Corporate and Performance Plan - Cannock Chase District

ENCLOSURE 7.1

CANNOCK CHASE COUNCIL

CABINET

19 APRIL 2007

REPORT OF HEAD OF POLICY AND PERFORMANCE

PORTFOLIO LEADER – POLICY AND RESOURCES

CORPORATE AND PERFORMANCE PLAN

1. Purpose of Report

1.1 To approve the contents of the draft Corporate and Performance Plan for consultation with Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

2. Recommendation

2.1 That Scrutiny Committee be consulted on the contents of the draft Corporate and Performance Plan prior to consideration by Council on the 27th June 2007.

3. Key Issues - The Draft Corporate and Performance Plan

3.1 Attached at Annex 1 is a draft outline of the Corporate and Performance Plan (CAPP). This outline gives key headings included in the CAPP such as highlights of last year, the Council’s Vision for the District, its key cross-cutting objectives based on the acronym CHASE, a summary of the overall performance and what our plans are for the coming year.

3.2 For 2007-10 it is proposed that the document will differ from the format used for the 2006-09 Corporate and Performance Plan. Subject to approval at Council on 18th April 2007 it is proposed that the main change will be the re defining of the CHASE acronym to reflect the Local Area Agreement blocks. The changes are detailed below –

Old Definition New Definition

C Culture and Sport Children and Young People

H Health Healthier Communities, Housing and Older People

A Access to Skills and Economic Development

Access to Skills, Economic Development and Enterprise

X001/Corporate and Performance Plan Page 1 of 5

ENCLOSURE 7.2

S Social Inclusion and Housing Safer and Stronger Communities

E Environment Environment

3.3 The document will include:

a A section under each element of CHASE highlighting examples of innovation and excellence, consultation, performance indicators, what has been achieved

b A section which provides an overall summary of the Council’s performance against the Best Value Performance Indicators

c A section – “Building an Excellent Council” which includes key findings from consultation and corporate performance

d A section on Councillors, Chase Community Partnership,

e Our finances and where the money is spent

f Our promises for the coming years including service developments in 2007-08

3.4 The final documents will be available on the Council’s website by the end of June, which satisfies the statutory requirement, with a full colour document available in early July.

4. Key Issues - Consultation on the Corporate and Performance Plan

4.1 The general thrust of the Council’s approach, its corporate objectives and priorities have been subject to considerable consultation as part of the ‘Delivering Change’ process.

4.2 For the approval of the final documents it is proposed that a number of meetings are held, leading to a Council meeting on the 27 June 2007. The provisional dates in the calendar of meetings are –

Scrutiny Committee – 17 May 2007 (subject to approval)

Cabinet – 14 June 2007


ENCLOSURE 7.3

REPORT INDEX

Background Section 1

Details of Matters to be Considered Section 2

Contribution to CHASE Section 3

Section 17 (Crime Prevention) Implications Section 4

Human Rights Act Implications Section 5

Data Protection Act Implications Section 6

Risk Management Implications Section 7

Legal Implications Section 8

Financial Implications Section 9

Resource Implications Section 10

Conclusions Section 11

List of Background Papers Section 12

Annexes to the Report Annex 1


ENCLOSURE 7.4

Section 1

Background

The Corporate and Performance Plan is one of the documents that form part of the Council’s budget and policy framework under the Constitution. As such Cabinet is required to make initial proposals and consult the Scrutiny Committee, prior to making firm proposals, which are presented to Council.

The Corporate and Performance Plan is required to contain details of the Council’s performance against both national and local performance indicators. Performance has to be reported against actual outturn for the previous financial year, i.e., 2006-07 and such information needs to be audited. As a result there is very little time to complete the final details prior to publication. It is therefore custom and practice for the Cabinet to consider a draft text version of the Corporate and Performance Plan and to recommend that Council approve its contents subject to the Chief Executive being granted delegated powers to make any last minute amendments prior to publication, in consultation with the Leader of the Council.

Section 2

Details of Matters to be Considered

To approve the contents of the draft Corporate and Performance Plan for consultation with Scrutiny Committee in accordance with the Council’s constitution.

Section 3

Contribution to CHASE

The Corporate and Performance Plan for 2007-10 is being prepared against the CHASE objectives, now redefined as detailed in paragraph 3.2 above. A basket of indicators has been developed for each of the Council’s CHASE objectives to demonstrate achievement of the Council’s Vision over the next ten years.

Section 4

Section 17 (Crime Prevention) Implications

There are no identified implications in respect of Section arising from this report.

Section 5

Human Rights Act Implications

There are no identified implications in respect of the Human Rights Act 1998 arising from this report.

Section 6

Data Protection Act Implications

There are no identified implications in respect of the Data Protection Act.


ENCLOSURE 7.5

Section 7

Risk Management Implications

There are no risks to the Council at this stage of the process. It is a statutory requirement of all best value authorities to produce a Performance Plan and failure to produce such a Plan would have an effect on this Council.

Section 8

Legal Implications

Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1999 requires all best value authorities to prepare an annual Performance Plan.

Section 9

Financial Implications

There are no financial implications arising from this report, as all costs will fall to be met from existing budgets.

Section 10

Resource Implications

There are no resources implications arising from this report.

Section 11

Conclusions

That the recommendation at point 2 be approved.

Section 12

List of Background Papers

None

Annexes to the Report Annex 1

Annex 1 – Draft Corporate and Performance Plan 2007-10.


ANNEX 1

CORPORATE AND

PERFORMANCE PLAN

2007-10

1

ANNEX 1

Contents Introduction – Stephen Brown and Cllr Neil Stanley Highlights of Last year Our Vision and Objectives Our Promises – 2007-08 What’s Coming soon….. Councillors Chase Community Partnership Key: Performance Targets Building an Excellent Council Children and Young People

Healthier Communities, Housing and Older People


Safer and Stronger Communities

Environment

Overall Performance 2006-07 Financial Information Contracts for Services How to Contact us

1

ANNEX 1

Introduction By Stephen Brown Councillor Neil Stanley I am pleased to welcome readers to Cannock Chase Council's Corporate and Performance Plan for 2007-10. We believe that this next year is going to be an exciting year for us in Cannock Chase. There are considerable changes on the horizon and we are ready to embrace these changes, seizing the opportunities to improve the way that we provide services within the District and improve the quality of life for people across the District. The Government has recently set out its future agenda for local authorities in a White Paper; Strong and Prosperous Communities and we were encouraged to see that we are already addressing many of the key messages. We have been working with our partners to deliver seamless public services within the District and as part of this approach we have signed up to a county-wide Local Area Agreement for 2007-10. This Agreement sets out a number of targets and outcomes which we need to work in partnership with others to deliver. The development of the Local Area Agreement has made us look at better ways of working with partners, looking for opportunities to do things differently and to ensure that we are delivering value for your money. There have also been changes within the County Council, which has recognized that it needs to devolve many of its services to a local level. We have recently had a District Director for Social Care and Health appointed to work in the District and we believe this will be pivotal in improving services for older people within the area. We have also set up a multi-agency group to tackle children and young people issues locally. We all recognize that this is an incredibly important agenda and we are encouraged by this joined-up approach to working, developing services around the needs of young people. This has been linked with the introduction of Community Learning Partnerships which will be working to deliver the extended schools programme, which will provide much needed activities for young people and support for working parents. We have also made considerable strides forward in improving access to our services as we want you to be able to have your queries answered at the first point of contact. Plans are also underway to develop an integrated one-stop shop in Rugeley and we are investigating introducing a Dial a Ride scheme in partnership with others across the District. A Shopmobility scheme is also to be introduced in the three main town centres, improving access for people with mobility issues to local shops and other facilities. To help us to deliver joined-up services against our priorities we have reviewed out objectives. These new objectives reflect the outcomes of the Local Area Agreement and we have multi-agency groups in place to deliver activities and projects for each of the outcomes. The Chase Community Partnership, which includes representatives from the public, private, voluntary and community sectors will oversee the work of all our partners in delivering against this challenging agenda. Over the coming year we will continue to grasp opportunities for improved joined up working and in this plan we include information about our priorities for improvement, the targets we have set and our strategies for meeting those targets over the next 12 months. We also bring together a picture of our performance against local and national targets over the last 12 months and show how our results compare with those of other Councils.

2

ANNEX 1

To be able to deliver high quality we have to work closely with our partners and local We produce our Corporate and Performance Plan each year and see it as an opportunity to share our successes and our hopes for the future with you. I hope you will find what is here interesting, and informative. If you would like to share your thoughts on anything covered in this plan, or if you have any comments you wish to make direct to me on this Plan, please write to me at Cannock Chase Council, Civic Centre, P O Box 28, Beecroft Road, Cannock, Staffs, WS11 1BG, or e-mail me at [email protected] Stephen Brown Councillor Neil Stanley Chief Executive Leader of the Council

3

ANNEX 1

Highlights of Last Year April

Improved kerbside recycling service

Achieved Beacon Status Award

May

Youth Endeavour Award

June

Council newspaper launched

July

Festival of Fun

August

Chase It Scheme

Sports Development awarded Quest accreditation

Heritage Lottery Fund grant drawdown for Chase Heritage Trail

September

A-Z Directory of Council services produced

Refurbishment of Cemetery Lodge

October

Cannock Park tennis courts refurbished

Vibe Youth Arts tour established

New artwork on Route to Health

Local Democracy week

Hazel Slade Nature Reserve improved

November

New telephone system installed at Civic centre

Improvements to Cannock cemetery

Slipper swap shop

December

Winner of National Home Improvement for electrical safety

Hednesford Regeneration project approved

January

Cannock Park gates refurbished

Cannock Chase Childrens Trust Board established

Meadow Way Play Area improvement works

February

Choices Day for high school students

Hednesford brick works management agreement signed

Schools open days

March

Housing strategy achieved fit for purpose by GOWM

Contract awarded for new tennis courts at Ravenhill Park, Rugeley

Rugeley swimming Pool commencement of work

Smoke free campaign

4

ANNEX 1

Our Vision and Objectives All successful organisations have a clear vision of what they want to achieve; a vision that sets their direction, defines their priorities and guides their actions; and a vision that challenges them constantly to strive for improvements. The Council’s Vision is: “By 2015, Cannock Chase District will be recognised as a place where everyone’s lives are enriched by a strong cultural identity, vibrant local economy and pride in the outstanding natural environment”. Our own aims must meet the desires and needs of our community, but must also reflect the Government’s priorities, which are. Promoting healthier communities Raising standards in schools Promoting economic vitality. Improving the quality of life of children, young people, families at risk and older people Creating safer communities Transforming our local environment Creating a strong cultural identity, vibrant local economy and outstanding environment is dependent on all parts of the community and local organisations and agencies working together in a ‘joined up’ way. To illustrate this we use the acronym CHASE - CHASE stands for: Children and Young People




Environment

We also have a clear understanding of the sort of organisation we need and aspire to be to enable us to deliver our Vision and Objectives and so we have an additional objective, which we believe will enable us to deliver effective public services and become an excellent authority. Building an Excellent Council This Corporate and Performance Plan sets out how we intend to progress towards the achievement of the Council’s Vision, detailing the progress that our services are making as well as the key targets which we are working towards over 2007-10.

5

ANNEX 1

Our Promises – 2007-08 Over the next few pages we set our promises for the next year against our CHASE objectives. Children and Young People

• Museum Adult Talks service to be fully launched. • Completion of Chase Heritage Trail project – installation of new local history gallery,

temporary exhibition gallery, visitor information point and gift shop. • Complete refurbishment of museum outbuildings by refurbishing Refurbish Workshop

Education Space to ensure that we provide quality facilities for the education programme.

• Continue to run a high quality education service, and in particular expand and develop the fledgling outreach service.

• Contribute to the Staffordshire County Council project to install and fit out a Hut from the Great War camps near to Cannock Chase Visitor Centre.

• Complete the work required to apply for the museum sector Accreditation scheme, which ensures that the museum is recognised as a provider of quality in all aspects of its services.

• Offer a range of events and activities to widen participation in the museum’s services and facilities.


What we aim to do in 2007- 08: Housing

• Continue to progress the implementation of the Council’s Housing Investment Plan to achieve the decent homes standard for the Council’s housing stock by 2010

• Develop and commence the implementation of an Interim Strategy to retain the Council’s Housing Stock.

• Implement the Improving the Dwelling Mix of Social Housing policy through the sale of certain vacant one bedroom bungalows.

• Continue implementation of the Improvement Plan to help secure a two-star rating (with promising prospects for improvement) for the housing service as a whole by 2009

• Continue the implementation of the redevelopment scheme for the Smith houses on the Bevan Lee Estate in partnership with the Beth Johnson Housing Association

• Implement a Choice Based Lettings scheme.

• Complete the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan which meets ODPM ‘fit for purpose’ criteria

• Formulate a redevelopment plan for the Elizabeth Road area.

• Investigate further options for the Precast Reinforced Concrete dwellings in the Moss Road and Rowley Close/Bradbury Lane areas.

6

ANNEX 1

• Undertake the structural reinstatement works to Council owned PRC properties in Rugeley and Norton Canes.

• Continue to develop the appointments system for responsive repairs through the ‘opti-time’ job scheduling system

• Implement a Spend to Save policy which will provide additional mediation and debt counselling services, support for life skills training and safe as houses initiatives.

Benefits

Significantly reduce our processing times and maintain our accuracy rate Improve our customer satisfaction levels. Further develop our service in respect of mobile working, payment of benefit into

claimants’ bank accounts and development of remote access technology. Review our Performance Standards Action Plan and implement. Implement our Benefit Fraud action Plan. Introduce and promote payment of Rent allowances by bank transfer to enable

claimants to receive their payments more quickly. Modernise our operating methods and improve our use of technology to improve

our efficiency.

Food and Safety • Ensure that the national smokefree legislation is fully implemented in the Cannock

Chase District. We will use our allocation of government funding to employ a smokefree officer to advise businesses on the new laws and to monitor compliance.

• Restructure our food and safety service to ensure we are able to respond more

effectively to business requests for advice and assistance, and that we quickly identify and deal with non compliant businesses;

• Introduce a “Scores on Doors / Scores on the Web” food safety rating system in the

District which will allow customers to see how well food businesses are complying with hygiene laws.

• Continue to work with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other partners to

further the “Fit 3” campaign initiatives aimed at improving health and safety in workplaces;

• Maintain our excellent 100% performance record for planned high risk food inspections

and to ensure we meet the same 100% target for high risk health and safety inspections;

• Build on the “workfit” initiative introduced within the Council, ensuring this is expanded in-house and that good practice is disseminated to local employers / businesses;

• Examine, with the PCT, the role played by the “Good Health” Service in the community;

7

ANNEX 1

Strategic Housing

• Produce a new Homelessness Strategy for 2007-10 that will show how we will continue to prevent homelessness.

• Update our local housing needs data by commissioning a Housing Market Assessment.

• Commence a pilot programme to deliver decent homes in the private sector housing vulnerable people

• Continue to reduce homelessness and the use of temporary accommodation. • Produce a Private Sector Housing Strategy, which will show how we are tackling the

condition of the worst private housing in the District and show our plans for delivering decent homes for vulnerable homeowners.

• Jointly commission a Gypsy and Traveller Housing Needs Assessment with Local Authority partners through the Southern Staffordshire and Northern Warwickshire Housing Partnership.

• Produce an Empty Property Strategy and continue to encourage owners to bring empty properties back into use through monitoring, advice and support.

• Achieve the Staffordshire LAA target of 18% of all housing completions being for affordable housing during 2007/08.

• Implement a Choice Based Lettings scheme to broaden choice and access to social rented housing in the District.

• A new BME Housing Strategy will be produced to demonstrate the commitment the Council has to providing equal and inclusive housing services, which are accessible to all.



Environment

What we plan to do in 2007-08: Add Kitchen Waste/Cardboard collections to the garden waste collection service across the

district i.e. residents will be able to put kitchen/cardboard waste into their brown bin.

8

ANNEX 1

What’s Coming soon….. MAY 2008 Opening of Rugeley Swimming Pool ????? The Heritage Trail Completed ????? Hednesford Town Centre ????? Cannock ???

9

ANNEX 1

Councillors Our councillors represent the views of residents in their wards. We have 41 Members. A third of Members are elected each year (except in the year of County Council elections). This will be updated to reflect the outcome of the elections

10

ANNEX 1

In order to discharge its functions the Council also has a number of Committees and other bodies, which elected Members are appointed to serve on. The Constitution sets out how the Council operate, how decisions are made and the procedures followed to ensure that we are transparent and accountable to our residents. The Council’s decision making structure is detailed below - The decision making process will be shown in a diagrammatic form illustrating

Full Council consists of all 41 members. It sits as a body with responsibility for strategic policy and decision making, including setting the council tax and the budget and policy framework.

The Cabinet, comprises of the Leader of the Council, who is the Chair,

together with 6 other Cabinet Members (known as Portfolio Holders) with individual responsibilities for Children and Young People; Healthier Communities, Housing and Older People; Access to Skills, Economic Development and Enterprise; Safer and Stronger Communities and Environment. The Cabinet makes most of the day to day decisions of the Council.

Overview and Scrutiny reviews the work and decisions of the Cabinet, reviews all areas of the Council’s work, carries out specific projects and investigations and considers any matter which affects residents of the district.

Standards Committee promotes and maintains high standards of conduct

by Members of the district council and local parish and town councils.

Planning Control Committee makes decisions on planning applications and enforcement matters, and advises the Cabinet on planning policy. 21 councillors sit on this committee.

Licensing and Public Protection Committee deals with licensing,

regulation and regulation of taxis, public entertainment venues and other activities. 11 councillors sit on this committee.

11

ANNEX 1

Chase Community Partnership We have been working with Cannock Chase’s Local Strategic Partnership to develop the community’s own vision of the future – the Sustainable Community Strategy. The Cannock Chase Local Strategic Partnership comprises key organisations within the local public, private and voluntary sectors and is committed to realising a shared agenda and supporting the Government’s priorities. This is set out in the Sustainable Community Strategy, “Here for you, at the core of your community”. The Local Strategic Partnership’s Vision is: to provide local people with better opportunities in education, employment and shopping, reduce crime and reassure people about their safety, develop healthy and active communities, develop cleaner and greener communities where information is easily accessed and local

people feel well informed.

Explanation of the LSP and inclusion of some key performance indicators.

12

ANNEX 1

Key: Performance Targets Throughout this booklet you will come across tables of information about our performance. To help you understand these tables an explanation is given below to assist you in deciding how well the Council is performing in delivering the services that matter to you.

PI NO

PERFORMANCE INDICATOR

PERFORMANCE

2006-07 PAST FUTURE TARGETS

PERFORMANCE COMPARISONS

ALL ENGLAND 2005-06 TARGET

ACHIEVED

TARGET ACTUAL 2005-06 2007-08 2008-09 2008-09

To help you assess our performance we have included the targets we set ourselves in previous years

This column identifies the reference for each indicator as either one set nationally (BV) or local. Where a number is given it relates to the national Best Value reference number

This section shows how we have performed in 2006-07. We have used the following to help you:

= Target achieved in 2006-07 = Target not achieved in 2006-07

The targets we set ourselves last year

and our actual performance is

shown here.

Targets enable you to assess whether we are providing the level of performance we are expected to achieve. The Council is responsible for setting most of its targets, but for some PIs we are required to set targets over 3 years that are consistent with reaching the performance of the top 25% of Councils in the country. We have not set targets against new PIs or against PIs that we do not have to report against next year.

A performance indicator (PI) is a measure of the Council’s performance in providing services. The Council has set some PIs for itself but most of them are statutory on the basis of their interest to the public. All statutory PIs have strict definitions and wording that the Council must follow.

Where we can we provide information so that you can compare our performance against the best performing of all other Councils. Comparative information is not available for all PIs.

13

ANNEX 1

Building an Excellent Council We want to provide the best possible services to our 93,000 residents and business. We need to know if we are getting things right and the best way of doing this is to ask questions of our service users, our residents and the community. We undertake citizen’s panels surveys 3 times a year and over the last year we have covered such topics as -

• Communication Physical activity •

• Recycling in the District • Race Equality Scheme • Leisure Facilities • Emergency Alarm System • Environmental Health

Details of other community engagement exercises undertaken, key findings and action taken. Details of key achievements and examples of innovation.

Our strategic objectives and priorities

• examples of innovation and excellence, • performance indicators, • consultation outcomes • achievements

14

ANNEX 1

PI No

Performance Indicators Performance 2006-07 Past Future Targets Performance Comparisons All England 2005-06

Performance Analysis

Target Actual 2005-06 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Top 25% Bottom 25%

National Average

200-07

n/a n/a 4* % of those making complaints satisfied with handling of complaint

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 53%

8 % invoices paid on time 93% 90.26% 95% 97% 96.71% 89.24% 92.04% 9 % Council Tax collected 98.2% 97.3% 98.3% 98.4% 98.4% 96.39% 97.15% 10 % of NNDR collected 99.3% 99.7% 99.4% 99.5% 99.26% 98.10% 98.56% 11 % senior management

posts filled by women 35% 24.14% 38% 38% 42.45% 22.22% 31.80%

11b % senior management posts from ethnic minorities

1.2% 3.4% 1.2% 1.2% 4.33% 0 3.32%

11c % senior management posts filled by people with a disability

1.2% 0 1.2% 1.2% 4.83 0 3.08

12 Average number of days sick

8.3 days 12.39 days

8.3 days

8.3 days

8.3 days

14 Early retirements as % of total staff

0.3% 1.13% 0.3% 0.3% 0.17% 0.78% 0.57%

15 Ill health retirements as % of total staff

0.3% 0.37% 0.3% 0.3% 0.10% 0.37% 0.28%

16 % staff with disabilities 16.5% 1.22% 16.5% 16.5% 3.89% 1.86% 3.22% 17 % staff from ethnic

minorities 1.2% 0.92% 1.2% 1.2% 4.8% 0.9% 4.9%

156 % authority buildings accessible for people with disabilities

100% 77% 100% 100% n/a n/a n/a

Local % interactions with public delivered electronically

? 100% 100% 96.99% 97.34%

£110,100 226a Amount spent on advice and guidance services

£107,970 £112,300 £114,500 n/a n/a n/a n/a

100% 226b Advice and Guidance to organisations holding CLS Quality Mark

100% 100% 100% n/a n/a n/a n/a

£93,700 £97,500 226c Amount of Advice and Guidance in areas of housing, welfare, benefits and consumer matters provided by the authority to the public

£91,857 £95,600 n/a n/a n/a n/a

15

ANNEX 1

Children and Young People

This objective covers

Children’s Trust Leisure, sports, cultural, recreation and entertainment services and facilities,

entertainment venues, arts, theatres, leisure centres, sports stadium, museums and catering

Information required from Culture and Major Projects; Leisure Operations including leisure centres, Prince of Wales Theatre. What we said we would do Museum of Cannock Chase

• Extend the museum to provide a new local history gallery and tourist information point as part of the Chase Heritage Trail funded by HLF. The project has been delayed, but is now underway and is now due to be completed in 2007-08.

