Each Year the Council produces a Local Performance Plan setting out how well we perform against our plans and targets in the previous financial year and giving details of priorities, plans and targets for the year ahead.
The Local Performance Plan is also available to download from the following link:
If you have any comments or views on the Performance Plan please contact us.
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Over 2006/07 we will keep leading the social, physical and economic regeneration of Hastings and St Leonards, building on the positive aspects of work done in the last few years.
Every political group agreed this Local Performance Plan in February 2006 and, as the new leadership, we will honour that commitment.
The plan shows you all that has been done over 2005/06 together with any shortfalls and how we will overcome them.
It also shows how we have carefully listened to your ideas and feelings on a number of issues and turned them into strong actions and targets for the year ahead. We cannot do everything we want in the next 12 months but we can make a meaningful start as we strive to improve your quality of life. You will see solid evidence of physical regeneration and real progress in 'social' regeneration as we involve more and more people in this exciting new chapter of the town's history.
We will listen to and learn from the community and will rely on you to tell us if you think we are doing a good job.
Peter Pragnell
Leader of the Council
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This Local Performance Plan contains not only full details of all our plans and targets for the financial year 2006/07, but also a full report back on our performance in 2005/06. We hope you will find this document useful in giving a clear indication of what we achieved so far and what we aim to achieve in the future. We welcome any comments you may have on this document or our activities and will use these to improve the way we develop our plans in the future.
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How we decided on our plans for 2006/07.
We have produced this annual Performance Plan to set out our work plans for the forthcoming financial year and explain how well we performed against our targets for the previous year. We surveyed 1600 randomly selected residents to make sure our priorities match people's needs. The responses showed widespread support for the town's regeneration and for activities that improve environment and safety, using this information we drafted the 2006/07 Local Performance Plan and Budget.
During February we invited comments on the draft Local Performance Plan and Budget via our website and also went out to meet with stakeholders directly. We met key representatives from the business sector, local community groups and our staff who helped us reshape the draft Plan and the Council agreed the revised version in February 2006. A summary of the Local Performance Plan was sent to all households in March this year so that residents could see what we aim to accomplish in the forthcoming year, from 1 April 2006 - 31 March 2007.
This Local Performance Plan looks back at last year (2005/06) and forward to the current year (2006/07). In order to understand how we are performing, it is important to know what our longer-term priorities are.
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The difficulties faced by our town have been recognised, and since 2001 we have been the focus of significant external investment. We have been addressing those areas requiring improvement and will continue to work alongside our partners on the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) to tackle the social, physical and economic issues that inhibit the long-term prosperity of our town.
The Local Strategic Partnership is a coordinating body bringing together 26 key partners including representatives from local community groups, business leaders, Hastings Borough Council, East Sussex County Council and agencies such as the Police, Health Care, Education, Employment and Housing.
The LSP's vision to 2013 for regeneration, agreed with local people and our partners is:
"The renaissance of Hastings through social, economic, cultural and environmental regeneration"
The mission of the LSP through implementing the Hastings and St Leonards Community Strategy is:
"To build on the town's strong community spirit, culture, diverse population and extraordinary natural environment to create a safer, healthier more sustainable and more prosperous place with lasting opportunities for everybody."
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The Community Strategy is the overarching 10 year strategy agreed in 2003, for improving the quality of life of all people living in the town and focuses on 21 key targets. The Strategy is monitored by the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), who set key milestones to review progress in 2005, 2008 and 2013.
Good progress had been made between 2003 and 2005 with over 75% of the targets being met and a number of these having already exceeded their 2008 target. Actions were identified to improve those areas where targets had been missed. The LSP also reviewed and updated the 21 Key targets to ensure they remain realistic, challenging and address the needs of our town.
Hastings and St. Leonards is one of just four places in the South East (and one of only 88 nationally) to receive significant amounts of Government money called Neighbourhood Renewal Funding, to address the problems in areas of the town which suffer high levels of poverty and crime and poor levels of housing, educational attainment and health problems.
There are Neighbourhood Forums in each of these Priority Areas, which develop annual local action plans. These are plans developed by local people in partnership with the Council, the Police, Health and other key service providers. In addition, the Greater Hollington area in St Leonards is a Government 'Pathfinder' project piloting Neighbourhood Management. This means that local people are able to work alongside those who deliver services direct to the area and tailor services to meet local needs.
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In response to the Government's neighbourhood agenda, which proposes that service delivery be tailored according to local need, we have adopted with our partners an area co-ordination approach, whereby partners work together to improve and shape service delivery based on area needs and influenced by local people. This builds upon already existing structures such as Local Management Boards, Neighbourhood Forums and the Greater Hollington Partnership who have considerable knowledge to share about the best ways of taking this approach forward into other parts of the town.
Four distinct areas have been identified - North St Leonards, South St Leonards, Central and East Hastings. These areas and the issues most important to them have been agreed in consultation with local residents and Service Providers. This year the four areas will have their own Delivery Plans coordinated by Multi Agency Tasking Teams and have progress monitored twice yearly by an Area Board with a key focus on community engagement.
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To meet our vision the Council agreed 10 priorities* that will guide our work and investment over 2003-2008.
* These priorities encompass the 'Statement of Shared Priorities' agreed between Central and Local Government and the priorities of local people identified in the Hastings and St Leonards Community Strategy.
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Our longer term and annual priorities are shared with our Partners on the LSP, Councillors and staff, so we are all clear about what we want to achieve. To ensure the Community Strategy and Council Priorities are reflected in what staff do in their day-to-day jobs, we translate these into annual service delivery plans and targets.
Progress and performance is monitored through quarterly review meetings and the staff appraisal process.
Community Strategy > Council Priorities > Local Performance Plan > Service Delivery Plans > Staff Objectives.
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As a Council we are committed to making the most of new opportunities for gaining new freedoms and flexibilities, joint working and to focus on local issues.
A number of new initiatives and requirements will impact on the way we work over the next three years.
These include:
We continue to work with other local authorities in East Sussex to find ways to pool our resources and share learning. This improves the quality and value for money provided by services across all authorities. For example, procurement is increasingly considered on a county and regional basis. A specific cross county project relating to tax collection and benefits is currently underway.
All authorities are required by Government to identify efficiency savings of 2.5% per annum for the 3-year period commencing 2005/06. For Hastings this equates to £500,000 per annum. We are well on the way to achieving the 3-year target of £1.5 million in year 2.
The Audit Commission has recently carried out a Use of Resources Assessment. We achieved a score of "consistently above minimum requirements - performing well".
'All Together Better' is an agreement between the East Sussex Strategic Partnership (ESSP) and the Government on what will be achieved with money invested in the area (based on the priorities of a wide range of partners including District and Borough Councils). We've made sure our town's particular needs will be met through the agreement by working with our partners on key local targets. These efforts will be funded through existing resources, supplemented by the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund, Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder; Neighbourhood Element, Building Safer Communities, Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinator Grant and Local Enterprise Grant Initiative.
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The following area explains how well we met the targets outlined in last year's Plan and explain any shortfalls in performance. Also included are our work plans for 2006/07 and relevant Performance Indicators.
This area is organised under our Directorates:
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Economic and Tourism Development
External Funding and Bidding
Regeneration Programmes Management and Monitoring
Architectural and Civil Engineering Projects Management
Development Control
Forward Planning
Building Control
Conservation and Design
Learning and Skills Development including Tressell
Training
1. Progressed work on Key Schemes:
Planning Board granted permission for the Station Plaza site.
Seaspace successfully submitted planning applications for developments at Queensway and the Gap site paving the way for development of those sites in the forthcoming period.
