Agenda item

To consider the attached report.

The Senior Performance Improvement Officer, Barbara Copson introduced the report on the quarter 3 performance of the year’s Key Performance Indicators that were relevant to this Scrutiny Panel.

Eleven of the Key Performance Indicators fell within this Panel’s areas of responsibility. The overall position with regard to the achievement of target performance at the end of the third quarter of the year for these eleven indicators was as follows:

(a)    6 (55%) indicators achieved the cumulative third quarter target, and

(b)    5 (45%) indicators did not achieve the cumulative third quarter target,

(c)    7 (64%) were currently anticipated to achieve the cumulative year-end target.

At their last meeting this Panel had asked for information on targets and trends for the indicators. Officers hoped to adapt the charts and add in the information that was being sought.

Councillor Knapman noted that GOV001 (How satisfied with their experience were visitors to the Council’s website), was not that useful. In getting to the calendar page he had to go through numerous steps. It seemed long winded and hard to find.  As for GOV 002 (what % of the rent we were due to be paid for our commercial premises was not paid), it would be useful to know what this was in monetary terms, then members could get a better feel of what they were talking about. He was still concerned about sickness as we never seemed to have got to grips with this. It maybe that the target was wrong. We were not as good as compared to the private sector.

The Assistant Director (Accountancy), Mr Maddock noted that we had had hit our sickness targets last year but, unfortunately, not this year.  Long term absences had come down slightly, but not the short term ones. Staff have been advised on the best way to avoid cross infection and on best hygiene practices; but it was likely that we would not hit our target this year.

Councillor Philip noted that this Panel used to review sickness figures regularly, but then they came down three years in a row. It had been the focus for some years by this Panel.  As for the website, the website board will be looking at this at their meetings and, you should be able to access the calendar with just one click.

Councillor Lion added that this Panel used to review sick absence figures at each meeting, it improved and we decided to look at it on a six monthly basis. The commercial rent arrears seemed significant and we should look at these in more detail. Mr Maddock said that at the quarter 4 period they could produce more detailed information on this.

Councillor Watson wanted to know what areas of the website people were trying to access; this may be quite specific and what area someone was accessing may predetermine how happy they would be.  As for commercial rent, she would like to see what the implications were for the end of the year. This needed to be quantified and we needed more details for us to use. On NNDR collection (RES 004 – what % of the district’s annual business rates were collected?), she was confused why we were below the target and wondered if we would miss the target anyway, when we have missed the last 3 quarters.

Councillor Mohindra asked if the Panel could be supplied with the latest position on commercial premises and the position on the date due. Mr Maddock replied that these debts were regularly reviewed; as they were commercial they were more easily collectable. If needed, he could provide the latest position.

Councillor Mohindra commented on RES002 (what % of the invoices we receive were paid within 30 days); he noted that we had signed up to a charter on this but had not seen any commentary. Mr Maddock said that they had looked at the numbers for ways to speed up processing. It was too late for this year, but he was confident for the coming year. Also, internal invoices were still paper based, but e-invoicing was coming in to speed up this part of the system.

Councillor Church would like information on how many invoices were disputed and not just the ones that were agreed. Mr Maddock replied that if an invoice was disputed then that invoice would be put on hold and the clock would stop until it was sorted out.

Councillor Watson asked if finance knew when an invoice had arrived. She was told that 95% of invoices went straight into finance and the clock started when it was registered by finance.

Councillor Philip noted that a lot of the information on the website was covered by reports to the Website Development Board.

Councillor Angold-Stephens asked if we would meet the targets for the NNDR indicator (RES004) by the end of the year. Mr Maddock said that a lot of income would come in at the end of the year, so that they were confident that they would achieve it.

Councillor Watson wanted to know if a section took on an extra member of staff, would it cost more to achieve the target taking into consideration the added cost of that staff member. Could this sort of information be supplied? Councillor Angold-Stephens said that we did get this information last year about the fraud team, which more than covered the expenditure. Mr Maddock said that he could put in a comment along those lines.

Councillor Knapman commented on his concern about levels of attendance by staff on Fridays, was this a future problem in the making? Could this be looked into? Councillor Philip said that it would not be a problem unless it was in a customer facing job. Mr Maddock said that as a manager he saw the leave cards for his staff and organised his office around this. Councillor Lion agreed, it was down to the manager to manage his section. Councillor Stavrou said that she had not had a problem over the years with not being able to contact members of staff when needed.

RESOLVED:

That the performance of the Key Performance Indicators, for quarter 3, in relation to this Panel’s area of responsibility was noted.