Agenda item

The Business Manager, Corporate Policy:

·         Presented the Performance Scrutiny Committee with a summary of the operational performance position for quarter four of the financial year 2018/19.

·         Reported key headlines from performance results in respect of those areas performing well:

-       the number of users logged into the self-service system MyInfo had increased from 9,865 at quarter four last year to 10,199 at quarter four this year;

-       the average time take to answer a call in customers services had decreased by 12 seconds compared to quarter four last year at 92 seconds;

-       the business rates collection rate had exceeded its upper target of 99.15% at 99.81%;

-       the average days taken to process housing benefit claim changes of circumstances had beaten its five day target at 4.12 days;

-       the percentage of invoices paid within 30 days had improved from 95.17% in 2018 to 97.79% this year;

-       the total number of users of health and recreation facilities increased by 29,740 users since quarter four last year to 247,921 this year;

-       the percentage of food health and safety controls that should have been completed and had been had improved from 82.1% in quarter three to 96.5% in quarter four;

-       Lincoln premises achieved an average food hygiene rating of 4.69 out of a possible 5;

-       the percentage of planning applications approved was above its target of 97%, outturning at 98%;

-       the number of empty homes brought back into use reached 47 in 2018/19;

-       the rent collected as a proportion of rent owed had surpassed its target of 96.50%, achieving outturn of 99.24%;

-       the final level of tenant arrears was better than the target of 3.50% with an outturn figure of 2.66%;

-       the percentage of reactive repairs completed within target time was above the target of 97.50% at 98.65%;

-       face to face enquiries at City Hall had decreased in quarter four to 4,731 compared to 9,826 in quarter four last year;

-       new benefit claims had decreased from 7,296 in quarter four last year to 5,252 in quarter four this year. Universal Credit had affected the housing benefit claims, but Council Tax support was also reduced.

·         Reported those areas where performance could be improved were noted as follows:

-       the in-year collection rate for Council Tax had decreased by 0.41% since quarter four last year, outturning at 96.76%, although just above the lower target;

-       the level of outstanding customer changes in the revenues team had increase to 437 in quarter four this year, from 121 in quarter four last year;

-       the percentage of waste that was recycled or composted had increased to 34.94% this year but was still below its lower target of 35%;

-       the time to determine a planning application had deteriorated from 59.4 days in quarter three to 68.81 days in quarter four;

-       the satisfaction of public protection and anti-social behaviour complainants on how the complaint was handled had decreased from 92.7% in quarter three to 81% in quarter four;

-       the average re-let time in calendar days for all dwellings was outside its lower target of 28 days with a figure of 30.02 days;

-       the number of housing benefits and council tax support customers waiting assessment had increased from 696 last quarter four to 897 this year;

-       the percentage of risk based quality checks made where the benefit entitlement was correct was below its lower target of 86.50%, with a figure of 86.07%.

·         Reported that the overall sickness data for quarter four was 3.06 days per full time equivalent, excluding apprentices. This brought the cumulative total of sick days to 10.35 days, which was 3.27 days less than last year and was the lowest outturn since 2012/13.

·         Reported other achievements during the quarter as follows:

-       Lincoln’s Central Car Park won the best new car park at the British Parking Awards 2019;

-       Lincoln Guildhall had been awarded the ‘Best Told Story’ Accolade for 2018 by Visit England;

-       Lincoln’s ‘To Let’ board ban having been approved had been implemented in specific areas in the city;

-       the City of Lincoln Council had been shortlisted for three Municipal Journal Awards;

-       Lincoln won £235,000 of funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government for a number of projects in the Sincil Bank area;

-       Lincoln was the number one place in the East Midlands region for food hygiene standards and joint sixth across the country according to new data.

·         Invited members’ comments and questions.

The Chair offered his congratulations, particularly regarding the many achievements set out in the report and the continued reduction in sickness levels.

Comment: The ‘to let’ ban in certain parts of the city had made a significant difference and removed the transient feel of those particular areas.

Question: Did the operational performance figures relating to car parks include all of the Council’s car parks and did it include, for example, the top floor of Lincoln Central Car Park which had been closed for some time and was now operational?

Response: The information collected for this quarter, up to the end of March 2019, included all City of Lincoln Council operated car parks but did not include the top floor of the Lincoln Central Car Park. This would feature in the information for the next quarterly report.

Questions: In view of the fact that officers had delegated authority to amend car parking prices and following the introduction of fee parking in St Marks car park from 6pm this evening, had it been necessary for officers to exercise this authority?

Response: Officers did have the authority to amend car parking fees, but this was not something that they had felt was necessary at this time. It was important to remember that any decrease in car parking fees would have an impact on the Council’s income, however, consideration had been given to a number of offers which would seek to attract new customers. It was noted that the Council had received all income from Lucy Tower Street car park since February following the cessation of a long-term agreement with Odeon cinema.

Question: How did community centres promote themselves in order to maximise the number of people using them?

Response: An answer to this question was not available at the meeting but it was agreed that an officer would provide a response in due course.

Question: Why did sickness absence figures exclude apprenticeships?

Response: Sickness absence figures did not include apprenticeships as they were not classed as employees of the Council and were not on the official establishment. There was a separate process that dealt with the management of sickness absence for apprentices.

It was RESOLVED that the report be noted.