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Agenda item

Performance Management Report - Quarter Four 2018/19

To receive and respond to the findings of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee‘s review of the quarter four performance management information.

Subject To Call In::No - Item to Note.

Decision:

That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s comments on the Performance Management Report for Quarter Four of 2018/19 be NOTED.  

Minutes:

18.1           The report of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, circulated at Pages No. 17-76, asked Members to review and, if appropriate, take action on the observations of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee following its review of the 2018/19 quarter four performance management information.

18.2           Attention was drawn to the observations made by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, attached at Appendix 1 to the report; the Council Plan Performance Tracker, attached to the report at Appendix 2; the financial performance information circulated at Appendices 3-5; and the Ubico outturn and briefing note on tyre wear at Appendices 6 and 7.

18.3           The Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee explained that the meeting was the first of the new Committee cycle and he had been pleased to see the positivity and range of questions asked. It had been a large Agenda and to receive the performance tracker could have been quite daunting for new Members. The Committee had received an extended pre-briefing prior to the meeting and he felt this had helped the meeting to run smoothly which had been useful. In addition to the performance tracker, the Agenda had also included items on the Economic Development and Tourism Strategy; Enviro-Crimes; the Communications Strategy; and Single-Use Plastics. In terms of tourism provision, it was discussed that Officers had been looking at options for the Hat Shop for a while now and previous target dates had slipped; at the meeting, a new date of October 2019 was noted and it was questioned whether there was the resource available to meet that date. Officers had confirmed that Members would be notified shortly of the way forward. The Committee had been pleased to hear that Winchcombe Town Trust, which oversaw the Winchcombe Tourist Information Centre, had been successful in receiving grant funding to develop a new heritage centre. In respect of recycling, this had always been an area of good performance and continued to be so with performance remaining in the top quartile. It was noted by a Member that performance had been hindered by increased contamination and this was something that Officers were working to mitigate. In terms of the environment generally, the work undertaken to reduce single-use plastics within the Public Services Centre had been a separate Agenda item and, whilst work was positive, there was a bigger issue in relation to the wider environmental agenda which the Council may need to consider; particularly as it would be developing a new Council Plan later in the year. Planning performance had been discussed and, whilst the processing of major applications had improved, the performance in processing of ‘other’ applications had deteriorated; albeit not significantly. Members were pleased that this was being looked at and improvements were expected in the first quarter of 2019/20. For the benefit of new Members, there was an established improvement plan for the planning service and this too was monitored by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. In terms of the financial performance of Ubico, there had been numerous conversations at various Committees regarding the overspend and concern expressed about the general budgetary controls. The Overview and Scrutiny Committee Chair advised that he was very supportive of the proposal to establish a Ubico Working Group and he was pleased that the proposed Terms of Reference for the Group would be considered at the next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee; he hoped this would provide an opportunity to take a close look at the issues and turn around the negative perception that Members had of the service provided by Ubico. He also advised that the Committee had discussed the inclusion of more information in the press about enviro-crimes to act as a deterrent and also that dog fouling issues needed to be discussed more widely at Parish meetings etc. Overall, the Chair felt the new Committee had made a positive start and he was already in discussion with Officers about maximising the effectiveness of the Committee so that it gained momentum and he would expect to see more challenge to the Executive in due course. Finally, he advised that Lead Members would be asked to attend Overview and Scrutiny Committee meetings when there were things on the Agenda relevant to their portfolios and he hoped they would make every effort to attend.

18.4           Referring to Page No. 52 - e) Develop a programme to work with landlords to ensure residents have a supply of rented properties to meet their needs – a Member noted the revised target date was June 2019 and asked whether this had been achieved and, if so, why the action still had a sad face. In response, she was advised that the report had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 17 June so, at the time, the action had not been achieved. It since had been met but the report considered by the Executive Committee was the same as had been considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee hence the information had not been updated. Referring to the Council’s car pool pilot, a Member questioned whether any of the cars were fully electric. In response, the Asset Manager explained that the Council currently only had hybrids and one petrol vehicle. This had been done purposely to allow time for the installation of electric charging points and to understand mileage needs so anxiety over the mileage range of the vehicles could be avoided. It was planned that charging points would be installed at the Public Services Centre site in September.

18.5           In respect of Page No. 41 – a) Produce a concept masterplan for the J9 area - a Member was of the view that the Council was starting to make decisions about the Ashchurch Masterplan area without actually having received the consultation responses. In response, the Head of Development Services confirmed that the consultation comments were on the Council’s website and Officers would be formulating the responses alongside the review of the Joint Core Strategy (JCS); that report would be brought to Council and would be preceded by seminars for all Members. Referring to Page No. 41 - b) Work with partners to secure transport infrastructure improvements around the Borough, including the all-ways Junction 10, Junction 9 and A46 improvements – a Member questioned whether the meeting with MPs had taken place in June. In response, the Head of Development Services advised that local MPs and key Ministers had not been able to attend on 26 June so that meeting had been cancelled. It was anticipated that it would now take place in the autumn, but no date had yet been agreed. The Chief Executive indicated that he had been discussing the issue with colleagues at the County Council and one of the considerations was for Officers to go to London and brief the MPs etc. followed by a local meeting of relevant partners if necessary – he was currently taking advice on that approach. Another Member indicated that he had attended a meeting about the Junction 10 all-ways improvements earlier that day and confirmed that a bid for funding had been made to the government, but it was not expected that an outcome would be known until December.

18.6           In response to a query regarding Page No. 42 – b) Develop a programme with partners to progress Healings Mill and other key development opportunity sites to support the regeneration of Tewkesbury – a Member questioned whether a bid had been submitted for High Street heritage funding. In response, the Head of Development Services confirmed that a bid had been submitted the previous week; the Council had unfortunately been unsuccessful in its first bid.

18.7           A Member noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had raised questions regarding the Tourist Information Centres, and he felt that it may be time to look at the Centres and see if the way they were run could be modernised. He had heard of an application that ran on smart phones to provide information on a town’s heritage and tourism offering and he questioned whether this had potential. The Head of Development Services largely agreed that the service needed some modernisation; however, Officers were still considering the options for future provision. This was a priority for the team and they were looking at trends and geography to understand how the Borough was perceived and how that could be improved. In terms of where efforts were focused in the future, this would definitely include digital media which meant a report to Council may be required to request investment. A Member expressed the view that both Tewkesbury and Winchcombe Tourist Information Centres should be working more closely with the Cotswold Conservation Board which had a brilliant website and covered the huge Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) catchment. A Member noted that Winchcombe Town Council had recently applied for a gateway bid from Cotswold Conservation Board for signage, new notice boards etc. so he was aware that they worked closely together but he understood there was scope for more. In respect of Tewkesbury Tourist Information Centre, a Member indicated that she had visited recently and had been surprised at the interior which had seemed quite dirty; she felt this was not acceptable as the Council should be leading the way in looking after its historic buildings. She also expressed the view that the cleaning should not be undertaken by staff members as this took them away from their jobs and was not very helpful for customers wishing to use the Tourist Information Centre. In response, the Head of Development Services advised that contract cleaners had now given the centre a thorough deep clean and the intention was to do that on a regular basis with light cleaning undertaken by staff in between. She also confirmed that Winchcombe Tourist Information Centre was cleaned by the staff of the Centre anyway as the scale of the building was significantly smaller than Tewkesbury.

18.8           Accordingly, it was

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