Work has commenced at Marina Pavilion with major works expected to be concluded in October. It is expected that future tenant(s) of the building will complete its fitting out.
2. In our role as Planning Authority, provided guidance and professional advice in accordance with the Local Plan, the best interests of the general public and the area. This has enabled proposals on the development of sites such as the Observer building and Celandine Drive to move forward. Over 300 new homes were built in 2005/06, exceeding our Structure Plan housing target.
3. As part of the Local Development Framework for the town:
Formed a new planning special interest group in the Ore Valley as one of our initiatives to actively engage local people in the town's planning policies.
Submitted a Statement of Community Involvement to the Secretary of State.
Introduced a draft Sustainability Appraisal Framework in consultation with statutory agencies to ensure environmental and sustainability issues are properly integrated into new planning policies. The framework is being updated to reflect comments received.
4. Put forward our response to (the South East England Regional Assembly's) consultation on the South East Plan, which will address important issues such as housing, transport, economy and the environment, highlighting the specific needs of Hastings to enable us to become more economically prosperous. The response has resulted in the designation of Hastings, as a 'Transport Hub' in the submitted plan and the inclusion of policies, which recognise the regeneration needs of the Borough. Hastings Borough Council's formal response to the South East Plan will be discussed at Cabinet in June 2006.
5. As part of our commitment to deliver the Seafront Strategy in conjunction with the Hastings and Bexhill Taskforce we:
Commissioned work to identify options and actions for the future of the Stade, including the relocation of coach and lorry parking and replacing of toilets and TIC.
Produced draft briefs for the Masterplanning of Seaside Road area and West St Leonards School site.
Surveyed structure soundness of the Seafront and Harbour Arm.
Began work on the management project for Marine Court.
Approved spending plans for improvements to toilets, chalets and access at Marina Pavilion promenade area.
6. Secured external funding to employ a Fish Sector Development Officer to support fishermen in Hastings and worked with them to achieve national recognition by being awarded Marine Stewardship Council status which recognises that our fishing methods are eco-friendly and sustainable.
7. Worked with the Charity Commission and established a Foreshore Trust.
8. Successfully utilised our enforcement powers to tackle 66 previously neglected and derelict buildings, which has noticeably improved the image of the town and had a positive effect on tourism and visitor rates.
9. Awarded nearly £500,000 of grants for the Conservation and Repair of buildings that form part of our historic townscape in the Central St Leonards Renewal Area.
10. Worked with 1066 Enterprise to improve visitor accommodation in the town by awarding nearly £ £140,000 worth of externally funded grants (SRB and Objective 2) to local hoteliers and guesthouse owners, creating real and substantial improvements to the quality of visitor accommodation.
11. Implemented the first stages of the Evening Economy Plan by launching Late & Live - a programme combining evening entertainment and late night shopping on Thursday evenings which encouraged greater use of the town centre by young people, families and older people alike. This contributed to: 95% increase in evening footfall in the Shopping Centre during December. 26.7 new jobs being created. six new restaurants opening in the town centre.
12. Obtained £3.9m of Local Enterprise Growth Initiative funding over the next three years to support and stimulate enterprise in our poorest communities and carried out work to map barriers to employment in deprived areas. We have also consulted on a draft action plan and used these results to inform the Development of an Inclusion Strategy to reduce levels of economic exclusion in the town.
13. Enabled nearly 100 young people to develop skills in motor vehicle maintenance and work towards Institute of Motor Industry (IMI) qualifications, as part of our Tressell Training Scheme, which provides a wide range of opportunities for disadvantaged young people. The Tressell team has worked with over 200 14-16 year olds who have required additional support to stay in school and undertake qualifications, or have an alternative curriculum provided by Tressell. Additionally the team has worked with 100 Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) 16-19 year olds on the Learning and Skills Council funded E2E (Education to Employment) programme, and in partnership with others commenced work with adults on Labour Market Solutions, a project helping long term unemployed people gain confidence and skills to become economically active again.
14. Worked with key support providers through the Economic Alliance to produce and implement a coordinated business support programme to meet the needs of existing businesses and those looking to start up, relocate or expand in Hastings.
15. Enabled tourists and visitors to make online accommodation bookings and published the Hastings & 1066 Country Visitor Guide which received excellent market research feedback on the type of staying visitor attracted to Hastings, with a marked increase in the number of higher spending visitors over the past five years.
16. Installed a Public Arts Feature in Alexandra Park, artwork on Halton Estate, decorative lights at the Royal Victoria Hotel, White Rock Theatre, part of Kings Road and at Butlers Gap in the Old Town, all of which have enhanced the night-time appeal of the town. Opened a competition for public art at the new Bridge Centre in the Ore Valley. Discussions with local stakeholders have helped identify additional decorative lighting concepts, which are now being investigated in consultation with conservation officers and highways engineers.
1. A Construction Skills Coordinator was appointed and worked with the construction sector and other partners to establish a Construction Charter, which has since been adopted by the Council. The post was vacated in September 2005 and the activity was continued by Economic Development Officers. With additional funding through the Local Enterprise Growth Initiative, a dedicated Construction Skills Coordinator will again be appointed to develop new construction training and employment opportunities in partnership with other agencies.
1. Work with partners in the Hastings and Bexhill Task Force to ensure that the planned large-scale Regeneration Projects are realised at the earliest opportunity for the benefit of the local community, in particular:
Work closely with Task Force partners to bring forward proposals for the Town Centre and Ore Valley.
Work with the Task Force, Learning and Skills Council and other partners to ensure the development of Station Plaza.
2. Provide an efficient and effective planning service that meets or exceeds Government targets on performance and continues to attract Planning Delivery Grant Reward Money.
3. Develop a Local Development Framework for Hastings by engaging the local community and stakeholders in its production to ensure the policies and proposals properly reflect Borough wide needs and aspirations.
4. Continue to influence the development of the South East Plan so that the special circumstances of Hastings are recognised at regional level, and build on the already successful lobbying for improvements to the road and rail transport links.
5. Work with partners to achieve the year 1 milestones for 'Economic Development and Enterprise' contained within the 3 year East Sussex Local Area Agreement.
6. Implement the adopted Seafront Strategy jointly commissioned with the Hastings and Bexhill Task Force by:
Bringing forward schemes for the development of the Stade, in consultation with representative groups, which would include replacing the existing Tourist Information Centre and public toilets with new facilities.
Producing a Master Plan for the West Marina area and consulting stakeholders and the community on feasibility work related to further developments.
Producing a conservation management plan for Marine Court to ensure its long term future as an iconic piece of architecture which fully meets its functional requirements.
7. Continue to use our enforcement powers to improve the physical appearance of the town through our Zero Tolerance approach to and targeting of at least 30 neglected and derelict buildings and land, prioritising those in the Central St Leonards Renewal Area.
8. Commence the second phase of grants for the Conservation and Repair of buildings that form part of our historic townscape in the Central St Leonards Renewal Area and commit at least £200,000 of conservation and repair grant funding to properties within the area.
9. Expand the availability of Online Services to allow Building Control applications and payments to be made on-line.
10. Support the implementation of the Government's Post 16 Education Review proposal and, within this, seek to identify a long-term future for the delivery of the services provided by Tressell Training to young people excluded from training and employment.
11. Expand the number of Job and Training Opportunities for local people by:
Managing the Labour Market Solutions project to promote economic inclusion.
Increasing the number of local people in accredited training, apprenticeships and employment through expansion of the Construction Skills project.
12. Manage the Evening Economy project for a further 12 months to stimulate extended retail and leisure activity and employment in the town centre.
13. Support the development of an Enterprise Gateway to aid the establishment of sustainable new businesses and encourage the integration of business support agencies locally.
