Lichfield District Council
Annual Report
2008
We’re committed to our environment
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Introduction 2008 is the last year of our current strategic plan 2004 – 2008. We’ve put together a new strategic plan which will shape our services and journey to 2012. From building strong communities, to helping people to realise their potential, to ensuring all our services are as efficient as they can be, the priorities in our new plan will make a real difference to local people. Read the inside back page of this booklet to find out more about our new strategic plan.
THIS YEAR
*
2
* 40% of our performance indicators have improved and 39% have stayed the same.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Our purpose We’re committed to enhancing the general quality of life of the people who live, work in, and visit our district. We do this through the promotion and improvement of the economic, social and environmental well-being. This means sustainable development must be at the heart of everything we do.
We don’t believe...
We know...
in providing run of the mill services. Second best isn’t good enough for us. We believe in providing top-class services at an affordable price that meet real need, and have the potential to change people’s lives.
what we do helps to shape local communities, from making places cleaner and safer, to creating more local jobs.
We believe...
We want...
that where people live is central to their quality of life, and that what we do can make a big difference.
people to love where they live, and live better because of it. We’re all about helping local people to do this.
This annual report shows how as a low-charging council with really big ambitions, we achieved big things and made a real difference in 2008. 3 LDC ARep 08 v7.indd 3
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Contents We’re working together with our partners to make our district cleaner and safer, a great place to live, with a better quality of life for all, and a thriving economy. Find out more in this annual report.
5-11
A strong team with a shared vision What we were really proud of this year An extraordinary year Your councillors
12-15
Making our money work well How your views help shape our services Our performance counts
Our journey, our route map
16-25
>> Creating a safer & cleaner district >> Being a good place to live >> Creating a better quality of life >> Building a thriving economy >> Delivering through a joint effort
Our top priorities: a look back
26-32
Our performance highlights Our performance in detail How the council works How we check we’re on track We’re proud to provide award winning services
33-36
Who else provides local services? How to contact us Order this booklet in another or format Our strategic plan 2008 - 2012 Please give us your views
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
A strong team with a shared vision Councillors and officers work closely together to help deliver top services that meet local people’s needs. Our councillors are the eyes and ears of our local communities and help to shape the council’s direction. The council is led by Councillor David S. Smith and the officer team is led by Nina Dawes. Here they tell us a little more about how good teamwork has helped to deliver great results.
From major flooding affecting thousands of people in Lichfield district to the now withdrawn proposals for a 5000 home Eco Town, the last year has seen big financial challenges for your council. We have also made tremendous strides towards the reinvigoration of our district’s shopping and leisure facilities in both Lichfield and Burntwood. With last year’s district elections saw a renewed commitment to our existing strategy, and a revised vision for the future. Our focus has been to provide the best possible services whilst ensuring that tax payers’ money is spent wisely. Driving forward recycling levels to over 50%, we are proud that the people of Lichfield District are at the very forefront nationally of efforts to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Your council run leisure centres saw more people than ever before taking a healthy life option whilst the Lichfield Garrick provided the most diverse programming ever, enjoyed by the largest audiences in the theatre’s history. But with central government requiring local authorities to take on more responsibilities, without always providing the funding to do so, we have been working hard to secure further efficiencies. Using modern technologies including Lichfield Connects, the state of the art contact centre launched last year, we are making district council services more easily accessible and even better value for money. We have joined forces with other councils in Staffordshire to provide services together meaning greater flexibility and improved economies of scale. We have continued to work hard to lobby Westminster, national, regional and county bodies in an effort to get the very best for the residents and businesses in Lichfield District. All this is not something we can do on our own. We are fortunate that most people are proud of our district, its heritage and the reputation we are building as a sub-regional, regional and national place of importance. Councillor David S. Smith Leader of Lichfield District Council cllr.davidsmith@lichfielddc.gov.uk
It’s been the worst of years and the best of years. It’s been the toughest of years and the most rewarding of years. It was the worst of years because 250 families in our district had their lives devastated by the floods of summer 2007, when water damaged their homes, and about the same number were at risk of being flooded. For 39 days over 100 council staff, alongside staff from partners and agencies, pitched in with communities to deal with the unprecedented volume of water. Seventeen settlements, six rivers, a canal and three pumping stations, these are the figures behind the life threatening situation we faced together. It was the best of years because of the way everyone responded - the acts of kindness, the care and concern shown by everyone involved. It was humbling. It was the toughest of years because our floods went on for so long, and we are still dealing with the aftermath – a year later. Events like our flooding leave their mark and take their toll on everyone involved. It was the most rewarding of years because despite the scale of the floods, as a council we kept our focus, and turned out another year of good performance. This is a testament to the team we have – Members and officers, who stepped up to a higher plate and delivered a better performance in the most difficult of circumstances. A personal highlight of the year was to receive an OBE in the New Year’s honours for flood rescue. I felt proud and privileged, and I felt I collected it on behalf of the team – the Council, partners, agencies and the communities. It was recognition of the exceptional way everyone responded to the devastating series of events which made the 2007 the worst of years and the best of years. Nina Dawes OBE Chief Executive of Lichfield District Council nina.dawes@lichfielddc.gov.uk
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What made us really proud in 2007 – 2008 A safer and cleaner district • We led on a multi-agency response and recovery operation to local flooding in June and July. Over 250 homes were flooded and the same number threatened. We also distributed individual flood grants to local people and agencies to help them get back on their feet. • We planted over 160 trees in local communities, and looked after the district’s rare and endangered heathland. We teamed up with Chadsmead Primary School pupils to plant trees in their local area. • We helped local people to recycle more than ever before – over 50%. We recycled and composted over 22,563 tonnes! We remained top of the recycling league in the West Midlands and a national top performer. We continued to find new ways to help local people recycle even more of their household waste. This year local people started added food waste to their brown bins, which has helped to boost the amount of waste we compost. • We regularly sweep over 321 miles of local footpaths, streets and roadsides. We empty 571 litter bins and 170 dog bins on a daily and weekly basis. Our litter ‘hit squad’ responds to residents’ reports of fly tipping, litter and dog fouling every day to help keep public areas clean and safe. • We do all we can to encourage people not to litter our streets. But where people persist, we take action. This year we issued 15 fixed penalties notices to people caught littering, five to people who allowed their dogs to foul public places, and successfully prosecuted one. • We cleaned graffiti from 14 walls across the district. We removed over 384 abandoned cars from local streets, and over 600 incidents of fly tipped rubbish from local lay-bys and public areas. • Our streets are even cleaner this year and we’re proud that our surveys show 98% are now clean and tidy, compared to 77% in 20042005. We also cleaned and maintained over 1,400 acres of local parks and green spaces. • Anti-social behaviour has dropped massively with 791 less than expected incidents reported. We also helped police and other agencies to reduce vehicle theft by over 11%, theft from, or damage to, vehicles by over 39%, burglaries in local homes by 2.5%, and overall crime by 15%. • We introduced ‘Alcohol Control Zones’ to help keep our streets free from alcohol and reduce anti-social behaviour. • We launched www.ratemyplace.org.uk, a Staffordshire website that lets local people easily find out how safe and clean county eateries are, including pubs, restaurants, schools and hospitals.
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A good place to live • We opened the doors to the new Venture House, our much loved community training centre in the new City Wharf. Venture House runs programmes for young people who struggle with school, or left school early to help them into education or employment. Its also runs a range of courses for adult learners. We co-located with Connexions to offer services to young people at one easy location. • We approved our new housing strategy which underpins our ambition to create sustainable communities with access to good quality and affordable housing. As part of that commitment, we worked with developers and our housing association development partners to create 61 new affordable homes across the district this year. • We invested over £200,000 in partner services, from Relate, to the Lichfield Festival, to the Burntwood Wakes. • Our housing advice service, which offers help to people with housing problems, advised over 500 people. We launched a Sanctuary scheme, which helps families at risk of domestic violence to stay safe in their own homes, and a Night Stop service that provides temporary accommodation for young people who leave home for a short time. • Our planning service is one of the best in the country, with over 94.7% of typical (other) applications taking just 8 weeks to process. On average, we handle over 1,300 applications each year. • Customer service is top notch in our Building Control Team who were awarded Charter Mark for the third year running. The Tourist Information Centre, which provides a range of services to tourists and local people alike, was awarded a Silver Service Mark Award. • We took one step closer to a planned £3.9 million transformation of our Lichfield City Centre parks, including Beacon Park, Minster Pool and the Garden of Remembrance. • North Lichfield Initiative strengthened community links and got loads of people involved in activities ranging from an International Women’s day, to a sloppy slippers campaign, to a bat walk, to a knit and natter session, to a face painting course. They also led on initial plans for the district’s first nature reserve at Leyfields. • Over 50 immigrant workers came together to discuss local issues and forge links with community safety agencies in the autumn. • We remained one of the best councils nationally at monitoring air quality and pollution. We received over £55,000 funding to improve air quality across the district.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
A thriving economy • We’ve approved plans for a new retail complex in Burntwood town centre. • The Secretary of State gave the green light for the Friarsgate shopping and leisure complex, by granting the Compulsory Purchase Order, which will allow us to buy the necessary land for the development. • Our new £1 million Lichfield City centre paving scheme was completed. The scheme has replaced tired and worn out paving with traditional flagstones, and introduced traffic calming measures to make it safer for pedestrians. • The City Wharf development, which is ahead of schedule, opened key buildings within the scheme, including Venture House, our new community training centre. • The Garrick Theatre went from strength to strength, with sell-out audiences, rave reviews and a much improved financial performance. All this contributed to Lichfield’s vibrant night-time economy.
