Agenda item

To receive a report from the Performance and Equalities Manager, which provides the Board to consider a report on the 2018/19 Council Business Plan Quarter 2 which will be presented to the Executive on 18^th December 2018.

This views of the Board will be presented to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item.

Consideration was given to a report by Jasmine Sodhi (Performance and Equalities Manager), which invited the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board to consider a report on the 2018/19 Council Business Plan Quarter 2, which would be presented to the Executive on 18 December 2018.  The views of the Board would be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of the report.

The report also presented the Council Business Plan performance indicators which fell within the remit of the Board.

The Performance and Equalities Manager presented the executive report on Quarter 2 Performance, which was detailed at Appendix 1, and highlighted that of the 14 commissioning strategies reported in Quarter 2: seven had performed really well (all measures reported in Quarter 2 had achieved the target); four had mixed performance (some measures did not achieve the target in Quarter 2).

It was highlighted that Measure 59 (Carers Supported in the last 12 months per 100,000 population) was expected to increase and had revised the target to 1,730 per 100,000 population.  Although the revised target had not been achieved in Quarter 1, the target had been achieved in Quarter 2 with an increase of 232 carers supported compared with Quarter 1.

Also, as reported in Quarter 1 in the Protecting the Public Commissioning Strategy, the Trading Standards Service had planned a number of operations for Quarter 2 for Measure 1 (Illicit alcohol and tobacco seized).  This had resulted in a significant increase in seizure figures of 10,522 in Quarter 2 exceeding the annual target of 6,000. 

It was also highlighted that since Quarter 1, in the Protecting and Sustaining the Environment Commissioning Strategy, data for Measure 74 (carbon dioxide emissions from County Council Activity) was now available.  A 23.4% reduction from the 2011/12 baseline had been achieved, which had exceeded the target of a 22% reduction by March 2018.  A reduction of 4,933 tonnes of carbon dioxide from 2016/17 figure had been achieved.  There had been a significant reduction of 3,419 tonnes almost exclusively from street lighting, which was owing to the upgrading of street lights to LED and part night lighting.

Appendix A to the Executive report provided a summary of measures that did not achieve the target in Quarter 2.  The following four measures had been reported as not achieving the target for the first time in 2018/19:

-      Adults reoffending;

-      Juvenile reoffending;

-      Primary fires; and

-      Wellbeing commissioning strategy.

The Board was provided with an opportunity to ask questions, where the following points were noted: -

·       Measure 19 (Primary Fires) – Concern was raised about the increase in the number of primary fires. It was highlighted that this was potentially owing to the drier conditions as a result of the hot weather over the summer months. The Chairman of the Public Protection and Communities Scrutiny Committee confirmed that it will be looking in more detail at this and the other indicators highlighted in the report under its remit on 11 December 2018

·       Measure 76 (Recycling at County Council owned Household Waste Recycling Centres), and Measure 78 (Household waste recycled) – Concern was raised about the fall in recycling rates.  The Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee highlighted that at its meeting on 27 November 2018, there had been an in depth discussion on this issue and the need to identify what people were putting in their bins.  It was noted that the Joint Municipal Waste Strategy was due for approval by the County Council on 14 December 2018, which would develop some proposals to address this issue.

The Board requested clarification and further information on the following performance indicators:

·       Measure 2 (Unsafe and counterfeit goods removed from the market) – Further information was requested regarding why the performance was so low against the target and whether there was an issue with capacity.

·       Measure 6 (Alcohol related violent crimes) – Clarification was requested on how the Police had changed its reporting practices; for example, if officers attended an incident reported to be 'alcohol related' and it turned out not to be, was this removed from the final figure. The Board suggested that the use of the word 'target' should be removed; if it remained a target, the Board recorded a preference for the target to be zero, not 880.

·       Measure 74 (carbon dioxide emissions from County Council Activity) – The Board requested a breakdown of the tonnage and subsequent monetary savings achieved by LED lights and part night lighting.

·       Measure 35 (Contact with the Heritage Service) – Further information was requested regarding the justification for switching the focus of the measures from quantitative to qualitative as mentioned in the report.

·       Measure 1 (Illicit Alcohol and Tobacco Seized) – The Board requested a breakdown on how much the County Council had spent on facilitating the seizure of illicit alcohol and tobacco.

·       Measure 31 (Percentage of alcohol users left specialist treatment successfully) – Further information was requested on how many people had successfully stayed away from treatment; at what point were people deemed to have been treated successfully; was there any longer term support available for service users; and in relation to high caseloads and waiting lists, were there any people not able to access the service at all due to certain service users being prioritised.

·       Measure 63 (Adults who receive a Direct Payment) – Clarification was requested about whether the under-performance of this target was linked to the two key performance indicators in mitigation, as a result of the Agresso and Mosaic systems not yet being fully integrated, as set out under the Corporate Support Services contract – Minute 67 refers.

·       Measure 119 (Percentage of adults aged 18-64 with a mental health need in receipt of long term support who have been reviewed) – Clarification was requested as to why the age bracket was defined as 18-64, and what happened when the adult turned 65.

·       Measure 125 (Juvenile re-offending) – Clarification was requested as to whether cautions and restorative justice interventions counted as first offences; and if another crime was committed, was that individual included in the re-offending cohort.

·       Measure 111 (People successfully supported to quit smoking) – Clarification was requested about whether the service continued to measure after the four-week point.

RESOLVED

(1)  That the two recommendations detailed in the Executive report, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report, be supported.

(2)  That the comments of the Board be presented to the Executive on 18 December 2018 when consideration be given to 2018/19 Council Business Plan Quarter 2.