Agenda item

The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Executive which provided information on progress towards achieving the strategic ambitions and objectives set out in the 2023-2027 Council Plan, relating to activity and events taking place in the fourth quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year (January to March) (for copy of report, see file of minutes).

The Leader of the Council highlighted some of the key performance achievements within priority areas.  Employment had increased to the highest levels in twenty years, more people were achieving higher levels of education, and training and average wages had increased.  The number of inward investments in County Durham was significantly higher than the annual target and there had been increased attendance to cultural events.  Less household waste was being diverted to landfill and targeted education and enforcement had assisted in reducing levels of contaminated recycling.  Park and Ride use had increased, due to the cessation of free after 2pm off-street parking.

With regards to children’s social care, the demand for early help remained consistent, however improved practice had led to a consistently low re-referral rate.  School attendance had improved despite regional and national increases during the pandemic and the Council were working with partners to develop a Protocol to support school attendance. 

In adult social care, 69.5% of services users had received an annual review, the highest recorded performance in two years.

The net delivery of homes had exceeded target and 210 empty properties had been brought back into use.  There continued to be low levels of fly-tipping and as a result of the ground maintenance services, there was a high level of cleanliness across the county.

The Council were performing well against other north east Councils with highest collection rate for Council Tax and third highest collection rate for business rates.  The Council also had a higher than average spend on financial support schemes for vulnerable residents.  Durham was one of few local authorities to offer vulnerable residents financial support with the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, Discretionary Housing, Daily Living Expenses and settlement grants and the Household Support Fund which had also assisted with providing vouchers during school holidays, to families in receipt of free school meals.  The final cost of living payment had been received by the Government and the scheme had only been extended until September 2024, greater demand was expected for financial support schemes.  The Council had secured £1m from the UPSPF to reduce food poverty, provide advice and guidance and deliver activities with food.

The Leader referred to a number of areas which required attention.  With consistent statutory demand for children’s social care, there was a high number of children who received intensive support.  The service were reviewing trends to prepare for the national Care Review proposals.  Requests for EHCP increased between 2019 and 2022 and had been continuing at a high level in 2023, which was impacting on capacity and the service to achieve timely assessments.  A comprehensive Action Plan was in place to improve the EHCP assessment process and educational psychologist capacity which had begun to have an impact on the system.  The waiting times and waiting list for advice was expected to steadily reduce throughout 2024-25.

Councillor E Scott, Portfolio Holder for Economy and Partnerships referred to economic performance as evidence that the joint administration’s approach to economic growth was working and she thanked all teams across the Council who had been involved in the work.  The development and implementation of an Economic Strategy had been beneficial, as was the strong engagement with partners in education, the private sector and third sector.  The positive and forward-looking approach to the key sectors in the County had been present in the statistics.

Councillor S McDonnell, Portfolio Holder for Digital, Customer Services and Procurement confirmed that the Council Procurement Team and partner organisations had been recognised nationally and the County Durham Pound shortlisted in two categories at the National Procurement Go Awards.  They had received highly recommended recognition for social value award and winners of Best Collaborative Procurement Award. 

Councillor McDonnell also referred to the improvements in superfast broadband coverage, ultrafast, full fibre and gigabit technology, and a reduction in households with poorer broadband speeds. Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) had launched a voucher scheme that would provide 1470 properties with access to a full fibre broadband service.

Customer service had remained a key priority for the Council with one million contacts received from residents.  Half of these had been by telephone, which was the most used form of contact.  Almost 40% of contacts were digital demonstrating that more residents had chosen to access services online.  There had been ongoing digital service improvements including the introduction of webchat and chatbot. 

Customer satisfaction had remained high, corporate complaints reduced and feedback had been gathered from almost 33500 customers via a mobile phone survey.  Following a successful pilot to provide support for Members, 3950 requests had logged and monitored through the Members Portal and she thanked all teams involved in providing support to Members.

Councillor Shield, Portfolio Holder for Equality and Inclusion, confirmed that all targets for the Council Tax Reduction Scheme and Housing benefit had been met and significant improvements made compared to the same period during the previous year.  He appreciated residents were struggling, particularly with the cost of living Crisis and there was a revised target for recovering Council Tax and a high level of support continued to be offered through various financial support schemes for vulnerable residents experiencing difficulty paying.  The Council were awaiting the new Government to advise on proposed mechanisms following the end of the Household Support Fund in September.

Councillor M Wilkes, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Climate Change referred to the Councils continued record low fly tipping figures, in comparison to regional and national figures, which illustrated their proactive approach.  The previously offered discount for paying fines early had been scrapped and fines had been increased fines from £180 to potentially £1000.  Neighbourhood Wardens were ensuring a zero-tolerance approach and fines had been increased for repeat offenders.  The Council were continuing to clean up the county with the Yard Clearance Team having cleaned up thousands of yards and gardens within days of reporting.  He was delighted at the work being done and the Council would continue to find new ways to make improvements to benefit residents across the county.  He encouraged residents to report incidents so that County Durham could become the cleanest county in the country.

Councillor T Henderson, Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People’s Services confirmed that although there was a backlog of EHCP’s this was due to a national backlog of Educational Psychologists.

Resolved:

That the report be noted.