Agenda item

Councillor Andy Hull, Executive Member Finance, Performance and Community Safety was present and was accompanied by Roger Dunlop, Director of Strategy and Change, and Annette Hobart, Strategy and Change

During consideration of the report the following main points were made –

·         The targets for corporate performance indicators for 2019/20 have been agreed

·         In 2018/19 96.6% of Business Rates were collected, and in quarter 1 of 2019/20 25.3% of Council Tax was collected, which is as expected, and is on target for year end

·         Noted that the number of visits to the Customer Care Centre, and the number of phone calls through Contact Islington has continued to reduce. The number of online transactions in Quarter 1 was below target, however, overall the longer term trends show a reduction in both calls and visits, and a move to more online transactions

·         The Council is now looking to develop Contact Islington into a customer transaction centre, which handles all routine calls, and basic transactions, on behalf of Council services

·         Sickness amongst Council staff has decreased in the past 12 months, and the trend is expected to continue, following measures that have been put in place

·         Reducing agency staff –agency staff currently account for 12.8% of the workforce, and this has increased from the same period last year

·         In relation to ensuring fair progression for BME and disabled staff, data for the end of Quarter 1 indicated that BME staff accounted for 20.2% of the top 5% of earners across the Council, a slight improvement on last year. The proportion of Disabled staff in the top 5% of earners remains similar to last year at 5.8%

·         Councillor Hull informed the Committee that two additional indicators in relation to carbon emissions will be included in the Quarter 2 figures

·         Members noted that Scrutiny Committees would be consulted on determining PI’s at an early stage for the next municipal year

·         A Member referred to the fact that affordable home is not a true PI and that this should be amended to social housing for rent. Councillor Hull stated that he would investigate this

·         A Member expressed the view that the information on agency staff was different in two of the reports that evening and information presented should be presented consistently

·         A Member also referred to the fact that the number of people killed/seriously injured on streets should be included in future reports

·         Reference was also made to the fact that there should be a PI that measures how responsive the Council is to the public

·         Discussion took place as to the removal of the major works PI in relation to Partners and that there is a need, given the level of complaints from residents about Partners, and that there needed to be some measure put in place to hold Partners to account. It was stated that if the Housing Scrutiny Committee wished to propose an appropriate PI in this regard this could be considered

·         Reference was made to the high levels of stress prevalent in E&R and the reasons for this, and that this would be reported on in more detail in the sickness report presented in January

·         A Member expressed concern that the number of transgender hate crime figures were omitted from the crime PI’s and it was stated that these should be included in future reports

·         Discussion took place as to the alcohol and drug abuse targets and that these did not seem likely to be met

RESOLVED:

(a)  That the report be noted

(b)  That the Director of Public Health be requested to provide more information to Members on the rationale of the targets for alcohol and drug abuse and whether these were realistic, and reasons as to why they are not being met

(c)   That Councillor Hull be requested to look at a new definition for the PI on affordable homes, as referred to above, and an additional PI on responsiveness of the Council to the public

(d)  That future reports include transgender hate crime details

(e)  That consideration be given to the inclusion of a PI on keeping streets safe, detailing the numbers of people seriously injured/killed on Islington streets

(f)    That the Housing Scrutiny Committee consider the provision of a new definition of a suitable PI for Partners, and inform Councillor Hull of any suggestions

The Chair thanked Councillor Hull, Roger Dunlop and Annette Hobart for attending