POLICY & RESOURCES COMMITTEE

25 June 2019

 

Key Performance Indicators Quarter 4 Update – 2018/19

 

Final Decision-Maker

Policy & Resources Committee

Lead Head of Service

Angela Woodhouse, Head of Policy,

Communications, and Governance

Lead Officer and Report Author

Anna Collier, Policy & Information Manager and Clare Harvey, Data Intelligence Officer

Classification

Public

Wards affected

All

 

Executive Summary

 

The Policy & Resources Committee is asked to review the progress of Key Performance Indicators that relate to the delivery of the Strategic Plan 2015-2020. The Committee is also asked to consider the comments and actions against performance to ensure they are robust.

 

This report makes the following recommendations to Wider Leadership Team:

1.   That the summary of performance for Quarter 4 of 2018/19 for Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) be noted.

2.   Agree the draft strategic indicators for 2019/20 shown at 4.5 of this report.

 

 

Timetable

Meeting

Date

Corporate Leadership Team

21/05/2019

Economic Regeneration & Leisure Committee

04/06/2019

Communities, Housing and the Environment

18/06/2019

Strategic, Planning & Infrastructure Committee

25/06/2019

Policy & Resources Committee

26/06/2019



Key Performance Indicators Quarter 4 Update – 2018/19

 

1.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

 

1.1     Having a comprehensive set of actions and performance indicators ensures that the Council delivers against the priorities and actions set in the Strategic Plan.

 

1.2     Performance indicators are judged in two ways. Firstly, on whether performance has improved, sustained or declined, compared to the same period in the previous year. This is known as direction. Where there is no previous data, no assessment of direction can be made.

 

1.3     The second way is to look at whether an indicator has achieved the target set and is known as PI status. If an indicator has achieved or exceeded the annual target, they are rated green. If the target has been missed but is within 10% of the target it will be rated amber, and if the target has been missed by more than 10% it will be rated red.

 

1.4     Some indicators will show an asterisk (*) after the figure. These are provisional values that are awaiting confirmation. Data for some of the indicators were not available at the time of reporting. In these cases, a date has been provided for when the information is expected.

 

1.5     Contextual indicators are not targeted but are given a direction. Indicators that are not due for reporting or where there is delay in data collection are not rated against targets or given a direction.

 

 

2.        Quarter 4 Performance Summary

 

2.1     There are 27 key performance indicators (KPIs) which were developed with Heads of Service and unit managers and agreed by the four Service Committees for 2018/19. 16 are reported to the Committee for this quarter. 

 

2.2     Overall, 69% (9) of targeted KPIs reported this quarter achieved their target comparable to quarter 3 at 69% (9) and 67% (8) in the same quarter last year.

 

2.3     There are 3 contextual indicators (indicators without targets) represented in the chart below as N/A, these indicators were requested for inclusion as they are important to assessing how the council is performing by examining the outcomes. These indicators are; the percentage of littering reports attended to, the number of households living in temporary accommodation at the last night of the month and the number of households living in nightly paid temporary accommodation on the last night of the month. 

 

RAG Rating

Green

Amber

Red

N/A

Total

KPIs

9

1

3

3

16

Direction

Up

No Change

Down

N/A

Total

Last Year

5

0

8

3

16

Last Quarter

9

0

7

0

16

 

 

 

3.        Performance by priority

 

Priority 1: Keeping Maidstone Borough an attractive place for all

 

3.1     The performance indicators concerned with the proportion of land that has acceptable levels of litter and detritus both exceeded the quarterly target. During quarter 4 Detling & Thurnham, Coxheath, Boughton Monchelsea, Marden & Yalding and Shepway South were inspected.  Coxheath and Marden & Yalding had the greatest proportion of litter across these areas with the Cleaning Manager commenting that rural roads still present a challenge due to traffic management plans and additional safety considerations.

