Agenda item

Richard Fitzgerald (Business Intelligence Manager – Performance) was in attendance for this item.

1.            Miss Carey introduced this report which set out the key areas of performance for the authority.  The strength of this report was that the Key Performance Indictors (KPIs) had been measured consistently over a long period and this allowed the Council to look at trends and highlight areas which needed addressing.  Miss Carey referred to Customer Services, levels of satisfaction with the contact point and the call centre remained high.  In addition, more people were choosing to use the website. 

2.            One area which would be monitored was the system for handling and recording complaints; there was an increase in the numbers being recorded.  It was important to determine whether this was down to the authority doing a better job of recording complaints or whether something more fundamental was happening. 

3.            Mr Fitzgerald set out the highlights of the report, it was the Quarter 2 report with results up to the end of September 2018.  Performance was generally good for the quarter with the majority of indicators rated as green and a higher number of improving indicators than those showing a decline.  He drew out the highlights of the report as follows:

a.    Customer Services

                                                               i.      Call answering and complaints responded to in timescale, both indicators moved to ahead of target.

b.    Economic Development

                                                               i.      Jobs created and safeguarded from the Regional Growth Fund stood at 4360 with 168 created and safeguarded in the quarter.

c.    Environment and Transport

                                                               i.      This showed a good picture with all targets achieved

                                                             ii.      Waste Management performance was maintained with only 1% of waste going to landfill. 

                                       iii.    Numbers on Carbon Emission Reductions were significantly ahead of target.  

d.    Children, Young People and Education

                                          i.    Percentage of schools good or outstanding 91%

                                        ii.    There continued to be pressure on the completion of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and this was significantly off target.  There were high levels of demand and this was expected to continue, this was a concern in terms of performance and financial impact. 

e.    Integrated Children’s Services. 

                                          i.    This area saw a significant increase in the number of qualified social workers employed. 

                                        ii.    Case loads remained high although the number of   Children on Child protection plans had declined along with a slight decline in the number of children in care. 

f.     Adult Social Care

                                          i.    Contacts resolved at first point of contact was above target along with the number of referrals to enablement. 

                                        ii.    Admissions to residential nursing care were higher than expected and the number of people experiencing delayed transfer of care continued to be a pressure. 

g.    Public Health

                                          i.    Health Checks completed in year remained below target but the issues experienced earlier in the year were resolved so it was hoped that this would improve.

                                        ii.    The number of universal checks completed by the health visitor service continued to be ahead of target. 

4.            In conclusion there were many positive results, there were areas where performance was lower than expected, these were being monitored and were subject to management action. 

5.            Members discussed the issues around EHCPs and high needs funding.  There were questions over how this was presenting itself in Kent and how KCC was responding to the significant growing demand.  The Leader requested an item on how this risk was being managed along with a comprehensive update on how the current system operated and KCCs position within this.  This should be on the agenda for the January or March 2019 meeting of Cabinet.

RESOLVED that Cabinet note the Quarter 2 Performance Report.