Agenda item

Speaking under Council Procedure Rule 20.1 Councillor Whitehead said that the number of empty properties brought back into use had decreased during the period under review.

Chris Blundell, Acting Deputy Chief Executive introduced the report and made the following comments:

·  There were 39 performance indicators that were used to monitor and provide an overview of performance as measured against the Council’s corporate priorities;

·  Bi-annual corporate performance reports would be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny panel;

·  Corporate performance live data was now online on the Council’s website and this could be accessed by both Members and the public at any time;

·  There was a provision in the 2023/24 Council budget for increased allocation for temporary accommodation.

Members asked questions and made comments as follows:

·  Why was there a drop in empty homes being brought back into use?

·  The number of complaints had increased from 45 to 113. What were these complaints about?

·  Could the Council consider bin collections for areas with elderly people who live in very narrow roads;

·  With regards to value for money perceptions, how did that compare with previous years or other councils;

·  When complaints come in, did officers speak to the waste collection teams?

·  One Member said that it was good to note that the recycle bins in the high streets were being used. Was there a percentage that the Council was aiming to achieve regarding recycling?

·  Another Member said that there was a lot of scope for the Council to improve on the recycling rate.

Chris Blundell and Councillor Bob Bayford responded to Member comments and questions as follows:

·  Regarding a drop in empty homes being brought back to use; a written response would be sent out to Members by officers after the Panel meeting;

·  Complaints covered a wide range of issues from missed bins to fly tipping;

·  The current complaints data was showing a lower number than that reflected in the period under review. This was because a lot of resources were put into addressing operational services issues;

·  Missed bins contributed to a large proportion of the complaints;

·  The number of missed bins at this point was 50% down from last year;

·  The Council was emptying 6 million containers every year, which was a huge figure;

·  It was also worth noting that there was a 99.7 success rate for bin collection;

·  The Council no longer used benchmarking but used trends to assess performance;

·  Value for money was very difficult to assess and there was no benchmarking data to compare with other councils. That comparison could n=only be done after getting such data from other councils;

·  Any feedback from residents would be used to improve service delivery;

·  There cameras now on the bin collection vehicles so the officers could review camera footages to see where the missed bin incidents would have taken place;

·  Supervisors were now speaking with residents to address the issue of missed bins and they were now assisting to deal with missed bins complaints;

·  The Council was also trying to address the issue of tricky areas/streets;

·  Bartech were hosting a conference and had invited TDC to this event to use the Council as an example of best practice;

·  There complaints received for missed recycle bins from communal areas... However these bins would have been contaminated. Collection of such bins would create a cost on the owners of the building;

·  The Environmental Act was likely to set a higher recycle rate of 65% by 2035 and this would require a service reconfiguration.

Members noted the report.