• Introduce an Outreach service for schools – This was introduced in Autumn 2006. Over 20 outreach visits have already taken place with positive feedback from Teachers.

• Contribute to the development of skills in the museum sector through the Regional Skills Action Team – The Museum Services Officer has been an active member of this group this year and contributed to a number of workforce development initiatives in the museum sector, raising the regional profile of the museum. The museum was also involved in launching the Arts & Heritage Foundation Degrees programme at Cannock Chase Technical College.

• Continue to provide an education service of the highest quality – the education service continues to perform to a very high standard, with satisfaction levels well above target at 98%. Numbers of school parties have increased this year with the introduction of the Outreach service which as enabled the museum to reach many more schoolchildren than before.

• Make further improvements and changes to our galleries. This year we have completely redisplayed the Toys Gallery, providing new artefacts to see.

Sports Development The Sports Development Team has played an active role in meeting and responding to those core objectives, set out in the Council’s Corporate and Performance Plan for 2006-07.

Be a key stakeholder in the developing County Sports Partnerships

• The Sports Development Teams played a leading role in supporting the development of the newly formed County Sports Partnerships. We were invited to give a key note talk to stakeholders at its re-launch. This involved the work undertaken by our Community Sports Coach with young people in the District, which was sited as an example of best practice.

16

ANNEX 1

We will look to use the findings contained in the recently produced Year Six Survey

February 2006 on young people’s participation in sport in the Cannock Chase District. Main aim, develop an action plan to respond to the key findings of the survey

• The Development Teams newly revised Service Plan (2007 – 2010) uses the

findings of the year six survey as a key consultation document. A report on these outcomes was submitted to the Culture and Sport Select Committee, which has helped to shape, target and improve the services we offer our customers.

We will look to develop greater partnership working to help access external funding to

develop local community activities

• Working in partnerships with the Chase Sportability Group, Cricket Development Group, Chase Sports Council and the Chase Life-Saving Club, we are able to secure £20,000 worth of external funding. Projects included the setting up of a girls under 14’s netball team and the purchase of specialist equipment for disabled athletes at the Cannock and Stafford Athletics Club.

To continue to expand and develop the ‘Chase It’ young persons activity programme,

allowing access for all the districts young people

• We have continued to work in partnership with the Districts two special schools, by providing opportunities to integrate young people into mainstream activity programmes, i.e. ‘Chase It’ Summer Activity Scheme. Some 70% of participants taking part had some form of access issue i.e. low income, disabled and special needs.

Arts Development

• Arts Development were a key partner in setting up a pilot training programme with Staffordshire University and Arts Council England West Midlands. The need to build a county resource of artists that have the specialist skills to work within the health sector to meet health objectives is great. This specialist area of work requires a particular type of artist, and the Artists Professional Development Programme which will continue into its second year, has been an immense success, providing a wealth of professional artists with vital skills available to undertake high quality commissioned work in the public, voluntary and private sector.

• Arts Development were a strong contributor to the Beacon Award for Healthier

Communities. They were visited by many Councils from across the country from London to Scarborough, who visited the Route to Health community arts trails. This was followed by a sharing of their best practice to encourage other Councils to develop arts and health partnership work.

• Arts Development were invited as a guest speaker at the Area of Outstanding Natural

Beauty Annual Conference back in May. They were selected to demonstrate projects their valuable contributions of how to engage the community in meeting difficult targets, and how local people could contribute to the AONB Management plan.

17

ANNEX 1

Chase Leisure Centre

• Maintained Quest registration – Score 70%

• Retained IQL – Approved training centre status

• Baby Friendly pool status

• Working in partnership with ASA

• Introduced membership advisors

• Sports development, became an accredited learning centre from Sport across Staffordshire.

• Developed Sports development links, Netball coaching, Athletics and Multi sport

coaching sessions. • Work in partnership with Centre based clubs. • Continue to offer structured swimming lesson programme from 4 months to Adult.

Including Rookie lifeguard

• Continue to run Exercise referral scheme Rugeley Leisure Centre

• Attained Quest registration 75% highly commended. • Re-launched 02 health • Pilot scheme of cardiac rehab stage 3 in conjunction with Stafford Hospital • Continued to run Exercise referral scheme • Over 14’s football in partnership with Chase community • Hosted Sports development TOPS festival • Plans for new swimming pool, extension to fitness suite and Multi purpose room

18

ANNEX 1

How we have performed

• Museum visitor numbers continue to rise steadily, and many of these are return visitors, demonstrating that the museum is meeting visitor expectations.

• Toys Outreach Service introduced and a success, which has demonstrated a proven demand for an Educational Outreach service from the museum.

• The museum won the VAQAS (Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Service) Award again, proving that we are offering a visitor friendly and focussed service.

• The museum site is now DDA compliant following extensive refurbishment of the outbuildings and site, which has also improved the quality of the facilities and the security of the site, as well as the safety of visitors. For example, road markings and traffic calming have been installed.

• High levels of user satisfaction exceeding set targets, both for casual visitors and for educational users.

• Targets for numbers of school visitors to the museum exceeded and the education programme has been constantly improved and refined using feedback from teachers and the skills and expertise of the museum education team.

• The museum has held a number of extremely successful Family Days with exciting free activities for all.

• Holiday Workshops have been held every school holiday for children. • The museum has received grant funding for several different projects relating to the

museum collections – Museum map collection (purchase of plan chest and reorganisation of map collection), Walhouse project (folders and organisation of Walhouse School archive collection), Hawkins Colliery archives project (purchase of storage materials).

• Partnership working has been key to the success of the Sports Development team’s work, providing opportunities to secure additional funding from partners, to support a range of leisure activities. These include:-

o Community Learning Partnership – Funding to help develop the work

of the Community Sports Coach

o Children’s Fund - Funding to help run a range of leisure based activities for young people with access issues, up until March 2008

• Leisure centre usage - to follow. • Prince of Wales theatre usage – to follow

Examples of Innovation & Excellence

• For its size the museum has exceptionally high numbers of schools usage, compared to other museums and has outperformed larger museums for many years.

• Other museums in the UK often look to the museum for examples of good practice in

museum education and visitor service and the museum’s achievements in this area have been cited at museum sector seminars and meetings. Recently the museum was asked to give a talk to a group of museums about how to run a successful education service on a small budget.

19

ANNEX 1

• The museum has introduced a volunteer programme for museum skills development. • The museum is involved in many aspects of museum workforce development. The

Museum Services Officer sits on the Regional Skills Action Team for the West Midlands region. This innovative group of museum professionals has a remit for training and skills development in the museum sector. The museum has also been working in partnership with Cannock Chase Technical College on Cultural Heritage NVQs and Foundation Degrees. It has a particular remit to increase development opportunities for museum staff and widen entry into the museum profession for people from non-traditional backgrounds.

• Work undertaken through the Rugeley Leisure Centre After-School Athletics Club

and the Cannock and Stafford Athletics Club, saw us secure the Staffs Youth Games title for 2006.

• Our ‘Chase It’ Champions Programme for the Districts young people, offers them the

chance to secure vocational training and learning opportunities in a leisure environment.

• Pooling of financial resources and knowledge to improve the quality of services we

offer our customers. The trips for kids scheme, run in conjunction with parents from Sherbrook Special School, allows us to provide for a wider range of activities for young people with access issues.

• The Festival of Fun and Enjoyment, Facilities and manpower provided through

Hagley Park Sports College and the School Sports Partnership, has allowed us to expand and improve this event. It attracts over 900 young people and has become the biggest Sporting Festival in the District.

• Last year saw the Sports Development Team achieve the prestigious Quest Award

for the first time, a mark of quality for leisure providers. Our recent maintenance visit from their External assessors, shows high levels of continuous improvements in all levels of service provision.

20

ANNEX 1

Performance Targets:

PI No


Target Achieved

Target Actual 2005-06 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Top 25%

Bottom 25%

National Average

2005-06

n/a n/a n/a Museum a 70% a 70% a.82% a.70% b.70% b.84% b 70% b 70% Satisfaction levels in user

categories:

a. school visits b. casual visits

n/a n/a n/a Arts Development 52,500 47,831 +5% +5% Route to Health – increase users by 5% p.a

+5%

Satisfaction levels of Arts Development participants

75% 74% 75% 75% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a Sports Development 77% 99% +2% +2% Local

Satisfaction levels in user categories: Children’s Fund Chase It Summer activities

119* % of residents satisfied with the councils sport and leisure facilities

49% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

119* % of residents satisfied with the councils museums and galleries


119* % of residents satisfied with the councils theatres and concerts hall


119* % of residents satisfied with the councils parks and open spaces


170a

Visits/usage of museums 620 580 640 640 958 133 1,687

170b

Visits/usage of museums in person

470 477 480 490 523 87 632

170c No. of pupils visiting in organised school groups

8,800 8,873 8,800 8,800 8,156 641 7,153

21

ANNEX 1

Healthier Communities, Housing and Older People This objective covers

Liaison with various bodies and agencies to tackle health inequalities across the District, including the Primary Care Trust and NHS Trusts.

Health & Well-being Board

Environmental Health Services including, food hygiene and safety, disease control,

health and safety, health promotion, mortuary, cemeteries and burial grounds

Public and private sector housing services and facilities including sheltered schemes, Council houses, homelessness, disabled facilities grants, house renovation and home security grants

Housing Investment Programme and the Housing Revenue Account, including repair and maintenance of Council housing and improving private sector housing

The administration of Housing and Council Tax Benefits

All statutory and non statutory Plans and policy documents prepared by the Council relating to the above mentioned services and facilities including (but not limited to) the Housing Revenue Account Business Plan and Housing Strategy and Food Law Enforcement Service Plan

What we said we would do: Housing

Progress the implementation of the Council’s Housing Investment Plan to achieve the decent homes standard for the Council’s housing stock by 2010

Further develop the Council’s housing landlord service by developing and commencing the implementation of an Improvement Plan which will secure a two-star rating (with promising prospects for improvement) for the housing service as a whole by 2009

Continue the implementation of the redevelopment scheme for the Smith houses on the Bevan Lee Estate in partnership with the Beth Johnson Housing Association

Submit in partnership with other housing agencies a bid for additional resources to assist with the formulation and implementation of a sub-regional choice based lettings scheme

Formulate a Housing Revenue Account Business Plan which meets ODPM ‘fit for purpose’ criteria

Assess and evaluate the options for procuring repair works to major voids

Review the use of garage sites to identify those which are surplus to requirements

Review the estate management activities to ensure that they meet the benchmark set by the Government’s ‘Respect Standard for Housing Management

Introduce a comprehensive appointments system for responsive repairs through the implementation of the ‘opti-time’ job scheduling system

Introduce the ‘Leave It Clean’ incentive policy specifically aimed at outgoing tenants to reduce the cost of repairing and cleaning vacated properties.

22

ANNEX 1

Benefits

To continue to maintain compliance with the Department for Work and Pensions’ Verification Framework and Performance Standards and implementation of the

To significantly improve levels of performance and customer satisfaction, with regards to the processing of benefit claims during the implementation of the Verification Framework

Encourage and increase the take-up of Housing and Council Tax Benefit, Tax Credits, Pension Credits and other welfare by conducting targeted campaigns as part of the Concessionary Travel Scheme and the annual Council Tax bills issued.

To develop the role of Housing Benefits within the Housing Department’s Homeless Strategy and provide support through the payment of Discretionary Housing payments where appropriate.

To continually look for opportunities to work with voluntary sector advice agencies, Registered Social Landlords and Private Sector Landlords to improve the efficiency of the benefits service.

How we have performed Housing

Implemented a £7.9m Housing Investment Plan to achieve the decent homes standard for the Council’s housing stock by 2010

Developed an Improvement Plan to assist in securing a two-star rating (with promising prospects for improvement) for the housing service as a whole by 2009

Progressed the redevelopment scheme for the Smith houses on the Bevan Lee Estate in partnership with the Beth Johnson Housing Association

Successfully bid in partnership with other housing agencies for additional resources to assist with the formulation and implementation of a sub-regional choice based lettings scheme

Commenced drafting a fit for purpose Housing Revenue Account Business Plan by developing an interim strategy for the future of the housing stock.

Completed an evaluation of the options for procuring repair works to major voids.

Reviewed the use of garage sites to identify those which are surplus to requirements

Reviewed the estate management activities to ensure that they meet the benchmark set by the Government’s ‘Respect Standard for Housing Management

Introduced a comprehensive appointments system for responsive repairs through the implementation of the ‘opti-time’ job scheduling system

We delayed introduction of the ‘Leave It Clean’ incentive policy specifically aimed at outgoing tenants to reduce the cost of repairing and cleaning vacated properties until a comprehensive review of voids was completed.

23

ANNEX 1

Benefits

Work is continuing towards achieving the Department for Works and Pensions Performance Standards and the Council became fully compliant with the Verification Framework on 1st April 2006, as planned. As a consequence of this over 1,200 received home visits, by our staff in 2006/07,to review their benefit entitlement.

Performance levels with regards to the processing of benefit claims dipped slightly

following the implementation of the Verification Framework.

The Council undertook a take-up campaign as part of the Concessionary Travel Scheme in 2005-06 and as a result, a number of local residents qualified for a variety of welfare benefits, including Attendance Allowance, Disability Living allowance and Pension Credits.

Work is continuing to develop the role of Housing Benefits within the Council’s

Homelessness Strategy, through the discretionary housing Payments scheme.

Work is continuing with Voluntary Sector advice agencies, Registered Social Landlords and Private Sector Landlords, through targeted meetings and attendance at Forum Meetings to improve the efficiency of the benefit service.

Food and Safety

We have successfully implemented a workplace health initiative within Cannock Chase Council. Called “Workfit” this initiative has allowed employees to have free health checks, participate in a range of activities and we are now looking at ways of dealing with some of the wider health issues raised by our employees;

We have maintained our 100% record on high risk food inspections;

We have worked successfully with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and other

partners to deliver a range of “Fit 3” projects including: a health and safety seminar on places of worship; a safe working at height roadshow; a ladder amnesty to encourage the handing in of dangerous ladders; awareness of dermatitis in hairdressing salons; health and safety at builders merchants. We also conducted a project on safety of children’s play areas in licensed premises.

