Agenda item

This report sets out the quarter 4 and end of year 2017/18 performance summary against the Council priorities relevant for this Committee: Medway: a place to be proud of and Maximising regeneration and economic growth.

Discussion:

The Committee received a report setting out performance in Quarter 4 and end of year 2017/18 for the key measures of success and projects relevant to this Committee.

The following was discussed:

·         GH6 CP – Satisfaction with parks and open spaces

A Member referred to the performance statistics for satisfaction with parks and open spaces and stated that whilst these statistics looked good, there was not the opportunity to scrutinise the challenges presented by those maintaining parks and open spaces. He expressed concern that there appeared to be a lack of both equipment and maintenance of equipment and expressed the view that the performance statistics in Quarter 1 may show a reduction in satisfaction.

In response the Director of Regeneration, Culture, Environment and Transformation and Deputy Chief Executive advised that this issue had been raised at the Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee and a response provided by NORSE to the Member concerned.

He commented that the weather and growing conditions had been a challenge for NORSE in recent months and that they were now trying to get back on track. He also confirmed that NORSE were acquiring new equipment to assist with this.

·         NI 195a – Improved street and environmental cleanliness: Litter

A Member expressed concern that there appeared to be a discord between the statistics that the Council were reporting and the general feeling expressed by residents, in particular in areas in Chatham, Luton and Gillingham.

The Head of Performance and Intelligence advised that this performance target related to the inspection of streets as opposed to public satisfaction and she referred to a briefing note which had been circulated earlier in the year at the request of Business Support Overview and Scrutiny Committee specifically relating to performance indicator NI 195a.

A Member referred to the increased use of social media and digitalisation and drew attention for the need for the Council to be responsive to reports of incidents e.g. flytipping via different media forums.

In response, the Director of Regeneration, Culture, Environment and Transformation and Deputy Chief Executive confirmed that increasingly, the use of digital and social media was becoming the method of reporting by choice by some members of the public and the Council needed to move forward and ensure that systems were in place to respond to this; a key aim of the Transformation programme.

A Member questioned whether it was possible to have a breakdown of the statistics per area. In response, the Head of Performance and Intelligence confirmed that officers take full account of the demographics in statistical data. She stated that the Council was currently seeking to recruit to the Citizen’s Panel via social media and in doing so would ensure that the Panel had a representative mix of respondents.

Decision:

a)            The Committee note the quarter 4 and end of year report on the performance of the measures of success used to monitor progress against the Council’s priorities;

b)            A report be submitted to a future meeting on the systems that have been put in place to capture those requests from members of the public that are received in a digital format.