Annual Performance Report 2008-09

Performance Summary

This is the annual performance report for the Council for 2008/09. It shows the Councils progress against the 6 key themes identified in the Corporate Plan. Each theme is broken down into two sections:

Project update: A comment on progress against all projects identified within the theme last year.

Performance Indicators: Performance data and targets for all indicators identified against the theme.

The Council has made good progress against its Corporate Plan over the past year. The following paragraphs provide a summary for each theme.

Theme 1: Thanet’s Economy

Some projects have been affected by the economic downturn, particularly project 1.5b, achieving a technical design and funding source for an alongside quay, which is no longer achievable. However, other projects have made good progress in spite of the recession most notably project 1.5d, achieving signed agreements for the operation and maintenance base for both the Thanet Offshore and London Array wind farms. Progress against key long-term economic indicators has been slow this year, primarily as a result of the recession.

Theme 2: Safe Neighbourhoods

All projects have progressed well this year and this has been reflected in a continued reduction in key crime indicators including violent crime and criminal damage. The effort to tackle anti-social behaviour has been ongoing and this has been reflected in police statistics which show perception of anti-social behaviour has fallen from 18% to 13% over the course of the year.

Theme 3: Beautiful Thanet

With the exception of the project to achieve Green Flag status for some of Thanet’s parks, the projects under this theme have all made good progress this year with a number of projects achieved already. Despite being unable to achieve Green Flag status, the parks project has led to some significant improvements to local parks for example, improved play facilities in Dane Park.

Theme 4: Quality Housing

Most projects are on track although the recession is affecting the development of affordable housing in the area. Key successes have been the number of homes improved through local authority action and the work undertaken to tackle homelessness which has led to higher levels of homelessness prevention and a further reduction in the number of households placed in temporary accommodation. The level of private rented accommodation in the Renewal Area remains a long-term challenge.

Theme 5: Healthy Communities

A number of projects have been completed and good progress has been made on many projects. However, some projects have fallen behind, most notably the swimming pool project, which has been (partly) affected by the recession. We are currently awaiting the release of the results of a recent survey by the Department for Communities and Local Government which will provide us with useful information to help track Thanet’s progress against this theme.

Theme 6: Modern Council

Good progress has been made against almost all projects in this theme. Projects to improve efficiency and value for money have already delivered good results and are helping to reduce costs whilst improving service delivery for local people. The progress the Council has made was confirmed in December 2008 with the release of the Best Value Performance Indicator results for 2007-08. These showed that the Council had improved significantly on its performance over the previous two years.

Partnerships

This year a new element has been included in the report as the Council aims to focus on delivering services for local people in partnership with other agencies. Over the coming year the Council will be looking to identify and monitor the progress of all the key partnerships that it is part of to ensure that they offer value for money and make a difference for the local community.

Dashboard

To ensure that the Council maintains a focus on internal performance it has established a dashboard of indicators which will be monitored on a monthly basis to keep track of the top priorities for operational management.

Performance Key

Symbol	What this means when referring to a project:	What this means when referring to an indicator:
	The project is on track for completion as planned.	The indicator achieved the target in 2008/09
	The project is currently at risk of falling behind plan.	Not used for indicators
	The project is not progressing according to plan.	The indicator did not achieve the target in 2008/09