Agenda item

Report of the Director of Transformation and Partnerships – presented by the 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 Four, 2016/17 Performance Management Report (for copy see file of minutes).

The Performance and Improvement Team Leader reminded Members of the changes to services, and that work was ongoing in terms of the datasets for 2017/18.  Members were asked to note the “dashboard” summary page included within the report to help present the performance information in a more concise and user-friendly way.  It was added that a lot of information had already been covered within the CDEP and Business Durham items and would not be repeated.

Members noted that the majority of town centres had seen retail occupancy increase or stayed the same, with only one town centre showing a reduction.  The Performance and Improvement Team Leader noted that information as regards demographics, getting “behind the data”, would be available in the “State of the County” document as previously noted by the Principal Policy and Partnership Officer. 

It was noted that the number of apprenticeship starts through County Durham schemes was 216, ahead of the 150 target.  It was noted that the number of apprenticeship starts that had been sustained for 15 months or more (at December 2016) was 719, equating to 67.1% of those via the scheme.  It was added that the DurhamWorks team did look to identify why some apprenticeships did not sustain, with issues including: personal issues; health; returning to education; and the apprenticeship not meeting expectations.

The Committee learned that in terms of housing performance: 640 private sector properties had been improved through Council intervention, ahead of target and 136 empty properties had been brought back into use, ahead of target however below the 2015/16 figure.

In relation to Homelessness, the Performance and Improvement Team Leader explained that number of clients accessing the Housing Solutions Service had increased, though the number of homelessness preventions had decreased.  It was added that this could be seen as the numbers accessing the service had increased year-on-year and that the number of homelessness clients accepted had increased. 

Officers involved had explained that there had been a number of complex cases with a number of agencies involved and this meant there was a longer process to work through. 

The Performance and Improvement Team Leader noted that the Council’s properties, those outside of the Business Durham portfolio, had an occupancy of 74%, less than the target 80%, however in line with previous years.  She concluded by noting a correction to the appendix to the report, with page 32 a reference to NEETs (Not in Employment, Education or Training) stating “0.0” should have started “n/a” as the figures now reflected 16-17 year olds, with previous figures being for 16-18 year olds.

In relation to unemployment in the County, the Performance and Improvement Team Leader made reference to the recent meeting of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Management Board where a question had been raised by a member in relation to the age demographics of those unemployed, where the majority between 50-60 years and whether  the figure included disabled people.  The Committee was informed that the ‘State of the County’ report included this detail and that the link would be circulated to the appropriate Member.

The Chairman thanked the Performance and Improvement Team Leader and asked Members for any questions on the performance report.

Councillor J Atkinson noted the figures relating to those leaving apprenticeships and asked how hard the resolve of those people applying for apprenticeships was tested within the interview process to test their suitability.  The Performance and Improvement Team Leader noted she would speak to the team as regards the process undertaken and provide a response.  The Chairman noted that there would always be a number of people leave an apprenticeship for some of the reasons previously mentioned and therefore a breakdown of the numbers by reasons may be useful for Members.

Councillor C Martin noted the performance in relation to the town centre occupancy rates in Chester-le-Street and Stanley and asked whether additional help was allocated when occupancy rates had decreased.  The Performance and Improvement Team Leader commented that the Regeneration Framework was being refreshed and this would take such issues into account and would result in updated Masterplans for County Durham.  It was added that in some cases the reduced occupancy rates was the result of national retailers closing stores and this was outside of the control of the Local Authority.  Councillor C Martin asked whether the refresh of the Regeneration Framework was simply a process of strategy documents being revised or updated or whether there was funding attached.  The Performance and Improvement Team Leader noted that there was not funding directly attached, however, there would be a process to identify where funding could be accessed and drawn down.  The Chairman added that in terms of the areas mentioned, the local AAPs would be a good place to raise such issues in order to feed into the Masterplans.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.