Agenda item

The Performance Specialist provided members with a brief verbal update regarding the review of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), and referred to the draft list of KPIs which had been circulated to members for information. She highlighted the new KPIs and explained that some other indicators remained the same but the targets had changed.

The Council Tax and Benefits indicators would remain the same and the indicators for planning (development management) were still with senior officers to finalise the measures and targets. It was noted that measures and figures for waste and recycling were only available for the whole county and not broken down by district due collection routes. The Performance Specialist asked if members felt the county-wide data was still relevant and useful for the district?

During discussion members raised several queries and suggestions, some of which included (responses from the Performance Specialist and Director (Service Delivery) are shown in italics). :

·        PCS14 - Appeals Lost - understand if more than 10% of appeals are lost then will come under the scrutiny from central government - so shouldn't the target be less than 10%?

            (planning indicators are being reviewed by senior officers - it was taking some time as want to ensure it's accurate)

·        Indicators for waste should still be measured and reported, and available for districts to scrutinise even if data is at a county-wide level. Data is still useful in order to see trends and issues or concerns can be raised with Somerset Waste Partnership or via the Joint Waste Scrutiny Panel.

·        One member wanted to stress the importance of measure for planning in performance reviews.

      (planning indicators are being reviewed by senior officers - it was taking some       time as want to ensure it's accurate)

·        Regarding waste - feel it would be useful to know what's going in and out of Dimmer as the contract is changing. There is a need to monitor the amount of vehicle movements.

            (will raise the issue with the Somerset Waste Partnership regarding figures)

·        EN 1 - Land management (environment indicator) - how would this be recorded and down to what level? Will it include species monitoring, nature conservation management, flora and fauna? And at site level such as Ham Hill or Chard Reservoir?

            (The environment team are working on this and these new KPI reports will             show that level of detail moving forward.)

·        How do we record information about Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and our response rates?

            (FOIs and complaints will be an area that's looked at separately from KPIs as             it's an important area and needs to be transparent. Acknowledge it's an area             that needs to be improved.)

·        E4 digital connections - the measure state 'various', which is a catch all. What specific measures will be included in this?

      The measures are Gigabit vouchers facilitated per premise, broadband       connections facilitated per premise and additional mobile coverage facilitated       per premise. This KPI is still under review.)

·        EN5 - Waste to landfill - understand that a lot of waste is now going into the 'Energy from Waste' incinerator at Avonmouth. Is this data online now? What % of waste from South Somerset goes to this incinerator?

      (The Performance Specialist will check the latest position on this.)

At the end of discussion the Chairman thanked officers for their updates, and the Performance Specialist acknowledged the comments made and would feedback the suggestions to the relevant officers.