Agenda item

A report by the Group Manager – Insights and Transformation

The Portfolio Holder Councillor Anne Dorrian presented the report supported by the Insights and Transformation Manager.

Members were advised that the planning extension measure had been dropped as it was not useful and new measures had been added.

There were also some off log measures, which were still under development, waiting for the government to decide what they want to measure and what they don't.
Responding to comments from the last meeting, improvements had been made to the formatting of the report.  The target and trend measures had been split to make the difference clearer and they have also been sorted by priority.
Additional commentary had been added for the HR measures to provide more context for absence in turnover, and they've also been changed                 to quarterly measures rather than year to date so that the trend would be easier to track over time.
Staff turnover has changed to show voluntary turnover and  the staff turnover figure itself had been amended to show voluntary turnover. The traditional figure, including fixed term contracts, for example, was still included in the commentary.
The majority of the measures were on target.
However, there were three red measures, and the commentary provided the context for those red measures. The occupancy of industrial units being the first which was only just shy of 86% against a target of 100% and that represented at that time 4 units which were vacant at the end of quarter one, but they were being actively marketed.
The Dsa's the data subject access requests only 60% were responded to within time scale against a target of 100%. However, that was because of an extensive volume of requesting in quarter one, which are extensive pieces of work to undertake, and which is being actively managed by our Data Protection Officer.  The last one was housing benefit, new claims, which on the figure for speed of processing at the end of the month was 30 days against a target of 25.
However, for June itself, it was down to 22 days.

Committee commenting and questioning followed which included:

The Portfolio Holder advised that the Council only owned one shop and that was currently let.  Referencing concerns in respect of the Data Subject Access statistics, they further advised that they had every confidence in the Data Protection Officer and stressed that each request was extremely time consuming in collating the information required from across the Council, which is every single document and email with the subject referenced on it. 
It is a very small team who facilitate the service.  The Insights and Transformation Manager further confirmed that if there was a delay in responding, a letter would be sent explaining why there was a delay The Portfolio Holder further advised following questioning, that the decline in properties improved through intervention was a measure that Cabinet too were not happy about and wanted to see it improved. It had been linked to empty properties not used for a long time and the Portfolio Holder has tasked that team to bring something forward. Referencing the decline in fly tipping and the decline of FPN’s not being issued, the Portfolio Holder advised again that too was another measure Cabinet was not happy with, it had been linked to the contractor not running the services as it should have been run and the Assistant Director for Regulatory had been asked to look at the contract and ensure it was tightened up to ensure sanctions were available if it was not upheld.

Referencing the increased number of rough sleepers and their potential link to the early release of prisoners in September and October 2023, a member stated they hoped Boston would do all it could in assisting as many rough sleepers as possible, with the possibility of the early release scheme being continued.  The Portfolio Holder reassured committee that the rough sleeping team continued to do a very hard job in a very dedicated manner, working long hours, through the night. Members were asked to realise that not all rough sleepers wanted to be helped, some refused any help outright, and many had both substances and mental health issues, with others not being able to gain public funds.  The team’s role was thankless and when they were able to help, they did.

Committee noted the report.