Brent' Council's Performance Report for the third quarter of 2011-12 which is published as a supplement to the Performance and Finance Review gives an indication of how both Coalition policy and council cuts are beginning to hit services.
It uses a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) traffic light system where Red indicates performance below target, Amber performance below expected levels but within tolerance of the target, and Green where performance is as expected and the target met or exceeded.
All the tables below are of services given a warning Red rating. Therese are the services where improvements need to be made. It is fair to point out that many services also achieve Green ratings and these are likely to be publicised in Brent press releases and the Brent Magazine.
The Environment and Neighbourhood Services department has suffered cuts and reorganisations so it is not surprising that out of 12 performance indicators half have a Red rating and 2 an Amber and only one Green. The others are black indicating that the Council thinks performance cannot be fairly measured against a target. In reading the table remember that there is another quarter to go.
It uses a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) traffic light system where Red indicates performance below target, Amber performance below expected levels but within tolerance of the target, and Green where performance is as expected and the target met or exceeded.
All the tables below are of services given a warning Red rating. Therese are the services where improvements need to be made. It is fair to point out that many services also achieve Green ratings and these are likely to be publicised in Brent press releases and the Brent Magazine.
The Environment and Neighbourhood Services department has suffered cuts and reorganisations so it is not surprising that out of 12 performance indicators half have a Red rating and 2 an Amber and only one Green. The others are black indicating that the Council thinks performance cannot be fairly measured against a target. In reading the table remember that there is another quarter to go.
Environment and Neighbourhood Services
Performance indicator | 2010-11 end of year | 2011-12 year to date | 2011-12 current target |
Volume of residual waste kg per household | 644 | 453 | 427 |
% of household waste sent for recycling | 33 | 35 | 47 |
Tonnes of waste sent to landfill | 80,000 | 59,000 | 53,000 |
Number of fly-tipping incidents | 3882 | 4435 | 3000 |
Active library borrowers as % of population | 18.6 | 13.81 | 16.4 |
% of streets below standard for litter | 10.2% | 11.7% Nov | 9% |
Despite the Council's claims made for the Library Transformation Project the target for the percentage of Brent residents who are active borrowers was set below the 2010-11 level and performance is below that lower target. Next year with the closure of Willesden Green for redevelopment. the figure is likely to decline further. The number of library visits per 100,000 population gets an Amber rating. The target was 4,834 compared with 6,660 in 2010-2011 and after the third quarter stood at 4,606.
The Council ridiculed the Green Party's claims that cuts to street cleansing would result in Brent becoming a dirtier borough but the figures justify our claim and the residual waste/recycling figures are also below the Council's expectations.
Children and Families
| Performance indicator | 2010-11 end of year | 2011-12 year to date | 2011-12 current target |
| Net shortfall of places at Key Stage 1 (5-7 year olds) | n/a | -304 | 0 |
| Percentage of 16 to 18 year olds not in education, employment or training | 5% | 4% | 4% |
| Percentage of care leavers in education, employment or training | 71% | 64% | 80% |
| Number of looked after children with independent fostering agencies | 112 | 100 | 89 |
| Number of looked after children placed with in-house foster carers | 103 | 109 | 127 |
The shortage of school places is a continuing problem which has been addressed by an ad hoc mixture of school expansions, temporary classrooms and bulge classes. Coalition policies giving priority to free schools and academies and providing them with disproportionate amounts of funding, makes it difficult for the Council to build the new schools that are needed.
At the other end of the age range the number of school leavers not in education, employment and training is likely to increase in the recession and the situation has been worsened by the abolition of the Education Maintenance Allowance. The plight of looked after children is highlighted by the number of care leavers who, as they enter adult life, are not in education, employment or training.
Regeneration and Major Projects
Performance indicator | 2010-11 end of year | 2011-12 year to date | 2011-12 current target |
% of major planning applications processed within 13 weeks | 73 | 25 | 70 |
Gap between Brent and London for working people on out of work benefits | 3 | 3.4 | 1.4 |
Number of households living in temporary accommodation | 3,019 | 3.073 | 2,973 |
Proportion of residents with no qualifications (gap between Brent and London. Minus figure reflects higher than average gap) | n/a | -4.8 | -2.0 |
The increase in the proportion of people on benefits compared with the London average and the increase in numbers of temporary accommodation are clearly the most worrying items ion the short term but the 'no qualifications' figures builds up problems for the long term.
Central Services
| Performance indicator | 2010-11 end of year | 2011-12 year to date | 2011-12 current target |
| Serious violent crime rate (per 1000 of population) | 1.64 | 1.72 | n/a |
| Serious acquisitive crime rate (serious thefts, burglaries per 1000 of population) | 31.82 | 33.92 | n/a |
| Serious knife crime rate per 1000 of population | 2.05 | 2.09 | n/a |
| Gun crime rate per 1000 of population | 0.39 | 0.43 | n/a |
| Time taken to process Benefit claims (average number of days) | 9.77 | 8.33 | 8.0 |
Adult Social Care
The Council is not meeting its target of 90% of Mental Health Social Care assessments completed within four weeks and the figure currently stands at 65%. Similarly the percentage of social care packages put in place within the recommended timelines following assessment is 65% against a target of 95%.
Financial Report
Adult Social Care is a major financial pressure and although overspend has reduced compared with the second quarter the General Fund overspend stands at £292,000. In Children and Families' General Fund there is as underspend on Achievement and Inclusion (School Improvement Service and Connexions which was cut) but an overspend on Social Care partly due to an increase in child protection cases following the baby Peter case.
Environment and Neighbourhood Services had no overall under or overspend with savings from Neighbourhood Services (including libraries and transportation) offsetting an increase in Environment and Protection costs which receives a Red rating.
The Regeneration and Major Projects General Fund had a small underspend and there were underspends overall on Capital Budgets with that of the Civic Centre underspent as a result of 'adjusted profiled cash flow'. It was originally £51m and reduced to £29.5m. Children and Families Capital Projects which this department has taken over gets a Red grading with an overspend of £5m.
The Department's main pressure is caused by the housing benefit cap with an increase of 27% in homeless applications and 42% in acceptances compared with last year. The total pressure is forecast at £750,000 for 2011-12.
Beneath all these figures are real people experiencing real hardship as a consequence of the Government's cuts to national benefits and the public sector, alongside cuts in local authority funding leading to cuts in Council Services.It all adds up to further evidence of the damage the Coalition's austerity measures are doing to people who are not to blame for the crisis.
Wonder if LBB has done any base budgeting to show how much money is needed to meet the targets set. It would demonstrate the shortfall between what funding they have to spend and how much is needed. What representation is LBB making to the London Boroughs, Mayor's Office, local MPs, Ministers and Prime Minister? How is LBB publicising to the people of Brent the impact that government cuts are having on residents?
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