Issue - meetings

The report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services is attached.

The Service Manager – Finance presented the report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services, which detailed the quarter two position in terms of financial and performance monitoring for 2021/22. The report separately highlighted the Covid-19 variances.

The Service Manager – Finance referred to table 1 at paragraph 4.2 of the report, which summarised the position at Quarter 2. The table summarised the main variations from revenue efficiencies and Covid related pressures. It was noted that income lost related to Covid-19 totalled £0.129m, with in-year efficiency savings of £0.845m and non-ringfenced grant funding £0.036m. It was noted that, in regard to business rates, the Council was expecting a surplus of £3.113m but that a significant proportion would need to be appropriated into the Collection Fund Reserves (£1.765m) to cover the anticipated deficit that would arise next year and in 2023/24.

The Group suggested that sufficient attention had been given to continued marketing for the golf course and Rushcliffe Borough Council’s other facilities following Covid-19. It was agreed that this feedback would be passed to the relevant team.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager referred to Appendix G of the report, which detailed the Strategic Scorecard summary table.

It was noted that there were fourteen strategic performance indicators that were falling below target, details of which were highlighted in the report.

It was explained that eight of the exceptions were covered in Quarter 1, with some of the measures impacted by lockdown or changes in resident behaviours, but they were no longer subject to the special reporting introduced in 2020/21 due to the easing of restrictions.

It was explained that the percentage of residents who believed that the Council provided value for money had been impacted by Covid. The pandemic had affected feelings of resident satisfaction across many areas, and this was replicated nationally. The Group was informed that the Council would continue to educate residents about the role of the Council as the waste collection authority and would also explain how Council Tax was distributed among other key parts of the public sector. The Group was informed that the percentage of residents satisfied with the variety of ways they could contact the Council might have decreased due to Covid. For example, the closure of face-to-face services at the start of the pandemic. It was noted that this indicator had been addressed and there had been a wider discussion on how the Council could continue to engage with its residents through its forthcoming Customer Service and Communications strategies being finalised this spring.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager was pleased to note that the percentage of residents satisfied with the cleanliness of streets and appearanceof parks and open spaces was positive and well within the targets set for performance within the contract.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager informed the Group about the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling and composting and the number of pavilions, community hall and playing field users. It was noted that there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16