A better quality of life • Our Community Transport scheme proved extremely popular with bookings up over 10% on last year. • We helped local businesses to prepare for the new smokefree legislation, which saw our teams travelling around the district to offer guidance on smokefree shelters and building signage to over 2,000 businesses. • We secured over £200,000 of Big Lottery funding to develop and update 5 parks across the district, from Alrewas to Chase Terrace. The money will also be used to launch a free play rangers service. • From trampolining, to tennis, to swimming over 2,000 local children had a great time last summer on our Playschemes. • We helped set-up a youth centre at the new Mile Oak community centre. • Friary Grange Leisure Centre was made even more accessible to disabled and less able customers, with the addition of new poolside changing facilities, new lifts and electronic changing beds.
• Our new customer services team, Lichfield Connects, started handling more customer calls, from benefit enquiries to environmental health queries. It’s helping us to deliver improved customer satisfaction, and to save money through more efficient ways of working.
• We ran a range of community arts projects that saw over 600 people getting involved, from parents and children out shopping, to pupils, to local artists. Our arts development team also won a Big Draw award for the fourth year running.
• We helped over 6,100 residents to get the money they need through housing and council tax benefits. We processed housing benefit claims in our fastest ever times with a lower number of errors.
• Burntwood Leisure Centre celebrated after receiving a coveted Quest Award for the second year running. Quest recognises good customer services, high levels of cleanliness, good management and customer satisfaction.
• Over two million people visited our district and helped boost local shops, businesses and restaurants. We launched a new tourism website www.visitlichfield.co.uk and continued to promote Lichfield’s significance as an important regional and national centre, and key tourist destination. • We offered VOICE, a new community web publishing toolkit, free to local groups, to help them establish a website and interact online. From www.init.org.uk to www.e-voice.org.uk/lichfieldbower
Turn to pages 20 - 25 to find out more about what our teams have delivered for our communities this year.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
An extraordinary year When flooding hit in Elford and Fazeley, over 250 families suffered terrible damage to their homes. In response to the flooding, a team at the council, assisted by agencies from across the district and the county, launched a full-scale response and recovery operation called Operation Helping Hand.
Over 250 homes flooded and the same number were threatened. Six rivers, one canal and three pumping stations flooded. Seventeen settlements and the National Memorial Arboretum was affected.
Over hundred district council staff and councillors teamed up with the Civil Contingencies Unit, fire and rescue, the police, county highways, the primary care trust, the Environment Agency, county animal health and farms, the army, HomeZone Living, neighbouring councils and organisations from the voluntary sector. Our Operation Helping Hand team was assisted by the Government Office for the West Midlands and utility companies. From delivering sandbags, to evacuating people from their homes, to sitting up throughout the night to monitor floodwaters, to visiting people in their homes, Operation Helping Hand worked around the clock to safeguard local people’s safety, and to do what it could to limit the damage caused by flood waters. In July, Flooding Minister, John Healey MP, visited the district to see the effect of the flooding first-hand. Shortly afterwards, the Government announced the district would receive £100,000 funding to help local people and the community to recover. This has since been distributed to local families to help them get back on their feet, and to local agencies to help them address specific flood related issues within flood-hit communities.
Since the flooding, the team has tackled issues highlighted during the flood, to limit the possibility of future flooding. Work has included building up flood defences, getting the pumping stations fixed, cleaning out pipes, streams and brooks, repairing roads and drains, and we haven’t finished yet!
To read full details about the flooding and the follow-up work carried out by agencies across the district, download our full Gold Report. www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/goldreport
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The wettest year on record! As a council we were heartened by the efforts of all the agencies. They worked tirelessly to make sure local people were looked after. We’d like to thank everyone who was involved. The council will be working to make sure the issues of flood defences and flood prevention stay high on the national agenda.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Your Councillors
Cllr B. Constable
Cllr H. Fisher
Cllr R. Campbell Boney Hay
Boney Hay
Cllr R. Heath
Cllr K. Humphreys
Cllr B. Rigby
Cllr R. Bamborough
Cllr M. Humphreys
Cllr S. Tranter
Cllr P. Atkins
Cllr J. Emery
Cllr D. Constable
Cllr M. Holt
Cllr D. Isaacs
Cllr S. Norman
Cllr J. Allsopp
Cllr B. Diggle
Cllr J. Eagland
Cllr M. Bland
Cllr M. Fryers
Cllr B. Bacon
Cllr N. Bacon
Cllr J. Walker
Cllr T. Finn
Cllr I. Jackson
Cllr D. Love
Cllr G. Boyle
Cllr D. English
Cllr J. Wilks
Cllr B. Derrick
All Saints
Chase Terrace
Highfield
Chadsmead
Leomansley
All Saints
Chase Terrace
Summerfield
Chadsmead
Leomansley
Chase Terrace
Summerfield
Curborough
St. Johns
Chasetown
Boley Park
Curborough
St. Johns
Burntwood Central
Chasetown
Boley Park
Curborough
St. Johns
Burntwood Central
Highfield
Boley Park
Leomansley
Stowe
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Turn to pages 31-32 for more details about how the council works.
Cllr C. Greatorex
Cllr D. Smedley
Cllr T. Marshall
Cllr M. Tittley
Armitage w. Handsacre
Bourne Vale
Cllr I. Lewin
Cllr E. Bayliss
Stowe
Armitage w. Handsacre
Fazeley
Stowe
Hammerwich
Cllr P. Hogan
Cllr M. Stanhope
Cllr M. Wilcox
Cllr R. Cox
Cllr C. McEwan
Cllr T. Hill
Cllr B. Adams
Cllr T. Brookes
Cllr V. Richards
Cllr I. Pritchard
Cllr L. Flowith
Alrewas & Fradley
Hammerwich
Alrewas & Fradley
Alrewas & Fradley
Colton & Mavesyn Ridware Fazeley
Kings Bromley
Little Aston
Armitage w. Handsacre
Fazeley
Cllr J. Powell
Little Aston
Contact your Councillor To find the contact details of Councillors on our website visit: www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/councillors Or call 01543 308000 and request contact details.
Cllr N. Roberts Longdon
Cllr P. Bennion Mease & Tame
Cllr E. Fleetwood Mease & Tame
Cllr M. Ellis Shenstone
Burntwood Area Lichfield Area
Cllr R. Hancocks Shenstone
Cllr D.S. Smith Stonnall
Cllr C. Ablitt Whittington
Cllr A. White Whittington
Rural Area
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Making our money work well We deliver good quality, great value services, and we’re proud that we manage to achieve this, whilst keeping council tax increases to a minimum. We’re also proud that people living in Lichfield District pay around £25 less than the national average every year for the district council services they receive. In 2004 the Audit Commission told us we were a good council. Every year since then, they’ve told us that we spend the money we get wisely and well, and that our performance is improving. We’re also proud that we bring in high levels of external funding, which helps us to deliver even better local services, at no extra cost to our residents. On these pages we provide information about our finances for the year ending March 31st 2008, as well as our financial plans for the coming year: April 1st 2008 – March 31st 2009.
Key facts • We spent £10,432,000 in 2007 – 2008 on local services • We are set to spend £11,024,000 in 2008 – 2009 • A typical household (Band D) council tax bill in 2007 – 2008 was £127.82. In 2008 – 2009 it is £133.57 • The average national council tax bill in 2008 – 2009 was £157.70, which is nearly £24 more than we charged.
