Issue - meetings

The Panel is invited to comment on the 2024/25 targets and intervention levels for the Council’s operational performance indicators contained within the report.

Executive Councillor: S Ferguson

By means of a report by the Business Intelligence and Performance Manager (a copy of which was appended in the Minute Book), the Corporate Plan Targets 2024/25 Report was presented to the Panel.

Councillor Martin expressed concern that the targets for Performance Indicators (PI) 11 and 12  were not ambitious enough, following which the Panel were advised that targets needed to be realistic and achievable and that the Council hoped to be an influencer and enabler in this field. The Panel was further advised that more ambitious targets would be applied if deemed appropriate after further investigation.

Councillors Cawley and Martin queried the detail behind PIs 18 and 19 following the introduction of both the Green Bin Subscription Service and the Climate Strategy along with the Council’s journey to net zero. The Panel were advised that the data from the changes to green waste disposal was still in its infancy but that an update on the scheme would be brought to the Overview and Scrutiny (Environment, Communities and Partnerships) in the near future.

Councillor Cawley enquired what the work with the County Council to align work on weeds identified in PI22 looked like, following which the Panel were informed that a detailed answer would be sought and reported back to the Panel.

Following a question from Councillor Jennings, relating to PIs 13 through 15 which had all over achieved in the previous year, the Panel heard that these had been set with local variabilities in mind and that following the reduction in application backlogs, the funding to clear this had been reduced however work was still ongoing to maintain the standards set. Following a further question on the reasons for the continued backlog from Councillor Gleadow, the Panel heard that this was due to multiple factors including resources and the complexities of some applications. Councillor Martin stated that it would be useful to understand these reasons better to ensure that targets tackled this, after which the Panel were assured that the team were continuing to review this but that a stretch target would result in a continuous red status which the team would be keen to avoid. It was agreed that some further detail and clarification would be worked up and brought back to the Panel at a future meeting.