Agenda item

Matthew Wagner, (Chief Analyst); and Simon Jones (Corporate Director for Growth, Environment &Transport) were in attendance for this item

1. Matthew Wagner introduced the report. The report covered the periods up to December 2025 and also encompassed the proposed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and targets for 2026–27.

a)    Reported that of the KPIs encompassed within the report, 38 were rated green, 5 amber and 1 red. The red KPI had related to the (EC16) number of new people receiving entrepreneurship mentoring support from the Kent Foundation. Performance had dipped below the floor standard in December but had improved in January and was expected to exceed its target by year end.

b)    Amber indicators had encompassed: (EC10) the number of people supported into employment by the Connect to Work programme (with performance expected to improve in quarter 4).

c)    Turnaround times in (KSS02) Kent Scientific Services where partner laboratory testing sometimes extended timescales. The team had now developed an in -house method for avoiding extended timescales. The expected improvement had already been evident within the December performance.

d)    The proportion of public rights of way faults reported online, response times for (HT02) highways and transportation enquiries; and municipal waste recycling and composting rates, which were expected to benefit from forthcoming “simpler recycling” requirements rounded out the five amber KPIs for the reporting period.

e)    The officer discussed the combined KPIs that had been encompassed from a predecessor committee (GED CC) and the current iteration (GET CC) into a single, larger set of KPIs and activity indicators.

f)      The Officer closed out by discussing the inclusion of the proposed KPIs for 2026–27. All services reporting to the committee carried out a thorough review and this had resulted in several changes to the existing KPIs. Most notably, the Highways and Transportation Division has expanded its KPI set to better reflect the full range of services it would deliver.

2. Members asked the following KPI related questions:

a)    Queried if additional KPIs could be used to monitor tree survival and tree establishment success following planting. Officers acknowledged the query and that additional reporting on tree establishment and success rates would be explored, subject to robust data.

b)    Members asked what rationale was used for keeping or removing certain public rights of way online reporting indicators. In response it was suggested that some online reporting KPIs had reached their practical limits given residents’ varying contact preferences.

c)    Additional concerns were raised on KPIs relating to the percentage of public rights of way reports submitted online, currently showing an amber RAG rating. A Member raised a specific issue that had impacted Dartford regarding long?standing flooding and queried the use of the KPI from a safety perspective. Officers acknowledged the concern and would look to address the Members local issue outside of the Committee.

d)    Clarification was sought on the recent changes to KPI HT01B and referred to officers being able to address issues relating to road conditions. The Cabinet Member responded to the KPI query and indicated that it had reflected the immediate ability to respond to events and was likely governed by demand and availability.

e)    The interpretation of waste?related indicators and the implications of extended producer responsibility and emissions trading scheme risks were discussed.

f)      Asked if data on greenhouse gas emissions (EEW2) and monitoring would continue even when targets were not set. In response it was discussed that that greenhouse gas emissions data would continue to be monitored as a performance indicator.

g)    Members highlighted the performance of highways defect response times and the operational context. Officer noted the concerns and suggested that the operational pressures, current market costs and general inflation had impacted highways backlogs and recovery costs.

RESOLVED to note the Performance Dashboard.