Agenda item

Report of the Leader of the Council

The Board considered the report of the Leader of the Council updating on performance against Council Plan priorities up to quarter 2 of year 4. The current plan finishes at the end of March 2019 and a further, final report on performance will be produced. Of 202 commitments made 178 are considered “green” or achieved.

The report details progress on the top 5 priorities, 3 of which are rated as green, 1 as amber and 1 as red.

During discussion Portfolio Holders highlighted progress on the following priorities:

(a)  Of the top 5 priorities 3 are rated as green, 1 as amber and 1as red.

·  Ensure every child in Nottingham is taught in a school judged good or outstanding by OFSTED – This is currently rated amber, it peaked at 87% and is a significant increase from the 66% at the start of the Council Plan.

·  Cut the number of victims of crimes by a fifth – this is rated as red. Nottingham City Council has achieved the target reduction of perceived antisocial behaviour. Crime levels have seen an  increase since the start of the plan which has been compounded by the removal of the City division of Nottinghamshire Police, reduction of funding to the Police force resulting in a reduction of officers, and a national change in crime recording;

(b)  Increase the number of Nottingham City foster carers by 20% - this target has been achieved and exceeded. The number of foster carers has increased by 30% in the period the Council plan has been in place;

(c)   Promote the “Dolly Parton Imagination Library” scheme so that every child under 5 in Nottingham receives a monthly free book – this target is rated red, however 4663 children in Nottingham receive a free monthly book thanks largely to donations and Nottingham City has achieved the third largest scheme of its kind in the country;

(d)  Rejuvenate Nottingham Castle and develop the Castle Quarter as a major national heritage attraction – work is underway at the Castle and redevelopment of the Castle Quarter is progressing too;

(e)  Start the development of a new Central Library for the city – plans are in place and work is starting on the new central library as part of the Broadmarsh programme;

(f)  Extend the telecare and telehealth services so 6,000 more people can be supported to live independently – 11,000 citizens are now supported to live independently;

(g)  Reduce teenage pregnancy by a third – this has not yet been achieved and is currently rated as amber. However this was a very ambitious target and much hard work has gone into progressing this programme. Since 1998 the teenage pregnancy rate has reduced by 66.1%;

(h)  Reduce smoking during pregnancy by a third – this target is rated red, however there has been a reduction of 16.8% and a renewed marketing campaign has just been released to push the health messages around this target;

(i)  Protect from cuts Environmental Health Officers to assure continued regulation of restaurants and of trading standards – both of these are rated green, environmental health officers continue to ensure the safety of restaurants and trading standards and have been involved in a number of high profile prosecutions recently;

(j)  Protect from cuts 100 Community Protection Officers working across the city – CPO’s continue to provide a visible and valuable service to the community. Recruitment to keep numbers at this level is undertaken when necessary;

(k)  Ensure the city continues to be services by a single police division and a comprehensive network of neighbourhood policing services – following restructuring within Nottinghamshire Police the focus moved towards more thematic policing, however there has been a more recent shift back towards area based policing and although the City division has not been reinstated it is a significant step forward;

(l)  Reduce absence from school by a quarter – this is currently rated as Amber however significant improvements have been made in Nottingham and the secondary absence rate is now below the national average;

(m)  Create a comprehensive city wide licensing scheme for all private rented accommodation to drive up standard and protect tenants across the city – on 1August 2018 the selective licensing scheme was introduces and has so far received up to 15,000 licence applications. Work is progressing to identify landlords who have not yet applied for licences.

(n)   Answer 95% of telephone calls to the Council in person – this is currently rated as red however this was a very aspirational target. The new customer hub set up as a first point of access for customers is currently achieving this target, and more customers are choosing to interact with the council in other ways, including emails, apps and online.

(o)  Implement 20mph limits in residential areas where residents want them – following a city wide consultation the speed limits have been brought into effect where residents supported them.72% of roads within the city boundary now has a 20mph speed limit;

(p)  Protect from cuts free bulky waste collections to combat fly tipping – the free bulky waste collection service is still more popular than ever and Nottingham is one of only 15 authorities that still offer this service for free;

(q)  Double the number of homes with solar panels installed from 3,000 to 6,000 – this is currently rated as Amber, current installations sit at 4366 council homes with solar panels. Reduction in national funding has led Nottingham City Council to install solar panels only on new build homes;

The Board offered thanks to officers and colleagues for the hard work and dedication it has taken to achieve the results feedback in this report.

RESOLVED to

(1)  note the progress made against the key priorities and commitments in the current Council Plan, as at Quarter 2 of Year 4; and

(2)  note that a final report on overall performance against commitments will be produced in the summer of 2019 following the end of the current Plan on 31^st March 2019

Reasons for Recommendations

  To ensure Executive Board are aware of progress to date in delivering the key priorities as we reach the end of the current Plan.

  The current Council Plan has steered the Council’s services and approach to support delivery of the key priorities for the City over the four years to March 2019.

Other Options considered

No other options were considered as this report is for information to update the Executive on the progress made on priorities up to Quarter 2 of Year 4.