Agenda item

This year-end update report outlines South Kesteven District Councils performance against the Corporate Plan Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the year of 2022/2023. The end of year data represents information up to 31 March 2023.

The Head of Corporate Projects, Policy and Performance presented the report that built on previous reports in order to provide an update on performance to the end of the 2022/2023 financial year. It incorporated the changes recommended by the last KPI review to outline areas of the council’s performance which were successful and to advise where challenges may lay.

Appendix A within the report outline the overall performance against the original actions, as well as specific performance against the sub measures contained within those. Specific commentary was provided for each action, and summarised as follows:

·       2 of the actions are rated Green. These are actions which are on or above target as planned.

·       3 actions were rated as Amber, these are those off target by less than 10% or where milestone achievement is delayed but with resolution in place to be achieved within a reasonable timeframe.

·       There were no actions rated red.

It was noted that the take up of green bins had stabilised. It was queried as to whether any policies or suggestions had been discussed by Cabinet to try and increase the take-up of green waste collections.

The Deputy Leader of the Council confirmed that the number of garden waste bins was a possible indicator of residents being able to afford the £50 green bin, it suggested that residents could compost or dispose of in another way.

One Member expressed their disappointment that a Cabinet Member for Environment and Waste was not present at the meeting.

The Monitoring Officer clarified that the Committee could request attendance of a Cabinet Member in advance to the meeting in future.

The Assistant Director of Operations and Public Protection highlighted a section of the report that provided commentary around potential reasons for the performance of the use of green waste bins.

Clarification was sought around the ‘baseline for growth’ and what work was being done to maximise the commercial opportunities of the Council’s waste services.

It was confirmed that the ‘baseline for growth’ was an annual growth that focused on communications through the website and newsletter which was the main core of promotion the garden waste service in place.

The Deputy Leader highlighted that trade waste used to be collected within South Kesteven by commercial contractors and it was thought that collection costs were too high. Therefore, the Council had set up a trade waste scheme where no profit was gained, however this enabled cost recovery rather than high costs paid to commercial contractors.

The Chief Finance Officer clarified that legally, the Council could not make a profit outside of a trading entity. Under the Localism Act, Council’s were encouraged to set up companies if they wished to pursue commercial activities.

One Member requested an update on the progress of the insourced grounds maintenance service.

The integration of street scene with grounds maintenance had only taken place recently and the implementation was currently being monitored. It was requested that an update on the insourced grounds maintenance service be brought to the Committee in the future and to include any cost savings that had been identified.

The Deputy Leader of the Council noted there would be a cost to the Council on the closure of Environment SK Ltd. The closure process and the final position of Environment SK Ltd would be brought back to a future Committee meeting.  

It was queried as to whether the Council had plans to roll out any further electric changing points within the District.

The Head of Corporate Projects, Policy and Performance noted that there were currently no plans to increase the number of electric charging points at present, however, this topic of discussion could be added to the Work Programme for future meetings.

The action relating to the new depot was below target. The Committee were reminded of the Joint Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Finance and Economic Overview and Scrutiny Committee, where the new depot project would be discussed on the 25 July 2023.

AGREED:

1.    Review and scrutinise the performance against the Corporate Plan Key Performance Indicators in relation to the delivery of the Corporate Plan priorities and outcomes.

2.    Use this report to inform and support their ongoing Work Programme.