Agenda item

To receive a report regarding exceptions from 2019-20 target performance measures.

Consideration was given to a report detailing performance measures from the end of the previous year, 2019/20, which related to the remit of Improving Places and which had missed the target. These were Priority 3 ‘A strong community in a clean, safe environment’ and Priority 4 ‘Extending opportunity, prosperity and planning for the future’. This report focussed on red measures, which were those which did not progress in accordance with the target set. In relation to Priority 3, there were five off-track measures at 2019/20 year-end, while Priority 4 had three off-track measures.

Priority 3 had the highest proportion of targets met across the Council Plan, with, 75% of measures having achieved or exceeded their target at the end of the fourth and final quarter of 2019/20. 15 performance measures were on track and five were off track. The off-track measures included:

3.A2 – The proportion of positive outcomes over the year for reported Hate Crime cases.  This measure was 1.05% short of the 20% target, with an average of 18.95% positive outcomes at 2019/20 yearend. 

3.A4(b) – The proportion of a) licensed vehicles b) drivers found to be compliant with licensing requirements during in the spot inspections. Compliance for both vehicles and drivers did not meet the target of 85%, with 70% of vehicles and 83% of drivers found compliant with licensing requirements during spot inspections. 

3.A5(b) – Overall, all things considered, how satisfied or dissatisfied are you with Rotherham Borough as a place to live? In the Wave 9, conducted in June 2019, 58% of residents were found to be ‘Very Satisfied’ or ‘Fairly Satisfied’ with Rotherham as a place to live against a target of greater than 69%.  

3.B3 – Total number of customer contacts by service area and overall total.  The target of a 10% reduction in the number of complaints over the year (around 190 cumulative complaints) was not met, with the complaints at year-end totalling 208. 

3.B4 – Number of missed bins per 100,000 collections.  At year-end 2019/20, the number of missed bins per 100,000 collections was 84.16 against a target of 50.

In relation to Priority 4, seven measures were on track and three off track at the end of the final quarter of 2019/20. The off-track measures included:

4.A1 – Number of new businesses started with help from the Council.  The average number for 2019/20 of new business started with help from the Council per quarter was 14.25, with the target being 15.

 4.A2 – Survival rate of new businesses (3 years).  This measure’s status was based on figures for 2018/19 in the Quarter 4 Council Plan report as this was the latest available data at that time, which saw a survival rate of 57.7% against a 60% target. 

4.A5 – Narrow the gap to the UK average on the rate of the working age population economically active in the borough.  The target for this measure was to achieve the national average of 79.1%. However, at year-end 2019/20, the economic activity rate in Rotherham was 4.2% lower than the national average, and 2.4% lower than the Yorkshire and Humber rate of 77.3%.

In discussion, Members expressed interest in more information around any trends in regard to the Safer Rotherham Partnership. It was noted that much work had been done to encourage reporting hate crimes. The focus for SRP is to give people confidence that if they report a crime, that there will be an outcome. There is not data currently to show whether there are changes in demography associated with hate crimes.

More information was also requested regarding the mode of hate crimes, being online versus in person. It was noted that while it is uncertain if there has been a rise in online hate crime during the pandemic, it is the case that often online crime is perpetrated anonymously; nevertheless it remains important that online and indeed any hate crimes are reported.

Regarding missed bins, Members requested more information regarding how feedback is collected from residents following a missed bin. The response averred that while there is not currently a customer satisfaction assessment following a resolved missed bin, the suggestion would be taken back to the service for consideration.

More information was requested regarding the missed bin rates. The response from officers noted that 130,000 bins are emptied a week, and if a bin is missed, that gets reported to us. While the numbers look large, relative to the service that is being delivered, it is a very small percentage of the total number. The rate of missed bins is 70 per 100,000, although the goal is 50. Another way of thinking about this is 99.5% of collections take place without any contact from the public.

Members requested that these rates be noted in future reports in comparison with other neighbouring authorities. The collection data used to be a national indicator, the data about which was shared among all authorities; however this is no longer done. Ours is currently the best service in South Yorkshire, and it was noted that future reports would include this information.

Members noted their compliments to the bin collection service, especially given the recent weather conditions.

Resolved:-

1.    That the report be noted.

2.    That Members be briefed regarding survival rates of new businesses for 2019-20 and 2020-21 as soon as the ONS data becomes available.