Agenda item

To consider the annual performance of services and the provisional budget outturn figures for 2020/21.

The Panel considered the Annual Performance and Provisional Budget Outturn report for 2020/21, which provided an overview of the performance and delivery of the Corporate Plan, Community Matters as well as setting out the provisional outturn results for the General Fund and Housing Revenue Account.  The report reflected on performance for 2020/21, highlighting the Council’s response to Covid-19 and provided an overview of the performance for each portfolio area.  This included an assessment of performance for each key service area in terms of the availability of staff, the impact on budget and overall service delivery impact.  The Panel noted the performance of the Housing Services Portfolio.

The Panel acknowledged that over the last year, staff had faced considerable challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The performance report demonstrated that services had continued to be provided in difficult circumstances which was testament to the hard work and dedication of staff.  Members requested their thanks and appreciation be passed onto all members of staff in housing services.

Members noted that there had been a significant increase in neighbour complaints between March to August 2020, compared to the same period for 2019 and questioned the reasons for this and how officers had responded.  It was considered that at the beginning of the pandemic, there had been a pulling together of the community, however as lockdown continued, with residents spending more time at home, tensions had arisen within communities which resulted in complaints to the Council.  Staffing resources had been redirected to try to resolve the complaints from residents, defuse tensions and offer mediation.  It had been a challenging time.

The investment in the Council’s digital services and the ability for staff to work from home was a great benefit.  It was questioned how residents had responded to digital services.  It was noted that the emergency helplines had continued to be maintained at all times.  Since the introduction of the new housing allocation policy in January 2020, the housing register had been available online and 50% of homelessness reports had been received online prior to covid.  Digital interaction was therefore normal for a large proportion of housing services customers.  The housing hub for reporting maintenance issues continued to be managed, whereby Council tenants could report issues online or on the phone.  Face to face contact at information offices ceased during the first coronavirus lockdown, however, posters had been displayed in the windows of the information offices to redirect customers to use the online services or to telephone the Council.

The Tenant Involvement Group had moved to online meetings, via MS Teams and been provided with tablets in order to facilitate this work.  It was noted that the group met more frequently than they had done when meeting face to face.

RESOLVED:

(a)   That the Annual Performance Statement for 2020/21, including impact of Covid-19 on performance be noted;

(b)   That the provisional outturn on the General Fund revenue and capital budgets for 2020/21 be noted;

(c)   That the provisional outturn of the Housing Revenue Account for 2020/21 be noted; and

(d)   That the hard work of officers in housing services to continue to deliver services in challenging times be acknowledged