Dover District Council Performance Report

1 Page 1 Dover District Council Performance ReportIntroduction Summary of Performance Indicators KEY Improved Performance Maintained Performance Decline in Performance StatusQuarter 1 Quarter 2 Quarter 3 Quarter 4 Direction of Travel to previous Amber411%617%411% Red38%411%719% Total36100%36100%36100%Shared Services PerformanceEK ServicesPIDescriptionOutturn 2014/15 DDC Target 2015/16Q1Q2Q3Q4 Current Cumulative figureAbsolute Number of Cases this Qtr where applicableDirection of Travel to previous QtrRAG StatusICTEKS01dPercentage of incidents resolved within agreed target response time - ICT98%95%100%99%100%99% GreenEKS02dPercentage of Service Desk calls resolved within one day72%60%67%65%65%66% GreenEKS04dPercentage availability of email service100% GreenPage 2EK ServicesPIDescriptionOutturn 2014/15 DDC Target 2015/16Q1Q2Q3Q4 Current Cumulative figureAbsolute Number of Cases this Qtr where applicableDirection of Travel to previous QtrRAG StatusEKS05dPercentage availability of the corporate website (DDC responsibility)

2 Availability of Finance system100%95%100%100%100%100% availability of Anite System100%95%100%100%100%100% GreenCustomer ServicesEKS026dAverage call waiting time in minutes seconds57 seconds42 seconds29 seconds42 seconds GreenCouncil TaxEKS18dThe percentage of Council taxes due for the financial year which were received in year by the GreenBusiness RatesEKS19dTotal Business Rates collectable per Business Rates Invoiced 34,198,700 Information only 8,696,816 8, 8,903,055 25,961,299N/AN/APage 3EK ServicesPIDescriptionOutturn 2014/15 DDC Target 2015/16Q1Q2Q3Q4 Current Cumulative figureAbsolute Number of Cases this Qtr where applicableDirection of Travel to previous QtrRAG StatusBenefitsEKS13dPay benefit GreenEKS51dHouseholds affected by reductions in Housing Benefit545 Information only518514506506N/AN/AEK Services Director's CommentsPerformance:At Q3, all targets are being met, although we saw some disruption to ICT Network Services in December due to a number of major incidents.

3 Two of these involved equipment failures, each of which led to a few hours of downtime and the third was a major cyber attack against the national schools network which also impacted the Kent Implementation of the Single Revenues and Benefits system went extremely well (see below) but, as expected the backlog of work as a result of a three week system closure, has resulted in a lower Performance in the payment of Benefits, although the use of overtime has mitigated this somewhat. It is pleasing to see that Business Rates collection is slightly up on the same quarter last Initiatives/Outcomes: The Civica Open Revenues single system is now operational; this involved the transfer and checking of customer records totalling 1 Billion + (due to historical data moving across as well as recent information). This was a major feat and the fact that this major project has gone live without any significant impact is testament to the hard work and focus of the staff involved.

4 Preferred Bidder awarded for the new single telephony system; contract due to be signed in January. New Business Rates Analyst post being recruited to help with Data analysis, Management Information and to try and further improve collection ratesConcerns/Risks:EKS and EKHR working on option to deliver services with a 1m cost reduction (9%) in 16/17 in order to meet unavoidable growth and deliver 380k savings to Councils. There is a risk to some service 4EK HousingPIDescriptionOutturn 2014/15 DDC Target 2015/16Q1Q2Q3Q4 Current Cumulative figureAbsolute Number of Cases this Qtr (where applicable)Direction of Travel to previous QtrRAG StatusEKHL1 Average time taken to re-let Council GreenEKHC2 Rent arrears as % of annual RedEKHD1 Total current residential arrears (including court costs) 243,485 Linked to EKHC2 271,749 297,998 323,781 323,781 N/AEKHD2 Average current tenant arrears per rented unit to EKHC2 N/AEKHM1 Percentage of total responsive jobs completed on AmberEKHD3 Total former tenant arrears (including court costs)

5 99,785 100,000 106,050 126,481 78,745 78,745 GreenEKHD4 Amount of former tenant arrears written off 60,004N/A 13,898 17,847 69,811 69,811 N/AEKHM5 Percentage of properties with a valid gas safety certification100%100%100%99%99%99%1 AmberEast Kent Housing Director's Comments: Performance :One property without an LGSR at the end of the period due to access problems which have still not been resolved. We are currently unable to force entry until the warrant process has been approved and in place. In the meantime, we are continuing to ring and cold call the property making every effort to gain accessThe amount of former tenant arrears written off has increased from Q2 to Q3 mainly due to the evictions filtering through from the last financial year. A write off cannot be considered until the entire process has been completed and these actions take a minimum of 6 months to 5EK HousingKey Initiatives/Outcomes:Nothing to Report for Q3 Concerns/RisksNothing to Report for Q3 Page 6 Finance, Housing & CommunityPIDescriptionOutturn 2014/15 DDC Target 2015/16Q1Q2Q3Q4 Current Cumulative figureAbsolute Number of Cases this Qtr (where applicable)Direction of Travel to previous QtrRAG StatusACC004 Percentage of invoices paid on GreenHOU010aNumber of households living in Temporary Accommodation including B&B 545042495050 GreenHOU010bNumber of households in bed and breakfast (The data provided in HOU010a and b shows the number of households on the last day of the quarter.)

6 New2522333434 RedPSH006 Number of DFG applicants waiting more than a year for a grant offer000000 GreenNew PSH007 Number of DFG applications completed777022281363 GreenNewHOU005 The number of households presenting as homeless209N/A566551172N/AN/ANewHOU011 The number of households presenting as homeless where a duty to re-house is accepted78N/A29273187 N/AFinance, Housing and Community Director s commentsGeneral FundPerformance Summary General Fund, HRA and Capital2015/16 Quarter 3 - Performance Summary General Fund, HRA and CapitalPage 7 Finance, Housing and Community Director s commentsPerformance:General Fund Revenue Budget The comments below relate to the General Fund at 30th September. The budget monitoring system is still being updated by budget managers and accountants before the results can be summarised for the third quarter, including a recalculation of recharges. The General Fund is projecting a surplus of 79k, which is 13k lower than the budgeted surplus of 92k, which is due to the variances shown in the table at point (2) in the General Fund section below.

7 The most significant variances relate to Business Rates. Business Rates income (from which Dover retains a share) is impacted by a nationwide 66% reduction in rateable value of doctors surgeries as a result of a successful appeal, backdated to 2010, resulting in refunds owed to surgeries in 2015/16, currently estimated at for Dover , but mainly relating to prior years. Provision was made in respect of such appeals within the 2014/15 Statement of Accounts to reduce Dover s own impact on the Kent-wide business rates pool for 2015/16. However, as a precautionary measure, until KFOs and Chief Accountants can analyse up-to-date information to determine the impact of this on all authorities in the pool for 2015/16, we have removed the 116k estimated additional savings from pooling as an adverse adjustment in the 2015/16 projected outturn. Offsetting the above, we have 133k favourable variance from Enterprise Zone Relief Grant relating to 2014/15, but which can only be recognised in 2015/16 under statutory reporting regulations.

8 Homelessness costs are rising, particularly for Emergency Accommodation, due to increasing demand for the service ( 92k pressure). Pressure on investment income following the return of funds from Investec and reduced durations allowable with part-nationalised banks has led to a 14k pressure forecast for the year. The Treasury Management Strategy has been revised and approved to allow greater diversification and to allow higher sums to be placed with those banks giving higher returns, subject to security and liquidity priorities. In addition, Members will note that General Fund balances are projected to be maintained at about , which is above the forecast of for 2015/16 in the Medium Term Financial Plan 2015/16 2017/18 approved by Council on 4th March Revenue Account The HRA balance as at 31st December 2015 is estimated at 2,750k, which includes 1,708k favourable variances projected for 2015/16, which changes the original budget deficit for the year from 51k to a budget surplus 1,657k.

9 The main variances are set out in the Housing Revenue Account Budget Variances table below. Capital Programme Within the capital programme, all projects approved to proceed are fully financed, and there are no significant project overspends. Further details were provided in the budget monitoring Report circulated to has been a further small increase in the number of households in temporary B&B accommodation and temporary accommodation more generally. Of the households in B&B accommodation 25 were single people. Local pressures largely reflect the position nationally and regionally. Statistics published by government show that between 2013-2015 the numbers of families housed in temporary accommodation within the south east increased by while the numbers placed in B&B increased by 36%. The Council recognises that B&B is the least suitable form of Page 8temporary accommodation and minimises its use for households with children wherever possible.

10 It is also continuing to proactively explore opportunities to secure accommodation that will provide an alternative to B&B. Key Initiatives/Outcomes:Nothing to Report for Q3 Concerns/Risks: Business Rates Income is subject to on-going pressure from a recent nationwide revaluation of purpose-built GPs surgeries as mentioned above. Business rates income has been fully reviewed in the third quarter but remains volatile. Regeneration in Dover is progressing, but significant improvements in income are unlikely to be seen until 2017/18. Current improvements in income from completed developments, including the new retail outlets at Whitfield, are being exceeded by the ongoing erosion of year-on-year income by appeals, including GPs surgeries, Tesco, Cable Link to Thanet Wind Farm, etc. While some provision for the prior year impact of such appeals has been made, the ongoing erosion is a concern, and remains hard to fully evaluate.