Agenda item

Report of the Corporate Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) which sets out the performance data collected for those services that fall within its remit. It provides Quarter 1 for 2018-19, along with comparative information.

Report of the Corporate Director (Resources, Environment and Cultural Services) provided the Committee with the performance indicator (PI) data collected for services within its remit. It provided Quarter 1 for 2018-19, along with comparative information.

The report helped the Committee to identify which of the Council services had improved, not improved or remained the same in their key performance areas.

The Committee congratulated Officers for meeting or exceeding the majority of Performance Indicators, with only three not being met.

A series of questions by Members and answers by Officers followed, which highlighted the following:

•    PI 19 (The cleaner local street survey rating based on the amount of litter and detritus) and PI 20 (The percentage of residents either ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with street cleansing (e.g. litter and sweeping services)

The figures were dissimilar as PI 19 was Officers’ objective assessment according to Defra Guidelines whereas PI 20 was a telephone survey of residents across the Borough.

Roads managed by Hertfordshire Highways, such as the dual carriageway to Tesco in Hatfield, could have been unwittingly included in PI 20 and therefore impacted the outcome. The Committee requested Officers to check if there was a distinction between district and county roads. It was agreed that Officers would subsequently circulate the information to the Committee.

The Committee asked that Officers write to those responsible for the roundabout and motorway interceptions in the borough to address the litter problem in those specific areas.  It was agreed that Officers would subsequently circulate the information to the Committee.

•    PI 17 (Reduce the level of residual household waste collected per head of the population (kg) )

The Committee requested more ambitious targets to be considered for PI 17 at the next annual review of targets by Officers and Portfolio Holders. It was hoped that this would further improve the figures for reducing household waste as well as improving residents’ satisfaction.

•    PI 18 (Percentage of household waste collected and sent for reuse, recycling and composting)

The Committee requested that the composting figures be checked and a breakdown provided, as some Members said that the figures conflicted with those of the County Council.  It was agreed that Officers would subsequently circulate the information to the Committee.

•    P1 58 (The percentage of minor planning application appeals allowed against the Council’s decision ? as a percentage of the total number of appeals)

Officers confirmed that it was a national target that less than 10% of minor planning application appeals should be allowed.  Officers dealt with about 500 applications per quarter whereas Committee decided about 15-20 per quarter.  In addition Officers would raise any implications of larger appeals with the Cabinet Planning Committee as well as the Executive Member and were learning from the smaller appeals to ensure the number was reduced.

•    PI 23 (Completion rate of all tree maintenance work within the planned programme)

Officers advised the Committee that rescheduling tree works was often due to co-ordinating the closure of rural roads as well as the impact of residents parking in areas which had been previously cordoned off for tree work.

•    PI 58 (The Percentage of minor planning application appeals allowed against the council’s decision – as a percentage of the total number of appeals)

The indicator was reported to both EOSC and the Development Management Committee as both were within the Environment Portfolio.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee note the performance indicator data collected and reported