Agenda item

This report summarises the performance of the Council’s Key Measures of Success in Quarter 1 for 2016/17.

Discussion:

The Committee received a report setting out the performance summary for Quarter 1 2016/17 against the Council’s priorities for the Committee:

·         Medway: A place to be proud of.

·         Maximising regeneration and economic growth.

The Committee raised the following issues:

·         Standards at Shawsted Tip and Riverside Country Park  - A Member commented that following recent visits to Shawstead Tip and Riverside Country Park, she was dissatisfied with the standards at both sites. In particular, she referred to the level of dog excrement at Riverside Country Park. The Director for Regeneration, Culture, Environment and Transformation commented that customer satisfaction levels were usually very high at both sites and gave an assurance that these comments would be taken on board for both sites and action would be taken to reinforce the message at Riverside Country Park that dog walkers should observe regulations requiring them to remove their dogs excrement and dispose of it in the bins provided.

·         Performance Indicator NI 195a – Improved street and environment cleanliness: Litter – A Member sought clarification as to whether the 96% satisfaction target was intended to be public opinion or the opinion of contract monitoring teams. In response, the Performance Manager clarified that the target was not a satisfaction level but related to the contract monitoring teams carrying out regular street cleansing inspections across Medway to ensure that the contractor was meeting their contractual obligations.

·         Public realm and street scene – A Member referred to issues in River Ward where private landlords were not providing adequate refuse facilities in buildings and he asked whether any action could be taken to remedy this. The Acting Assistant Director Front Line Services agreed to investigate this and respond to the Member direct.

·         Performance indicator NI 167 – Average journey time along 5 routes across Medway – A Member sought further information as to the systems used to measure average journey times along the 5 identified routes in Medway. The Performance Manager confirmed that the Head of Integrated Transport had investigated alternative options for obtaining this data having regard to the systems used by other local authorities and it was hoped that data would be available by the end of Quarter 3. The new system could be used to obtain a large range of date including journey times for any date or time period.

·         Performance Indicator GH6 CP – Satisfaction with parks and open spaces  - A Member referred to Gillingham Park and sought clarification as to whether there was an appeal process for this Park to regain Green Flag status and she sought information as to whether action was being undertaken to encourage volunteers to help at this particular park. The Acting Assistant Director Front Line Services confirmed that unfortunately the appeal for Green Flag status for Gillingham Park had been unsuccessful and he agreed to share the  Green Flag Judging Report for Gillingham Park. He advised that there had been a Friends Group for Gillingham Park but this was no longer operational. However, he was happy to revisit re-establishment of the Friends Group as part of the work to secure  the Green Flag status for Gillingham Park.

·         Battle of Medway – A Member sought information on the proposed commemoration the 350^th anniversary of the Battle of Medway in 2017. The Assistant Director Physical and Cultural Regeneration briefly outlined the types of events being planned as part of the commemorative event.

·         Gun Wharf Marina– A Member asked for an update on plans to have mooring facilities at Gun Wharf. The Director for Regeneration, Culture, Environment and Transformation advised that work was currently in hand on this proposed development as part of the plans for the regeneration of Chatham and it would be marketed shortly.

·         Medway Mile  - A Member congratulated Officers on the successful organisation of the Medway Mile. She added that this event, which was free of charge, was well supported by participants. Another Member added that she had a number of friends who were not Medway residents who had expressed to her that they were impressed with events staged in Medway, many of which were free of charge.

Decision:

The Committee agreed to:

a)            note the Quarter 1 2016/17 performance against the key measures of success used to monitor progress against the Council Plan 2016/17.

b)            note that the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Resources has approved the adjustment of Quarter 1 target for performance measure LRCC 4a (Jobs created and safeguarded), from 75 to 35 to reflect the delayed receipt of Locate in Kent data, in accordance with the authority delegated to them at Full Council in February 2016.

c)            note that the Acting Assistant Director Front Line Services will discuss the issue of private landlords and the provision of refuse facilities with the relevant Councillor direct outside of the meeting.

d)            note that Officers have agreed to take the necessary action to reinforce to dog walkers at Riverside Country Park the requirement for them to dispose of dog excrement in a responsible manner using the bins provided.

e)         note that the Acting Assistant Director Front Line Services will discuss with the relevant Member concerned outside of the meeting the possibility of reviving the Friends of Gillingham Park as part of work to regain Green Flag status for this park.