 

3.2     The percentage of reports of littering attended is calculated by taking the number of reports received from residents about littering divided by the number of these that required additional action (for example litter picking or a mechanical sweep). The objective for the team is to reduce the amount of responsive work required due to the schedules being sufficient to deliver a clean borough. During quarter 4, 37.2% of reports were attended to, this performance indicator has seen continuous improvement throughout the year.

 

3.3     The addition of the dedicated fly tipping hit squad directed by the Waste Crime Team has increased the Council’s ability to deal with fly-tipping in the borough. During quarter 4 the percentage of fly tips resulting in enforcement action was 81.5% against a target of 50%. The waste crime team have been working on identifying those responsible for fly tipping waste where there is some evidence. This has included use of covert CCTV in fly tipping hotspots, witness reports and evidence within the waste. Overall, there has been an 18% improvement in the performance of this indicator since quarter 4 in 2017/18.

 

3.4     Due to the presence of hazardous waste or the volume of material present, some fly tips require greater resource or different equipment to clear it, which can result in a slight delay. They can sometimes also require pre-approval from Kent County Council, as the disposal authority. This can take a couple of days, whilst a full description of the waste is compiled, and an appropriate disposal facility is identified. During quarter 4 there were 601 reports of fly-tipping, and the team cleared or assessed 99% (593) of these within four working days and 94% (569) were addressed within two working days.

 

3.5     At present the data on household waste recycling is incomplete, with the tonnage information for February and March has not been received yet from Kent County Council. The data currently held shows a quarter 4 out-turn of 48.04% against a target of 52.50%, this is an improvement on the previous quarter and compared to the quarter 4 out-turn for 2017/18. 

 

Priority 1: Keeping Maidstone borough an attractive place for all, & Priority 2: Securing a successful economy for Maidstone Borough

 

3.6     Footfall on the High Street had a value of 2,556,547 against a target of 3,000,000. Quarter 4 footfall continues to follow the trend of previous years. There has been a drop of 249,465 from the same quarter last year however the team are uncertain if the data collector was impacted by construction on the High Street.

 

Priority 2: Securing a successful economy for Maidstone Borough

 

3.7     The indicators measuring the processing of planning applications within statutory timescales have all exceeded the quarterly targets and all three show that performance has improved compared to quarter 4 in 2017/18.

 

3.8     53 affordable homes have been delivered against a target of 45. This was made up of 17 social rented homes and 36 shared ownership homes. This quarters performance is an improvement compared to the previous quarter and quarter 4 in 2017/18.

 

3.9     The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 was enacted in April 2018 and marked a significant change in approach to tackling homelessness and resulting in major changes to housing team. The number of applications where Prevention Duty has ended, as applicant has suitable accommodation for at least 6 months, has not achieved the quarterly target. The Changes to the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 mean that comparisons to previous years cannot be made. The baseline data collected this financial year will be used to inform targets going forward.

 

3.10 The Council are taking steps to address the difficulty in housing people through the housing register through new Affordable Housing Strategic Planning guidance and through the Council’s own Housing Delivery Partnership. At the end of quarter 4 there were 113 households living in temporary accommodation (TA), this is 12 less than at the end of quarter 3 but a 14% increase on the figure for quarter 4 in 2017/18. Of the 113 households in TA, 58 were living in nightly paid temporary accommodation this is a 20% increase compared to quarter 4 in 2017/18.

 

3.11 During quarter 4 there were 128 households that were housed through the housing register against a target of 150, this is a slight improvement on the quarter 3 out-turn. The lower quarterly figure is due to fewer vacant properties coming available through registered providers

 

4.        New Strategic Key Performance Indicators

 

4.1     The new set of KPIs for 2019/20 were presented to Committee in April. 

 

4.2     The Committee agreed that instead of a long list of indicators a short list of Strategic Indicators, should be developed and presented quarterly along with any indicators from other committees by exception only. 

 

4.3     It was resolved that Officers would bring forward a recommended list of the small number of Strategic KPIs to the June meeting of the Committee.

