Agenda item

The Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager presented the Corporate Business Plan monitoring report containing information on the progress made on the key actions up to the end of Quarter 2 2018/19.

The Panel was informed that there were currently 51 agreed actions being undertaken to progress the Council’s Corporate Business Plan.  The Q2 2018/19 monitoring report indicated that 49 of the actions were progressing well and 2 new key actions had been added.

Members were advised that 27 actions had been completed from Q4 2015/16 to Q2 2018/19.

In response to questions regarding the purpose of the monitoring report, the Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager explained that the information was collected on a quarterly basis from service areas and was subject to a review by Management Team prior to being presented to the Panel.  During the review process, if necessary, targets could be adjusted and actions taken if any targets were found not to be on track.

The Chief Executive responded to questions on the construction of the West Winch road and provided background on the funding to enable the design work to be undertaken.  It was highlighted that work was at an early stage, but it was anticipated that a planning application would be submitted in the autumn 2019 and the project was currently on track to deliver.

Following questions on the following Corporate Performance Indicators:

·         Priority 3:  Reduce contamination of recycling to 10.00% by 31 March 2019 (cumulative) and

·         Priority 4:  Footfall in King’s Lynn compared to same quarter in the previous year

The Leader explained that at the recent Town Centre Partnership meeting it had been reported that there was a reduction in the footfall which presented a variance in previous years.  The camera on the former Beales building had been removed due to the construction works in that area and those numbers were not recorded.  It was therefore assumed that this represented a reduction of between 1% - 2% which was in line with the national average.  The Chairman, Councillor Humphrey proposed that an action note be added to explain the variances.

Councillor Moriarty commented that the Portfolio Holder was keen to reduce the level of contamination of recycling and added that the collection vehicles in his ward had inspected the green bins and if there were any contaminated items, they did not empty the recycling bin.

In response to comments made on page 28, key action – implement the King’s Lynn town centre action plan not reconciling with the reduction in the town centre footfall, the Policy, Performance and Personnel Manager explained that the information provided came from a number of sources and undertook to cross check the information in the next monitoring report. 

The Chief Executive concurred with the comments made by the Leader regarding the loss of the camera on the former Beales building and also referred to the number of vacant retail units in the town centre.  The Chief Executive explained that a Future High Streets Fund had been launched on 26 December 2018, which provided funding to assist local authorities to work with retailers to improve the offer in town centres particularly around leisure activities and evening economy.  The Borough Council was collating evidence to present a good case for the funding available.

RESOLVED:  The Panel reviewed and noted the Q2 2018/19 Corporate Business Plan monitoring report.