Agenda item

The Deputy Leader and Director of Housing, Health and Environmental Services, presented the Quarter Two Performance Report. The committee considered and commented on this and the Operational Key Performance Indicator results.

Committee members were pleased to see that apprenticeships were being used in the Contact Centre and thanked the Lead Cabinet Member for listening to the committee’s past comments regarding staffing. The committee noted that the average call answer time had reduced, which was directly attributable to recruitment. The Deputy Leader informed the committee that the Council’s outdated telephony system was hindering the Contact Centre’s performance. A new telephony system would be rolled out in the future, however the timescale for this was not yet known. In response to Members’ queries regarding whether the new telephony equipment would be the best in class, officers informed the committee that the specification was not yet known but it would be ensured that the new equipment took the Council’s new ICT equipment into account.

Committee members suggested that it be ensured that Contact Centre staff felt that they could say when they did not know the answer to a query, and not feel under pressure to always provide an answer. This was important so that staff did not provide the wrong advice when they were unsure of the answer.

The Interim Director of Waste and Special Projects informed the committee that there had been a spike in sickness absence in the waste service. The service had a dedicated HR officer which had helped to track and map short term sickness. A reduction in this had been since September 2019. Service managers were actively looking at how to reduce sick leave and address the reasons for this.

A standard deviation was requested, which would help Members to understand the figures provided in the performance report.

Performance relating to the increase in spend for the use of bed and breakfasts was discussed by the committee. The Director of Housing, Health and Environmental Services explained that a change in local hostel staff and a change in national policy relating to risk assessments, had impacted this performance. The Director explained that desktop risk assessments had been carried out by hostels rather than in person, which had led to more people being declined accommodation. Face to face interviews were however now being conducted, and an improvement was being seen. 

Comments in the report in relation to Universal Credit were noted and the Council’s readiness to deal with the impact of this was queried by committee members.

Performance in relation to the average number of days to re-let housing stock was discussed. The committee queried what measures were in place to reduce voids and re-let times. The Director of Housing, Health and Environmental Services agreed to provide an update on the work being done in relation to this at the next Scrutiny and Overview Committee meeting.

In response to a query from Members regarding street sweeping of leaves, the committee was informed by the Assistant Director of Waste and Special Projects that the Council had two large street sweepers and three small sweepers for pavements and roads. The problem for the Council was that demand for street sweeping of leaves came all at once. The service was demand focussed and targeted where the issues were greatest. Members requested that the planned sweeping schedule be made available to parish councils. The Assistant Director informed the committee that this would be shared at the parish liaison forum meetings and it would also be put online.

In response to a query regarding complaints data, the Director of Housing, Health and Environmental Services explained that this was complaints data from across the Council and officers were trying to understand the reasons for the poor performance.

Members thanked the Interim Assistant Director of Waste and Special Projects, for arranging the clearing of traffic islands in the centre of the A10, which had become increasingly overgrown.