We have advised businesses on the new smokefree laws and have worked with the PCT

to raise awareness of smoking related illness and smoking cessation services;

We have not developed our public health role as expected due to the reorganisation of the local PCT and staffing shortages within our Environmental Health Division;

Strategic Housing

We achieved a draft ‘Fit for Purpose’ Housing Strategy in March 2007, based on delivering

our ‘Housing Vision’ and four strategic housing priorities.

24

ANNEX 1

We did not publish a Private Sector Housing Strategy but will produce a strategy during 2007/08 that will be a daughter document to our District wide Housing Strategy.

? Can provide stats after end of financial year on B&B and homelessness reduction.

A new Homelessness Strategy will be produced in 2007/08 that will be intrinsically linked to the Housing Strategy and continue our homelessness prevention agenda.

The Strategic Housing Section prepared effectively for the Audit Commission inspection of

the service in January 2007. Examples of Innovation and Excellence Electrical Safety Award For the fourth year running the Council’s Housing Service achieved the National Home Improvement Award for their effective electrical safety awareness programme. Gas Safety Award For the first time the Council’s Housing Service was runner up in the National Home Improvement Award for innovation in the management of gas safety. Arts Project – Bevan Lee Redevelopment Scheme We have played a leading role in developing an Arts Project designed to engage the local estate community in particularly the young people in respecting their community. Repairs Handbook A brand new Repairs Handbook was delivered to all the Council’s tenants. The handbook is packed with useful information aimed to help tenants provide better information on repairs which in turn helps the Council provide a faster more efficient repairs service for tenants. Improved Repairs Appointments A new IT system has been introduced to provide tenants with appointments for repair works to their homes. Tenants are now given time slots for when operatives will call to carry out the work. Time slots can be given to fit round school run times. Low Literacy Leaflets A number of service information leaflets have been designed for customers with low literacy as a result of a partnership with Mid Staffs Mencap Family Adviser Services. Our workfit initiative has been used an example of best practice and we have delivered presentations to other interested organisations;

We have developed our own smokefree information pack which has been distributed to businesses well in advance of the July deadline for compliance;

25

ANNEX 1

26

Performance Indicators PI No


Target Achieved

Target Actual 2005-06 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10

Top 25%

Bottom 25%

National Average

2006-07

Housing The proportion of children

under 16 who live in low income households

Below Staffordshire average by 2015

(2004) 18%

Below Staffordshire average by 2015

n/a n/a n/a

63 Average SAP rating of local authority owned dwellings

52 51 53 54 69 63 66

64 Private sector dwellings empty

16 21 18 20 76.5 7 74.43

66a % of rent collected 97.5% 97.07% 97.75% 98% 98.59% 97.09% 97.16% 66b No. of tenants with more

than 7 weeks rent arrears 5.75% 5.86% 5.5% 5.25% 4.12 8.53 7.11

66c % tenants who have had Notices Seeking Possession

19% 16.37% 18% 17% 17.06% 35.18% 27.9% 66d % of tenants evicted as a

result of rent arrears 1.0% 0.62% 1.0% 1.0% 0.21% 0.58% 0.52%

74* Tenant satisfaction overall 88% 82% n/a n/a 84% 74% 78% 74b* Tenant satisfaction – black

and minority ethnics 70% 67% n/a n/a 82% 61% 70%

74c* Tenant satisfaction – non black and minority ethnics

83% 83% n/a n/a 84% 74% 80%

75* Tenant satisfaction with opportunities for participation

73% 71% n/a n/a 69% 58% 63%

75b* Tenant satisfaction with opportunities for participation – black and minority ethnics

40% 40% n/a n/a 71% 50% 59%

75c* Tenant satisfaction with opportunities for participation – non black and minority ethnics

72% 72% n/a n/a 70% 58% 63%

164 Equal Access to Social Housing

Yes Yes Yes Yes n/a n/a n/a

183a

Average length of stay in bed and breakfast

30 days (4.3 weeks)

44.69 days (6 wks)

28 days (4 weeks)

25 days (3.6 weeks)

1 week 4 Weeks

3 weeks

183b

Average length of stay in hostels

0 days (0 weeks)

0 weeks

0 days (0 weeks)

0 days (0 weeks) 0 17

weeks 11 weeks

184a

LA homes which were non-decent at start of year

39% 53% 31% 23% 16% 47% 32%

184b

Change in proportion of non decent homes

23.1% 28.3% 25.8% 39% 28.3% 4.1% 21.2%

202 Number of people sleeping rough on a single night within the area of the LA

0 0 0 0 0 5 4

203 % change in average number of families placed in temporary accommodation

-20% -25% -20% -20% -16% 19.09% 6.29%

212 Average time to re-let local authority housing

28 days 30 days

27 days 26 days 29 days

51 days

42 days

213 Housing Advice Service:

preventing homelessness 2.75 2.57 3.0 3.25 5 1 21

214 Proportion households accepted as homeless who were accepted as homeless within last 2 years

2.75 2.88 2.65 2.55 0.37 4.23 3.05 n/a

ANNEX 1

PI No


Target Achiev

ed Target Actual 2005-06 2007-08 2008-09 2009

-10 Top 25%

Bottom 25%

National Average

2006-07

Benefits 76a Claimants visited per 1000

caseload 150 62.77 160 165 n/a n/a n/a

76b Fraud investigators per 1000 caseload

0.30 0.13 0.35 0.4 n/a n/a n/a

76c Fraud investigations per 1000 caseload

43.75 35.01 50 58 n/a n/a n/a

76d Prosecutions/sanctions per 1000 caseload

4 3.38 5 6 n/a n/a n/a

78a Average time for processing new claims

27 days 36.47 days

25 days 23 days 26.4 days

39.1 days

34.5 days

78b Average time for processing change in circumstances

9 days 14.11 days

9 days 9 days 9.1 days

18.8 days

15.2 days

79a % of cases processed correctly

99% 98.6% 99% 99% 99% 96.6% 97.48%

79bi % of recoverable overpayments recovered – definition changes in 2005-06

60% 39.81% 61% 62% 79.39% 58.98% 69.53%

79bii % of recoverable overpayments recovered

55% 41.9% 60% 62% 39.69% 27.35% 33.66% 2.09% 79bii

i Overpayments written off 5% 5% 5% n/a n/a n/a

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 80* % of all respondents satisfied with contact facilities at benefit office

n/a 85%

88% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 80* % of all respondents satisfied with service in benefit office

n/a

82% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 80* % of all respondents satisfied with telephone service

n/a

87% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 80* % of all respondents satisfied with staff in benefit office

n/a

67% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 80* % of all respondents satisfied with clarity of forms

n/a 77% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 80* % of all respondents

satisfied with time taken for a decision

n/a

83% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 80* % of all respondents – overall satisfaction

n/a

27

ANNEX 1

PI No


Target Achieved


Bottom 25%

National Average

2006-07

166a Score against checklist of Environmental Health best practice

100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 85% 89.6%

n/a n/a n/a Local Percentage of businesses visited acting on advice to create healthy workplaces.

10% n/a 10% 10%

n/a n/a n/a Local Proportion of people using “Good Health” service making lifestyle changes.

