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the Corporate Plan Performance Report provided an analysis of the Council’s performance as at December 2021;

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areas of good performance included net additional homes delivered, that referrals into childrens social care were decreasing, streets graded at an acceptable standard, business rate collection was high and achieving target and the council was on trajectory to achieve its council tax collection;

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current challenges included a decrease in the percentage of household waste sent to recycling, sickness rates having increased in quarter 3, and the rate of children on multiple child protection plans was missing target.

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why sickness rates were increasing and was it linked to ongoing covid issues, or connected with back to work mental health issues? It was responded that whilst the sickness rate had increased, the Council compared relatively well against its LGA comparator group. Covid had had an impact however work was ongoing to support employees. A breakdown of the numbers and different types of staff sickness would be provided to Members;

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that an explanation be provided as to why there had been a significant decrease in inward investment and what actions were being taken to address this; it was responded that a response would be provided to Members as well as to Members of the Brexit, Infrastructure and Legislative Change Overview and Scrutiny Panel for their information;

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how many families were currently housed in bed and breakfast, including the number of children, and how long had they been there? It was queried if a KPI regarding bed and breakfast use could be included in the register as it was considered an important issue; it was responded that the report had a strategic focus however the numbers of households, including families and children was recorded and tracked in the operational report, however these figures would be provided to Members as well as Members of the Education and Children’s Social Care Overview and Scrutiny Committee for their information;

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due to the importance of housing children and families in bed and breakfast accommodation, it was requested that this was recorded and tracked in the strategic register; this was acknowledged by officers;

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was it known why levels of household waste sent to recycling had fallen  dramatically from Q2 to Q3? It was responded that levels had fallen because of service pressures as well as it being a seasonal trend as garden waste collection had ceased during this period. It was expected that numbers would increase going into Q4;

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how was the Council monitoring the progress of early years settings and childminders if data was no longer being submitted to the local authority? Plymouth was below average for settings deemed to be good or above, was something in place to monitor this? It was responded that a detailed response specifying what actions were being taken to mitigate the risk would be provided to Members as well as Members of the Education and Childrens Social  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38