11/11/2011 - Permalink

New indicators show council is performing well

Related topics: Community / Democracy

New performance indicators designed to show residents how Shropshire Council services are doing will be discussed by councillors next week. 

The first performance report for 2011/12 using new indicators shows that the council is generally performing strongly, with 71% of measures hitting their targets.   And council leader, Keith Barrow, said he was pleased the new way of reporting performance clearly showed the challenges being faced by the council. 

The report highlights three areas which need to improve: 

  • The number of planning applications being determined within 13 weeks for major applications, and within eight weeks for minor applications.
  • The percentage of customers satisfied with customer enquiry handling.
  • The percentage of carers receiving the right type of support and information. 

Work is already under way to make the necessary changes in these areas, including restructuring the planning team, introducing a new system to handle customer queries, and working with carers to ensure they have the right kind of support to help them. 

Council leader, Keith Barrow, said:

“I am pleased with this new way of reporting performance, because it’s a much easier way for residents to see how their council is doing.  Councils were overwhelmed with a huge array of different performance indicators in the past, which I know was confusing and annoying for the public, so this more straightforward way of measuring performance is a breath of fresh air. 

“In a nutshell, people can be assured that we’re doing well, but there are of course always going to be areas where we can do better.  I think it’s really important that we are open and honest about what needs to improve, and I hope people take the time to have a quick look through this report so they can see what’s being done to make sure we are getting better.  This is a new way of doing things and there will now be regular reports going to Cabinet to make sure we don’t take our eyes off the ball.” 

The report will be discussed by Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday 16 November 2011. 

Further notes 

The statistics for the areas highlighted for improvement are as follows: 

Percentage of major planning applications determined within 13 weeks: 39% in the second quarter of 2011/12, compared to 65% in the same quarter last year. 

Percentage of minor planning applications determined within 8 weeks: 53% in the second quarter of 2011/12, compared to 74% in the same quarter last year. 

Percentage of customers satisfied with customer enquiry handling: 79%, compared to 86% at end of 2010/11 and previous quarter level of 80%. 

Percentage of carers receiving needs assessment or review and a specific carers service, or advice and information: 15%, compared to end of year standard of 37%.