14. Develop the Hastings and Bexhill Economic Alliance to maximise its contribution to the future economic prosperity of the area by identifying priority projects, targeted allocation of resources and bringing partners together.
15. Implement our Public Arts Strategy, which seeks to ensure that public art is incorporated into all new major physical developments.
Some milestones in the Local Development Scheme are being re-timetabled in order to co-ordinate on cross boundary strategic issues with Rother. The remaining milestones for 2005/06 have been met.
The percentage of land searches carried out in 10 working days (BV179) has been deleted as a national Best Value Indicator, but will be kept as a local indicator from 2006/07.
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Commercial and Licensing
Community Safety
Corporate Health and Safety
Emergency Planning
Environmental Health
Environmental Protection
Highways Management
Parking
Refuse and Recycling Collection
Safety Partnerships
Street Cleaning
Warden Services
1. Implemented the Government's 'Together Action' initiative by setting up multi-agency teams to tackle anti-social behaviour and work with the police and local people to take swift and effective action against neighbourhood problems such as nuisance neighbours, vandalism, graffiti and rubbish dumping.
2. Worked as a key partner of the Safer Hastings Partnership to achieve reductions in crime and implemented the Safer Hastings Partnership Crime and Reduction Strategy for 2005-08.
3. As part of the Safer Hastings Partnership and Domestic Violence Group, supported a benefit concert to Promote White Ribbon Day and funded a quarterly White Ribbon newsletter to raise awareness of domestic violence issues.
4. Issued 13 Anti-Social Behaviour Orders to protect the public and reduce the incidents of anti-social behaviour that can cause harassment, alarm or distress and affect the quality of life in our neighbourhoods.
5. Utilised our new powers to tackle dog fouling and littering by issuing 32 Fixed Penalty Tickets and launching a targeted campaign to improve the condition of our street and public spaces.
6. Successfully managed the transfer of Liquor and Entertainment Licensing from the magistrates to the Council. We were the only council in the South East (including London) not to have any appeals lodged against a decision of the Licensing Committee.
7. Participated in national campaigns during National Food Safety Week and European Health and Safety Week to raise public awareness of basic hygiene and safety precautions.
8. Agreed and implemented an action plan to comply with our duties under the Civil Contingencies Act to improve our resilience in emergency situations and ensure the town is capable of providing a robust response to a range of crisis situations.
9. Successfully dealt with the removal of 402 Abandoned and 701 Untaxed Vehicles within our target of one working day to ensure they do not blight our streets and open spaces.
10. Produced an air quality action plan for the Air Quality Management Area in Bexhill Road and submitted it to the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs.
11. Continued to support the Evening Bus Service between Town Centre and the Conquest Hospital by subsidising the cost of operating this service.
1. Expanded our Kerbside Recycling Scheme to include cardboard, plastics and cans and extended the scheme to include nearly 95% of households in the Borough. However there have been problems with the ongoing delivery of this service, which resulted in a significant overspend, and impacted on our ability to achieve the 18% target. Investigations are underway to enable us to learn from the difficulties encountered and make positive changes in the context of the introduction of revised and enhanced waste, cleansing and recycling services during 2006.
2. Carried out an initial consultation with residents and businesses on the introduction of a Controlled Parking Zone in Central St Leonards to help to support changes to the way people travel and improve residential parking facilities. There will be further opportunity for consultation once the design of the scheme is completed.
3. Completed the enhancement of the towns key car parks by Autumn 2005, resulting in a major reduction in car crime within car parks and being awarded 12 'Safer Car Parks Awards'.
4. The introduction of 24 hour CCTV Monitoring of existing cameras has been delayed as the council is exploring the best and most cost effective delivery of the service in order to improve detection of crime and reduce the fear of crime in support of the evening economy and extended licensing hours.
1. Work with partner agencies and communities to implement the Government's Respect Agenda, to tackle anti social behaviour and its causes more robustly and effectively and enhance the quality of life and environment for residents.
2. Work with Sussex Police and other partners to ensure effective 'Neighbourhood Policing' in Hastings and St. Leonards, working though multi- agency and area co-ordination teams to further reduce crime, anti social behaviour, enviro-crime and improve community engagement.
3. Implement a full range of Crime Reduction Initiatives to meet targets in the Safer Hastings Strategy, to further reduce the fear of crime and make people feel safer in their communities.
4. Strengthen our Enforcement and Environmental protection teams to make them a deterrent and so reduce the incidents of 'enviro crime', particularly fly tipping of trade and household waste and ensuring offenders are penalised.
5. Introduce a new fully integrated Refuse Collection, Recycling and Street Cleansing contract, designed to help the public increase recycling and reduce the excess waste that has to be disposed of in landfill sites.
6. Develop the Warden Service to deliver 'local fit' for the different communities within the borough, and work on a multi-agency and area basis.
7. Continue to support transport initiatives such as the Evening Transport Service from the Conquest Hospital and consult with the community on finding Improvements for Cyclists.
8. Launch a Free Travel Scheme to enable elderly and disabled people to travel free by bus within Sussex.
9. Work in partnership with East Sussex County Council as they develop a Local Area Transport Strategy (LATS) for Hastings and St Leonards. This will involve other local partners and include a medium and long term Parking Strategy to support sustainable regeneration in the Hastings area.
10. Build on our successful service removing Abandoned and Untaxed Vehicles, and explore opportunities to deal with uninsured vehicles in partnership with the Police.
11. Work with partners to achieve the year 1 milestones for 'Safer and Stronger Communities' contained within the 3 year East Sussex Local Area Agreement.
12. Deliver Car Crime Reduction measures (specific details to follow) with our partners to further reduce car crime and seek longer term funding for the Car Crime Reduction Unit.
13. Begin implementing the Air Quality Action Plan and continue monitoring air quality in the management area.
14. Introduce a Controlled Parking Zone in the centre of St. Leonards for the benefit of the community, businesses and visitors to the town.
15. Implement the Government's new National Liquor and Entertainment Licensing Regime, working with partners e.g. the Police, to reduce the incidence of crime and disorder and nuisance activities associated with licensed premises.
16. Develop a Hastings and St Leonards Gambling Policy within the Government's new Gambling regime timetable and introduce systems for determining applications for licensed gambling premises.
17. Improve the Hastings and Rother Council's Emergency Planning Partnership to ensure a co-ordinated approach to Civil Protection and develop strategies and practical advice to inform the public of civil emergencies.
BV216 is a snapshot indicator of the position on the 31 March 2006. This year we had an unusually large number of sites of potential concern as well as an unusually high proportion for which we had information due to the recent completion of the Town Centre gas study. From next year we expect the numbers for each to be lower in line with the levels usually reported nationally.
Reporting of Health and Safety and Food inspections has been changed from this year to report the number completed against the numbers due for inspection throughout the year, instead of the percentage of planned inspections carried out as for last year. The number is therefore not comparable with last year's return, which is not reported.
There were a larger number of inspections completed than planned, as outstanding previous inspections that had arisen due to staffing shortages have also been carried out. This backlog is now nearly complete.
There was a dramatic reduction in crime in car parks from last year following a major investment in safety schemes. Crime rates are very variable from year to year, and the target has now been revised to 40 as the effects of the Safer Car Parks scheme are further assessed.
We have set our recycling and cost of waste collection targets based on statutory targets and performance this year. We are currently introducing a new waste contract. Anticipated changes in working practices are expected to significantly improve our recycling rates without commensurate increases in net collection costs. We will review our targets when the likely impact of the new arrangements have been fully assessed. The recycling and waste collection actual figures published for 2005/06 are based on our latest information, and final figures for the year are currently being confirmed with East Sussex County Council. The final confirmed figures are not expected to vary significantly from these.
