Agenda item

Purpose: To consider the latest quarterly performance report.

The Commission considered a report (Agenda Item 12) concerning the performance in delivering the Council Strategy in Quarter 3.

Catalin Bogos introduced the report and highlighted four key areas:

1.    External context:

·         Covid-19 continued to dominate, but the district had low rates of infections and deaths compared with other local authorities (lowest quartile).

·         Work with communities continued to support vulnerable residents, with the Community Hub playing a key role.

·         It was important to follow measures and restrictions to maintain this relatively good position.

·         Data up to Quarter 2 showed that the local economy was resilient. The Council was monitoring the impact on town centres and employment amongst young people, with work placements being secured.

·         There had been a reduction in demand for Social Care and a reduction in safeguarding inquiries for Adult Social Care compared to equivalent quarters in previous years.

·         The focus of Social Care Services was to ensure that safeguarding issues were not hidden as a result of lockdown.

2.    Performance against core business component of the Council Strategy:

·         Performance remained strong.

·         Benchmarking data showed top quartile performance.

·         Additional comparative data would be included in the Quarter 4 report.

·         Tax collection was below target as a result of supporting residents and businesses during Covid.

3.    Performance against the Council Strategy priorities for improvement

·         Key achievements included the accommodation offer for all rough sleepers and adoption of the Communication and Engagement Strategy.

·         Data for some performance measures was not available for Quarter 3 (e.g. exams did not taking place and traffic data was not available).

·         Where possible, services continued to provide support (e.g. keeping schools open for vulnerable pupils and children of key workers and remote learning for others).

·         Areas RAG rated as red included:

a.    Affordable homes completions – this was dependent on developers and the Council’s requirements were above national guidance. There were 900 units with planning permission.

b.    Rural afforestation and urban tree planting – this would be reprioritised as part of the Environment Strategy Delivery Plan

·         Exception reports were provided where measures were behind schedule. The maximum delay was 12 months, but most were 3-6 months.

4.    Internal context

·         There was a budget underspend as outlined in the previous agenda item.

·         The workforce was stable with reduced sickness levels.

The Chairman acknowledged that it was a difficult time to collect data.

Councillor Tony Vickers observed that the shortfall in affordable housing completions appeared to be a high proportion and asked if developers were building these units last, and was there a risk that they would seek to negotiate a reduction in affordable units. He also noted the shortfall of planning applications determined within the target dates. He stated that West Berkshire had not been as badly affected by Covid as the rest of the UK and wondered about the underlying cause.

Catalin Bogos indicated that delivery of affordable homes was dependent on when developers decided to start building. He acknowledged that, in some cases, developers would leave affordable homes until the end of their construction, but he could not confirm that they were refusing to build them. In terms of planning applications, historic benchmarking data showed that performance was below comparator groups, but the Planning and Development Service had subsequently revised its targets and procedures and recent performance was significantly better. The latest benchmarking data would be incorporated into the report once it had been released.

Councillor Lee Dillon noted that the Community Engagement Strategy and some other strategies had slipped. He acknowledged that this may be due to staff being redeployed. He asked for a one-page briefing note on all of the Council’s strategies and dates for when they would be produced / refreshed, which would go beyond the Forward Plan.

Catalin Bogos confirmed that the Community Engagement Strategy was being co-produced with partners in the community and the Council was dependent on its partners. He noted that most of the strategies had been delivered and details were provided on the Council’s website: https://info.westberks.gov.uk/policies. He undertook to produce a summary of when the remaining strategies would be produced / updated.

Action: Catalin Bogos to produce a summary of when remaining strategies will be produced / updated.

Resolved that: the progress made in delivering the Council Strategy be noted.