Agenda item

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The Senior Corporate Governance Officer reported that 83% of current projects were progressing well and on track, with the remaining 17% subject to minor issues or delays being actively monitored. She also reported that 84% of key performance indicators met or exceeded their targets, while 16% did not. The climate change strategy and action plan and the five-year leisure and culture strategy were completed in quarter one. A new KPI measuring affordable homes delivered in the borough was added for 2026–27. The reported figure for 2025–26 was 217 properties, with quarter two data being gathered for presentation to the panel in November.

The Chair invited questions and comments from Members. The Vice – Chair, Councillor Long questioned whether the red status for the average Customer Information Centre answering time was genuinely caused by annual billing volumes and resource pressures, since those factors recur each year, and asked whether homeworking technology might be contributing.

The Senior Corporate Governance Officer Officers explained that the target had changed from 90 seconds to two minutes and that the Nova system now handled simpler queries, leaving the Customer Information Centre with more complex calls. They proposed monitoring performance by individual quarter rather than cumulatively so that a poor first quarter would not continue to affect the annual position.

The Chair, Councillor Blunt challenged the amber status of the car parking strategy because its target date had passed in December 2025. The Assistant Director for Regeneration, Housing and Place explained that delays to the wider master plan had delayed the strategy, but both the car parking strategy and master plans for the relevant towns were expected to come forward in autumn. The Leader, Councillor Beales added further the status was amber due to the progress and development of the progress.

It was proposed by the Chair, Councillor Blunt, seconded by the Vice-Chair, Councillor Long, and agreed by the Panel that the status of the Car Parking Strategy be amended from Amber to Red.

The Vice – Chair, Councillor Long questioned why the Southgates Masterplan remained amber when basic improvement works such as weed and fly-posting removal were already expected. The Leader, Councillor Beales, explained that minor works were ongoing but that negotiations with First Bus over leases had taken longer than anticipated. The Panel was offered a future update through the relevant work programme, with a recommendation that the matter be included on the next Regeneration and Development Panel’s agenda.

Under Standing Order 34a, Councillor Ryves questioned whether reporting approximately 80% performance should be viewed negatively because targets are intended to be challenging. The Leader, Councillor Beales commented the figures represented an honest accountability mechanism rather than soft budgeting, while members noted that targets should be realistic but sufficiently challenging.

RESOLVED: The Panel supported the recommendations to Cabinet and made the following additional recommendation:

That the Panel recommend to Cabinet that the status of the Car Parking Strategy be amended from Amber to Red, in light of the delay against the target date and the Panel’s concerns regarding progress.

Cabinet resolves to:

To review the Performance Management Report and comment on the delivery against the Corporate Strategy.