Report No.150/2015 from the Chief Executive was received.

The Leader, Mr Begy, introduced the report, the purpose of which was to report to Cabinet on the Council’s performance for the first quarter of 2015/16.

During consideration, the following points were noted:

      i.        Report was linked to the current Strategic Aims and Objectives, which were due to be reviewed, but remained relevant;

     ii.        There had been an increase in staff sickness absences, which would be looked at by the Senior Management Team.  The figures had been affected by some cases of long term sickness.  The figures were still favourable compared to neighbouring authorities;

    iii.        It was requested that the sickness figures be presented so as to be consistent with the rest of the report;

   iv.        Percentage of eligible population of Rutland claiming benefits remained low;

    v.        Freedom of Information requests continued to increase and the response times were mostly positive although the People’s Directorate were not hitting targets;

   vi.        The Reablement Service was highlighted as producing positive results in avoiding the need for on-going services;

  vii.         Work was being done by the People’s Directorate in order to ensure that the number of young people not in education, employment and education are accurately recorded;

 viii.        Customer satisfaction for Face to face contact with Customer Services was good, but contact through the Website showed an overall rating of Average.  Work on the improvement of the website had begun, but the timeframes for completing this work would need to be extended.  Further analysis of the figures would need to be done, in particular the number of payments being made via Customer Services and what alternative options could be provided;

   ix.        The figures regarding the safeguarding of Children and Young People were very positive;

    x.        The level of community alerts for Adult Safeguarding was seen as positive as it meant that concerns were being reported and so could be investigated further;

   xi.        The Broadband Project would be entering its next phase in 2016, but beyond this there may still be some remote rural locations that would not be covered;

  xii.        Contractors for the Castle Project had been appointed.  Members requested that the impact on the Burley Road Car Park be addressed as a matter of urgency to ensure that shoppers and local businesses are not adversely affected; and

 xiii.        The Liquid Logic Project was underway and the initial work done by the newly appointed Project Manager had been positive and proactive.  The project manager had been looking at phasing the project in order to ensure that implementation was measured and planned to ensure good outcomes.

DECISIONS

1)    Cabinet NOTED the overall position in relation to performance for the first quarter of 2015/16 and the actions being taken to address areas of underperformance.

Reason(s) for the Decision(s)

88% of indicators measured during Quarter 1 were on or above target, with measures in place to improve performance where targets are not currently being met. Main areas of concern have been highlighted in this report and the remedial action being undertaken to improve performance has been identified. Performance will be monitored during Quarter 2 and direction of travel will be reported to show where improvements have been made. Overall performance based on activity in the first quarter is satisfactory.