 

4.4     The requested indicators are set out below for the Committees consideration. 

 

4.5      

 

Strategic Link

Proposed Indicators

The Vision

Satisfaction with Maidstone as a place to live

 

Priority – Embracing Growth and Enabling Infrastructure

Net additional homes provided

 

Priority – Safe, Clean and Green

The percentage of relevant land and highways that is assessed as having acceptable levels of litter

 

Priority – Homes and Communities

Percentage of successful housing prevention and relief cases

 

Priority – A Thriving Place

New Businesses Started in the borough

 

How we do things

Council Investment in long term assets

 

 

 

4.6     Members could choose to increase, reduce, amend or suggest new indicators, to the draft set that has been provided.

 

 

5.       RISK

5.1    This report is presented for information only, committees, managers and heads of service can use performance data to identify service performance and this data can contribute to risk management.

 

 

 

6.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

 

6.1     The Key Performance Indicator Update is reported quarterly to the Service Committees: Communities Housing and Environment Committee, Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transportation Committee, and Heritage Culture and Leisure Committee. Each Committee will receive a report on the relevant priority action areas. The report is also presented to Policy & Resources Committee, reporting only on the priority areas of: A Clean and Safe Environment, Regenerating the Town Centre, and a Home for Everyone.

 

 

7.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

 

7.1     The Council could choose not to monitor the Strategic Plan and/or make alternative performance management arrangements, such as frequency of reporting. This is not recommended as it could lead to action not being taken against performance during the year, and the Council failing to deliver its priorities.

 

 

8.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

 

Issue

Implications

Sign-off

Impact on Corporate Priorities

The key performance indicators and strategic actions were  part of the Council’s overarching Strategic Plan 2015-20 and play an important role in the achievement of corporate objectives. They also cover a wide range of services and priority areas, for example waste and recycling.

Policy & Information Manager

Risk Management

The production of robust performance reports ensures that the view of the Council’s approach to the management of risk and use of resources is not undermined and allows early action to be taken in order to mitigate the risk of not achieving targets and outcomes.

Policy & Information Manager

Financial

Performance indicators and targets are closely linked to the allocation of resources and determining good value for money. The financial implications of any proposed changes are also identified and taken into account in the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan and associated annual budget setting process. Performance issues are highlighted as part of the budget monitoring reporting process.

 

Staffing

Having a clear set of targets enables staff outcomes/objectives to be set and effective action plans to be put in place

Policy & Information Manager

Legal

There is no statutory duty to report regularly on the Council’s performance. However, under Section 3 of the Local Government Act 1999 (as amended) a best value authority has a statutory duty to secure continuous improvement in the way in which its functions are exercised having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. One of the purposes of the Key Performance Indicators is to facilitate the improvement of the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of Council Services. Regular reports on the Council’s performance assist in demonstrating best value and compliance with the statutory duty.

Team Leader (Corporate Governance), MKLS

Privacy and Data Protection

The data will be held and processed in accordance with the data protection principles contained in  the Data Protection Act 2018 and in line with the Data Quality Policy, which sets out the requirement for ensuring data quality.

There is a program for undertaking data quality audits of performance indicators.

 Team Leader (Corporate Governance), MKLS

 

Equalities

The Performance Indicators reported on in this quarterly update measure the ongoing performance of the strategies in place. If there has been a change to the way in which a service delivers a strategy, i.e. a policy change, an Equalities Impact Assessment is undertaken to identify the impact on individuals with a protected characteristic and where required, put in place mitigations

Equalities & Corporate Policy Officer

Crime and Disorder

None Identified

Policy & Information Manager

Procurement

Performance Indicators and Strategic Milestones monitor any procurement needed to achieve the outcomes of the Strategic Plan.

 

 

 

9.        REPORT APPENDICES

 

·         Key Performance Indicator Update Quarter 4 – 2018/19

 

 

10.    BACKGROUND PAPERS

 

Key Performance Indicators 2019/20 – April 2019