Agenda item

To receive a report of the Leader & Cabinet Member for Business Strategy, Audit & Transformationsetting out for information the Council’s performance, as assessed against 40 Key Performance Indicators, for Quarter 1 of the 2014-15 financial year.

(Item6 –Reportof theLeader& CabinetMemberfor BusinessStrategy,Auditand Transformation)

Cabinetreceived areportsettingoutperformanceagainst agreedtargets forkey performance indicatorsforQuarter1 of2014-15.

Richard Fitzgerald,Performance Manager  introduced  the  report  to  Cabinet,  in particularhe referred to thefollowing:

      i.        Thatthereportwas largely positiveshowingthat 23ofthe KeyPerformance Indicatorsreport hadshown apositive directionoftravel withonly12 falling and  reporting  62.5%  as  ‘Green’  meaning  that  they  were  achieving  or surpassingtargets.

    ii.        That    the      report  also     detailed          activity            indicators, corporate            risks    and organisationaldevelopmentinformation.

   iii.        Issues ofparticularnote wereas follows:

a.    CustomerServices

                                          i.    Digitaltake upfigures wereshown for the firsttime andincluded keytransactions completedon lineby residents.

                                        ii.    Callersatisfactionwith theContactPoint remainedhigh despite somerecentdifficultiesreaching performancetargets relatedto thenumberofcalls answered.  In relationto callanswering, new staffhadnowbeen recruited andthetrendfor quarter2 was expectedto bemuch improved.

b.    GrowthEnvironment andTransport

                                          i.    Theactivity figuresshowedsigns  ofeconomicrecovery inthe County.

                                        ii.    Thereas goodoutflowofRegional GrowthFundloanapprovals to supportlocalbusinesses

                                       iii.    Highwayshad recordedhigh levelsof ‘workin progress’at the endoflast year,largely as resultoffloodingandthishadbeen reducedsignificantlyin the quarterto June.

                                       iv.    Onered wasrecordedin relationto carbonemissionsbutthis wasfor validreasonsrelatedto changesin workingpractices.

c.    Educationand YoungPeople’sServices

                                          i.    There  had been  continued  improvement  in  the  number  of schools andEarly Yearssettings rated‘good’ or ‘outstanding’by Ofsted.

                                        ii.    Collationofpupil attainmentresultsat countylevel wereat a draftstageand wouldbe presentedto Cabinetin duecourse.

                                       iii.    NEETfigures hadincreasedover thequarter butthis wasa result ofseasonalvariation relatedto coursedates.

                                       iv.    For18-24 yearolds JobSeekersAllowance claimswere atthe lowest levelsince 2008.

d.    PreventativeServices

                                          i.    The  number  of  children  supported  by  a  multi-agency  Team Aroundthe Familywas increasingand more ofthosecases were resulting inpositive outcomeswhere childrendid notneedtobe referred to Specialist Children’sServices

e.    Safeguardingand CorporateParenting

                                          i.    WithinCorporateParenting  there was  ahighlevel ofadoptions anda modest reductionin thenumberofchildrenin care

                                        ii.    Recruiting andretainingqualified SocialWorkersremained problematicbutwork continuedtoappointmore newly qualified SocialWorkersandongoingrecruitment activitycontinued

f.     AdultSocial Care

                                          i.    Challengingtargets hadbeenset aspartofthe Transformation Plan and goodprogress wasbeing made towardthem.

                                        ii.    The  new  Promoting  Independence  Reviews  programme  was being rolledout and  was expectedtoreachtarget levels by quarter 3

g.    PublicHealth

                                          i.    NHSHealth Checkswas nowreported asgreen aftera long spellas redfollowingtransferofPublicHealthdutiesin March 2013.

He concludedthatthereport waspositive and demonstratedcontinuedimprovement inmanyareas.  TheChairmanthankedMr Fitzgeraldand openedthe itemfor discussion.

TheCabinetMemberforEconomicRegeneration,Mr Mark Dance,spoke totheitem. Hereportedin relationto theRegional Growth FundthatExpansionEastKenthad seenembeddedgrowthandcontinuedto buildand holdmomentum.  InNorthand West  Kent,  Tiger  and  Escalate  currently  reported  as  ‘amber’  but  he  assured membersthat theindicatorwould be‘green’ for thenext quarter as applicationshad beenhigh overthesummer.   Infacthe reportedthatanapplicationtogovernment for a further£10millionhadbeensubmittedto topupboth fundsas aresult ofthat success.

TheCabinetMember for AdultSocialCare and PublicHealth,Mr Gibbenstookthe floor.  Hecommented onthePublic Healthperformance,in particularhe thankedthe PublicHealth teamforthe workthat hadbeenconductedonHealth Checks inorder thattheynow reported green.  In addition hereferredtotheteenagepregnancy indicatorandwelcomednews thatwhile teenagepregnancies were fallingnationally, Kentwas seeinga moredramaticfall.  Finallyhe referredto theprogress thathad beenmadein reducingHealth Inequalities,but remindedCabinetthattherewas more workto bedoneandchallengedall membersofthecouncilto undertakework to addressthedisparityif mortalityrates acrosstheCounty.  He reportedthatChris Bentleywould be attendingKCC to provide abriefingfor Membersin Octoberand hoped thata goodturnoutwould be achieved.

It wasRESOLVEDthat thereport beNOTED