These indicators measure percentage reductions in burglaries in line with targets in the Safer Hastings Partnership (SHP) Strategy. Positive figures indicate a reduction, and negative figures show an increase. Targets for 2008/09 will be set once the next SHP Strategy is developed.
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Housing Renewal
Housing Policy & Strategic Planning
Housing Advice & Prevention of Homelessness
Maintenance of the Common Housing Register
Neighbourhood Renewal and Partnerships
Local Strategic Partnerships
Community Partnerships
Supporting Young People to get their voices heard
Community Cohesion
Area Co-ordination
1. Have demonstrated our commitment to improving housing standards in the Central St Leonards Housing Renewal Area by investing considerably within the area, which includes grants to renovate residential properties and a financial commitment for environmental improvements in future years to 2008/09. In total 23 homes were improved through grants in 2005/06. A number of other properties have been inspected; grant approvals given or work is underway with completion scheduled for 2006/07.
2. The Central St Leonards Regeneration Framework (Masterplan) was completed and adopted by the Cabinet in November 2005. The SRB bid was submitted to SEEDA for consideration in February 2006 and was approved by SEEDA board in May 2006.
3. Worked with partners in East Sussex to raise housing standards in the private sector by:
Improving Living Conditions in 200 homes in Houses of Multiple Occupation.
Attaining the Decent Homes Standard for 41 homes in Central St Leonards, which exceeds our target of 30.
Exceeding our target of adapting 100 homes through the provision of the Disabled Facilities Grants, achieving adaptations to 124 homes.
4. Developed our understanding of the local housing market by undertaking a joint Housing Market Assessment together with Rother District Council and key stakeholders. A Final report will be ready in Mid 2006. The results from the study will help inform future housing and planning policies in the two council areas.
5. Worked with Housing Associations, the Hastings and Bexhill Taskforce and developers to deliver a total of 135 Affordable Homes.
6. Worked with partners to substantially deliver the 2005/06 Local Action Plans in Central St Leonards/Gensing, Ore Valley and Castle, which were developed by local people and agreed with service providers.
7. Ensured that 51% of residents had a Neighbourhood Forum or similar body to influence services to represent their local area and also developed a new Area Coordination approach to service delivery with our partners and the community for implementation in 2006/07 that will cover the whole Borough.
8. Worked with the Hastings snd Rother Disability Forum to enhance their membership, raise awareness of disabled access issues and ensure that the needs of people with physical disabilities are considered in decision-making.
9. Supported the work of 2 existing Senior Forum special interest groups and helped to develop a new group focusing on 'quality of life'. Commenced work on the development of a model for engaging more formally with the Council. Successful joint carnival float with Young Person's Council.
10. Facilitated the development of a more inclusive Young Person's Council. Supported the participation of young people in a range of consultations including the Government Green Paper 'Youth Matters'. Continued to work with partners on implementing the Hastings and St Leonards Youth Strategy to ensure that the needs of young people in the town are addressed.
11. Developed good relationships with over 15 diverse Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) Communities and mapped languages used. We commenced dialogue on how best to engage with BME communities to identify and address their needs.
12. Distributed £590,000 of grants in line with Council priorities through the Community Partnership Fund; the Small Grants Fund for community initiatives, arts, sport and play activities; and the fund for BME projects.
13. Reviewed and publicised the good progress made by all partners on the Local Strategic Partnership against the 21 Key Targets in the Community Strategy. Progress was good and showed that 16 of the 21 targets had been met or exceeded, with a number having met 2008 targets.
14. Set up a multi-agency 'Executive Delivery Board', as part of the Local Strategic Partnership, to improve joint working at a local level and achieve the improvements set out in the Community Strategy.
1. Due to changes in approach by our partners it has not been possible to bring 50 units of Temporary Accommodation into use through private sector leasing. We are reviewing this in light of revised government targets and changing housing practices. Work to develop alternative proposals will continue through 2006/07.
1. Implement the new duties associated with the 2004 Housing Act in relation to Houses in Multiple Occupation Licensing and the new Health and Safety Hazard rating system.
2. Introduce additional Licensing requirements in castle ward, similar to those currently operating in Central St Leonards, in order to improve housing standards for private tenants.
3. Continue to work with our preferred partner Registered Social Landlords, the Hastings and Bexhill Taskforce and other housing providers to deliver 70 affordable homes.
4. Work with partners to achieve the year 1 milestones for 'Healthier Communities and Older People' contained within the 3 year East Sussex Local Area Agreement.
5. Work with other Local Authorities, Registered Social Landlords and other housing providers across Sussex to develop a Choice Based Letting Scheme to enable us improve the way social housing is allocated and provide people in housing need with better choices.
6. Carry out a review of our existing Homelessness Strategy, including measures to minimise the use of temporary accommodation, with a view to adopting a revised strategy in 2007/08.
7. Continue our focus on improving private sector housing in the Central St Leonards Renewal Area through financial assistance and enforcement action, to achieve the Decent Homes Standard in respect of 30 properties occupied by vulnerable households.
8. Produce a design Guide for Central St Leonards to inform physical developments, support the urban renaissance of the town and commence delivery of the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) funded priority projects for Upgrading the Public Realm in Central St Leonards, once approved by the South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA).
9. Establish and develop with partner organisations a new Home Improvement Agency with a view to improving advice and services for vulnerable, elderly, or disabled people, including the adaption of 110 homes through provision of Disabled Facilities Grants.
10. As part of an annual review, assess the effectiveness of our current Financial Assistance Policy for Poor Condition Private Sector Housing and revise accordingly.
11. As part of our 5 year Housing Strategy for the town:
Where owners resist all efforts and encouragement to deal effectively with long term empty, dilapidated or poorly managed property, develop a programme of Compulsory Purchase Orders and/or Empty Dwelling Management Orders to tackle the problem.
Carry out a New Private Sector Housing Condition Survey enabling the Council to revise private sector policies and programmes for achieving Decent Home targets.
12. Implement with our partners an Area Coordination approach to service delivery and engage communities in setting priorities and agreeing Area Delivery Plans, through area conferences and Area Management Boards.
13. Ensure that the funding commissioned for Neighbourhood Renewal activity is spent on addressing the worst problems in the town's priority areas to narrow the gap between our most deprived areas and the rest of the country.
14. Work with partners to ensure the Local Strategic Partnership continues to develop its role as the 'umbrella' partnership for Hastings, publicise progress achieved towards meeting Community Strategy targets and address shortfalls in performance.
15. Support the voluntary and community sector by allocating funding through the Community Partnership Fund; the Small Grants Fund and the Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) Projects Fund.
16. Continue to Support and Engage with different sectors of the community by working with the:
Young Persons' Council and Youth Forum
Seniors' Forum
Hastings and Rother Disability Forum
Black and Minority Ethnic community
There were a large number of families placed in temporary accommodation in 2005/06, making a 38.9% increase from 2004/05 for BV203. As this indicator reports the change from the previous year, our target of 0 is to reflect no greater numbers than for 2005/06, and it is hoped that we will see a reduction in the numbers placed in temporary accommodation.
For BV213 - the number of households presenting as homeless and resolved through casework advice, measures the number of cases leading to permanent resolution of the situation.
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Museums
Parks and Open Spaces
Ecology
Arboriculture
Leisure Services
Seafront Services (including Stade)
Park Rangers
Development Services:
Sports
Arts
Play
Passport to Leisure
Grounds Maintenance
Cemetery and Crematorium
Amenities Management
EventsVenues Management
1. Improved the accessibility of our Parks, Open Spaces and Leisure buildings, including the Falaise Fitness Centre, Sports Pavilion and the Cemetery and Crematorium.