60% 62% 70% 75%

n/a n/a n/a Local Percentage of food premises inspections that should have been carried out that were carried out for high risk premises

100% 100% 100% 100%

n/a n/a n/a Local Number of interventions carried out to improve workplace health and safety

400 400 400 400

28

ANNEX 1

Access to Skills, Economic Development and Enterprise This objective covers

Promotion of the economic well-being of the District including measures to alleviate unemployment and create new employment opportunities

The Learning, Education, Employment and Prosperity Group

Liaison with various bodies and agencies to further the economic well-being of the District including (but not limited to) Staffordshire Small Business Service, InStaffs, Learning and Skills Council and East Mercia Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Services and facilities to assist tourism, town centre and other regeneration schemes, derelict land, Sure Start and other economic regeneration initiatives, town centre and industrial estate management, and programming of externally funded projects

All statutory and non statutory Plans and policy documents prepared by the Council relating to the above mentioned services and facilities including (but not limited to) the Economic Regeneration Strategy and the Tourism Strategy

The chapter will contain:

• examples of innovation and excellence, • performance indicators, • achievements

Performance Targets:

Performance Indicators

Performance Past Future Targets Performance Analysis 2006-07

Target Actual 2005-06 2007-08

2008-09

2009-10

2006-07

To increase the proportion of school leavers continuing into further education and structured learning to the County average by 2010

To narrow the gap with the County Figure by 0.6% p.a.

CCDC 87.2% Staffs 89.6% (2005 data)

To Narrow

gap with

County figure

by 0.6% p.a.

To Narrow

gap with

County figure

by 0.6% p.a.

To ensure that unemployment rates for the District do not exceed the County average by 2010

To narrow gap with County figure by 0.13% p.a

CCDC 2.18% Staffs 1.66% Gap widened by 0.12%

To narrow gap with County figure by 0.13% p.a.

To narrow gap with County figure by 0.13% p.a.

29

ANNEX 1

PI No




Bottom 25%

National Average

2006-07

local To increase the proportion of school leavers continuing into further education and structured learning to the County average by 2010

To narrow the gap with the County figure by 0.6% p.a.

CCDC 87.2% Staffs 89.6% (2005 data)

To narrow gap by 0.6% p.a.

To narrow gap by 0.6% p.a.

n/a n/a n/a

n/a n/a n/a local To ensure that unemployment rates for the District do not exceed the County average by 2010

To narrow the gap with the County figure by 0.13% p.a.

CCDC 2.18% Staffs 1.66% Gap widened by 0.12%

Narrow gap by 0.13%

Narrow gap by 0.13%

n/a n/a n/a local To secure the creation of 750 new jobs within the District over a 2 year period

750 jobs over 2 years

858 jobs since April 2004

750 750 jobs jobs over 2 years

over 2 years

n/a n/a n/a local To secure the provision of 15,000 sq. m. of new commercial floor space per annual averaged over a 3 year period

Average of 15,000 sq.m p.a.

61.573 sq.m

Average of 15,000 sq. m. p.a.

Average of 15,000 sq. m. p.a.

3 year average 30.283

n/a n/a n/a local To increase the percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs at grades A*-C or equivalent to County average by 2010

To achieve an annual improve-ment equivalent to 1.4%

CCDC 48.9% Staffs 54.5% (2005 gap narrowed by 3.2%)



n/a n/a n/a local To ensure that local VAT registered business exceed the Regional figure (measured by no. of business per 10,000 population)

CCDC> WMR

2004 data CCDC> WMR

CCDC> WMR

CCDC 288 WMR 285

n/a n/a n/a local To secure at least £8.10m of tourist expenditure within the local economy during 2005

£8.50m £8.75m £8.93m £9.37m

n/a n/a n/a local To achieve a level of customer satisfaction in tourism services that exceeds the Audit Commission target (75%)

>75% New Indicator

> 75% > 75%

n/a n/a n/a local To reduce youth unemployment to the average for Staffordshire by 2010

To narrow gap with the County figure by 1.5% p.a.

CCDC 37.0%

Narrow gap by 1.5% p.a.

Narrow gap by 1.5% p.a..

Staffs 31.5% Gap widened by 2.2% from 2004-05 figures

n/a n/a n/a local To achieve a year-on-year increase in the proportion of 17 year olds in full time education (Year 11’s)

More than 2005-06 figure

71.4% (2005)



30

ANNEX 1

Safer and Stronger Communities This objective covers

Community safety arrangements (insofar as they are not the responsibility of the Chief Executive) including crime prevention and crime reduction programmes, Street Wardens, the Crime & Disorder Reduction Partnership

Issues relating to itinerants

Equality and Diversity

Community engagement and consultation

All statutory and non statutory Plans and policy documents prepared by the Council

relating to the above mentioned services and facilities including (but not limited to) the Community Safety Strategy, Equality and Diversity Policy, Race Equality Scheme and Disability Equality Scheme.

The chapter will contain:

• examples of innovation and excellence, • performance indicators, • achievements

Performance Indicators

PI No




Bottom 25%

National Average

2006-07

Equality and Diversity

2a Level of equality standard 2 1 2 2 n/a n/a n/a 2b Duty to promote race

equality 57% 47% 63% 63% 79% 53% 63%

126 Domestic burglaries per 1,000 households

10.7 9.2 10.2 9.7 6.4 13.7 10.8

127a

Violent crimes per 1,000 population

n/a 25.3 n/a n/a 12.5 22.9 19.2 127b

Robberies per 1,000 population

n/a 0.5 n/a n/a 0.3 1.3 1.3 128 Vehicle Crimes per 1,000

population 7.6 9.8 7.2 6.9 7.3 14.6 11.5

174 Number racial incidences reported to the Council per 100,000 population

0 1.08 0 0 n/a n/a n/a

100% 175 % resulting in further action

100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 94.70%

n/a n/a n/a Actions against Domestic Violence

100% 90.9% 100% 100% 225 (176)

31

ANNEX 1

Environment and Sustainable Development This objective covers

Town and country planning and transportation services and facilities including planning policy development at regional, county and local plan levels, public car and lorry parks, street lighting including Christmas lighting, public transportation policies including hackney carriages and private hire vehicles, public rights of way and travel concessions 6

Landscape and countryside management services including wildlife issues, tree preservation and the Ranger service

Sustainable Development theme group of the Local Strategic Partnership

Land drainage and watercourses, engineering services and public clocks

Environmental protection services including, public nuisances, stray dog services,

pest control, contaminated land

Refuse collection, public conveniences, waste management and recycling

Street cleansing, graffiti, abandoned vehicles and flytipping

Parks, allotments and open spaces

Licensing Services in accordance with the policies determined for service portfolios for various activities including taxi’s, public entertainment, street collections, liquour licensing, etc

Street trading

All statutory and non statutory Plans and policy documents prepared by the Council

relating to the above mentioned services and facilities including (but not limited to) the Local Development Plan, District Transport Strategy, the Wildlife and Landscape Plan

We are committed to pursuing a policy that retains substantial areas of open space and recreational land and areas that are visually important via the protection, management and enhancement of the Green Space Network. With its partners, the Council will implement the policies and the proposals of the Management Plan for the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in order to protect and enhance the nationally recognised important landscape that lies at the heart of the District. We will also contribute to the protection and management of the designated natural areas (SACs, SSSIs and SBIs) and areas which are important habitats for protected species. Our countryside service ensures that the land it manages on behalf of the Council, including Hednesford Hills, Hazel Slade and Mill Green/Hawks Green Valleys nature reserve, are protected to promote their value for nature conservation.

32

ANNEX 1

We work with other partners The Forest of Mercia and Green Arc in the southern half of the District to improve downgraded landscapes, increase countryside access and engage with the community in countryside activities. Improving the Council’s recycling performance continues to be a key priority. A kerbside recycling service is provided to all houses in the district where this is possible. Alternative services are being developed for those properties that do not currently receive the service, such as flats and properties with access difficulties. During 2006/07, in response to customer survey analysis, cardboard collection was added to the kerbside recycling service. What we said we would do: Introduce kerbside collection of cardboards to improve our recycling performance.

