Issue - meetings

To consider the Chief Executive’s Corporate Performance Overview Report for the final quarter of 2014/15 (January to March 2015).

The Chairman has asked that any detailed questions arising from the report should be referred to the Assistant Chief Executive or the relevant departmental officers in advance and only raised in the meeting if you consider the issue requires wider discussion, or is of strategic importance.

The Commission considered the Chief Executive’s Corporate Performance Overview Report for the fourth quarter of 2014/15 (January to March).

There was good performance across the board and work had begun on the northern retail quarter of the town centre as part of the town centre regeneration. Many parents were getting one of their three preferences for school places, and the Council was good at tax recovery. There were a small number of areas where performance did not match plans. The number of affordable homes delivered fell below target and there was an increasing number of homeless people, which had an impact on homelessness figures.

In response to Members’ questions, the following points were made:

• There was a national focus on volunteering as the shortage of volunteers was a national issue. A Council survey had been stratified and focused on the right numbers of people in different age groups, whereas previous surveys had been completed by a dominance of older people in the population. There had been changes in the voluntary sector, such as Involve, and local factors could have affected the result.
• Further information could be sought on whether services were any closer to meeting the 26 week time frame for Special Educational Needs (SEN) Assessments.
• Bracknell Forest was a small authority and small numbers made a big difference in terms of percentages in relation to performance indicator figures.
• The Housing Department in the Council was thought to be very proactive in helping people into the private rented sector and worked closely with people to help them from temporary to permanent accommodation. Further information could be requested from the Chief Officer: Housing, Simon Hendy.
• Staff sickness in the Chief Executive’s Office at 22.22% related to possibly 2 positions including one staff member on long term sick.