2. Cabinet agreed to designate the Country Park as a local nature reserve. Successfully delivered the first year of the Management Plan for Hastings Country Park and Stewardship agreement.
3. Successfully retained our Green Flag Award for Alexandra Park and were one of 14 sites in the UK to be awarded a Green Heritage Award.
4. The Local Authorities (Hastings Borough Council, Rother District Council and East Sussex County Council), in partnership, consulted on the Future Development of Pebsham as a Countryside Park and completed a recreational needs study. This will inform work on a development strategy and business plan in 2006/07.
5. Successfully appointed a contractor to deliver Improved Grounds Maintenance Services, resulting in contract savings of around £91,000 a year.
6. Were awarded the European Seaside Award for Pelham Place Beach, but the proposed Annual Resort Survey was not undertaken as the awarding body no longer do this on an annual basis.
7. Enabled St Mary in the Castle to continue operating as an Art Gallery and information point for arts and cultural activities, supported 25 events in the auditorium and introduced tours of the building, of which 8 have taken place.
8. Launched a new Arts Action Plan focusing on education and professional development for artists and published 'Vital Currents', a book produced to accompany the strategy, which documents the progress of Hastings' creative sector over the past five years.
9. We delivered 5 of the 6 planned New Multi-use Games Areas located in Alexandra Park, White Rock Gardens, The Firs, Torfield and Grove School. The 6th site was considered not viable at the detailed planning stage.
10. Launched a new Community Football Project, which successfully engaged over 800 young people, to divert those who are most at risk of becoming involved in anti-social behaviour or being excluded from school.
11. Appointed 'not for profit' contractors to Manage Our Indoor Facilities who funded £500,000 of improvements to Falaise and Summerfields Leisure Centres and contract savings of £88,000 a year.
12. Launched a new Community Outreach Programme at the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, in which four local schools took part.
1. Work to undertake a potential joint feasibility study to identify a transit site for travellers and gypsies for the eastern part of the County, has been delayed to enable a County wide Gypsy and Travellers Needs Assessment to take place to inform this work and a new revised timetable has now been drawn up to take this into account.
2. The submitted bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the restoration work in St Leonards Gardens was successful in achieving a £999,500 award, however a delay to the decision made by the Heritage Lottery Fund means work will now commence in July 2006.
3. Work continued on developing a Parks and Open Spaces Strategy by carrying out an audit of all parks and open spaces in the Borough and completing consultation on the draft, the strategy will be submitted for Cabinet approval during 2006.
4. Work to produce a Museum Online Catalogue is ongoing, with 60% of local photographs having been scanned. This will allow the public access to historical local views through the internet and is expected to be completed by 2007/08.
5. Work to complete a Biodiversity Action Plan was delayed so that the requirements of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act, which came into force in April 2006, could be taken into account. This places a statutory duty on local authorities to consider the conservation of biodiversity in their policy and decision making procedures. A final draft will be presented to Cabinet later in 2006.
1. Start implementing the action plan (to be agreed in Spring 2006) to Improve Indoor Leisure Facilities by replacing or upgrading Summerfields and Falaise Leisure Centres as part of the Council's commitment to the 2012 Olympic legacy.
2. Implement an Improvement Plan addressing the issues raised in our recent inspection of Cultural Services including producing a long-term vision for Culture, strengthening management capacity, introducing customer charters, and further investment in Leisure facilities.
3. Secure, with partners a sustainable future for St Mary in the Castle as part of the wider plans for the Pelham area.
4. Commence the first year of the Active Hastings programme to generate increased activity particularly for younger and older people through managed programmes using the five new multi use games areas and other leisure venues.
5. Work with partners to achieve the year 1 milestones for 'Children and Young People' contained within the 3 year East Sussex Local Area Agreement.
6. Implement the final year action plan of the partnership Youth Strategy, which addresses the needs of 8-19 year olds identified in 2004.
7. Start implementing the improvement plan for the Cliff Railways seeing over £400,000 invested over two years.
8. Start implementation of the Parks and Open Spaces Strategy action plan to improve physical access and achieve quality open spaces around the town.
9. Play a lead role in the Hastings and Bexhill Culture Sector Group, set up to deliver objectives in the Cultural and Community Strategy and to secure external funding.
10. Agree a vision and sustainable future business plan with Rother District and East Sussex County Council for Pebsham Countryside Park.
11. Carry out works to St Leonards Gardens following the successful bid for external funding, in order to improve the fabric and access to the gardens.
12. Continue to support the Play Forum and bid for the 'Big Lottery Fund Children's Play Initiative' funding to support play activities with our partners.
13. Complete the £1.2m improvements project at Hastings Museum and Art Gallery to improve the gallery and access, and extend the Museum outreach programme for schools and community groups.
14. Prepare proposals and bid for external funding to provide beach volleyball and other games as part of improvements to our Seafront Leisure Facilities.
15. Bid for Heritage Lottery Funding to Improve Access to the Castle and interpretation facilities.
The method of counting numbers at the cliff railways was changed in 2005/06 from ticket sales to beam counters installed during the year to count total numbers of people using the railways. This will have accounted for some of the increase in numbers from last year, and future targets have been revised because of this. Major refurbishment works are planned for the cliff railways over the next 3 years, particularly during 2008/09, which is reflected in the reduced target for that year.
From 2005/06 the definition for calculating visits to museums and galleries has been changed. Previously we reported included 20% of the number of visitors to museums and galleries supported by the council. From 2005/06 we report 100% of the number of visitors, which is why the numbers are much greater than for last year.
From 2006/07 the Hastings Music Festival will be included in the figures reported for the White Rock Theatre. This is reflected in next year's targets with an increase in the numbers of attendees and shows expected, but a reduced figure for overall capacity.
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Personnel Services
Organisational Development
Equalities
Marketing and Communications
IT Services
e-Government Programme
1. Completed all major actions in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment Improvement Plan and reported results to quarterly Performance Review Meetings and Overview and Scrutiny Committees.
Created a new Workforce Development Plan to further strengthen our staff capacity and help us achieve excellence at the next assessment.
2. Launched a comprehensive Management Training Programme to improve our organisational capacity and introduced the GEM awards - 'Going the Extra Mile' - to recognise staff achievements.
Implemented a 'women-friendly' action plan to ensure that our policies and practices do not discriminate by gender. However, we need to do more this year to ensure that all managers are fully trained and supported in their roles. We also recognise that further staff reward and recognition initiatives will help increase morale and productivity.
3. Reached level 3 of the Government's Equalities Standard.
4. Agreed and implemented our Recruitment and Retention Policy to enable career development within our workforce.
5. In consultation with local community groups addressed the barriers, which may have contributed to currently under-represented groups in our workforce from applying for jobs. As a result revised our recruitment and retention policy and job application packs to positively promote applications from underrepresented groups. Set up a Partnership with the University Centre of Hastings to strategically address employment and career opportunities by promoting job opportunities within the organisation at jobs fairs.
6. Adopted a Green Travel Plan to encourage alternative ways for staff to travel to work and became a member of the national car share scheme.
7. Worked with other East Sussex local authorities on the Access East Sussex Partnership to allow us to make more cost effective shared IT purchases and enable our public information systems to be delivered in a more joined up way e.g. delivered major enhancements to the County-wide fault reporting website and the online A-Z of public services, piloted text polls using mobile technology and linked internal IT networks across East Sussex Councils.