How we have performed:

We have surpassed our target for recycling due to increase participation in the kerbside recycling scheme and the higher tonnages for recyclable materials collected. The total amount of waste recycled for 2006-07 was ?% against a target of 25%.

We have collected ?kg of waste per head against a target of ? kg, improved the

percentage of household waste recycled to ? %, against a target for 2006-07 of ?% and green waste collection to all residents with gardens collected ?% of compost waste against a target of ?% for 2006-07.

Examples of Innovation and Excellence During the Autumn of 2006 the Council decided to trial In-Vessel composting collections in part of the district. This method of collection would mean that residents in the trial area could add kitchen to their garden waste collections i.e. the brown bin collection service. Furthermore, 2 months into the trial, residents in the pilot area were advised that they could also add cardboard to the brown bin collection. The results of the trial were successful and this means that from April 2007 we will be providing this collection system across the district and we will be the only Local Authority in Staffordshire to do so. Recycling rates have almost doubled to that of April 2006 and the amount of waste taken to landfill continues to fall. We have gained Countryside Stewardship funding for 10 year period to manage range of ecologically important and diverse sites. The Countryside Service has developed and managed a volunteer programme for its sites delivering 36,000 man hours of work as well as staging two major events and several small scale walk events.

33

ANNEX 1

Environment – Building Control Traditionally Building Regulations have concentrated on health and safety issues but in recent years with the growing concerns regarding global warming a new emphasis has emerged. This is related to sustainable development and the need to reduce carbon emissions from the building stock in this country. Current Building Regulations set overall carbon targets for new buildings and have requirements for upgrading of existing buildings when other work is being carried out. There is an increasing concern within government and from other bodies that these targets are not being met. This Council is committed to ensuring that the building work that is controlled by it’s Building Control service will meet these standards as well as the more traditional health and safety requirements. This will be done by ensuring that all submitted plans are carefully assessed and that regular inspections of building work in progress are carried out by the Building Control Surveyor’s We will also continue to ensure that dangerous buildings are made safe in order to protect users of the buildings and members of the public.

34

ANNEX 1

35

Performance Targets

PI No




Bottom 25%

National Average

2006-07

106 % new homes built on previously developed land

55% 53.11% 55% 55% 96.74% 62.52% 77.12%

109a

% major applications in 13 weeks

60% 60.61% 65% 65% 74.9% 57.08% 64.92%

109b

% minor applications in 8 weeks

65% 62.7% 65% 65% 81.07% 69% 74.23%

109c % other applications in 8 weeks

84% 77.29% 84% 85% 91.39% 83.37% 86.49%

179 % standard searches done in 10 working days

97% 98.79% 97% 97% 100% 98% 95.55%

111* % applicants satisfied with service they receive


200a

Did the Local Authority submit LDS by 28th March 05


200b

Did the LA meet the milestones set out in by the LDS?

Yes No Yes Yes n/a n/a n/a

200c Did the LA publish an annual monitoring report?


204 % appeals against an authority’s decision to refuse planning application

40% 42% 35% 35% 25% 36.1% 30.9%

205 Quality of service checklist 88.8% 72.2% 100% 100% 100% 83.3% 90.1% local Dangerous structure

inspected within 24 hours of notification

95% 100% 95% 95% n/a n/a n/a

local Customers satisfied with the Building Control service

91% 97% 92% 95% n/a n/a n/a

local Building Regulation plans assessed within 3 weeks of submission

65% 54% 70% 72% n/a n/a n/a

local Building Regulation inspections carried out on same day where requested prior to 10.30am

96% 100% 97% 98% n/a n/a n/a

82a Household waste – percentage recycled

14.68% 13.4% 15.74% 16.72% 20.87% 14.25% 17.61%

82aii Total tonnage sent for recycling

5,665 5,260.87 6,091 6,415 15,126 6,140 16,732

82b Household waste – percentage composted

10.55% 7.86% 12.28% 13.29% 13.05% 3.55% 8.95%

82bii Total tonnage sent for composting

4,070 3,085 4,750 5,100 8,770 1,823 9,187

84 Kg of household waste collected per head

416 423.12 417 413 394 480 438.6

84b % change in no. of kg collected per head

4.73% -3.03% 4.47% 5.27% -3.79 1.01 -1.1

86 Cost of waste collection per household (£)

£50.99 £54.84 £47.40 £45.73 £39.48 £52.43 £49.15

89* % of respondents expressing satisfaction with standards of cleanliness -

60% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

90a* % of respondents expressing satisfaction with waste collection -

85% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

ANNEX 1

PI No




Bottom 25%

National Average

2005-06

% of respondents expressing satisfaction with recycling facilities -

75% n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 90b*

% of pop. Served by kerbside collection or within 1km of recycling centre

99.5% 99.35% 100% 100% 100% 93.5% 94.6% 91a

% of population served by kerbside collection of at least 2 recyclables

99% 99.02% 100% 100% 100% 90.1 90.8 91b

199a

Cleanliness of relevant land and highways

18% 26% 17% 16% 8.8% 21% 15.3%

n/a n/a n/a N/a 1% 6% 4% n/a % of land and highways from which unacceptable levels of graffiti are visible

199b

n/a n/a n/a n/a 0 2 1 n/a Unacceptable levels of flyposting

199c

n/a n/a n/a 199d

Reduction in number of incidences of fly-tipping

n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 109 Number of sites of

potential concern with respect to contaminated land

59 120 128 n/a n/a n/a n/a 216a

25% 216b

% of sites where remediation of land is necessary

22% 30% 35% 9% 1% 11% n/a

85% 217

% of pollution control improvements to existing installations completed on time

60% 90% 90% 100% 83% 86% n/a

95% 82.5% 100% 100% 96.64% 73% 81.56% n/a % of new reports of Abandoned Vehicles investigated within 24 hours of notification

218a

95% 77.5% 100% 100% 95% 61.11% 74.39 n/a % of Abandoned vehicles removed within 24 hours from point of legal entitlement for removal

218b

8 8 8 219a

Number of conservation areas in LA area

8 n/a n/a n/a n/a

62.5% 50% 87.5% 100% 31.81% 0 22.61% n/a % of conservation areas with an up to date character appraisal

219b

13% 25% 25% 219c

% of conservation areas with published management proposals

0 7.7% 0 9.41% n/a

36

ANNEX 1

Overall Performance 2006-07 This section provides an overview of our performance last year. Here you can see:

• A summary of how we performed on the Best Value Performance Indicators

• A summary of how we have performed against each of our CHASE objectives, including information about our performance against the headline indicators

• whether we improved or not

• whether we met our targets or not

• what our trends are like over a period of time

Summary of last year’s performance

During 2006-07 we were required to produce a total of ?? Best Value Performance indicators for the Government, many of these having more than one result to show. These indicators fell into the following categories:

• corporate health, those indicators showing how the council as a whole is doing

• housing, including benefits • environment, including cleanliness and planning • cultural and related services, and • community safety, including crime

Each of these categories have been incorporated into our CHASE objectives and are analysed as we:

• achieved our targets in XX% of cases; • improved on last year in XX% of cases;

Please note that where we identify top quartile comparisons, these are based on information from published All England Authorities during 2005-06. Information for 2006-07 is not yet available and as a result we could compare better or worse for performance last year.

Further analysis will cover performance against key indicators against each CHASE objective

37

ANNEX 1

Financial Information To be provided by Financial Services

General Fund Revenue Budget

Capital Programme

HRA Account

Where the money goes

Contracts for Services

A brief statement is required.

38

Documents

Corporate and Performance Plan - Cannock Chase District