Agenda and minutes

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

There were no declarations of interests.

Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 31 July 2024 attached for approval as a correct record.

The draft minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on Thursday, 31 July 2024 were presented for approval, together with additional information requested at that meeting in relation to the Residents’ Survey.

Members welcomed the additional information. It was proposed that the survey results for “don’t know” and “no opinion” should not be included in the figures for further data analysis in future reports.    

Resolved:

1. That minutes of the last meeting held on Thursday, 31 July 2024 be approved as a correct record;

2. That the additional information be noted; and

3. That the survey results for “don’t know” and “no opinion” should not be included in the figures for further data analysis for future reports.    

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Change and Delivery.

The Executive Member for Resources, Councillor Peter Wilson, presented a          report setting out the performance against the delivery of the Corporate Strategy during the first quarter of 2024/25, covering 1 April 2024 to 30 June 2024. The Executive Member for Planning and Development and the Executive Member or Homes and Housing were also in attendance. 

The following areas were highlighted in the Panel’s discussions:

Household Waste Recycling rates – figures were down compared to last year, placing the indicator below target.  There is no clear reason for this however – e.g. it could be that during the COVID pandemic more people were recycling from home and now they are going to recycling centres instead. The Council is working with partners such as Lancashire County Council to establish any wider reasons for this trend.

Councillor Wilson clarified that the figures reflect the actual waste processed. It was also noted that if household waste recycling is taken to a supermarket it will be classed as “trade waste” rather than domestic so potentially this could also be reason for lower figures. The Panel suggested that there may be a link to other factors / trends such as not utilising the garden waste scheme – are households simply putting all waste in non-recyclable waste bins.   

% customers dissatisfied with the service they received from the Council - It was suggested that in relation to the survey results, the change in method from email to telephone may result in tapping into a different group of respondents; the comparative results for next year may provide a clearer picture.

Members discussed data presented in reports more generally. It was requested that future reports include comparative figures for the previous 5 years which may reveal an overall trend.

Members discussed the inclusion of metrics / standard of measurement within the report to provide wider context. For example, in the case of NEETs, which is a national indicator, a very small number of individuals can significantly affect performance targets, and there are other factors to consider such as the involvement of external partners. The Panel stressed it was also important to keep the report accessible. It may be possible to include such additional information in the appendix e.g. for amber / red performance indicators.

The Deputy Chief Executive also informed the Panel that some performance indicators were local to Chorley, and some were national. Members could view national indicators and compare with other local authorities via the Local Authority Data Explorer website and local area benchmarking via the LG Inform website.

Improve housing standards across the borough – The Executive Member for Homes and Housing, Councillor Terry Howarth, informed the Panel that funding had been provided to create a database of all registered private landlords to facilitate this project.

% 16-17 year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs) –

The Panel noted that there would some areas with a higher number of individuals. Members requested that a “mapping exercise” be carried out to identify “hotspots”  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Change and Delivery.

The Deputy Chief Executive presented a report providing an update on the delivery of service level projects outlined in the Business Plans.

The report indicated that a review of 18 service business plans produced last   year had been completed based on the information provided. The plans contain a total of 82 projects and of those:

·         61 are rated as Green (74.4%)

·         5 are considered Completed (6.1%)

·         9 are rated as Amber(11%)

·         1 is rated as Red (1.2%)

·         2 are On Hold (2.4%)

·         4 have Not Started (4.9%)

There was one project rated as red (off target), the Automated Bookings System for Operational Assets. This project had been rated red due to time delays. It was part of a larger piece of work not limited to those sites considered to be an “operational asset” (e.g. Strawberry Fields and Community Centres) and included Civic buildings and Leisure sites. The report explained that expansion of this project, to include multiple sites, will provide economies of scale but this approach will require further decisions to be made. Once a decision has been agreed as to which solution to move forward with, the project will be back on delivery.

Resolved: That the report be noted.