8. Implemented Information Technology Projects aimed at supporting and streamlining the Council's services e.g. a human resources information system, a housing allocations and rents module to assist our Housing department, introducing live access to planning cases via the website, Customer Relationship Management into the Hastings Information Centre (HIC), on-line booking for sports centres, Council Tax and business rate balances on-line, new telephone and call handling systems.
9. Ensured we kept residents well informed about our services by producing 4 issues of the About Magazine and having 85% of our Press Releases featured in the Hastings Observer.
10. Successfully achieved our 100% E-Government Target to ensure information about our services is available to the public electronically either by telephone or internet.
11. Responded to 81 requests for information within the specified time limits set under the Freedom of Information Act.
12. Ensured all our online documents and publications are accessible to the public under the Disability Discrimination Act.
13. Promoted Positive Stories about Hastings, the work of the Council, our partners and the huge range of Council-supported services and events happening in the Borough, such as the Chess Congress, Half Marathon, Jack In The Green, Old Town Carnival and Hastings Week, all sponsored by HBC. We also produced a very successful book on 'Foyle's Hastings,' the initial print run of 2000 sold out within six weeks.
14. The Hastings and 1066 Country Visitor Guide was successfully launched in early 2006, as was the 'Visit' system which allows us to take bookings for visitor accommodation online. We also negotiated an excellent deal with Eurotunnel giving us advertising space on their trains, and free travel to exhibitions, in return for us promoting them in our publications and at exhibitions.
15. Improved the way we capture information about both the Complaints and Positive Feedback we receive. Established a monthly email update to enable us to share from our experiences, making the way we share good practice more systematic.
1. A new Geographical Information System (GIS) has been installed and links made to other major Council systems. Work to make further property and planning history available in the form of electronic maps has been delayed due to the scale and complexity of the current implementation. Work is expected to be completed by early 2007.
2. Our Review of Administrative Processes and office support did not take place during 2005/06. The review has been absorbed in our 2006/07 cross-cutting efficiency reviews and is expected to produce proposals for administrative change by the end of 2006.
1. Demonstrate that we offer Value For Money for our services and a return on our investments in new technology and staff training by improving our efficiency and performance.
2. Conclude our CPA Improvement Plan and continue to strengthen our organisational capacity and skills, including staff reward and recognition initiatives and management training programmes.
Implement the outcomes of our review of family-friendly employment best practice.
3. Continue our work towards achieving level 3 of the Government's Equalities Standard by 2008, by reviewing all services and key policies in accordance with the Race Relations Act and Equalities Standard.
4. Publish a Disability Equality Scheme by December 2006.
5. Review our Pay Structure to ensure we can recruit to posts where there are national shortages of skilled people and provide opportunities in accordance with equal pay guidelines to address the gender pay gap.
6. Encourage Staff Development e.g. by providing opportunities for all parking staff to achieve NVQ qualifications.
7. Refurbish the Christchurch Building in London Road, to create Central St Leonards Offices for Council staff.
8. Continue work to Strengthen our Links with those sections of the community who are underrepresented in our workforce in order to explore employment and training opportunities.
9. Improve our Online Services to residents and visitors by enabling attractions, events and visitor accommodation to be booked online.
10. Continue to develop Targeted Marketing Campaigns aimed at improving the quality, and value, of tourism in the area.
11. Continue to improve and expand the service offered through the Hastings Information Centre (HIC) by expanding the range of parking permits sold, enabling electoral registration and Council Tax queries to be handled and offering an improved range of merchandise for sale.
12. Improve the internal and external communication service offered through the adoption of a focused Marketing and Communications Strategy.
13. Obtain a License for the Town Hall to allow marriages and civil partnership ceremonies to take place.
14. Implement a Customer Relationship Management software system to develop a more Customer Focused Approach and improve access to our services. By capturing all requests for services, compliments and complaints centrally we can track responses and trends and learn from our mistakes and share good practice.
15. Provide customers with a Wider Choice of Payment Options by enabling customers to make payments such as Council Tax online.
For BV11b and c the percentages represent one person from Black adn Minority Ethnic backgrounds or with disability respectively in the top 5% of earners for whom we hold the relevant information. Disclosure of this type of personal information is voluntary, and is the reason why the percentages are different. Targets for future years have been set to reflect maintaining 1 person in the top 5% of earners for each indicator. The number of staff in the top 5% of earners does change over time though, so we might not reach the percentage targets set even though we maintained the same number of people.
We have changed the method of calculation in 2005/06 so that we can meet the needs of staff with a disability. Instead of using an anonymous staff survey, where only the proportion of survey respondents is reported, we now use named surveys and add this data to our Personnel system along with starters and leavers to give more accurate, live data. However, the % of people with a disability as a proportion of all staff, not just those who filled in the survey, now need to be reported. This shows a lower result, in contrast to the 2004/05 actual, family average and 2005/06 target which were calculated using the old method.
BV016b and BV017b are census returns for comparative purposes, not indicators that are actively managed.
BV174 and 175 count the number of racial incidents reported about the Council, of which there have been none, and therefore no further action has needed to take place. Future targets hope for a continued nil return.
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Policy and Performance Management
Risk Management
Legal Services
Democratic and Scrutiny Services
Estates Management
Internal Audit
Corporate Accountancy
Exchequer Services
Treasury Management
Council Tax Collection
Housing and Council Tax Benefits
Fraud Investigation
1. Relocated 80 staff to more Accessible Premises in Aquila House as part of a three-year plan to ensure that Council buildings are accessible, under the Disability Discrimination Act, to staff and visitors alike.
2. Scrutiny reviews of Bus Services, Cliff Railways and Electoral Registration were successfully carried out. A review to identify ways of improving the effectiveness of Overview and Scrutiny was completed with a new structure agreed by Council for the start of the 2006/07 Municipal Year.
3. Worked in partnership with other East Sussex local authorities to develop and implement a Joint Plan to Improve Efficiency in Key Service Areas by looking at options for collaborating on the delivery of services generally, and Revenue Services in particular. Following a successful bid for government funding, Consultants have been engaged and are due to report in June 2006.
4. Agreed and began to implement the Council's Climate Change Policy and Action Plan which sets out how we will reduce our CO2 emissions. We became members of the South East Climate Change Partnership and worked together to submit a funding bid to DEFRA for the 'Future Coasts Climate Campaign'. We moved from old Victorian buildings to modern open plan accommodation that meets DDA guidelines, as such the monitoring of our energy reduction work has not been possible.
5. Involved our staff in developing and monitoring annual work programmes and published half-yearly progress reports on the Internet to show how we performed against national and local targets. We were invited to share our Best Practice Approach to Performance Management by teaching at Warwick Business School, other Local Authorities and speaking at a national conference.
6. Focused on a range of initiatives to improve the cost efficiency of our Procurement Activities by improving the tendering arrangements for all major new contracts and streamlining our processes to enable small and medium sized firms to compete for business opportunities with the Council. A Procurement Officer has been appointed and a work plan agreed.
7. Worked jointly with the Pension Service to Raise Awareness of Benefit Entitlement amongst pensioners. The Pension Service are making home visits and telephone calls, and we are endeavouring to supplement their activities and not duplicate them.
8. Regularly and consistently monitored applications in respect of housing and council tax benefit, in order to Ensure Correct Benefit is Paid to Claimants. Improvements are being made in the way claims are handled as part of the Council's 'fight against fraud'. In November 2005 the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate undertook an inspection of the Council's benefit counter fraud activities, the review criticised performance in some areas, however was satisfied with our approach in monitoring applications.
9. Improved our position in respect of core Benefit activities, especially the time taken to determine new claims and introduced New Policies and Processes in the area of fraud prevention and detection.
