Agenda item

Report of the Chief Executive to follow.

The Chair welcomed the Leader of the Council, supported by the Chief Executive, to the meeting to present the most recent quarterly performance monitoring report.

The Committee heard that overall performance had been pleasing with the majority of projects and targets discussed within the report on or above target. Three key areas were highlighted, firstly the performance of Gateway had improved in the last quarter. Secondly, whilst the Leyland Town Deal project was rated as amber, a full update report, including decisions around procurements and land acquisitions was expected at Council in January. Confidence was expressed that the project would be delivered within current deadlines with the Council in a more favourable position than many other local authorities developing a Town Deal scheme. Finally, the Committee’s attention was drawn to the demands around homelessness due to a number of factors including shortages of suitable accommodation. There had been a significant overspend in this area with options being explored on how to address the issue given limitations around resources.

The new social prescribing service was highlighted by the Committee, with questions asked about uptake and feedback since the team was established earlier in the year. Members heard that despite only being in place for a few months the social prescribers had had a positive impact in complementing the work of other teams, notably demonstrated in supporting those either presenting as homeless or threatened by homelessness around wider issues such as support with finances, employment or mental health. Referrals to the social prescribing team were received via the council’s customer services team or through partner organisations such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau as well the through the Chorley and South Ribble Partnership. The Committee noted that discussions where ongoing with the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and the Credit Union to increase availability of their services as demand rose. On a separate point, it was confirmed that the Household Support Fund was ready to be distributed as and where required.

Queries were raised whether there was funding available to deliver the Holiday and Food (HAF) programme in future years. It was acknowledged that there was uncertainty over central government funding for this scheme but if it were required then the Council would look to utilise its sports development and other teams to deliver its on Holiday Hunger scheme.

Following a question as to the current situation with the Family Wellbeing Centre, it was confirmed that despite the need for some additional refurbishment work, the centre was on track to open in January 2024.

In response to a query on what the Property and Asset Development Plan was, Members were informed that a plan was put in place for each service that became shared and covered areas such as aligning systems and procedures and integrating new teams.

Following a comment regarding the accommodation working group, the Committee heard that discussions were ongoing to look at how best to use the space in the Civic Centre, whether a reconfiguration could provide greater opportunities both in a commercial sense and in cost savings through more efficient use of the building.

The rationale behind the shared data and intelligence dashboard was to collate information gathered by the various partner organisations of the Chorley and South Ribble Partnership to better inform a strategic approach to targeting areas where a need was identified. The data include a wealth of information on a ward by ward basis covering areas like inequalities, health provisions and numbers of children in receipt of free school meals. The Committee were grateful for the offer of a demonstration of the data and intelligence dashboard.

The Committee welcomed improvements in performance around calls answered within 90 seconds and sought reassurance that this could be maintained during busier periods. Performance of Customer Services was being closely monitored with improvements linked to the team now being fully staffed. There would be challenges with increasing demand for council services but improvements had been made in how residents can access services online through self-service channels which would provide an efficient alternative to, and alleviate pressures of calls coming through the customer services. The Committee were thankful for the offer to include detailed customer service performance information with every other quarterly performance report.

On plans to expand the South Ribble Skills Factory, work was currently focused on building a wider network with businesses and other learning providers with the Council aiming to fill any gaps that may be identified. Specific mention was made to the number of ‘green jobs’ in the borough and how the Council could support opportunities in this area.

A number of questions were asked about measures in place to mitigate issues affecting neighbours in the vicinity of work being undertaken as part of the Leyland Town Deal project. A lot of engagement work had taken place throughout each stage of the work with officers taking a flexible approach in accommodating tenants and seeking to minimise disruption as much as possible. There had been changes to the proposed work that helped in this regard, was more cost effective and allowed tenants to operate as work progressed.

Despite the challenges presented by recent poor weather conditions, there had not been an impact on work progressing on the Jubilee Gardens development.

Falling numbers of health check screenings was highlighted by the Committee. It was reported that the Council had delivered what Active Lancashire had expected but as the funding available for the health screening scheme was being withdrawn it was unlikely this performance indicator would improve in future quarterly reports. Following further discussion, it was agreed that potential funding sources to extend the health check screening programme be investigated and provided to the Committee.

Meeting the challenges of homelessness, increases in the number of people currently in temporary accommodation was highlighted. The Committee heard there was an increasing demand on the Council in this area and presented a significant challenge in how to tackle it. In addition, further demand was anticipated upon the imminent closure of hotels accommodating asylum seekers, with one such hotel in the borough. Members were grateful for the offer of including the numbers of people presenting as homeless within future performance reports. The Committee were keen to focus on addressing issues of homelessness and recommended the establishment of a scrutiny task group to explore the challenges of homelessness and temporary accommodation in the borough.

The Committee sought reassurance that given the collection rates for both council tax and business rates were off target, there would not be an impact on the Council’s budget plans. The Council endeavoured to collect as much council tax and business rates as possible through the Fair Collection Charter policy but acknowledged that with issues such as higher utility costs and increased inflation this had had an impact on finances for residents and businesses.

It was subsequently;

Resolved: (Unanimously)

That the Corporate, Performance and Budget Scrutiny Committee;

1.    thanks the Leader and Chief Executive for their report including the additional customer service performance information and answering its questions;

2.    welcomes the initial feedback on the new social prescribing service;

3.    is grateful for the offer of a demonstration of the partnership’s data and intelligence dashboard;

4.    requests that the detailed customer service performance information be provided to the Committee every six months;

5.    asks that information be provided on any potential funding sources that could be used to continue the health check screening programme;

6.    creates a task group to explore the challenges of homelessness and temporary accommodation in the Borough;

7.    suggests that the Community and External Scrutiny Committee look at how our housing partners and others are working together to reduce housing waiting lists in South Ribble; and

8.    asks that the council tax and business rate collection rate performance is reviewed and include trend information and comparisons with others.