Agenda item

To present the report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation.

The report of the Head of Profession (HR) and Transformation incorporating the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 3 of the 2021/22 financial year was presented for the Committee’s consideration and comment.

Councillor Dafydd Rhys Thomas, Portfolio Member for Corporate Business presented the Corporate Scorecard for Quarter 3 which would be the last of the current Administration. The Portfolio Member reported that it was gratifying to be able to report of positive performance for this the final scorecard with 85% of Corporate Health Performance Indicators (PIs) performing well against targets (Green or Yellow RAG) and 82% of the Performance Management PIs performing above target or within 5% tolerance of their targets. Some of the performance highlights include the following –

·                  Indicator 10 – Percentage of NERS clients whose health has improved on completion of the exercise programme which has a performance of 92% against a target of 80%.The scheme was suspended last year because of the pandemic with this being the first time clients have completed the programme since the restart.

·                  Indicator 11 – The number of empty properties brought back into use which now stands at 73 properties against an annual target of 50.

·                  The Adults’ Services indicators 16 to 19 are all Green against target and have all improved during the quarter.

·                  The Homelessness indicators 26 and 27 for the Housing Service have also performed well with both Green against target and improving during the quarter.

·                  Two waste management indicators – 31 and 33 have also performed well with 96% of streets surveyed in the quarter clean of waste and fly tipping incidents cleared within 0.3 days.

Where pockets of below target performance have been identified in Children’s and Planning Services, mitigating circumstances apply and remedial actions are being taken. While the performance for Indicator 32 – the percentage of waste reused, recycled or composted has improved on the 60.8% reported at the end of Quarter 2, at 61.2% against a target of 70% it remains Red and is disappointing given the Authority’s previous positive performance in this area.

The Programme, Business Planning and Performance Manager said that prior to the pandemic, the Isle of Anglesey County Council was recognised as one of the best performing local authorities in Wales; to be in a position to report that over 80% of the targets set have been met in what has been a challenging period is extremely positive.

The Committee welcomed the report as reflecting well on performance overall but challenged the following areas –

·                  The decline in performance with regard to the percentage of waste, reused, recycled or composted; although the Committee accepted there were valid reasons for the underperformance, it wanted to know whether there was evidence to link an increase in black bin household waste to an increase in the number of visitors to the Island and similarly whether there was evidence of people disposing of green waste in black bins.

Councillor Bob Parry, OBE, FRAgS, Portfolio Member for Highways, Waste and Property said that the fall in performance could be due to a number of reasons including the increase in homeworking generating extra household waste and the paper/ cardboard recycling box being too small to cope with the waste with the result that any overfill finds its way into the black bin. These are issues that are being examined by the steering group which was established during Quarter 1 which includes representatives from WRAP Cymru, the WLGA and an elected member from the Corporate Scrutiny Committee.

The Chief Waste Management Officer advised that a high percentage of the visitors to the Island are from England, and many of these visitors come from areas where the recycling rates are lower and consequently the practice of recycling may not be so ingrained. Being on holiday may also lead to different behaviours with visitors taking a more relaxed attitude to recycling/waste disposal. The upshot is that black bin waste tonnage has increased significantly despite the fact that household recycling rates on the Island have remained consistent. The main issue is identifying what is driving the increase in black bin waste. While the report puts forward reasonable explanations for this increase, the steering group with WRAP Cymru will visit the Island to undertake a practical assessment during Quarter 1 2022/23 which it is hoped will pinpoint the reason behind the rise in black bin waste. Recycling rates have dropped nationally hence the establishment of the steering group to assess the situation nationwide. However, despite the decline in performance, Anglesey is still among the best performing authorities in terms of the waste it reuses, recycles or composts. The steering group will also investigate the reasons for the decrease in the green waste tonnage collected even though the number of subscriptions to the green waste collection service is high with the deduction being that some green waste is being disposed of in the black bins.

·                  In a follow up question the Committee wanted to know whether there was any evidence of green waste being fly tipped in the countryside. The Chief Waste Management Officer confirmed that although fly tipping occurs on a daily basis, there has been no noticeable increase in green waste fly tipping. The Chief Waste Management Officer further clarified that the Authority currently does not take enforcement action for non-compliance – recycling remains a choice on the Island;  some Councils in Wales are considering enforcement as a route forward and it may be one of the options to come out of the work of the steering group.

·                  With regard to fly tipping response times the Chief Waste Management Office confirmed that the Service and its contractors are proactive in seeking out and clearing instances of fly tipping even before they are reported.

·                  The Committee queried the extent to which the Covid pandemic has impacted on performance while making reference to Indicator 23 – the average length of time for all children who were on the Child Protection Register during the year who were de-registered during the year where the performance had declined to 321 days against a target of 270 days. The Chief Executive confirmed that the Covid pandemic has had a widespread effect and that issues that were hidden during the pandemic are now emerging and are presenting in school children, staff and the general public. The next few years are likely to be challenging in terms of dealing with the after effects of Covid 19.

Having considered the Quarter 3 2021/22 scorecard report and the clarifications provided by Officers at the meeting, the Committee resolved to accept the report, to note the areas which the Senior Leadership Team is managing to secure improvements into the future and to recommend the mitigation measures as outlined to the Executive.