1. A new Financial System to enable us to access 'real time' financial information was installed in June 2005, however significant problems within the system were experienced during its' extended roll-out period. These difficulties are now behind us, and, for the future, the system provides a platform for improving both our internal processes and procurement processes.
1. Strengthen our Overview and Scrutiny Committees' role in performance management of the Council and it's contribution to achieving shared targets with partners e.g. the East Sussex wide Local Area Agreement and the Community Strategy.
2. Ensure our new Internal Financial Management System is fully implemented and offers us opportunities to make our council-wide systems more effective.
3. Ensure the Council's Plans and Activities are affordable and our resources are continually reviewed and allocated to our priorities and offers value for money for council taxpayers.
4. Strengthen our Fraud Investigation Work to attempt to ensure benefits are only paid to those who are entitled to them.
5. Investigate with councils across East Sussex ways of Improving Joint Working in order to provide better value for money for Council Tax payers.
6. Improve Collection Rates for both Council Tax and business rates over that achieved in 2005/06.
7. Increase the number of Council Tax payments received electronically.
8. Work with the Pension Service to encourage pensioners who may be entitled to Housing and/or Council Tax Benefit to apply.
9. Further improve our Benefits performance and achieve the national Performance Standards for processing claims.
10. Invest in the Priory Meadow Extension Scheme as an 'invest to save' project which will see an annual return on our investment.
11. As a result of a Best Value review into Cash Collection, we will increase the number of outlets at which people can pay their Council Tax and Business Rates.
During 2005/06 our main financial systems were changed. This resulted in some backlog of invoice payments, and key data was not available for several months for the calculation of BV008. Our return is based on a weighted average for the months April, May and December to March for which data was available.
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We have stated in this document what we have achieved in 2005/06, our 10 priorities for the next 3-5 years and what actions we will take towards delivering them in 2006/07.
This planning and reviewing is part of our Performance Management Framework, which has three main areas - Plan; Do; and Review.
In 2003/04 the Council underwent an inspection by the Audit Commission known as a Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). The Commission ranked Hastings Borough Council as 'good' on a scale of excellent/good/fair/weak/poor. The assessment covered the whole of the Council looking at corporate governance and community leadership as well as service delivery. More details of the assessment, including the Audit Commission's Inspection Report can be viewed on the Comprehensive Performance Assessment pages along with our Self Assessment.
We welcomed the Good rating given by the Audit Commission and aspire to an Excellent rating at the next performance assessment - whenever that may be and we await the Audit Commission's final proposals for District Council's CPA due later in the year.
We considered the Audit Commission's comments along with our own performance self-assessment and devised an Improvement Plan to address areas of weakness.
Good progress against our Improvement Plan has been made and many aspects have been reported on in the previous chapters referring to performance in 2005/06.
In early 2006 the Audit Commission assessed our 'Direction of Travel' based on this improvement plan and other work and stated:
"The Council has made progress in many of its priority areas and improved performance. In particular, its work in partnership with others, is contributing to the physical and social regeneration of the area, and helping to ensure that the area is clean, green and healthy. Plans are in place to sustain this progress over the medium term despite increasing financial pressures".
They commented on the following notable improvements:
Overall, the work of the Council and its partners is improving the lives of residents. In 2004, the area was assessed as moving from the 27th most deprived district to the 39th and unemployment has reduced from 3.8% to 3.3%. Many of the borough's parks and open spaces appear attractive and well maintained. Overall, the Council can show outcomes for various sections of the community through its parks and open spaces. Strong partnership working with the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) enables the Council to encourage the community to lead healthier lives. The Safer Hastings Partnership, in which the Council is one of six principal partners, is having an effect through its work on reducing crime and the fear of crime. The percentage of residents feeling safe in the town centre and Central St Leonards in the day time is above 90% and Hastings and St Leonards has moved from the 40th Highest Crime area to the 78th (out of 376).
The Audit Commission also stated that:
"There are however, some areas where Value For Money (VFM) cannot yet be demonstrated. Recycling performance is low, its performance on housing benefit is comparatively weak and its costs on homelessness are high. Action is in hand to tackle all three areas."
In November 2005 the Benefits Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) undertook an inspection of the Council's housing benefit counter fraud activities. The Council was chosen for inspection on the basis of bottom quartile performance in 2004/05 for the number of sanctions and prosecutions for housing benefit fraud. The BFI published their report in February 2006. The main conclusions were that the Investigation team had a lack of strategic direction, and that there had been very little progress in implementing BFI counter-fraud recommendations made after their previous inspection in 2001.
The Audit Commission noted that we have acted promptly to accept the BFI action plan, and are progressing implementation in consultation with the Department of Work and Pensions Performance Development Team.
A recent inspection of the Council's cultural services judged it as 'fair' with 'promising prospects for improvement'.
The Audit Commission stated that our cultural services are increasing opportunities for participation and undertaking positive work with young people. We have developed an Improvement Plan to address the areas raised by the inspection.
The use of resources assessment is a new assessment undertaken by the Audit Commission which focuses on financial management but also links to the strategic management of the Council. It looks at how the financial management is integrated with strategy and corporate management, supports council priorities and delivers value for money. In its assessment of the Council in 2005/06 we were rated on a scale of 1 - 4 as a 3 'consistently above minimum requirements - performing well'.
The External Auditor has made the following key findings and conclusions in respect of the Borough's Value for Money assessment:
"Hastings is a relatively high spending authority per head of population by comparison with other nearest neighbours. The Council can however demonstrate that due to high levels of deprivation and other demographic data that higher spending is needed in many services. The Council is clearly aware of comparative costs and can identify where higher costs can be attributed to services that are improvement priorities. The Council's self assessment demonstrated that it has clear information on its costs and how these compare to others, and recognises where it needs to improve outcomes in order to provide VFM. Overall the balance between costs and performance is positive. Processes are in place for information on costs and performance to be collected and reviewed. The Council has two systems in place to review the VFM principles of individual services: PIER reviews and Best Value Reviews. Both processes can identify the achievement of cost savings and improvements in service delivery. Information is regularly reported to officers/members and challenged, and there is evidence of improved outcomes as a result of this process. Targets are applied in order to further achieve VFM, and efficiency savings can be demonstrated.
"Procurement is being strengthened by the creation of a new procurement post, and there are good examples of collaborative working and partnership working in order to achieve efficiency savings and improve services. The Council's capital programme is robust, and is based on real lifecycle costings. The Council is very self-aware of the areas which it needs to address and these are well-documented in its Improvement Plans."
One of the ways we continually identify improvements to our services is through Best Value Reviews. Since April 2000 we have undertaken 24 such reviews to:
Challenge the way we provide services and identify the improvements that can be made.
Compare our performance and the way we do things with the best.
Consult with local people, service users, staff and the wider business community on quality and effectiveness of these services.
Confirm whether we are competitive compared to other providers of services and, if not, examine the potential for other providers to be involved in delivering these services.
Each review results in an Improvement Plan stating how we will improve the service/function and sets targets that are monitored by the Overview and Scrutiny Committees.
The Government guidance issued in March 2003 stated that Councils should balance the effort and resources put into a review against the potential gains. With this in mind we undertook a Scrutiny Review of Best Value, which identified an improvement plan and criteria for selecting future areas for review as:
The importance of a review to members of the public
The relation to the Council priorities
The degree of impact that a review may have
The likelihood of the review producing tangible results
The availability of resources to undertake the review
Timescales by which a review needs to be undertaken (particularly policy development and the need to meet external deadlines) 2005/06
The Best Value Review programme for 2005/06 included two reviews - Cash Collections and Housing Advice: Cash Collections - The review looked at the counter payment services provided by the Borough Council at Wellington Square for Council Tax, non-domestic rates and related payments and what could be done to improve the delivery of this service to customers.
