Agenda item

To receive and note a report that shows progress made against targets for Key Performance Indicators

Richard Fitzgerald (Business Intelligence Manager), Rebecca Spore (Director of Infrastructure), Ben Watts (General Counsel) and Amanda Beer (Corporate Director Engagement, Organisation Design & Development, Strategic and Corporate Services) were in attendance for this item.

(1)  Mr Fitzgerald introduced the Strategic and Corporate Services year-end report and the key performance indicators, the indicators and targets discussed were set out at the beginning of the year through the annual business plan and were aligned either to the priorities for the year or as core business. The results in the report summarised the indicators in the dashboard for the last financial year. Although there were areas that could be improved, Mr Fitzgerald commented on the overall excellent result and confirmed that the majority of indicators were on or ahead of target.

(2)  Ms Spore referred to the Capital Receipts target and confirmed that the target for the last financial year was significantly higher than the preceding year. The balancing figure required to fund the capital programme was £50 million and a programme had been introduced to seek potential disposal. £17.8 million of assets had been disposed of during last financial year but there was a financial shortfall. A number of sites had been taken to market and both conditional and unconditional offers received. Conditional offers were taken in consultation with Finance as they represented better value for the County Council. After the discussion with Finance, a bridging mechanism had been agreed to allow the Capital Programme to be funded. There had been issues with planning processes for some sites where appeals had been pursued which caused delays in terms of delivery.

(3)  Mr Hotson undertook to consider the suggestion of a three-year rolling programme for the Property Capital Programme.

(4)  In relation to GL03 Data Protection Act Subject Access requests, Mr Watts confirmed that although the target had not been met for a number of years, the target mark would not change. He explained that Data Protection Act Subject Access requests could include requests by care leavers who may have left care a long time ago and therefore have paper records which were time consuming to provide. He acknowledged that this indicator could be improved if more resources were allocated but it was agreed not to change this. However, there was an improvement in performance from 80% in the previous year to 82% this year. He emphasised that the team continued to work hard and deal with the difficult circumstances and challenges well.

a)    In response to a question about the Data Protection Act Subject Access requests timescale, Mr Watts confirmed that the requirement was to respond to requests within 40 calendar days.

b)    A Member suggested that a performance indicator should be included in the Dashboard which set out the compliance with mandatory Data Protection and Information and Governance training for Officers. Mr Hotson also confirmed that the suggestion would be taken on board.

c)    A Member commented on the unrecorded net receipts for the last financial year and suggested new ways in which performance could be measured; these comments were taken on board.

d)    In response to a question from a Member, Mr Hotson undertook to provide dates on the pipeline of capital receipts to future meetings.

e)    A Member requested more information on the activity indicators and the number of visits to the Kent County Council website. Mrs Beer confirmed that there had been over 5 million visits to the website and said that the library and school admissions pages were particularly popular and that these statistics would be included in future reports. Miss Carey suggested that a detailed report on the usage of the website should be added to the Work Programme.

f)     Mrs Beer confirmed that the KCC website was in the top 50 websites across the country. She informed the Committee that ‘web chat’ had been introduced which enabled staff in the contact centre to help people with queries at the first point of contact. Mrs Beer confirmed that it was not possible to obtain information of which webpages staff were accessing.

g)    A Member commented on the increase in staff who felt that communication within the organisation had improved within the last 12 months.

(5)   Resolved that the Strategic and Corporate Service Directorate Dashboard be noted.