Issue - meetings

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive

The contents of the report are noted.

Councillor Mildren addressed Cabinet and was encouraged by only seeing six red indicators in the report.  He felt that the cash flow was acceptable considering the current financial situation.  He then congratulated officers whose areas remained within the green indicators.

Councillor Clarke addressed cabinet and commented on the recent stability in the Cabinet’s performance.  He commented that the Council was good at what it did well, although bad at recovering areas of poor performance. Although not enthusiastic about the way the report was written, he welcomed the positive message in spite of concerns about rent arrears and potential subsequent evictions.

As Portfolio Holder for Performance and Support, Councillor B Markham presented the report to Cabinet.  He welcomed the comments received and pointed out that even within the red indicators, improvements were being made month on month and year on year. In many cases, there were external circumstances affecting the figures; for example, there had been a 20% increase in the Revs and Bens case load and yet staff were still coping.

Cabinet was reminded that behind the statistics presented in the report were real people and improvements in performance would lead to real benefits in the quality of their lives.  This was particularly true in the area of public protection, where joint crime reduction initiatives in Lumbertubs, Lings and Thorplands were now being commenced in Spencer and Delapre and were showing pleasing results.  There was concern about the domestic violence figures and it was noted that this would be addressed in some part within the proposed new tenancy agreement. There was also preventative work going on to support people at risk of losing their homes.

The Leader expressed his confidence in the quality of the data and was happy with the level of accuracy they produced.  It was important to see the figures in context and bear in mind the effects of the recession. Officers were being firm but fair in dealing with rent arrears and evictions were almost 40% down on last year.  The team was congratulated for their work in achieving this.

RESOLVED

That the contents of the report be noted.