Our income £’s
£17,005,000
2006 - 2007
£’s
2007 - 2008
£18,187,000
£11,858,000
£13,252,000 £6,643,000
£6,800,000 £1,031,000
£0
Interests on investments
Uses of balances/ reserves
Government settlement
Money from grants, fees and charges
£965,000
Housing benefit grant from central government
£0
Income from property (mainly commercial)
£1,037,000
Council Tax
Government settlement
Money from grants, fees and charges
Housing benefit grant from central government
Income from property (mainly commercial)
Council Tax
£1,056,000
Uses of balances/ reserves
£4,785,000
Interests on investments
£4,530,000
What services local people pay for in their Council Tax Bill Lichfield District Council collects council tax on behalf of Staffordshire County Council, parish councils, the fire and police services. Here’s how the money is divided:
Last year (2007/8)
This year (2008/9)
Who received what percentage of our bill?
How much each service costs you each week
Amount each council or service has increased their yearly charge
Staffordshire County Council £947.54
£985.44
71.2%
£18.95
4%
Lichfield District Council
£127.82
£133.57
9.6%
£2.57
4.5%
Police Authority
£160.15
£166.16
12%
£3.20
3.8%
Fire & Rescue Authority
£60.27
£63.24
4.6%
£1.22
4.9%
£2.97
Average Parish/ Town Council
£35.68
£36.40
2.6%
£0.70
2.09%
£0.72
Total amount payable (Band D)
£1,331.46
£1384.81
100%
£26.46
4%
£53.35
Council/Authority
£37.90 £5.75 £6.01
• Source: Lichfield District Council Tax Leaflet 2008-2009.
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How the money we spend improves local lives Find out below how we’re spending the money we get in the areas we know will make a difference to people locally. We spend money in two different ways:
Our revenue spending 2007 - 2008 We fund our day-to-day running costs (revenue spending), with the money we get from council tax, grants and interest on our investments. Creating a cleaner, greener and safer district: 20% (£3.1 million) Includes recycling and waste collection, street cleansing, litter control and environmental health. Creating a better quality of life: 38% (£6.1 million) Includes housing services, housing and council tax benefits. Being a good place to live: 21% (£3.3 Million) Includes leisure centres, the Lichfield Garrick, parks and open spaces. Building a thriving economy: 13% (£2.1million) Includes planning and urban development, tourism, inward investment. Delivering through a joint effort: 8% (£1.3 million) We’re working with our partners and community to provide what the community needs.
Our capital spend 2007 - 2008 We also invest money in the district (capital spending) and make the best use of proceeds from our other assets, including the sale of council owned buildings and land. Creating a cleaner, greener and safer district: 2% (£ 0.11 million) Includes projects such as the tree replacement schemes and work on our endangered heathland. Creating a better quality of life: 17% (£1.3 million) Includes providing grants for disabled people for adaptations to their homes, so they can live more independently. Being a good place to live: 3% (£ 0.2 million) Includes the funding of affordable housing and projects such as the improvement of community greens in Lichfield. Building a thriving economy: 72% (£5.3 million) Includes projects such as the Lichfield City Centre paving scheme and environmental improvements in Burntwood. Delivering through a joint effort: 6% (£ 0.5 million) Includes e-government and information.
For a full summary of our accounts, please visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/summaryaccounts2008 or call 01543 308000. LDC ARep 08 v7.indd 13
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Your views help to shape our services Every year we ask a cross section of local people what they think of our services through face-to face meetings. Our most recent survey was carried out in February 2008 and here are some of the key findings:
95% of local people are satisfied with their community as a place to live, which is over 12% higher than last year. 69% of local people are satisfied with the way we deliver our services, which is 6% higher than last year. Are we making a difference? When we asked: ‘What makes somewhere a good place to live?’ this is what people told us:
When asked what services provided by Lichfield District Council need improving, people told us:
These figures show us that local people believe low levels of crime and clean streets are some of the most important local factors at the moment. Looking back over the years, the figures also indicate that our work to increase the numbers of affordable homes on new developments has had a positive impact.
Generally we are improving our services in the areas that matter to local people. In particular, the activities we are providing for teenagers are seen by local people to have improved, as have local shopping facilities and more affordable local homes.
Answer/ Topic
Jan 2006
Feb 2008
Answer/ Topic
Jan 2006
Feb 2008
Low level of crime
49
64 (+15)
Activities for teenagers
61
37 (-24)
Clean streets
25
36 (+11)
Clean streets
22
34 (+12)
Shopping facilities
48
29 (-19)
Facilities for young children
28
22 (-6)
Community activities
9
27 (+18)
Community activities
12
14 (+2)
Affordable decent housing
49
23 (-26)
Shopping facilities
28
14 (-14)
Health services
45
22 (-23)
Cultural facilities (eg cinemas, museums)
23
12 (-11)
Road and pavement repairs
8
22 (+14)
Affordable decent housing
42
11 (-31)
Parks and open spaces
17
19 (+2)
Sports & leisure facilities
12
11 (-1)
Activities for teenagers
39
19 (-20)
Parks and open spaces
11
11
Facilities for young children
32
18 (-14)
Low level of pollution
3
6 (+3) 3 (+2)
Job prospects
34
15 (-19)
Access to nature
1
Education provision
18
13 (-5)
Public transport
Not asked 2
Cultural facilities (e.g. cinemas, museums)
19
12 (-7)
Race relations
1
0 (-1)
Low level of traffic congestion
13
11 (-2)
Tree cutting
Na
Not asked
Low level of pollution
4
11 (+7)
Road improvements
Na
Not asked
Sports & leisure facilities
11
10 (-1)
Public transport
16
10 (-6)
Access to nature
2
9 (+7)
Wage levels/ Local cost of living
21
5 (-16)
Race relations
2
0 (-2)
To address the issues that are seen as a higher priority - from cleaner streets, to reduced levels of crime, our new strategic plan 2008 – 2012 sets out our approach to tackling these over the coming four years. See the inside back page of this booklet to find out more or visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/strategicplan
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Our performance counts Through our research, we know that the services we deliver have a direct impact on the quality of local people’s lives. We work hard to make sure the services that matter most to local people from street cleansing, to benefits, to housing – are top class. By performing well, we can have a greater impact on our communities. We set clear targets for all our services, and we’re always keen to find out if we’re doing things well. So how do we do this? We listen to you
Are we serving you well?
Every year we interview a cross section of local people and businesses in face-to-face meetings. We find out what they think of our services, ask them whether we are getting things right, and how we can improve. We also meet with local people when we ask about specific services or developments – from the proposed Friarsgate scheme, to house-to-house calls about our recycling service.
We use our ambitions and focus to shape our priorities, our team targets and our employee’s targets. We actively manage our performance through regular reviews to ensure we’re on track and that all our team members are working towards key targets. To check our progress against national performance indicators see page 29-30.
The views of local businesses and partners also help us to set our targets. Each year we also host a variety of forums and face-to-face meetings to get a wide range of business views – from consultations on our new development framework, to presentations to the local tourism association. We use all this feedback to help us improve our services, as well as to shape our plans and strategies, to ensure we are heading in the right direction and doing what counts.
To make sure our customer services are top-notch, we regularly mystery shop our customer services points. In our recent customer survey (Omnibus February 2008), 79% of people said they preferred to contact us by phone, and 91% were satisfied with the service they received. This year we were overjoyed to be awarded a Silver Service Mark Award for our customer services at our Tourist Information Centre, and Chartermark for our Building Control service for the third year running.
• Over the last four years, we have used local feedback to shape our focus and ambitions. Find out more about our focus and ambitions and our key achievements over the past four years on pages 16-19. • We’ve also shaped our new strategic plan 2008 – 2012 using feedback from local people, local businesses and partners. Find out more about our strategic plan on the inside back page of this booklet or visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/strategicplan
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Our journey, our route map Becoming a top council is a continual journey: it’s about knowing where you’re heading, how to avoid potholes and queues, and making sure you have enough fuel to get you there on time. To help us reach our destination we’ve developed our route map, which has a purpose, ambitions, focus and priorities. These help us to keep on course and reach the people and places we need to.
How we created our map and charted our course When we created our last strategic plan in 2004 we identified local issues and challenges – from a lack of sustainable transport in our villages, to the need for more business opportunities in Burntwood, to a need for more affordable housing. By listening to local people we set out what they told us was important to them, which gave us our ambitions:
• A cleaner and safer district • A better quality of life for local people • A good place to live • A thriving economy • To deliver all this through a joint effort with our partners and local people 16 LDC ARep 08 v7.indd 16
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Our ambitions and focus then helped us shape our top priorities, so that we invest time and money in the right areas, and achieve the things local people want us to.
By matching our challenges to our ambitions a clear focus emerged: 1. We needed to dramatically improve our services. We chose the services for improvement that would help us to achieve our ambitions, and we’ve worked to make them absolutely customer focused and performance driven.
2. We knew we needed to lead and shape the growth of our district. We’ve worked to rejuvenate Lichfield City and Burntwood Town centres, tackled issues that are important to our rural communities, and focused on the needs of those who don’t share in the opportunities available to others in our district.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Our top priorities: a look back... As this is the last year of our current strategic plan, here we take a look back at just some of our achievements from the last 4 years, against our top priorities. Our priorities Provide first class shopping, leisure facilities and job opportunities in Lichfield City Centre and Burntwood Town Centre.
Improve the quality of life for people in our villages.
Tackle deprivation and help to boost local people’s health.
A flavour of our achievements over the past four years • Plans for a new city centre £100 million shopping and leisure complex for Lichfield were approved. £1 million was invested to improve the paving in the lower end of the City centre. • Plans for a new shopping complex in Burntwood were approved. £200,000 was invested to improve the look and feel of the existing town centre. • We helped to attract well-paid local jobs into areas like Fradley, where now over 3,500 people are employed in jobs that didn’t exist before. When Fradley Business Park is full, over 10,000 people will be employed there. • We helped to give the Mile Oak Community Centre a £180,000 facelift. The new community hub is used by partners including the police, Citizens Advice Bureau and Tamworth & Lichfield College, to offer services to local people. • Our Community Transport scheme has gone from strength to strength. In 2006 we celebrated the 25,000 mile mark and now transport over 120 people a week, to and from their homes, to local facilities. • We’ve speeded up the time it takes us to process housing and council tax benefit claims. We’re now a strong performing council nationally, and get money to people who need it more quickly. • We’ve helped to introduce smoke free legislation across the district, and worked with partners to provide stop smoking training and support. • We conducted a health scrutiny review of Alcohol Consumption Amongst Young People.
Make it easier for people to get onto the housing ladder and help people, young and old, to live independently.
•
Over 311 affordable homes have been built in the district since 2004.
• We’ve secured over £221,000 disabled adaptations grant funding, which is being used to help people adapt their homes so they can live independently for longer. • Beacon Park retirement village was built. • We regularly consult with local people through our Omnibus survey.
Make sure our plans meet local needs by getting more local people involved. Help shape the future of our district by getting the planning framework right.
• Since 2004, thousands of local people have commented on plans and issues ranging from our Burntwood Town Centre Action Plan, to the new Friarsgate development. • We’ve launched forums that meet regularly to discuss local issues, including our Older People’s Forum and our Rural Affairs Panel. • We’re developing a new Local Development Framework and involving local people and partners. This spring local people gave over 3,000 comments on draft plans which are set to be reviewed again in late 2008.
Help people feel safer in the district, whether at home, or out and about.
• We’ve helped to reduce overall crime by 15% in 2008, compared to 2003 - 2004 levels.
Help and support local councillors to help local people. Ensure local people know where to turn if they need help with a local problem.
• All our councillors are now online, and we’ve helped six councillors to create blogs, which are helping them to keep in touch with local people.
• Clean and tidy streets help people to feel safe in our community. Our Public Service Agreement targets show that 92% of our streets are now clean and tidy, compared to 77% in 2004 - 2005.
• We led the Staffordshire Plus Improvement Partnership, an £850,000 Government funded programme, that worked with local councillors to help them gain the skills and experience they needed to help local people better. It also assisted councillors to scrutinise the council’s work effectively to ensure it is moving in the right directly.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Our priorities
A flavour of our achievements over the past four years
Deliver great • We launched Lichfield Connects, a new customer services team which is handling customer services many enquiries at first point of contact. Customer satisfaction with the new service through our Customer is high, and the types of queries the team handles are expanding every day. First programme. • All our priority areas have show dramatic improvements since 2004. Deliver improvements in our homelessness service, revenues and benefits, waste and recycling and planning. Get better at managing our performance to make sure we stay on track, and make sure that we keep our costs down and that we have the skills and tools to do this. Improve the way we work as individuals, teams and as an organisation.
• We’ve reduced the time it takes us to process benefits claims, from 90 days, to just under 24 days. • The amount of domestic waste we now recycle has now topped the 50% mark and is set to increase steadily. • Planning is now a top performing service and all types of applications are determined quicker than previously.
• We’ve launched new systems to help us monitor our performance effectively, which has helped teams adapt and change their focus to ensure services remain on track. • We are consistently assessed by our external auditors who tell us we deliver value for money services and show continuous improvement.
• We joined forces with Tamworth and Stafford Borough Councils to deliver common services, including health and safety and payroll, more efficiently. • We introduced new online systems for buying goods and services, including a new system for ordering office stationery more cheaply.
Find out on the next five pages how we contributed towards our ambitions last year. Also find out how our new strategic plan will help to shape our focus for 2008 - 2012. 19 LDC ARep 08 v7.indd 19
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
creating a cleaner, greener & safer district
• Don’t be a dirty chucker! We were proud to be one of just 13 councils nationwide chosen to be part of a new Keep Britain Tidy campaign. The hard hitting campaign aimed to reduce cigarette litter on our streets and reinforce the message that people who litter could face a fine of up to £80. • Flooding response and recovery Following devastating flooding across the district in June, over fifteen agencies joined us as part of Operation Helping Hand, which led the response and recovery operation. Since the flooding, we’ve distributed government grants to local families and agencies to help them get back on their feet, and we continue to work with local MPs to encourage flood prevention and flood defences to remain high on the national agenda. • Out and about We took part in community clean-up and action days as part of Community Pride, and helped to remove hundreds of bags of rubbish from local streets. At just one of these events last autumn, where residents joined forces with members of the Lichfield District Safer Community Partnership, and took to the streets to help make Fazeley and Mile Oak cleaner, greener and safer, over 20 bags of rubbish were removed. • Recycling, recycling, recycling We were overjoyed to pass the 50% recycling mark. Now more than half of all domestic waste produced in the district is either recycled or composted. We also added new services this year – from composting any food waste residents put in their brown bins, to offering businesses a chance to recycle their waste. • Alcohol control zones When people gather to drink outside they often don’t realise how intimidating they can be, and how much disturbance they’re making. We’ve helped to reduce drink related anti-social behaviour on our streets by introducing two new alcohol control zones across the district. • Safe structures We carried out 6,500 inspections to ensure building work is safe, healthy, energy efficient and accessible. We also helped to make safe 22 dangerous buildings and structures.
• Taking a hard line Our research shows that clean streets is a top priority for local people. This year we cleaned up over 600 incidents of fly-tipping and invested in covert CCTV cameras, that we have positioned in known fly-tipping hot spots, to help us catch and prosecute fly-tippers. We cleaned grafitti off 14 walls, regularly emptied over 170 dog poo bins, and issued 23 fixed penalty notices to people for littering and dog fouling offences. • Eat, drink and be merry in safety During National Food Week, 11th - 17th June, we launched www.ratemyplace.org.uk a great new website where people can find out the food hygiene standards of food businesses across Staffordshire. The system is helping people to make informed choices about where they eat and shop – from restaurants, to bars, to schools. The initiative, led by Lichfield District Council, has been spread across Staffordshire. We also inspected over 350 licensed premises to make sure they are operating within the conditions of their licences. We’ve taken appropriate action where necessary. • Learning is fun! We joined forces with The Friary School to promote food safety and healthy eating to primary children across the district. Friary’s drama pupils also took up the challenge of acting out a play to show primary school children how important it is to think about food hygiene, and to make sure the food you eat is good for you.
Our new strategic plan… • We hope to support local partners to establish a Business Improvement District which, if successful, would see extra money invested in Lichfield City centre on issues from security, to events, to sustainability. • We’re launching an enhanced plastics recycling service that is set to boost our recycling figures even higher. Visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/goodlocalservices
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
creating a better quality of life
• It’s playtime! We secured over £200,000 Big Lottery funding to invest in play across the district. The funding will see four new play areas being built and an existing play area get a face-lift. We’re also using the funding to launch a new play rangers service that will bring games to parks across the district throughout the summer holidays – from cricket, to baseball, to a mobile skatepark! www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/playrangers • Get cultured! Over 120,000 people saw shows at the Lichfield Garrick. We smashed box office predictions for our annual pantomime, and saw our Free Friday Jazz evenings grow in popularity. We also sustained a positive financial position on the Garrick, and boosted our income levels through greater ticket sales. www.lichfieldgarrick.com • Boosting community pride In January we launched the Community Pride Prize. Twelve groups applied for a share of the £10,000 fund. Seven winners were chosen and included the Chasetown Memorial Park Restoration Project and Lichfield District Scout Group. • Get Init! We helped to launch Burntwood Init, a multi agency partnership, that develops activities for young people in Burntwood. From sailing, to beach parties, to cinema nights, over 100 young people per every week, across Burntwood, regularly take part in the activities. A positive impact on the levels of anti-social behaviour locally has been noted by the police. www.init.org.uk
• Get crafty We’ve ran lots of art projects this year. From inspiring local Burntwood artists to get creative, to working with local pupils to create multi-sensory panels for Saxon Hill School, to running public workshops, including street art and creating a drawing machine, as part of Big Draw 2007. • A youth hub We helped set-up a youth centre at the new Mile Oak community centre, in partnership with Staffordshire County Council, Fazeley Town Council and Fazeley & District Initiative. • Smokefree We helped local businesses prepare for the new smokefree legislation. This ranged from providing help and guidance on smoking shelters, to advising businesses on the new regulations.
Our new strategic plan… • From providing extra help to disabled people, so they can get their bins to the kerbside to be emptied, and helping older people to use our leisure services, we’re working to make sure our services are delivered in a fair and equal way. We’ll update our action plans in 2009. • We’ll launch new Civil Parking Enforcement regulations, that will help ensure cars are parked safely and in appropriate places across the district. Visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/goodlocalservices
• Leisure for everyone Friary Grange Leisure centre is now fully accessible to disabled customers thanks to a series of works this year. We created two new poolside disabled changing rooms, electronically operated changing beds, and installed two lifts, so all levels of the centre are accessible. • We’re satisfied you’re satisfied! Over the summer, our Leisure Services team carried out a customer satisfaction survey, at Burntwood and Friary Grange Leisure Centres. We were really pleased that over 91% of customers surveyed are satisfied/fairly satisfied with the services, and that 79% of you think our services are good value.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
being a good place to live
• A 21st Century training centre We opened the doors to our new purpose built community training centre, Venture House, which has co-located with Connexions. The centre offers hi-tech learning opportunities for young people and adults, with courses ranging from photography and business start-up, to customer care and basic numeracy and literacy. • A new city square We unveiled plans for the new Garrick Square, which will see the upper end of the city, just opposite the Garrick theatre, joined seamlessly to the new Friarsgate development. It will create a pedestrian friendly and more accessible environment. • Housing is key! We worked with developers to help build 61 new affordable homes. We offered housing advice to hundreds of callers through a new housing telephone advice line, and worked with three local families to prevent them from becoming homeless. • Building a planning framework for the district We asked people for their views on our new Core Strategy: Issues & Options Document which will form part of our new Local Development Framework (or LDF for short). Our new LDF will help us to make sure the district is developed in the right way. It will help to ensure that the right number of houses and facilities, such as shops and schools, are built for our growing population. We had over 3,000 comments from local people, and we’re using these to shape our draft proposals. • Quality rented homes To help make sure rented homes in our district are good places to live, we work closely with local private landlords, and recently launched a new Private Landlords’ Forum. • Preserving our heritage We took one step closer to a planned £3.9 million transformation of our Lichfield City centre parks, including Beacon Park, Minster Pool and the Garden of Remembrance. In October the team was awarded £200,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund / Big Lottery to develop detailed plans for the transformation.
• Staying warm and well We’re helping residents to stay warm and to reduce their energy bills and carbon emissions through our new Warmer Homes, Greener District initiative. It was set up in partnership with Central Midlands Energy Efficiency Advice Centre, with the help of a £77,000 grant from Defra’s Community Energy Efficiency Fund. The initiative offers home energy advice, discounts on roof and cavity wall insulation. It also offers grants to older residents, people on low incomes and those suffering from cold related illnesses, who struggle to afford to keep safe and warm in the winter. Call 0800 56 77 501 or visit www.warmandgreen.co.uk • Forward Action Burntwood (FAB) We’ve worked with local residents to tackle issues in and around Burntwood, starting with the Oakdene Estate. The first meeting of FAB involved lots of local people and agencies, who came together to highlight local issues that need to be tackled and to create an action plan.
Our new strategic plan… • Roll-out Forward Action Burntwood across other areas of the community. • We’ll ask for local people’s views on a proposed development framework for the district in autumn 2008. • Work with the Skatepark Committee to progress the seven shortlisted sites. • We remained one of the best councils nationally at monitoring air quality and pollution. We’ll continue to invest the £55,000 funding we received to improve air quality across the district. • Work with Staffordshire County Council to invest over £100,000 to boost sports and recreation across the district. Visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/goodlocalservices
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
building a thriving economy
• Paving, paving, paving We’re thrilled the city centre paving scheme has now been finished and hope everyone is enjoying the new-look city centre. Areas that have received the makeover treatment include Tamworth Street, Breadmarket Street, Conduit Street, Bore Street, and part of Market Street - including the Market Square. The new paving scheme has made such a difference to the look and feel of the city centre.
Our new strategic plan…
• First class shopping and entertainment In February the Secretary of State gave the green light for the planned £100 million Friarsgate shopping and leisure development in Lichfield City centre through granting the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO). Since then, the team has been busy buying the land that the development will be built on. When built, Friarsgate will be home to over 35 shops, including a Debenhams department store, an 83 bed hotel and a six-screen cinema. In August, development plans for a new Burntwood Town Centre were also granted planning permission
• We’ll continue to speed up the processing of benefits claims.
• Do you need help paying your rent and council tax? Every year 3 million people miss out on housing and council tax benefits because they don’t realise they are entitled, or how easy it is to claim it. Find out if you could be benefiting today by calling 01543 308900 for free advice, or visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/claimit
• We’re working to expand our business directory www.think-local.biz across Staffordshire. • We’ll launch a new online commercial property database that will make it easier for new and expanding businesses to find properties locally.
• Progress the Friary Outer Car Park plans, and ensure that car parking disruption is kept to a minimum during the development of Friarsgate. • Improve our support for businesses through our work with the Business Matters project. • Relocate our recycling headquarters to a new premises in Burntwood, which will see a better working environment for our staff, and represents a significant investment in the Burntwood area. Visit: www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/goodlocalservices
• Making sure you receive the right benefits We’re even quicker at processing benefits claims, and now get money to people most in need faster. Over the last two years we’ve reduced the time it takes to process a new claim, from over 90 days, to under 24 days! • Business investment & support We’ve continued to attract well paid local jobs into the district, including areas like Fradley and Lichfield South, where over 3,500 people are employed in jobs that didn’t exist before. When Fradley Business Park is full, over 10,000 people will be employed there. Over the next four years, the amount invested in Lichfield District is set to exceed £400 million. Our business investment & support team continues to encourage new businesses into the district and to provide assistance to help businesses grow through a range of services, such as www.think-local. biz which encourages businesses to buy and sell locally.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
delivering & improving through a joint effort To achieve all that we aspire for our communities is not be possible on our own. We believe that the best approach to meeting the needs of our communities is to work and learn together - with local people, our partners, businesses and agencies.
A strong local partnership: Our Local Area Agreement We’re working closely with our partners to drive forward the district’s Local Area Agreement, which defines a set of agreed targets shared by the council, the police, fire service and county council. These include, increasing the number of children involved in sport, increasing retail and office developments, boosting the number of nature reserves, and improving satisfaction levels with parks and open spaces. It is also seeing our teams working together to reduce crime, the fear of crime, litter and environmental damage.
What our Local Area Agreement has achieved this year Children & Young People
The Lichfield Locality Children’s Trust worked on a range of projects that addressed issues ranging from healthy schools, to teenage pregnancy & sexual health, through to childhood obesity and child protection. We also got involved in events and activities that tackled issues ranging from children’s mental health through to parenting and road safety.
Safer & Stronger Communities
From the ‘lock it protect it’ campaign, which worked to help reduce burglary from insecure homes in North Lichfield, through to the ‘consequences’ programme which helps young people to understand how their behavior impacts on others, and was delivered to over 125 children, our joint working has seen crime reduce by over 15% since 2004.
Healthier Communities & Older People
The Older People’s Forum hosted three events linked to the proposed changes in Social Care and Health for older people. Seventy five carers came along to a drop in session and found out about services and support available locally. Over 800 older people are less likely to slip and fall thanks to our sloppy slippers campaign.
Economic Development & Enterprise
We’ve increased our focus on the skills agenda, to help sustain business growth. We’ve worked to promote affordable housing as a key economic factor locally and regionally.
Sustainable Development
We launched www.staffsoc3.org a new climate change portal to help local people get to grips with climate change issues. As part of the council’s Greens & Open Spaces Partnership we created an action plan linked to sustainable transport and local biodiversity.
A common local goal Residents often tell us that they wish public bodies would talk to each other more and join services up better. So we set up the Lichfield District Strategic Partnership, which remains strong, and is a key player in the new Local Area Agreement. The Partnership helps local organisations and groups to work better together, and to give local groups and individuals a forum to raise issues that are important to them.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Agreeing the standard This year we awarded over £15,000 grants to local groups and funded Service Level Agreements with 11 voluntary organisations to provide services across the district on our behalf. These included the Lichfield Festival, Erasmus Darwin House and Burntwood Wakes.
Linking up with voluntary and community work The Lichfield Compact is an agreement between the statutory, voluntary and community sectors that sets out our joint commitment, expectations and provides a framework for how we work together. We continued the good work this year and welcomed on board new members. We’re also part of a number of leading local and county-wide partnerships: • Staffordshire Food Group Launched www.ratemyplace.org.uk, a customer friendly food hygiene rating service, that allows customers to find out about the hygiene and cleanliness of local restaurants, bars, schools and other food establishments. Through an easy to understand star rating system that can be accessed through www.ratemyplace.org.uk, on a mobile phone, or at local food establishments, customers can make an informed choice about where to eat. Lichfield District Council developed www.ratemyplace.org.uk • Staffordshire Connects All of the ten authorities in Staffordshire teamed up to improve service delivery on the ground. The projects range from sharing technology so we get better value, to the county and districts working together on joining up services. • Business Matters We lead a regional project that aims to make it easier for businesses to deal with the public sector and local authorities. We are currently working with Business Link on how business support can be delivered in a better way. As part of this we are also trying to cut red tape for businesses by working with other agencies on improved enforcement and inspection.
• Southern Staffordshire Partnership Our economic development partnership helps to shape strategic and economic growth across the six southern Staffordshire districts. The partnership includes private sector businesses, the universities, the Learning & Skills Council, Business Link, the Regional Development Agency and the Government Office of the West Midlands • Lichfield District Tourism Association Tourism is so important to our economy and we’re delighted to be working with local businesses to help increase the number of visitors into our district and boost local tourism. We also launched a new visitor website www.visitlichfield.co.uk • Townsafe Partnership We work closely with Townsafe, the voice of traders and businesses in Lichfield City centre. Townsafe helps to identify a range of issues from community safety, to environmental concerns, to improvement plans for the city centre. Townsafe also provides the successful StoreNet Radio system and works with agencies and the police on a number of local initiatives – from a scheme for lost children, to promoting and selling hanging baskets to city traders. We continued to help Townsafe publish its well received newsletter and will be working to set-up a townsafe website in late 2008.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Our performance highlights 95% of local people are satisfied with their local area as a place to live. Omnibus February 2008
69% of local people are satisfied with the way we deliver our services. Omnibus February 2008
creating a cleaner & safer district
creating a better quality of life
• We investigated every abandoned vehicle reported to us within 24 hours. We cleared the streets of all confirmed abandoned vehicles within our target removal time. (BV218a and BV218b).
• We helped to prevent three local families from becoming homeless by providing help, support, and negotiating with local landlords (BV213).
• We exceeded the national average for removing litter and detritus from our streets (BV199a).
• Through a full range of homelessness services, there were no recorded incidents of people sleeping rough on our streets. (BV202).
• We worked with local businesses to ensure that 99% of necessary pollution control improvement works were completed on time (BV217).
• 58% of users are satisfied with our sports and leisure facilities, which is slightly above the national average. (Omnibus February 2008)
• The number of burglaries in local homes reduced this year by over 2% this year (BV126).
• 71% of users are satisfied with our parks and open spaces – this puts us amongst the best authorities in the country. (Omnibus February 2008)
• We were delighted to break the 50% recycling mark this year! We recycled 25.35% of household waste and composted 24.94% (BV82 ai/ab). That’s over 22,563 tonnes diverted from landfill (BV82 aii&bii). We collected around 464kg of waste per resident and over 232kg of this was recycled! • We reduced the amount it costs us to recycle a household’s waste by £3 each year, which means we can invest more in new technologies and processes, so you can recycle even more (BV86). • 77% of people are satisfied with the cleanliness of the district’s streets. That’s an increase of 4% on last year’s satisfaction levels, and supports our ambition to keep our streets free of litter. (Omnibus February 2008) • In terms of overall satisfaction with the doorstep recycling collection, nearly nine out ten customers (89%) are satisfied with the services we deliver.
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
building a thriving economy
being a good place to live
• We collected 98.1% of the council tax that was due in the year, which means we are one of the best in England (BV9).
• The percentage of major planning applications that we determined within 13 weeks was 75%, well above the average of 65%, and an increase of 4% on 2006 (BV109a).
• We are also above average for the percentage of business rates collected, at 99.1% (BV10). • We get money to people who need it quicker every year. This year we reduced the time it takes us to process new benefits claims. It now takes us less than 24 days, which is a day less than the national average (BV78a).
• We determined 89% of minor planning applications within 8 weeks, that’s 5% more than we processed in the same period last year, and 6% more than other top performing councils nationally (BV109b).
• Our average time for processing changes in claims has almost halved, from 15 to nearly 8 days since 2006 (BV78b).
• The majority of applications we deal with are things like porches and small extensions. We determined 94.7% of these applications within 8 weeks, making us one of the fastest councils in the country (BV109c).
• 98% of all housing and council tax claims we processed were accurate, which means we are one of the top performing councils nationally (BV79a).
• This year 52.7% of new local homes were built on previously developed land, which means more greenfield sites are protected - an increase of nearly 9% since 2006 (BV106).
• Benefit fraud means less money can be spent on vital local services. We take a hard-line on fraud and this year we investigated 24 cases (BV76c).
• We’ve worked with local businesses to help them make their businesses more accessible to disabled people (BV156).
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We’re helping to build a thriving economy, with local business opportunities, sustainable local jobs and equal access for all. We want people to be able to access a job that’s right for them locally, so they don’t have to commute miles each day. We also want people to be able to get the training and support they need locally to start new businesses, get onto the job ladder, or to move up it.
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BVPI Annual Out Turn Report Year End Results for Best Value Indicators Performance Indicators Status
Long Term Trends
Short Term Trends
This PI is significantly below target.
The value of this PI has improved in the long term.
The value of this PI has improved in the short term.
This PI is slightly below target.
The value of this PI has worsened in the long term.
The value of this PI has worsened in the short term.
This PI is on target.
This PI is a data-only PI.
The value of this PI has not changed in the long term.
The value of this PI has not changed in the short term.
The ‘All England TQ’ column shows the performance that needs to be reached in order to be in the top 25% of authorities nationally. Year end out-turn figures
2007-08
PI Code & Short Name
2004/05 Value
2005/06 Value
2006/07 Value
2007/08 Value
All England TQ 2007/08
Annual Target 07/08
BV2a Equality Standard for Local Government
2
2
2
2
Data unavailable
3
BV2b Duty to Promote Race Equality
63.16%
68%
68%
68%
84%
70%
BV8 % of invoices paid on time
96.55%
94.55%
96.19%
96.57%
96.98%
98.00%
BV9 % of Council Tax collected
98.50%
99.30%
98.60%
98.10%
98.48%
99.00%
BV10 Percentage of Non-domestic Rates Collected
99.10%
98.91%
98.70%
99.10%
99.30%
99.00%
BV11a Top 5% of Earners: Women
40.60%
41.00%
41.46%
42.78%
43.56%
50.00%
BV11b Top 5% of Earners: Ethnic Minorities
2.60%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
4.52%
1.80%
BV11c Top 5% of Earners: with a disability
Data unavailable
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
5.49%
2.20%
BV12 Working Days Lost Due to Sickness Absence
8.20
9.86
9.05
8.50
8.09
7.40
BV14 Percentage of Early Retirements
0.19%
0.00%
1.10%
0.00%
0.18%
0.20%
BV15 Percentage of Ill-health Retirements
0.19%
0.17%
0.00%
0.00%
0.00%
0.20%
BV16a Percentage of Employees with a Disability
1.17%
2.15%
2.14%
2.38%
4.43%
2.20%
BV16b Percentage of Economically Active People who have a Disability
12.95%
12.95%
12.95%
12.95%
Data unavailable
Data unavailable
BV17a Ethnic Minority representation in the workforce - employees
2.2%
2.0%
3.8%
2.0%
5.2%
1.8%
BV64 No of private sector vacant dwellings that are returned into occupation or demolished
1
0
0
0
95
6
BV76b Housing Benefits Security number of fraud investigators employed
0.40
0.40
0.40
0.33
Data unavailable
0.30
BV76c Housing Benefits Security number of fraud investigations
31.79
35.13
20.40
24.87
Data unavailable
20.00
BV76d Housing Benefits Security number of prosecutions & sanctions
17.91
20.97
11.55
13.51
Data unavailable
12.00
BV78a Speed of processing - new HB/ CTB claims
40.1
27.6
24.8
23.5
24.4
25.0
BV78b Speed of processing - changes of circumstances for HB/CTB claims
8.0
15.0
8.2
7.9
7.8
6.0
BV79a Accuracy of processing - HB/CTB claims
98.80%
99.02%
97.60%
98.40%
99.20%
99.00%
BV79b(i) Percentage of Recoverable Overpayments Recovered (HB) that are recovered during period
Data unavailable
89.40%
113.88%
92.76%
80.60%
75.00%
BV79b(ii) HB overpayments recovered as % of the total amount of HB overpayment debt outstanding
Data unavailable
47.46%
35.22%
26.64%
38.38%
50.00%
BV79b(iii) Percentage of overpayments written off (HB)
Data unavailable
1.79%
5.76%
2.26%
Data unavailable
5.00%
BV82a(i) % of Household Waste Recycled
21.35%
22.45%
23.31%
25.35%
22.88%
25.00%
BV82a(ii) Tonnes of Household Waste Recycled
Data unavailable
9615.74
10374.87
11372.58
16862.25
11030.25
BV82b(i) % of Household Waste Composted
25.00%
22.93%
24.28%
24.94%
15.53%
25.00%
BV82b(ii) Tonnes of household waste composted
Data unavailable
10432.84
10808.18
11190.69
10795.86
11030.25
BV84a Household waste collected per head, in kilos
466.1
456.6
466.0
464.0
395.0
465.0
Status
Short Term Trend
Long Term Trend
• Blank boxes in this table have been left intentionally blank, where either no data was required to be collected, no targets are required to be set, or we are still awaiting data. LDC ARep 08 v7.indd 29
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• Blank boxes in this table have been left intentionally blank, where either no data was required to be collected, no targets are required to be set, or we are still awaiting data.
Year end out-turn figures
2007-08
PI Code & Short Name
2004/05 Value
2005/06 Value
2006/07 Value
2007/08 Value
All England TQ 2007/08
Annual Target 07/08
BV84b Household Waste Collection (% change in kilograms per head)
Data unavailable
-2.05%
2.04%
-0.41%
-1.78%
0.00%
BV86 Cost of household waste collection
£57.61
£69.35
£59.71
£55.89
£42.04
£55.00
BV91b Kerbside collection of recyclables (two recyclables)
Data unavailable
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
BV106 New homes built on previously developed land
58.30%
59.00%
43.23%
52.70%
96.92%
65.00%
BV126 Domestic burglaries per 1,000 households
9.10
8.80
10.09
8.28
5.80
7.84
BV127b Robberies per 1,000 Population
Data unavailable
0.47
0.45
0.47
0.30
0.30
BV128 Vehicle crimes per 1,000 population
8.30
8.70
6.87
7.26
7.00
7.60
BV156 Buildings Accessible to People with a Disability
37.50%
38.56%
50.00%
70.00%
Data unavailable
100.00%
BV166a Environmental Health Checklist
Data unavailable
93.3%
93.3%
93.3%
100.0%
100.0%
BV174 Racial Incidents Recorded
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
Data unavailable
0.00
BV175 Racial incidents resulting in further action
100.00%
100.00%
N/A
N/A
100.00%
100.00%
BV183b Year2Date Length of stay in temporary accommodation (Hostel) (Year To Date)
12.00 wks
19.00 wks
14.52 wks
17.55 wks
0.00 wks
10.00 wks
BV199a Local street and environmental cleanliness - Litter and Detritus
30.0%
20.0%
11.0%
8.0%
7.0%
20.0%
BV199b Improved street and environmental cleanliness (levels of litter, detritus, graffiti and fly posting): Graffiti
Data unavailable
1%
0%
0%
1%
1%
BV199c Improved street and environmental cleanliness (levels of litter, detritus, graffiti and fly posting): Fly-posting
Data unavailable
1%
0%
0%
0%
1%
BV200a Plan-making: Local Development Scheme submitted?
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Data unavailable
Yes
BV200b Plan-making: Milestones Met?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Data unavailable
Yes
BV202 Number of people sleeping rough
10
0
0
0
0
0
BV204 Planning appeals allowed
48.0%
35.5%
40.6%
40.0%
25.6%
35.0%
BV205 Quality of Planning Service checklist
Data unavailable
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
100.0%
BV213 Preventing Homelessness - number of households where homelessness prevented
Data unavailable
3
3
3
5
30
BV216a Identifying Contaminated Land Number of "sites of potential concern"
Data unavailable
53
59
44
Data unavailable
30
BV216b Information on contaminated land
Data unavailable
11%
24%
34%
10%
20%
BV217 Pollution Control Improvements Completed On Time
Data unavailable
99%
99%
99%
100%
90%
BV218a Abandoned vehicles - % investigated within 24 hrs
Data unavailable
100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
98.55%
100.00%
BV218b Abandoned Vehicles - % removed within 24 hours of required time
Data unavailable
100.00%
100.00%
100.00%
97.87%
100.00%
BV219b Preserving the Special Character of Conservation Areas: Character Appraisals
Data unavailable
.00%
.00%
.00%
43.63%
17.00%
BV225 Actions Against Domestic Violence
Data unavailable
72.7%
63.6%
72.7%
Data unavailable
90.0%
BV226a Advice & Guidance Services external total spend
£101500
£101020
£107500
£104622
Data unavailable
£121000
BV226b Advice & Guidance Services CLS Quality Mark
44.81%
45.00%
48.00%
48.00%
Data unavailable
48.00%
BV226c Advice & Guidance Services: direct provision
£125000
£125000
£125000
£125000
Data unavailable
£125000
BV109a NI 157a Processing of planning applications: Major applications
62.00%
62.50%
70.97%
75.00%
80.65%
60.00%
BV109b NI 157b Processing of planning applications: Minor applications
68.00%
68.27%
84.28%
89.80%
83.38%
79.00%
BV109c NI 157c Processing of planning applications: Other applications
82.00%
87.95%
93.21%
94.70%
92.46%
92.00%
BV199d NI 196 Improved street and environmental cleanliness – fly tipping
Data unavailable
Data unavailable
3
3
Data unavailable
Data unavailable
LDC ARep 08 v7.indd 30
Status
Short Term Trend
Long Term Trend
12/9/08 10:33:05
How the council works Our constitution sets out how the council works. It also details how decisions are made and what procedures we follow to make sure decisions are fair, transparent and can be accounted to local people. To find out more visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/constitution
• Full Council
A sovereign body that is attended by every councillor. It sets the ambition, focus and priorities for the council, as well as approves its strategy and policies. It holds to account the work of the Executive and Overview & Scrutiny Committees. It also reviews the work of the Regulatory Committees, sets the council tax level and agrees the budget.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
• The Executive
Much like central government, where politicians take special responsibility for key areas of service, certain local councillors take special responsibility for key local services – from recycling and waste to health and housing. The role of the Executive is to deliver the council’s focus and priorities by devising and implementing strategies and policies.
• Planning Committee
Helps to uphold the character of the district and manage development and economic growth in a sustainable way. The Planning Committee makes decisions on planning applications, enforcement notices and also contributes to planning and development policies. It is chaired by Cllr Ian Pritchard.
• The Regulatory & Licensing Committee Helps to keep the district safe and clean by ensuring local premises are appropriately licensed and compliant with regulations. It deals with decisions on licensing and regulation of pubs, clubs, taxis, butcher shops and many other establishments. It is made up of 15 councillors and is chaired by Cllr Ken Humphreys.
• Employment Committeee
Oversees functions relating to employment matters, from employment terms and conditions, to recruitment and selection, through to health and safety issues. It is made up of 11 councillors and is chaired by Cllr Barry Diggle.
• Audit Committee
This committee ensures we are managing our risks in the best possible way and have the relevant controls in place. It is made up of five councillors and two independent experts and is chaired by Cllr Ian Lewin.
• Standards Committee
Helps to promote and uphold high standards of probity and behaviour across all areas of the council’s activity, as well as the activity of local parish councils. It is made up of five councillors, two independent people, and is chaired by Mr R Elwood.
Advisory Panels
This year we have three new advisory panels that will provide views, advice and guidance to the Executive on local issues focusing on place. These are the Burntwood Panel, the Rural Panel and the Lichfield City Panel.
LDC ARep 08 v7.indd 31
1. Cllr David. S. Smith: Leader of Lichfield District Council 2. Cllr Matthew Ellis: Deputy Leader with responsibility for Organisational Development, and the Lichfield Garrick 3. Cllr Colin Greatorex: Revenues & Benefits 4. Cllr Louise Flowith: Operational Services, including recycling and waste 5. Cllr Val Richards: Housing, Health, & Leisure 6. Cllr Ben Adams: Community 7. Cllr Neil Roberts: Development Services 8. Cllr Margaret Stanhope: Democratic & Legal Services 9. Cllr Ian Pritchard: Planning Committee 10. Cllr Ken Humphreys: The Regulatory & Licensing Committee 11. Cllr Barry Diggle: Employment Committee 12. Cllr Ian Lewin: The Audit Committee
12/9/08 10:33:24
Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
How we check we’re on track We also have an Overview & Scrutiny function which reviews the decisions of other committees and panels, as well as reviews key areas of the council’s work.
We’re proud to be provide award winning services!
Checking we are on track
Our awards include
At the beginning of each year a special set of Overview & Scrutiny Panels are formed to review the work each team has planned for the coming year. This helps us to make sure that individual teams remain true to the council’s ambitions. It also ensures key targets will be met in a cost effective way.
• Beacon Council Award - Waste & recycling
There are four specific Overview & Scrutiny Committees focusing on the following areas: 1. People, Partnership Committee
Checks we are building the strong relationships we need to deliver joint services. It focuses on issues that matter to local people, from quality of life to leisure services.
2. Health Panel
Looks at the way health services are delivered in our district.
3. Environment & Development Committee
Questions whether we are developing the district in the right way, and managing any growth effectively and in a sustainable way.
4. Strategic Committee
Checks we’re heading in the right direction and that we’re on track to meet our financial and performance targets.
• Beacon Council Award - Transforming the delivery of services through partnerships • Service Mark – Tourist Information Centre • Chamber of Trade & Commerce Business Award for the Best Local Community Centre – Friary Grange Leisure Centre • Chamber of Trade & Commerce Business Award for the Best Entertainment or Arts Attraction – The Lichfield Garrick • Staffordshire University Diversity Awards - Raising Aspirations • Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Local e-Gov Award – Working with Business • Association for Public Service Excellence Award – IT procurement • M4I Innovation Award – The Lichfield Garrick • Green Apple Award – The Lichfield Garrick • Charter Mark - Building Control • Big Draw - Arts Development
1.
Chairman: Cllr T. Hill
2.
Chair: Cllr B. Constable
3.
Chairman: Cllr C. McEwan
4.
Chairman: Cllr D. Constable
• Quest Award - Burtnwood Lesiure Centre
We aim to publish the details of all council meetings on our website at least 5 working days before the meeting takes place. Many meetings are open to the public. To find out more visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/meetingsandminutes
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Who else provides local services? In Lichfield District there are three councils serving your area: Staffordshire County Council, Lichfield District Council and your local parish council. It’s not always easy to know which council provides which service, so here’s a handy guide to who does what.
Statutory notes: There were no contracts awarded during 2007/8 for which the Code of Practice on Workforce Matters was applicable. Should any circumstances arise then the Council shall apply the Code of Practice as applicable. This Annual Report when read in conjunction with the Council’s Strategic Plan meets the statutory requirements to produce an annual Best Value Performance Plan.
Lichfield District Council
Staffordshire County Council
Your Parish Council
• Sport, leisure & recreation
• Children and life long learning including early years and youth services
Parish council’s services vary, but their responsibilities can include:
• Parks • Arts and Tourism, including Lichfield Garrick • Housing advice and strategic housing role
• Adult and social care • Public health • Highways & transport planning
• Housing and council tax benefits.
• Trading standards
• Local plans
• Libraries, museums & art galleries
• Planning and building control
• Waste disposal
• Environmental health
• Registration of births, marriages & deaths
• Waste & recycling collections • Street cleaning • Licensing and inspections of food, taxis etc • Off street parking and car parks • Collection of council tax and business rates
• Economic development & tourism Staffordshire County Council County Buildings, Martin Street, Stafford, ST16 2LH
• Parish social and recreational facilities • Open spaces • Local museums • Seats and bus shelters • Allotments • Community halls • Markets • Local matters such as: planning comments, twinning, Christmas lights, supporting local clubs and organisations. www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/myparish to find details of your parish council
Tel: 01785 223121 Web: www.staffordshire.gov.uk
• Community safety • Economic development & tourism www.lichfielddc.gov.uk
These services cost on average £2.57 per week
These services cost on average £18.95 per week
These services cost on average 70p per week
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
How to contact us We know that 79% of our customers prefer to contact us by calling our Lichfield Connects team. This year 83% of customers told us they were satisfied with our customer services, and 91% felt their query was handled quickly.
If you have a query, why not... • Call our Lichfield Connects team on 01543 308000. • Visit our website www.lichfielddc.gov.uk Did you know there are over 40 interactive forms on our website that help you to report problems and order services any time of day or night. From checking whether you might be eligible for housing or council tax benefits, to ordering a new brown bin, to reporting a pothole, why not log on? • Pop in and see us in our Lichfield office in Frog Lane or Burntwood office in the library at Sankeys Corners.
If you would like this booklet in another format from audio tapes, to Braille, to large print, call 01543 308000. 34 LDC ARep 08 v7.indd 34
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Our journey & route map for the next four years
Strategic Plan 2008 - 2012
At the heart of what we do is a determination to offer services and facilities people can be proud of. We’re committed to working together with local residents over the next four years to reinforce Lichfield District’s position as an economic, cultural and tourism centre of national significance. The next four years will see challenges for Lichfield District as we strive to achieve our vision. As one of the lowest charging district councils in the country, the pressure is always intense to balance our budgets. In the coming years this will be even more acute, as we take on extra responsibilities laid down by Government, while receiving less central Government funding.
Our ambitions and top priorities
We’re focused on place
We will work through a joint effort to build: a sustainable, clean and safe environment, a thriving economy, a good place to live and a better quality of life. We plan to achieve our ambitions by delivering top priorities that are centred on people, focused on place and doing things better. To do this we work with a wide range of partner agencies, including the police, fire service, voluntary services, NHS trusts, community groups and many more.
• Helping people access a home that’s right for them, and to live independently.
We’re centred on people
• Developing and enhancing Burntwood town and Lichfield City centres and tackle issues which are important to our rural communities.
• Creating safe, strong and proud communities where people love to live and feel proud of their community. • Improving people’s health and well being where good public health is paramount. • Helping people realise their potential so that they can participate, and making sure everyone’s contribution is valued. • Involving local people and partners so we make good decisions and can achieve more.
• Access to home ownership is beyond the reach of many in our district and there is a need to increase the variety of housing available, including housing with support for vulnerable groups. • Creating vibrant towns and villages.
• Protecting and enhancing our environment for future generations. Tackling the issues that will safeguard what we have. • Attracting even more investment into our district. Help local businesses and local people to grow and prosper.
We’re doing things better • We’re providing great value services centred on customers’ needs. • Our customers tell us we’re doing a good job, and the audit commission (that’s the body that reviews council performance) has said we are a good council that uses our money wisely and well, and that our performance is improving. • We aim to retain and improve this position throughout the life of our new strategic plan.
To find out more about specific actions and activities that will be delivered as part of our strategic plan 2008 – 2012, as well as the facts and figures behind our decisions, visit www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/strategicplan
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Lichfield District Council Annual Report 2008
Please give us your views We hope you’ve found our Annual Report easy-to-read We hope it gives you a flavour of the services we provide and how well we’re doing. We’ve tried to squeeze in as much detail as possible, but of course it’s not been possible to fit everything in, so we’ve added more to our website:
www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/annualreport If you don’t have internet access, you can request a copy of our annual report by calling 01543 308000.
Give us your views We want to improve how we share information with you and we’d like to hear your views on this booklet, as well as how our services measure up. Write to me, Nina Dawes, Chief Executive, or email nina.dawes@lichfielddc.gov.uk
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