Agenda item

N Howcutt introduced the report and explained the quarterly performance falls into two sections; the performance report and the operational risk register. He advised we have 6 red rated KPI’s that were shown at paragraph 6 of the report and highlighted in the attached appendix. Quarter on quarter that is an increase of 1 red KPI which is linked to the performance of Council tax and customer contact response within 14 days. He said this had always been a stretched target but we choose to set it despite other authorities choosing not to because we try to achieve a really high standard. Also the amount of additional work the revenues and benefits team has had this past year has been phenomenal. He explained that the other red areas were linked to commercial property rent and the general fund position, which had been discussed under the budget monitoring item.

In terms of the operational risk register, he explained we had seen a reasonable amount of change in the first two quarters but no change in quarter 3. He felt this was because they knew what the risks were and what we’re mitigating for.

The Chairman referred to page 27 and asked for an explanation on the investment income streams.

N Howcutt explained that investment income is where we invest the cash that we hold on a daily or annual basis. He said interest rates on almost everything at the moment is zero, so we’re getting very little returns on our investments; last year we were averaging 0.8% and this year we have 0.2%. Equally, in terms of how much cash we had to invest earlier in the year, we weren’t receiving as much council tax or business rates as we normally would and so our cash balances (the amount we had to invest) were lower. He finalised by saying that those two direct impacts of Covid meant that the return on our investment income got hit significantly and it hits the general fund and the housing revenue account.

Councillor Tindall noted the wording market leading level on page 28 and asked if that was a positive or negative thing.

N Howcutt advised it was positive because it means our debt and vacancies were so low.

Councillor Adeleke referred to the performance for council tax queries. He asked if the queries were increasing in number or nature, and if it was a temporary Covid related issue or if they were considering changing working practices moving forward to cope with the increase.

N Howcutt advised that in terms of the council tax team this was both an increase in the volume and complexity of the queries they’re receiving. He said there was more residents earning less money and asking more questions around council tax support and the ability to claim for those. There was also residents asking to delay their council tax payments, so instead of paying for the first ten months of the year they pay the last ten months. On top of that there has been a large number of homelessness and people in temporary accommodation which means the nature of their vulnerability and their needs is complex and therefore harder for the team to deal with. He added that the team require certain documents to validate claims and due to Covid and the building being closed it is more difficult to get that information but they had managed to find ways to improve the process so there are some positives.

Councillor Adeleke asked how the staff were coping during these difficult times and if they had increased staff numbers to manage the workload.

N Howcutt suggested there was a multitude of answers to that question. He felt as a council we had reacted very well from a workforce perspective, in terms of our flexible nature with staff being able to work hours around other commitments. We’ve done well with ICT and making things accessible to staff. He advised he hadn’t seen a huge amount of sickness in his area or people leaving which would be a key indicator that staff were feeling pressurised or stressed. He explained there were far more team meetings, communications and informal conversations which supports evidence that the staff are happy. He finalised that staff had achieved everything we had asked them to achieve and despite the pressures the feedback was positive.

Outcome: