8 Shropshire Council Quarter 1 Performance.pdf

Scrutiny: 21 st October 2009; Shropshire Council Performance report Quarter 1 2009/10 

Committee and Date 

Cabinet 23 rd September papers 

due 15 th September 2009 

Scrutiny 21 st October papers 

due 9 th October 2009 

Item/Paper 

8 

SHROPSHIRE COUNCIL PERFORMANCE REPORT QUARTER ONE 

2009/10 

Summary 

Responsible Officer Wendy Marston – Head of Performance and Communications 

e-mail: wendy.marston@shropshire.gov.uk Tel: (01743) 252004 Fax (01743) 252827 

This report provides details of the quarter one performance for Shropshire Council Corporate 

Plan 2009/10. Overall the performance of the Corporate Plan has met target in quarter 

one. 

Recommendations 

A. That Scrutiny note the quarter one performance for Shropshire Council Corporate 

Plan. 

B. That Scrutiny note the exception report (Appendix A) for Shropshire Council 

Corporate Plan. 

C. That Scrutiny note the following action plans which have been produced to address 

under performance in the following areas: 

i. Children's Social Care Assessment Processes (Appendix B), 

ii. Housing – rent collection (Appendix C), 

iii. Planning applications (Appendix D). 

Background 

1. Section four of the Corporate Plan contains performance indicators which are 

grouped under the aims and priorities for Shropshire Council. These performance 

indicators are measured on a quarterly basis and are used to inform the quarterly 

reporting and to therefore summarise the overall performance of Shropshire 

Council Corporate Plan 2009/10. 

2. The LAA indicators for which Shropshire Council is directly responsible are 

included within the Corporate Plan and are therefore monitored as part of this 

report. The entire LAA is monitored through a separate performance report which 

is agreed and signed off by the Leadership Board. (This can be obtained from the 

Policy and Performance team if required). 

3. The Improvement Plan within the Corporate Plan focuses on the most significant 

areas for improvement for the Council. These are either linked to the corporate 

priorities or based on findings from external inspection or internal review. Progress 

against the Improvement Plan will be reported at quarter two. 

4. The corporate performance management system PerformancePlus is used to 

collect and report performance information across the council. There are four 

symbols used to explain performance: 

performance has exceeded target by +5%, 

performance has exceeded target by between 0% and +4.99% 

performance has missed target by between 0.01% and 4.99% 

performance has missed target by 5% or more. 

Contact: Wendy Marston – (01743) 252004 1


Shropshire Council Performance Summary 2009/10 

5. Overall performance for Shropshire Council Corporate Plan 2009/10 has met 

target . Performance at quarter one has been reported for 68 of the 110 

measures included. Of those reported against target, 37 indicators (67%) have met 

target , seven indicators (12%) are less than 5% from target and 11 indicators 

(21%) have missed target . A further 13 indicators have been reported but no 

target has yet been agreed. 

6. The performance of the four corporate aims and corporate priorities is as follows 

a. Aim 1 “to give children & young people the best opportunities today and for 

the future” has missed target. 

b. Aim 2 “to improve the health & well-being of Shropshire’s residents” has 

achieved target. 

c. Aim 3 “to ensure safe & strong communities for everyone in the county” has 

achieved target. 

d. Aim 4 “to build sustainable communities for local people to live and work in 

Shropshire” has achieved target. 

e. Corporate Health has missed target. 

7. Overall there are 18 indicators which have missed target at quarter one, details of 

which can be found below under the relevant aim and in the exception report 

appendix A. 

8. Shropshire reported 38 national indicators to the Price Waterhouse Coopers 

(PWC) benchmarking club in quarter one, of which 60% (23 indicators) are in the 

top two quartiles. This is well above average and ranks Shropshire 5 th overall out 

of 26 unitary councils in the benchmarking club, which as a newly formed unitary 

authority is an excellent starting position. 

Place Survey Results 2008/09 

9. The final results of the Place Survey were published in June 09. Overall, 

Shropshire's performance on questions based on satisfaction with place is 

positive. The results of the survey show 87.5% of respondents said they were 

satisfied with their local area as a place to live compared to the national average of 

80%. 

10. The Place Survey results inform 18 of the National Indicators, five of which are 

measured as part of the Corporate Plan. These are discussed in more detail within 

Aim 3. 

11. The 2008/09 Place Survey was undertaken prior to the creation of the new 

Shropshire Council. Residents were asked for their views on “Shropshire County 

Council and your local District Council” as part of the survey. Results therefore are 

only indicative of views for the new Shropshire Council. 

12. Overall satisfaction for the Council was not reported by CLG but Ipsos MORI (who 

conducted the survey for Shropshire) report the result at 42%, which is a decline 

from 2006/07 average for all the Shropshire authorities of 55%. Nationally, the 

results for this indicator show a decline. The national average for 2006/07 was 

51% and this has fallen to 45.4% in 2008/09. It is concerning that 24% of residents 

said they were dissatisfied with how their council runs things. 

Aim 1 “to give children & young people the best opportunities today and for the 

future” 

13. The top priority under this aim - “support vulnerable children and young people to 

improve their life chances” (priority 2) has met target. Other key areas of focus 

within this aim include reducing homelessness amongst young people, children’s 

safeguarding and improving educational attainment. 



14. Priority 2 “Support vulnerable children and young people to improve their life 

chances” is a top priority for Shropshire council and whilst overall this has met 

target, four of the six indicators have missed target. Placement stability and 

children’s social care assessments were subject to exception reports in 2008/09 

and improvements in performance have been seen. However, performance has 

not improved sufficiently to achieve the targets set and an action plan is therefore 

attached (appendix B). 

15. Placement stability forms part of the corporate improvement plan specifically to 

provide an “increase in, and diversification of, placement provision for Looked After 

Children, by increasing the number and skill levels of foster carers and improving 

the support available to them”. Progress against this will be measured and 

reported at quarter two. 

16. Homelessness amongst young people (priority 1) has met target. However, within 

this aim care leavers in suitable accommodation (NI147) has missed target each 

quarter since June 2008. Performance has now fallen from 2nd quartile to bottom 

quartile in the PWC benchmarking club. The nature of this indicator means that it 

is very much affected by small numbers (current performance relates to just five 

people) and further commentary to explain underperformance can be found in the 

exception report (appendix A). 

17. NI117 -16 to 18 year olds who are not in education, employment or training 

(NEET) within priority 4 has again missed target despite the action plans in place. 

This indicator forms part of the LAA and is being closely monitored by the 

Leadership Board and as a result we can demonstrate the following outcomes: 

Not in Education Employment or Training NEET 

A meeting is being convened between the County, LSC and providers of post 16 opportunities to look 

at ways of addressing this issue. Team Action Plans are currently being updated and discussions in 

the regular 14-19 Forums are identifying ways that other local partners can support actions to reduce 

NEETs. Previous action taken has had a positive impact on local young people: 

Through targeted activity we have : 

Supported 15 teenage mothers back into learning; 

Engaged 40 young people, promoting ongoing learning and access to higher education as a 

progression route 

Supported 50 young offenders into EET through a range of bespoke mentoring/support packages. 

Supported over sixty young people who have barriers to accessing EET in hot spot areas have 

accessed programmes of Life Skill and Job Clubs and this has been a successful way of 

supporting their transition into full-time EET. 

The ongoing work as a results of targeted action plans means that: 

100% of schools have identified as a target there are measures in place to identify those young 

people who are potential NEET and have strategies in place to meet their needs. 

Dialogue with the LSC is routine to achieve the September Guarantee by the end of September 

each year to ensure that there is sufficient appropriate provision to meet the demands of the 16-18 

cohort. Level of provision against offers is good at present. 

We are working towards agreeing a protocol for the involvement of Shropshire Council in the 

provision of work experience and work placements, that target the most vulnerable i.e. LLDD and 

looked after children. Working with a range of partners in the public sector, work placements are 

made available for young people within these organisations (work experience, job tasters, 

apprenticeships and employment opportunities). Partners in the public sector, e.g. the PCT, have 

identified some agreed actions including a series of awareness raising sessions for key people 

involved in recruitment. 

Over the previous quarter a number of innovative activities have been introduced to meet the needs of 

this client group. These have included the VProgramme, teenage parents programme, Life Skill 



provision in Ludlow in collaboration with Ludlow College and job club activity. 

Aim 2 “to improve the health & well-being of Shropshire’s residents” 

18. The top priorities in this aim are “improve the housing delivery for which 

Shropshire Council has direct responsibility” (priority 5) and “Maximise vulnerable 

and older people’s income and increase take up of benefits” (priority 8). 

19. Priority 5, the top housing priority “improve the housing delivery for which 

Shropshire Council has direct responsibility” has missed target. Only one local 

indicator has been reported against target this quarter, “% of rent due as the % of 

rent collected” which has missed target. Work is underway to ensure that all 

Housing Benefit due to the Landlord is credited to the appropriate account, and to 

ensure that all cash collected within each quarter is credited to the correct account 

in a timely manner. As housing is a key front line service, a detailed progress 

report is attached (appendix C). 

20. Work around tenant satisfaction is ongoing and although the figures are measured 

annually the housing team are monitoring activities and measuring the 

achievements around opportunities for participation. Work also continues in 

partnership to deliver an effective adaptations service and the performance will be 

reported against target at quarter two. 

21. The adult social care measures within priorities 6 and 7, both national and local, 

have performed well and the local indicators in particular have shown improvement 

on quarter four 2008/09. This will contribute to the Transforming Social Care Policy 

agenda, which highlights the need to provide a greater personal choice and control 

for older service users. The actions against this, including working with partners to 

develop a greater range of support providers, will be monitored as part of the 

Improvement Plan. 

22. The four local measures around adult protection cases have improved noticeably 

from the previous quarter. There are two adult social care indicators which have 

just missed target; timeliness of social care packages (NI135) and carers receiving 

needs assessments (NI136). Although work continues to improve these indicators 

NI135 remains in the bottom quartile. The exercise of giving one off payments to 

carers will be re-run again later in 2009/10 to achieve the end of year target. 

Further details of planned actions can be found in appendix A. 

23. NI145 (adults with learning disabilities in settled accommodation) has not been 

reported against target but performance remains well within the PWC top quartile. 

This is a new national indicator and the definition changed towards the end of 

2008/09 so targets for 2009/10 will be set in quarter three once a full year’s data 

has been recorded. The impact our support services can have for vulnerable 

people in Shropshire is highlighted in the following case study: 

Housing Services 

New Century Court (NCC) is a housing facility where the council supports 16-25 year olds from all 

kinds of different backgrounds. 

When Emma started at New Century Court she had many issues. She was extremely vulnerable 

because of her learning difficulties and a turbulent family history. Staff worked with her on all aspects 

of her life that she needed help with, isolating salient issues via her support plan. It was a long 

process but staff worked on her confidence, personal hygiene, budgeting and life skills and 

eventually Emma gained work locally and moved into the semi independent move-on flat. 

While still a resident at NCC, Emma represented Great Britain at the special Olympics in China and 

won 3 gold medals and a silver. This was an unbelievable achievement for someone who a year 

previous had struggled with any interaction with other people. Emma is now living independently and 

working locally. Staff still support Emma but see her less and less because her confidence is 



growing daily. 

24. The benefits take up indicators (priority 8) are newly reported for Shropshire 

Council and have all shown good performance in line with end of year targets. This 

good performance will support the Improvement Plan which aims to ensure 

“residents can live comfortably and have the income that they are eligible to”. 

25. “Promote opportunities for residents to lead active lives and enjoy their free time” 

(priority 9) has exceeded target due to the performance of the two culture and 

leisure indicators “volunteers developing/ delivering culture and outdoor recreation 

services” and “number of community learning opportunities for older people.” 

26. Children and young people’s satisfaction with parks and open spaces (NI199) is 

measured as part of priority 9 and although reported at quarter four there was no 

target set. However, the result fell within the PWC bottom quartile. The Place 

Survey measures residents’ satisfaction with parks and open spaces and the result 

achieved a low ranking, falling within the 3 rd quartile nationally. The Improvement 

Plan shows there is an awareness of these low satisfaction levels and actions to 

improve are in place to improve access to leisure facilities. 

Aim 3 “to ensure safe & strong communities for everyone in the county” 

27. This aim has exceeded target and contains top priority 13 “give communities more 

of a say in service delivery, recognise and respect differences”. All of the indicators 

reported against target within the aim have either met of exceeded target 

28. The Place Survey shows resident perceptions exclusively showing satisfaction 

levels in the second and top quartile for indicators covered by priority 13, as shown 

in the table below: 

29. There has been a decline in the percentage of people who feel that they can 

influence decisions in their local area (NI 4); the figure of 29.5% is slightly higher 

than the national average although it is 6.5% down against our 2006/07 result. 

30. It is recommended that the Citizen’s Panel is used to review the Place Survey 

results in greater depth, examining overall satisfaction, dissatisfaction and 

influencing local decisions. 

31. “Minimise the harm caused by drug and alcohol misuse” priority 12 has exceeded 

target due to the result for the rate of hospital admissions per 100,000 for alcohol 

related harm (NI039). This has performed better than target and Shropshire is one 

of only three authorities in the West Midlands whose results indicate a less steep 

rise than predicted. Below is an example of the impact services are having with 

young people to achieve this outcome. 



Shropshire DAAT Young People & Alcohol Partnership Project 

The Shropshire DAAT Young People & Alcohol Partnership Project works through the 

identification of geographical ‘hotspots’ where young people and alcohol is a particular issue. and 

the delivery of a co-ordinated partner agency response to this issue. Through 2008/09 

consultation took place in each of the 5 hotspot areas, Ludlow, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Market 

Drayton and Shrewsbury with 3,631 young people taking part. Through 2009, each of the area 

steering groups are implementing improvement plans, e.g. in Market Drayton will engage The 

Grove School Peer Mentoring Project as well as through PHSE lessons to increase awareness of 

safe drinking limits and general alcohol awareness for young people; Ludlow and Bridgnorth are 

planning specific projects around drink driving and sexual behaviours to be delivered through the 

youth service and the schools CHAT service. 

Results from work undertaken so far includes: 

A ‘Lets Talk About Drink’ booklet, aimed at parents of 8 – 12 year olds, was distributed to a total of 

15,680 pupils. A number of booklets included returnable evaluation questionnaires. In response to the 

question ‘Did it change your attitude towards alcohol’? a number of parents answered ‘Yes’ and gave 

the reasons: 

The units per adult were interesting. 

Because it can cause more health problems than I thought. 

I was already pretty aware of limits etc, but this exercise reinforced that, showed me how close I 

was to the limits. 

Made me think about how much I am drinking and the measurements. 

Made me more aware of how to tell my children and to learn more about alcohol and the 

dangers. 

Parents also commented that on the booklet: 

Useful tool for discussing alcohol with children 

We found it very good and it opened the kid’s eyes and minds to the problems of alcohol. 

Very informative. 

We enjoyed sharing this activity which we found easy as were an open ‘talky’ family. 

One young person, aged 14, who attended a “Shiftys Alcohol Awareness session” said “the session 

has changed how I feel, I’ve now stopped binge drinking”. 

40 young people aged 16-25, attended Drive events in Oswestry. After attending the Petrol & Alcohol’ 

Drink Drive VJ Project, a 17 year old male said “The effect this project has on me is the seriousness 

of drink driving – the crash reconstruction was a life changing experience because it looked so real’. 

After the Bridgnorth Friday Evening Detached Youth Project, the Bridgnorth Town Local Police Officer 

said he has seen “a reduction in complaints for youth street drinking in the town centre – the team are 

doing a good job in engaging with young people”. 

Aim 4 “to build sustainable communities for local people to live and work in 

Shropshire” 

32. The top priorities in this aim are “Reduce the levels of worklessness and support 

economic prosperity” (priority 16) and “Value and improve Shropshire’s 

environment” (priority 18). 

33. The number of households living in temporary accommodation (NI156) sits under 

priority 14 and has exceeded target. The other housing indicators regarding net 

additional homes provided and supply of ready to develop housing sites will be 

measured annually. However, as affordable housing is a key issue for Shropshire 

Council there are actions in the Improvement Plan to the availability of homes 

across Shropshire and this will be reported at quarter two. 



34. “Value and improve Shropshire’s environment” (priority 18) has missed target 

because the four planning indicators reported have not met target. The integration 

of data and systems to the central validation team and the implementation of the 

new Land and Property IT system has led to initial underperformance in validating 

new applications. There are however additional resources and improvements 

being implemented (further details can be found in appendix A). A detailed 

progress on the process to improve the planning applications is attached 

(appendix D). 

35. To “reduce the levels of worklessness and support increased economic prosperity” 

priority 16 is a top priority and economic development is a key issue for Shropshire 

Council and the Shropshire Partnership. They are working to ensure that the 

impact of the economic downturn is minimised within Shropshire as discussed in 

the following case study: 

Growth and sustainability of businesses 

The Economic Development Team has supported the Council’s bid with local colleges and 

Universities to the Higher Education & Funding Council to improve the HE offer in Shropshire. A 

statement of intent was submitted in June, which we hope will lead to being invited to submit a full 

bid. The proposals should have the impact of creating a better skilled workforce in the county to fulfil 

the requirements of businesses and generate and retain more graduates in the county. The impact 

should be better qualified staff, capable of commanding higher wage levels. The Invest In Shropshire 

initiative directs businesses to appropriate sources of support to increase their growth prospects, 

increase their profitability which should impact on wage levels. The focus is on encouraging high 

growth sectors, such as creative industries and environmental technologies, which attract well 

qualified staff with higher earning potential. 

The Re:think initiative supports businesses to diversify in to environmental technologies and exploit 

new “green” markets, improving both the environmental and financial sustainability of businesses 

(e.g. plumbers trained in solar panel installation). A bid to further support the growth of the 

environmental technology sector in Shropshire (Re:think 2, submitted by the Economic Development 

Team) is awaiting approval by Advantage West Midlands following a review of their budget and 

prioritisation exercise. 

36. Two of the eight performance indicators for priority 16 have so far been reported 

against target. The number of disabled people supported into employment has met 

target due to the support they have received. The number of apprenticeships has 

exceeded target, despite the economic downturn. 

Corporate Health 

37. The sickness indicator (BV12) measures the days lost due to sickness. The result 

of 7.38 days means the quarter one target of 7.97 days has been exceeded and 

this is an improvement on quarter one 2008/09 when the result was 8.37 days. 

38. The percentage of employees with a disability and the percentage of employees 

from minority ethnic communities have both just missed target. Further details are 

contained in appendix A. However with the recent changes to the workforce the 

impact on these figures was expected. 

39. The number of Equality Needs Impact Assessments (EINAs) completed has also 

underperformed for the 4 th consecutive quarter and details of the current 

underperformance are contained in appendix A. 

40. The new complaints system is now in place meaning that we are able to monitor 

our complaints and act on them on a regular basis. This is demonstrated by the 

following: 



Complaints and improved access for planning applications. 

Comments were received from customers about the poor location and lack of accessibility in terms 

of time and viewing facilities of the planning service facility within the Revenues and Benefits 

reception area. The reception did not have adequate amenities to allow customers to view planning 

applications and the associated plans. This has meant that the Planning Service has reviewed the 

arrangements. 

In order to make accessibility easier the facility has been moved to the main reception in Shirehall, 

with large desks for paper plans and PC's for online viewing being available for the public. 

There have been no further complaints since the changes to access have been done. 

List of Background Papers (This MUST be completed for all reports, but does not 

include items containing exempt or confidential information) 

Shropshire Council Corporate Plan 2009/13 

Human Rights Act Appraisal 

The recommendations in this report are compatible will provisions of the Human Rights Act 

1998. 

Environment Appraisal 

n/a 

Risk Management Appraisal 

n/a 

Community / Consultations Appraisal 

n/a 

Cabinet Member 

Cllr. Peter Nutting 

Local Member 

All 

Appendices 

Appendix A – Corporate Plan exception report 

Appendix B – Children's Social Care Assessment Processes 

Appendix C – Housing – rent collection 

Appendix D – Planning applications

8 Shropshire Council Quarter 1 Performance.pdf

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