Agenda item

Report of the Executive Directors of Supporting People, Supporting Communities and Corporate services.

This report focusses on Quarter 4 (Q4) 2022/23 and an overview of performance of the whole financial year, using a broad range of measures from each directorate and divisions across the organisation. Individual services have provided a narrative covering key performance challenges and areas of positive improvement in their service areas.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Directors of Supporting People, Supporting Communities and Corporate Services.

The report was introduced by the Head of Corporate Strategy who, along with the Executive Director Corporate Services made the following comments during the Committee’s discussion of the report:

Members asked about the number of places registered with the warm spaces campaign. The Head of Corporate strategy said that the figures in the report were collected in March 2023 and had remained broadly stable.

The slight increase seen in recruitment could be attributed to the separation of Camden and Islington’s shared public health service.

Members were interested in the number of apprentices and any targets that Camden had for apprenticeships. The Director of Economy, Regeneration and Investment commented that despite the discontinuation of Government targets, Camden had committed to the aim of having 20 apprentices in each directorate as a base level from which to expand.

In response to a member question around the higher number of disciplinaries, the Executive Director said that there was an ebb and flow to these things, the high level could be caused by a backlog post pandemic and the current environment of a cost of living crisis. He said that Camden had a focus on supporting staff and their wellbeing.

A Member asked about staff performance data and why there had been an increase in underperformance. The Executive Director said that this may be a ‘false increase’ as managers tended to have performance discussions with people in the final quarter of the financial year. He confirmed with Members that performance data was collected prior to this year and that it had not been included due to a system error. The Executive Director agreed to provide Members with performance data from previous years.

Action by: the Executive Director Corporate Services.

Members also asked for a briefing on disciplinaries and grievances data.

Action by: the Executive Director Corporate Services.

The Committee noted the increase in the number of customer services calls taken in the past quarter and the increase to waiting times it had caused. They asked if there was available data that differentiated queries related to council tax. The Executive Director agreed to bring back information to provide more detail.

Action by: the Executive Director Corporate Services.

Members discussed complaints and asked officers if data for complaints could separate housing complaints so that greater detail around different service areas could be seen. The Executive Director explained that the Annual Complaints Report was being written and separate data could be included.

Action by: the Executive Director Corporate Services.

Members noted that the by-election in South Hampstead was the first time voter ID had been used in Camden, they asked if data was available around the number of people turned away or who did not have the correct ID with them.

Action by: the Executive Director Corporate Services.

The Committee commented that they would like to receive complaints data and information more frequently and in a more targeted way. They were concerned that receiving data once a year made it difficult to identify important elements.

Action by: the Head of Corporate Strategy.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted