Agenda item

Report of the Partnerships and Performance Section Head

This report provides the Panel with the relevant performance indicators for Quarter 2 2014/15.

The Panel received a report of the Partnership and Performance Section Head providing the quarterly performance indicators for quarter two of 2014/15.

The Partnership and Performance Section Head introduced the report and invited questions.

In response to a question from Councillor Dhindsa, the Partnership and Performance Section Head explained the structure of the report and how to interpret the various symbols, targets and trends. She commented that the analysis provided context for the results so members had a fuller picture of performance.

The Chair asked if there were any questions on pages five to seven in relation to the Veolia contract and there were none.

With reference to item LC5 in the report, Councillor Dhindsa asked what were the percentages for memberships that met council targets.  The Partnership and Performance Section Head explained that this was not measured last year (hence there was no results shown for 2013/14) but there will be baseline data to compare next year.   With further reference to item LC5, in response to a question from the Chair, the Partnership and Performance Section Head explained that the 29.4% BME membership of Woodside was below the proportion for Watford as a whole, which includes all those who are not  White British  (such as Eastern European members of the community).

With reference to item LC1 in the report, Councillor Counter commented that there was no information as to what the complaints were; in effect the data gave a feel for the situation but lacked detail.  The Partnership and Performance Section Head explained SLM were working on providing more detailed data.

ACTION – Partnership and Performance Section Head

With further reference to item LC1 in the report, Councillor Collett complimented SLM with regard to their agreement to meet local people to discuss some of the complaints relating to the Woodside Leisure Centre.

With reference to item LC11 in the report, Councillor Counter commented that more information would be helpful with regard to the complaints and compliments but she appreciated that this was work in progress.

With reference to item LC15 in the report, Councillor Martins considered that the comments outlining why there were dark days were more excuses than reasons.  He felt that income was being reduced due to the number of these days and suggested that community use should be encouraged with the possibility of setting up a special group to examine the issue.  Councillor Counter commented that dark days were sometimes unavoidable due to cancellations.  Councillor Scudder mentioned that getting greater flexibility from the BBC tenant would enable better use to be made of the facility.  Councillor Hastrick discussed her marketing experience and was of the view that cancellations to events were unavoidable as it was not possible to plan a year in advance with certainty; consequently, flexibility for the BBC was vital.  Councillor Dhindsa commented that there used to be days set aside for community events (in the region of six a year) and asked how such events were advertised.  The Partnership and Performance Section Head undertook to find out this information.

ACTION – Partnership and Performance Section Head

With reference to item RD1 in the report, Councillor Joynes asked whether it was possible to pay penalty charges on-line.  The Partnership and Performance Section Head said that it was but that she was aware that sometimes the system had been slow.  .

With reference to items IT1-4 in the report, the Chair asked whether there was likely to be significant improvement before Christmas as had been discussed by the ICT Client Manager at the last meeting of the Panel.  The Partnership and Performance Section Head explained that enhancements were being made but there was a lot of work to get through.  However, good quality staff were now in place and it was important to bear in mind that this was a very large project.

With reference to item HR1 in the report, in response to a question from Councillor Dhindsa, the Performance and Partnership Section Head explained that the figures related to all staff in the Council and not to Capita employees.

The Chair pointed out that WBC had put more resources in to Revenues and Benefits to manage Benefit cases than Three Rivers District Council - the Partnership and Performance Section Head provided reassurance that these would be used for WBC business.

With further reference to item HR1 in the report, Councillor Martins commented that the Revenues and Benefits figures were very encouraging but wondered how the workload might be increasing.  The Partnership and Performance Section Head undertook to find out this information for the Panel.

ACTION – Partnership and Performance Section Head