Agenda item

(To receive a report which presents an overview of performance for Quarter 3 against the Council Business Plan 2019/2020)

That the 2019/2020 Quarter 3 performance be noted.

Consideration was given to a report from the Executive Director – Commercial, which presented an overview of performance for Quarter 3 against the Council Business Plan 2019/2020.

The Performance and Equalities Manager advised that of the 15 commissioning strategies reported in Quarter 3: six had performed really well; eight had performed well; and one had had mixed performance.  A summary of those measures where services had highlighted success in Quarter 3 was detailed at Appendix A to the report.  Similarly, a summary of those measures where the target had not been achieved in Quarter 3 was detailed at Appendix B.

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board advised that the Board had considered the report on 27 February 2020 and had agreed to support the recommendation to the Executive. 

The Chairman of the Board highlighted that with regards to Measure 78 - Household Waste Recycled – the contamination rate was 30%, which was similar to 2018/19.  The Board had requested information on how the district councils were defining 'contamination'; how information on what items could be placed in recycling was being communicated to residents; and whether there had been evidence of a subsequent change in behaviour.  It was noted that Boston Borough Council had been a trial area for reducing paper and card contamination and that evidence had shown that it was working well. 

In response to this, the relevant Executive Councillor advised that this was being monitored by the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership, with an aim of standardising sampling practices across the district councils to ensure they were all being measured against the same benchmark. 

Reference was made to Measure 36 - Visits to Core Libraries and Mobile Library Services – the IT in libraries was provided independently from the Council by Greenwich Leisure Limited, and had recently undergone a refresh, which had improved the IT offer.  A marketing plan was now in place to encourage customers into libraries which should increase visitor numbers.  It was acknowledged that nationally there had been a reduction in the number of users of libraries.  However in Lincolnshire, the recent reduction in numbers had been attributed to issues with the IT offer.

It was highlighted that an amended Measure 72 – Flooding Incidents within a Property had been circulated by email prior to the meeting.  The relevant Executive Councillor advised that the measure's title and description had been amended to avoid ambiguity and to provide clarity on what was being measured.

During discussion of the report, the following points were noted:

·         The quarterly economic survey (produced in partnership with the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, the Lincolnshire Chamber of Commerce, and the University of Lincoln) had shown that business confidence was currently fluctuating and on that basis the overall year-end target may not be achieved. This is particularly evident for inward investment jobs, where several large scale investments originally expected in 2019/2020 may proceed differently to what was originally planned.  It was highlighted that this was likely to fluctuate further, with the potential impact of coronavirus on the economy.

·         Reference was made to the high risk premises inspected by the Trading Standards service.  It was confirmed that Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue worked in collaboration with Trading Standards and there was some overlap with some of the high risk premises. 

RESOLVED

That the 2019/2020 Quarter 3 performance be noted.