Agenda item

Matt Wagner (Interim Chief Analyst) was in attendance for this item.

1.    Mr Wagner Introduced the report. He told Members that this was the first performance report of the 2023/24 financial year. Of the 19 key performance indicators (KPIs) 9 were rated green, 4 amber and 5 red.

2.    The indicators rated red were under Highways and Transport: potholes repaired in 28 calendar days, emergency incidents attended to within 2 hours, priority enquiries completed within 20 working days. Under Environment and Waste the two indicators rated red were: municipal waste recycled and composted and waste recycled and composted at Household Waste Recycling Centres. Mr Wagner then explained to Members the factors that led to underperformance in these areas.

3.    Members asked the following questions to Mr Wagner:

a)    A Member asked for clarification on appendix one, HT:12. The KPI this related to was rated green, but the appendix made clear that data had not yet been produced in the new financial year. Mr Wagner clarified that the rating had been based on data from March 2023 and told Members the next report would be more accurate as they would have received data from the current financial year.

b)    A Member asked a question about HT:13, which related to street works permits issued. The Member noted that there had been a sharp increase in the number of permits issued and asked why a percentage rather than the exact figures had been provided. Mr Jones responded that the Directorate had accurate information on this and would ensure that exact figures were provided in the future. 

c)    A Member asked why the Deputy Chief Executive’s Department had provided data and were responsible for some of the KPI’s under Highways and Transport. Mr Jones told Members the Deputy Chief Executive’s Department managed the correspondence for a number of directorates and that this provided consistency of approach, economies of scale and made recruitment easier. He told Members that they were seeing a month-on-month reduction in their backlog.

d)    A Member asked why the amount of potholes repaired fluctuated so much month by month and on greenhouse gasses they raised their concerns that there had not been a reduction despite solar panels offsetting emissions. Miss Carey responded to the question on greenhouse gas emissions, she told Members that KCC’s strategy was to become net zero and that the authority would always need to emit some greenhouse gasses. She explained that solar farms were important in offsetting these emissions. Miss Carey also told Members that the solar farm at Kings Hill was close to completion and that Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding had been used to improve KCC’s estate. On potholes, Mr Jones responded that the fluctuation was due to poor weather over the winter months. He informed Members that a large amount of repair work occurred in October before the winter weather and then again once the worst of the winter weather is over.

e)    A Member commented that a seasonal approach was required when comparing emissions, especially as weather and temperature impact the amount of greenhouse gasses emitted and suggested data may be compared this way in the future.

RESOLVED to note the Performance Dashboard.