Agenda item

The Committee considered a joint report of the Chief Executive and the Director of Environment and Transport which provided the latest performance update on the key performance indicators that the Council was responsible for delivering against the Council’s Strategic Plan (2022-26).  A copy of the report, marked ‘Agenda Item 9, is filed with these minutes.

Arising from discussion, the following points were raised:

      i.         The report was a snapshot of all performance indicators at this time although the Director’s reporting to the Committee focused on those indicators where larger changes in performance were evident. Some reporting frequencies were linked to how often the data was available to the council, for example quarterly or annually, so some indicators would not be updated in this report.

     ii.         In response to Members concerns about how indicators could be determined as locally generated or statutory in the report, they were informed that an asterix was used to identify those indicators that were statutory. Local indicators were classified as countywide or internal (local) and these were identified in the right-hand column of the data report. This also showed which data was coming from other partners, for example, government departments and the ‘period’ column showed when the latest data was available, and which was in arrears. Members were assured that the report presented included the latest data available to officers. At the end of the financial year, all data would be included in the annual report/Performance Compendium, so members could see the full performance for the department for the year.

    iii.         Indicators were reviewed cyclically, to determine whether they were still needed, or new ones needed adding. Performance was reported against the indicators and outcomes included in the Strategic Plan and were not specific to the wider portfolio of the Cabinet Lead Member, which was cross-cutting across all council departments.

   iv.         Members expressed concern about the nine performance indicators that were in the third and fourth quartile which showed that the Council performed below average and were informed that action was being taken to address those indicators, but that this often took time to show results in the performance report. For example, action taken to reduce waste going to landfill could take years to show results.  The Director explained that the banding of the quartile also affected where the Council’s performance was shown and added that action taken needed to be costed in view of the Council’s financial challenges. She assured members that action was being taken for those indicators where the Council was responsible for that activity to try to move the trajectory away from the fourth quartile but cautioned that this was not something that could be addressed quickly, or without cost. Officers agreed to provide details to members in writing on the action being taken to improve the performance of those indicators which were in the third and fourth quartile.

     v.         Regarding electric vehicle charging points per 100,000, the performance data came from the National Charge Point Registry and related to the publicly funded charging points. The data did not include domestic chargers.

   vi.         The collection of food waste would be included in the performance report under the indicator ‘% of household waste sent by local authorities across Leicestershire for reuse, recycling, composting etc’. Further detail on how this will be managed would be provided to the Committee at its meeting in June in a report on the Collection and Packaging Reforms.

  vii.         Regarding the locally determined indicator ‘Hectares of LCC land in better management for nature’ the Director explained that this had been introduced in advance of changes proposed related to nature, for example, the Biodiversity Duty and the Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Both of these could potentially include performance indicators that supersede the Council’s local indicator in the future. The Director agreed to provide a more detailed written explanation to Members on the current local indicator, how the land was managed, whether it was set aside, what was expected of the Council. A report would be presented to the Committee later in the year on the new Duties being introduced.

 viii.         Regarding the use of the new incinerator for the disposal of waste, the Director explained that once a contract was awarded not all waste would be moved there rather than be sent to landfill. A number of contractual options were available for the management of waste, but specific details could not be shared with the Committee as the contracts were commercially sensitive. Officers worked with the market to utilise the disposal facilities available, in conjunction with district councils, to determine how waste would be handled and directed to appropriate disposal. However, not all waste could be incinerated; an element of waste would still be sent to landfill.

The Cabinet Lead Member for the Environment and the Green Agenda recognised the importance of the role of the County Council in reviewing and reporting performance against this agenda.  He highlighted that for some indicators the Council had little influence over the performance achieved, for example, those indicators influenced by Local Planning Authorities or the Environment Agency, or those determined by ownership of electric vehicles.

Members agreed that a future report to the Committee on the Local Nature Recovery Strategy and Biodiversity Duty / Reporting with links to those indicators related to nature and the local environment would be beneficial.

RESOLVED:

That the update on performance to December 2023 be noted.