphasis placed on indicators that measure the performance of
frontline services against set targets. The Council will, of course, continue to
collect all statutory indicators and, in addition, a wide range of local indicators,
which will more broadly measure the performance of our services.
Factors for Consideration
4.
This report examines performance for the third quarter of the current financial
year against targets that have been set. Specific areas of significant
achievement and under-performance are also highlighted within the body of this
report.
5.
The following criteria have been used in assessing performance for the
indicators detailed in the attached schedule:(i)
those meeting or exceeding the target (coloured green);
(ii)
those under-performing by up to 10% of the target (coloured amber); and
(iii)
those under-performing by over 10% of the target (coloured red).
6.
The schedule only includes indicators that are reported on a quarterly and biannual basis. There are a number of other ‘corporate health’ indicators which
are collected, but as they are only reported at year-end they are not shown on
the attached schedule
7.
In addition, the schedule details the last full set of audited data just released by
the Audit Commission, showing top and bottom quartile performance across all
Councils in England for 2003/04. Where benchmarking of Best Value
performance indicators (BVPI’s) has been possible, quartile figures produced by
the Audit Commission have been shown. This Council’s local targets match or
exceed national targets in a number of cases as can be seen by referring to the
schedule.
Analysis of Performance
8.
The bar chart below shows that the Council’s performance on ‘corporate health’
top-level indicators for the third quarter of 2004/05 continues to improve in terms
of the percentage of indicators that are meeting or exceeding target (coloured
green), when benchmarked against the performance of top-level indicators for
the second quarter of this year.
Q3 2004/5 performance against Q2
2004/5 performance
3
100%
80%
32
30
4
8
5
6
60%
40%
20%
not yet known
Green
Orange
Red
0%
Q2 2004/05
9.
Q3 2004/05
The chart below illustrates that for the 2004/05 Q3 indicators shown in Annex B,
where national quartile 2003/04 comparable benchmarking data exists, 60% are
in the top quartile, 27% in the mid quartiles and 13% in the bottom quartile.
It is difficult to make direct benchmarking comparisons to the figures reported to
this Committee on 17th November 2004 for the second quarter of this year, as
these were compared against 2002/03 national quartile information, where Q2
figures of 78% top, 11% mid and 11% bottom quartiles were achieved. Q3
indicators have now been compared to 2003/04 national quartile figures just
released by the Audit Commission where national quartile figures have generally
risen. The percentage of Q3 indicators in the national top quartile has reduced
from 78% in Q2 to 60% in Q3. However, there has been an increase in the
percentage of Q3 indicators in the mid quartiles (from 11% to 27%) and a
marginal increase in the bottom quartile (from 11% to 13%).
2004/05 Q3 Performance against Audit Commission
Quartile data (for 2003/4)
13%
Bottom Quartile
Mid Quartile
Top Quartile
27%
60%
10.
In areas of under-performance, the schedule details what management action is
being taken to address poor performance. Directors and/or Service Managers
will be available to answer any questions from Members at the meeting. Should
the Committee have any concerns, which are not resolved in this way, it can
invite the relevant Executive Member to a meeting.
11.
The following chart sets out an analysis of the performance indicators contained
within the ‘corporate health’ basket for all four quarters of 2003/04 and the first
three quarters of 2004/05 detailed in the attached schedule:
Performance of Corporate Health
Indicators by quarter
2004/05 Q3
30
2004/05 Q2
32
6
4
28
2004/05 Q1
8
7
8
2003/04 Q4
43
5
10
2003/04 Q3
31
6
6
2003/04 Q2
25
2003/04 Q1
21
0%
12.
5
20%
3
14
7
40%
60%
Green
Amber
Red
9
80%
100%
A selection of specific areas of achievement are as follows: E2 - Planning response times continue to exceed National targets
a) National target of 60% of major applications in 13 weeks – 62.5%% in Q3 (78.9% Q2)
Major applications are a small proportion of total applications, so this indicator is drawn
from a small sample. The Q2 outturn was unusually high and was never likely to be
repeated in Q3.
b) National target of 65 % of minor applications in 8 weeks – 72.4% in Q3 (72.6% Q2)
c) National target of 80% of other applications in 8 weeks – 86.1% in Q3 (85.3% in Q2)
The figures recorded for Q3 are:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
better than the National top quartile figures for 2003/04 for minor and
other applications (BVPI 109b/c), and marginally under the national top
quartile figure for major applications (BVPI 109a).
exceed the National targets set for 2004/05
currently outperforming Surrey and England averages
In addition, robust systems are being put into place to decrease the time taken to
determine planning applications that fall outside Government prescribed targets
E10 – The number of collections missed per 100,000 collections of household
waste in Q3 was 38.9 (target 50). The figure was 59.7 in Q2.
E20 – The target has been exceeded for flytipping, as 94% of flytipping was
removed within 1 day (target 35%). The figure was 58% in Q2. The target is to
be kept under review.
F2 – The percentage of Council Tax collected upto and including Q3 is 87.3%
(target 87%). This indicator is on track for being a national top quartile
performer.
LE3 – The percentage of non-domestic rates received by the Authority upto and
including Q3 is 92.78% (target 87.8%). This indicator is on track for being a
national top quartile performer.
P1/P2/P3/P4 - The Q3 performance on all four indicators relating to Help Shops
and the Help Line continue to exceed targets set.
13.
Some areas of under-performance are detailed below. In terms of three
significant indicators which are under-performing, comments are as follows: H5 – The average length of stay in hostel accommodation has increased to 33
weeks in Q3 (target 26 weeks). The figure was 27.6 weeks in Q2.
L1 – Similarly to Q2, the Parks cleanliness index has not met the target in Q3
(76% actual performance against a target of 85%). However, this cleanliness
index has improved on the figure of 67.33% in Q2.
O2 - The number of days lost to sickness was 2.44 days per employee in Q3
compared to 2.05 days in Q2. This exceeds the cumulative target of 6.75 days
for Q1, Q2 & Q3 combined (actual = 7.4 days).
Consultation
14.
Regular monitoring and reporting of performance will continue to take place
between the Executive and Overview & Scrutiny Committee Members, Directors,
Service Managers and their staff, in order to ensure that the Council continues to
be a performance driven organisation.
Policy Framework
15.
The schedule of ‘corporate health’ performance indicators will be reviewed and
adjusted from time to time to reflect the changes in priorities within the Corporate
Plan. This will ensure that they remain relevant to the Council’s core business.
Annexes: Two
Background Papers: None