Agenda item

Standing Item to consider the future schedule of reporting.

The Assistant Director - Corporate presented the Quarter 4 report confirming that when the targets had been set, they were not an aim for easy gains but to stretch the performance in services to the best they could be.  Members were advised that whilst all planning indicators were all red, had they been set against national measures they would have been green, it was local targets they were not achieving.  There were also a number of red indicators relating to PSPS which has also been addressed and now showed green in the latest performance reporting.

Concern was tabled at the lateness of receiving the performance reporting, with notification advised that the other two Councils’ had already received Q1 for this new year with Q2 being finalised too.  Committee based their questions and concerns on the information tabled, a lot of which had already been addressed and it also depicted misleading information to the public.

It was agreed that with Q1 scheduled for the November meeting, Q2 would also come – enabling the committee to have an up to date report on which to base its deliberations. 

Concerns were noted at the ongoing loss of car parking income and a member questioned using the reason for as such as Covid, when in fact it was well known that ticketing machines in various car parks did not work.  A further concern was the lack of enforcement which appeared to be part time only in the morning, with many knowing they could park almost anywhere in the afternoon for free.  Further commenting noted that a further reason for the loss of income was down to the main shopping base for Boston was now a Wyberton Fen, following the loss of Oldrids and Marks and Spencer in the town centre. 

The Chairman supported the comments and formerly noted her wish for a report on car parking, to include the situation with broken machines and also with enforcement.  The report would be scheduled to the January meeting.

A member questioned the number of rough sleepers noted in the figures, noting that they had seen an increase recently in the town centre and asked if the Council could look into the situation as they felt it would continue to increase with the number of immigrants now in the town with no UK Status which could result in actual groups of people sleeping rough.

Reassurance was offered to concerns in respect of Council Tax and Housing Benefits processing, confirming the Q2 figures were both within target now and the historic issues has been addressed.

The Assistant Director – Regulatory (Lead Office for Committee) advised that there were no updates to the work programme tabled.   Confirmation was provided that the annual ASB and CCTV reports (both of which were very historic in nature but would be back on scheduled for May 2023), would be tabled at the 15 December meeting of BTAC.  The Police were confirmed to attend that meeting as a one item agenda, together with the Community Safety Manager and CCTV Manager who would present the reports – aligned to the presentation by the Police.   It has been agreed by both Chairman that it would be more productive and less time restrictive to the Police and Members to have the one meeting with all members invited to take part.