Agenda item

This report sets out the performance summary for Quarter 4 Year end 2014/15 against the Council priorities relevant to this committee: Safe, clean and green Medway and Everyone benefiting from the area’s regeneration.

Discussion:

The Performance and Intelligence Manager outlined the performance summary for Quarter 4  year end 2014/15 against the Council priorities for the Committee:

·         Safe, clean and green Medway

·         Everyone benefitting from the area’s regeneration

The Committee noted the following:

·         Street Scene Enforcement Team – A Member highlighted the valuable work undertaken by the Street Scene Enforcement Team, especially when gathering evidence to proceed with prosecution.

·         W8 – Satisfaction with street cleaning  - A Member referred to the note within the report that Community Wardens will be addressing areas of private land that affect the overall perception of cleanliness in Medway. He sought an assurance that this did not affect target levels.  In response, the Assistant Director for Front Line Services advised that he was happy to provide a report or briefing note on the work undertaken by officers on clearance of private land if requested. In addition, he drew attention to the increase in the satisfaction levels with street cleaning.

·         HP26 – Satisfaction with road maintenance – A Member expressed concern that the Council was not meeting its target of 50% satisfaction levels for road maintenance. In response, the Assistant Director Front Line Services drew attention to the 2014 National Highways and Transport (NHT) Survey  which reported a 52.6% satisfaction rate from a response of 1,112 residents, whereas the Tracker Survey had produced a percentage satisfaction rate of 42% based on a sample size of 401 Medway residents.

The Head of Highways and Parking reported that individuals often indicated dissatisfaction with road maintenance, not based on the condition of the road but as a result of works undertaken by utility companies. He informed the Committee that when a utility company undertook works, they were permitted to carry out a temporary repair and then return within 6 months to undertake a permanent repair. Unfortunately, the public would not be aware of this and therefore blamed the Council for undertaking excavations twice in a 6 month period. Work was now underway to inform the public about this through leaflets in libraries and information centres and through press articles and information in Medway Matters.

The Assistant Director Front Line Services confirmed that in recent years, utility works in Medway had been at a high level owing to the replacement of water meters by Southern Water.

A Member suggested that it would be useful for Members to receive information on the budget for Road Maintenance for the next few years. In response, the Head of Highways and Parking confirmed that the Department of Transport had allocated local authorities’ road maintenance budgets for the next 6 years and therefore it was possible for the Council to target funding over the next 6 year period. He suggested that a report be submitted to a future meeting on the National Highways and Transport Survey and the funding regime.

·         LRCC4a and ECD48c – Number of jobs created and safeguarded and employment that has lasted 26 weeks  - The Performance and Intelligence Manager confirmed that the figures contained in the report for LRCC4a were provisional and therefore she would supply the Democratic Services Officer with the actual figures for circulation to Members of the Committee.

In respect of ECD48c, the Performance and Intelligence Manager confirmed that the number of people that could be placed on the programme had reduced.

·         Parks and Open Spaces/Stubble burning at Broomhill – A Member congratulated the Council on having secured seven Green Flag awards for its parks and open spaces.

Another Member sought clarification as to whether the recent stubble burning at Broomhill Park would affect the Green Flag status of this park and the Acting Director for Regeneration, Community and Culture confirmed that to be awarded a Green Flag, it was necessary for the park or open space to have a clear management plan which could be assessed and measured. He confirmed that the stubble burning would not affect the Broomhill Park’s Green Flag status. 

·         Events and Festivals – A Member suggested that the Medway Open Studios event be included within the Council’s events and festivals. The Acting Director for Regeneration, Community and Culture agreed to take this on board.

·         Pop Up Shops – A Member sought clarification as to whether there were plans for the Community Safety Shop to be sited again in the Pentagon Shopping Centre as a pop up shop. The Assistant Director for Front Line Services confirmed that whilst the Community Safety Shop had been popular, this was only a temporary arrangement.

·         Recycling rates – A Member sought clarification as to why the recycling figures provided in the Performance Monitoring report differed to those detailed in the report of the Portfolio Holder for Front Line Services. In response the Assistant Director Front Line Services explained that large recycling was handled by Veolia and it was Veolia that provided the statistics for the report. However, minor recycling was handled at other waste sites. He confirmed that the figures reported in the Portfolio Holder’s report were the outturn for the year.

·         Responsible dog ownership  - A Member referring to paragraph 4.2.3 of the report requested whether Medway Council had introduced bylaws to require dogs to be kept on leashes in public places. In response, the Assistant Director Front Line Services reported that  legislation was currently in place to allow the Council to require dogs to be kept on leashes in open spaces. In addition, Public Space Protection Orders had just been released and could add further protection.

In response to further questions, the Assistant Director for Front Line Services reported upon the work of the Council’s Community Wardens in educating dog owners on responsible dog ownership and confirmed that the issue of ‘dangerous dogs’ was a matter for the Police.

Decision:

The Committee agreed:

a)            The 2014/15 performance against the key measures of success used to monitor progress against the Council Plan be noted;

b)            A report be submitted to a future meeting on the road maintenance  budget for the next 6 years along with information on the National Highways and Transport Survey

c)            The Medway Open Studios Event be included in the Council’s Events and Festivals programme.

d)            A briefing note be provided setting out the work of the Community Wardens in respect of dealing with dog related problems, including the  number of recorded dog attacks in Medway, resources available for this work and enforcement issues.