Agenda item

Report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships – Performance and Improvement Team Leader, Regeneration and Economic Development.

The Chairman thanked the Performance and Improvement Team Leader, G Wilkinson who was in attendance to speak to Members in relation to the Quarter 1, 2016/17 Performance Management Report (for copy see file of minutes).

The Performance and Improvement Team Leader reminded Members of the different types of indicators reported, Tracker indicators and Target indicators.

Councillors noted that some of the key achievements in Quarter 1, representing April to June 2016, included improvement in planning applications determined within deadline; the number of affordable homes being delivered had exceeded target, albeit less than in Quarter 1 2015/16, this being due to legislation changes reducing grant levels; and Business Durham activities had created or safeguarded 1,387 potential jobs achieving the annual target within Quarter 1.

Members noted information relating to Tracker Indicators including: the number of net homes completed, 336 in comparison to 246 in Quarter 4 2015/16; the number of homelessness preventions, 363 being in line with the previous quarter, however significantly higher than Quarter 1 2015/16, 276; and the number of acceptances of statutory homelessness duty had increased from 36 in Quarter 1 2015/16 and 28 last quarter to 48 this quarter.

Members noted progress with Council Plan actions, such as the continuing work in terms of the delivery of Auckland Castle Trust’s projects and the delivery of the Chapter Homes Business Plan 2015-2019.

It was added that the key performance issues for the theme included the number of apprenticeship starts through DCC schemes having fallen significantly, though it was noted that it was expected that the number of starts would increase once funding was in place.

Members noted the Tracker Indicators set out within the report including: a slight increase in the employment rate, with the number of Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants aged 18-24 remaining steady; and a substantial decrease in those accessing JSA for one year or more.  Councillors noted that the gross disposable income per income head had increased, however was below the North East level and still significantly less than the national figure. 

Councillors noted several key Council Plan actions that had not achieved target included: defining and agreeing a proposal for North Road in Durham delayed from March 2017 to June 2017 due to extended negotiations; delivery of the traffic flow improvements in Durham City being delayed from September 2017, with no target date set as yet; delivery of access improvements to Durham Rail Station being delayed from October 2016 to March 2017, due to the interruptions in the groundworks; and securing a developer for the North East Industrial Park at Peterlee had been delayed from October 2016 to July 2017 as further work was undertaken in ground investigations and development strategy.

The Chairman thanked the Performance and Improvement Team Leader and noted that the employment rate had gone up in terms of the tracker indicator referred to at Paragraph 7c(i) of the report, however the number of people had decreased.  The Performance and Improvement Team Leader noted she would look at this.

Councillor M Davinson asked as regards the occupancy of Business Durham properties, whether the target would change for next year following the sale of Millennium Place and Bracken Hill.  The Performance and Improvement Team Leader noted that this would be an issue to be looked at in discussions with by Business Durham and would be addressed accordingly.  Councillor M Davinson added that in respect of the landlord accreditation scheme referred to in paragraph 7b, and the requirement for landlords being a member of the scheme prior to accessing support via the Financial Assistance Policy, this had the potential to deter landlords from joining the scheme.  There is a need for DCC to look at how it markets the scheme, highlighting the benefits of the scheme to private landlords and the support provided by DCC to those landlords that join the scheme.  Councillor J Armstrong noted that this may be an issue for the Portfolio Holder to give a view on, and the Chairman commented that the issue would be raised with the Cabinet Portfolio Holder asking for a response to be provided to Members of the Committee.  The Performance and Improvement Team Leader explained that there had been recent presentations on the scheme, with Councillor J Clare adding that “good” landlords that would sign up to such schemes were not the main issue and therefore care must be taken to ensure that the requirements of the scheme are not acting as a deterrent.

Councillor J Clare noted there appeared to be a mismatch between the Business Durham occupancy performance and the information received in the budget report showing an under achievement in income in relation to asset management, was there an issue in terms of targets needing to be aligned.  The Performance and Improvement Team Leader noted she would speak to Business Durham in this respect.

Councillor A Patterson noted the number of apprenticeship starts and asked if there was an element of double counting in terms of those via DurhamWorks and the County Dirham Apprenticeship Programme.  The Performance and Improvement Team Leader noted she would need to check, however, noted the figures in the performance report referred to those via Regeneration and Economic Development however there could be some overlap between the two programmes.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.