Agenda item

Report of the Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development

The Head of Human Resources and Organisation Development presented the report to Members.

As the report covered two performance quarters, Members agreed to group the discussion into the following areas:

Economic Regeneration: -

A Member queried the statement that footfall had increased in Coalville Town Centre as he felt that was not the opinion of local businesses.  It was felt that a more accurate picture could be drawn if local businesses were consulted. The Head of Economic Regeneration explained the process of collecting footfall data and confirmed that conversations were had with retailers but the information that could be gained was limited.  Members requested that a small survey be undertaken on all businesses to ascertain whether spending had increased or decreased in the last two quarters, officers agreed.

A Member questioned the performance rating in relation to the occupancy rates in Coalville’s Newmarket as the target had not been met but the rating was green.  Members were informed that officers were expecting to miss this target as it was set with the outdoor market in mind and the delay in this part of the project had affected the targets.  In relation to the rating in the report, the error was noted, which would be updated prior to consideration by Cabinet.

During a discussion on the withdrawal of the Hex loyalty card in Ashby, a Member asked how the Council planned to support business in the area going forward.  The Head of Regeneration explained that the Ashby BID team were taking the lead with the regeneration in Ashby and officers were supporting wherever possible.  Members were reminded that funding for regeneration came from national government schemes when available and was channelled by the Council, there was not a local funding scheme directly from the Council.

In relation to the creation of local jobs at the Jaguar Land Rover operations at Mercia Park, a Member questioned how many of the jobs were actually filled with local people rather than people outside of the District.  The Head of Economic Regeneration explained that information from businesses was limited and although officers had requested this from Unipart, the information within the report was all that had been received.

In relation to the East Midlands Dev Co and Freeport, a Member asked if the Council’s representatives that attended the Board Meetings had formally objected to the use of the site south of Diseworth.  The Head of Planning and Regeneration explained that the agreed approach was to stay neutral on the subject as to not jeopardise the planning process for the site.

Customer Satisfaction: -

In response to concerns from a Member on the lengthy waiting times for the housing side of customer services, the Strategic Director noted the concerns and agreed to incorporate this into the future housing report requested earlier in the meeting.

In response to a comment from a Member, the Strategic Director explained that not all calls were recorded for training purposes but as the ability to do so was part of the system, customers making contact by telephone had to be informed that the calls ‘may’ be recorded to comply with GDPR rules.

Housing: -

The Interim Head of Finance gave an explanation on accounting practices in relation to the reduction of capital spends to reduce the spend of reserves.  The Strategic Director reassured Members that did not mean the Council were consciously delaying schemes and would not impact the service provided to tenants.

During discussions on the HIP Programme, the delay in achieving targets was raised.  The Strategic Director acknowledged the significant slippage for this target and explained he was undertaking an internal process to ascertain the reasons for this. 

A Member queried the high performance of housing repairs completed within target as feedback from tenants indicated that it was not the case.  Concerns were raised that there could be an issue with how jobs were reported.  The Strategic Director clarified that the target was for jobs completed on time not the number of repairs completed. 

Concerns were raised that housing repairs were not being completed correctly the first time and therefore meant that numerous repeat visits were necessary.  A Member felt that this was due to inadequate inspections, and this was something in need of review.

The Strategic Director noted all comments made in relation to housing repairs and agreed to address them with the Head of Housing.

Health and Leisure: -

At the request of a Member, the Strategic Director agreed to provide the NWL Health and Wellbeing Strategy as referred to in the Support Safer Communities performance outside of the meeting.

Financial Forecast: -

A discussion was had on the forecasted overspend and the impact it would have on the Council if spending continued in that way.  The Interim Head of Finance explained that the staff pay award was significantly more than what was planned and that there were a number of pressures on non-staffing budgets which were set out in the report.  It was noted that cost pressures were expected into next year’s budget and unless some in-year savings were found then it would be necessary to draw down on reserves more than planned.  Members were reminded of the Member briefing scheduled to provide more information on proposed budgets and were encouraged to attend.

The revenue from green bin charges being less than expected was acknowledged and the Head of Community Services confirmed that although uptake had been below target, he was confident it would improve in the spring. 

It was moved by Councillor A Bridgen, seconded by Councillor G Hoult and

RESOLVED THAT:

The report be noted and comments made by the Committee be presented to Cabinet when it considers the report at its meeting on 10 January 2023.