Issue - items at meetings - 6 month Performance Update

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive (copy attached).

(1)               That the areas of highlighted performance be noted;

(2)               That the resources at the Committee’s disposal, including officers in the local authority and the city’s partnerships to maintain progress and tackle issues of concern highlighted in the report.

81.1         The Assistant Chief Executive introduced the report which provided a summary of the council’s performance progress over the first six months of 2013/14, and highlighted the progress in the delivery of sustainable community strategy priorities and the corporate plan.  She noted that a number of areas were meeting or were above their targets and that where there were exceptions; work was in hand to address these.

81.2         Councillor G. Theobald noted that sickness levels appeared high with an average of 11 days a year for each member of staff and expressed concern over the associated costs to the authority as a result.  He noted that the average level of sickness absence for the public sector was 6.9 days and only 4.9 days in the private sector.  He also expressed concern over the low rate for recycling compared to other authorities such as Bristol and Bournemouth.

81.3         The Executive Director for Finance & Resources stated that the level of sickness absence was broadly in-line with that for local government, however the matter was being looked at and it was hoped that following a review of the absence management process, action could be taken to seek to address the situation.  She stated that she was happy to meet with Councillor Theobald to discuss the matter further and the actions being put in place to help improve the situation.

81.4         The Executive Director for Environment, Development & Housing stated that in terms of recycling rates, officers were looking at the matter and how improvements could be made.  However, the fortnightly collections did have an impact and overall the levels of recycling were levelling off nationally.

81.5         Councillor Morgan stated that the level of sickness absence wasn’t that surprising given the reductions in funding to local government and the need to undertake more work.  He was concerned that the number of first time entrants into the Youth Justice System appeared to be increasing.  He also noted that recycling rates were falling and that the current target was only 3% above that set in 2009.

81.6         The Executive Director for Children’s Services stated that overall the number of first time entrants into the Youth Justice System was low and that changes had a disproportionate affect in percentage terms.  There were challenging targets and these needed to be reviewed along with the impact of changes to the legislative arrangements.

81.7         Councillor A. Norman shared the concerns over recycling rates and staff sickness.  She also questioned whether further work was required in relation to the School Pupil Premium as it appeared that whilst GCSE results were improving; those taking free school meals were lagging behind.

81.8         The Executive Director for Children’s Services stated that the Children & Young People Committee shared the concerns about the impact of Free Schools and the need to improve results for those children who were eligible for free school meals.  He noted that the last committee meeting had received a report on a proposed strategy to close the gap and to work with the secondary schools.

81.9         Councillor Peltzer Dunn suggested that it would be helpful to have a breakdown of the working days lost as a result if stress and the reasons for that stress in different service areas.

81.10    The Executive Director for Finance & Resources stated that the information was held and she would explore the best way of making it available to Members along with the outcome of the recent staff survey.

81.11    Councillor Hamilton expressed concern over the recycling rates and noted that changes to the refuse and recycling collections had been made recently but questioned the fact that there were some roads in his ward of south Portslade that were not accessible to the larger vehicles which had replaced the narrow ones, and therefore collections had fallen.  He suggested that consideration should be given to restoring the narrow vehicles and maintaining a regular collection service.

81.12    The Executive Director for Environment, Development & Housing stated that he would investigate the matter and take on board the points raised in regard to the levels of recycling and the overall targets.  The recent changes to collection rounds need to bed-in and with further changes starting from Monday 9^th December there was likely to be some impact.  However, he would bring a further report to the Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee on the matter of recycling.

81.13    The Chair noted the comments and put the recommendations to the vote.

81.14    RESOLVED:

(1)               That the areas of highlighted performance be noted; and

(2)               That the resources at the Committee’s disposal, including officers in the local authority and the city’s partnerships to maintain progress and tackle issues of concern highlighted in the report.