The review concluded that:
The current service provides only one counter payment option at Wellington Square, which requires residents to travel to the town centre. This falls short of services offered by other East Sussex local authorities, such as Eastbourne. Also noted was the future closure of the Wellington Square offices.
Areas for improvement included:
The need to introduce alternative payment options for customers such as:
Encourage higher take-up of bill payments by direct debit.
Introduce a 24 hour on-line and automated telephone payment facility for paying Council Tax and other payments.
Replace the counter service with a network of neighbourhood paypoints across Hastings (currently 38 in total) and nationally in Post Offices, shops and other outlets.
The need for a high profile advertising campaign to promote the improved Council Tax and other bill paying options.
Housing Advice - The review looked at the Housing Advice services provided by HBC at the Housing Advice Centre.
The review concluded that:
There were concerns relating to the number of homelessness acceptances, particularly amongst 16/17 year olds and the levels of temporary accommodation used, with actions needing to be taken to reduce these.
Areas for improvement included:
The need to improve the quality of information available to smaller landlords about being a 'good' landlord.
The need to monitor the impact of housing advice on prevention of homelessness via Performance Indicators.
The need to improve the quality of Housing Advice Service accommodation - proposed move to Christchurch due to take place Early 2007.
The need to restructure the housing advice service to focus on early intervention and improving the assessment process for 16/17 year olds.
A revision in processes for measuring client satisfaction Create an operational Housing Advice website.
The Council will undertake a review of the maintenance of its assets in 2006/07.
Scrutiny Reviews undertake a detailed assessment of a service which affects the quality of life of local people, irrespective of if the Borough Council deliver the service. The reviews are carried out by a Review Group made up of a number of non-Cabinet Councillors from all parties. The Review Group examines how and why services are provided in a particular way and identifies improvements which are recommended to the Cabinet.
In 2005/06 Scrutiny Reviews were completed on the Cliff Railways, Electoral Register and Bus Services.
Cliff Railways
East and West Hill Cliff Railways should be fully retained and developed under the management of HBC
Increase daily fares by 50% - to be in line with other cliff railways around the country
Introduce family and attraction tickets
West Hill Cliff Railway - extend opening hours and remain open throughout the year
East Hill Cliff Railway - open at weekends during the winter
Consider investing more resources in the promotion and development of the Cliff Railways:
Events on the East Hill/opening of a cafe
Professional conferences
Promotional leaflets
Electoral Register
Improve public awareness and knowledge of procedures of the electoral register
Rolling registration forms should be given to Councillors, estate agents, neighbourhood forums and public facilities
'New residents' page to be included on the HBC website - with details of Council services new residents will need to access
How to integrate and mainstream electoral registration into other Council services
Bus Services
Set up a Bus Users forum - representatives from bus operators, local groups and local employers
Increased information and publicity about bus services and changes to it
Provision of 'real time' information at bus stops
Investigate moving the Quality Bus Partnership onto a statutory basis to continue to improve bus services in Hastings
Hastings and Rother to work towards a better integrated transport system
The Audit Commission assess how well we are managing public money, and the arrangements we have in place to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of our resources. They review each Local Performance Plan we produce including the arrangements we have in place to report Performance Indicators (PIs). In the Statutory report produced on the 2005/06 Performance Plan, the Audit Commission reported that:
"We have completed our review of performance information for 2004/05 and the Council's Best Value Performance Plan for 2005/06. We found that:
the system for publishing performance indicators was generally sound; and
the Best Value Performance Plan for 2005/06 complies with statutory guidance"
Our work did not result in any reservations or qualifications in respect of individual performance indicators, and we were able to issue an unqualified report on the Best Value Performance Plan in line with statutory requirements.
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'Best Value' is all about making sure that our services offer good value for money. With this in mind, the Government has introduced a set of measures against which all local authorities must assess their performance. To help you decide whether or not we are measuring up, we have put our 'performance indicator' information into tables in each relevant chapter of this Plan.
The Government sets these indicators nationally. Only those relevant to the Borough Council are listed. The majority of the BVPIs were introduced in 2000/01; however there have been changes in each subsequent year, with some BVPIs being deleted or amended and some new BVPIs added.
Local Authorities are encouraged to develop local indicators in addition to the BVPIs specified by the Government, in order to measure performance against local priorities. We have introduced local PIs, to enable us to measure effectively whether we are achieving our service objectives, 10 priorities and Community Strategy targets.
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This statement provides an overview of:
- The Council's medium term financial strategy;
- Revenue expenditure; and
In preparing the revenue and capital estimates, account has been taken of the Council's priority objectives and its medium term financial plan.
The Council is a relatively high spending authority and its annual spending is only sustainable by the use of reserves built from savings in previous years. Once these reserves have been used, annual spending will need to be reduced in real terms.
We need to respond to this and other anticipated changes in our resource base. Therefore we will continue our wide-ranging review of spending priorities, costs and income to ensure that the use of external funds are maximised. We will also continue to promote income generating initiatives, including the use of powers to trade as appropriate.
The Council will continue to need to find money to support new initiatives that reflect stakeholder priorities. These can only be financed from external sources or by re-focusing existing budgets or by generating additional income.
We will aim to reduce Council expenditure or increase income to a level that is sustainable in the medium term and which is focused on our shared core priorities.
The Council seeks to maximise investment initiatives by gaining external finance from the Government and our other partners. The revenue consequences of investment expenditure are taken into account in our forward revenue expenditure planning.
The allocation of resources to services is:
Last Year: Spend £'m: 3.5
Income £'m: 0.5
This Year: Spend £'m: 3.7
Income £'m: 0.2
Last Year: Spend £'m: 10.7
Income £'m: 5.4
This Year: Spend £'m: 10.7
Income £'m: 5.5
Last Year: Spend £'m: 8.2
Income £'m: 2.8
This Year: Spend £'m: 8.8
Income £'m: 3.2
Last Year: Spend £'m: 7.0
Income £'m: 1.9
This Year: Spend £'m: 6.7
Income £'m: 1.9
Last Year: Spend £'m: 47
Income £'m: 45.5
This Year: Spend £'m: 48.9
Income £'m: 46.8
Last Year: Spend £'m: 9.4
Income £'m: 6.8
This Year: Spend £'m: 5.2
Income £'m: 2.9
Spend £'m: 85.8
Income £'m: 62.9
Spend £'m: 84
Income £'m: 60.5
Last Year: £'m: 22.9
This Year: £'m: 23.5
Last Year: £'m: (8.1)
This Year: £'m: (7.1)
Last Year: £'m: (0.7)
This Year: £'m: (0.7)
Last Year: £'m: 14.1
This Year: £'m: 15.7
Last year's provisional overall net expenditure is in line with original budget expectations. However, improvements in income and various relatively minor reductions in expenditure are offset by significant additional recycling costs.
This year's net revenue expenditure is supported by a Council Tax increase of 2.4% to ensure that we continue to develop and invest in our services, and encourage others, to meet the needs of our residents. This year's net expenditure is funded by:
Government Grant £'m: 9.6
Local Council Tax £'m: 6.1
Total £'m: 15.7
The budget has been framed to resource the priorities and initiatives set out elsewhere in this Local Performance Plan.
In formulating the investment programme, reference has been made to the following scheme criteria:
(a) is of a major social, physical or economic regeneration nature;
(b) meets the objective of sustainable development;
(c) levers in other sources of finance such as partnership/lottery funding, or provide a financial return to the Council;
(d) does not incur ongoing revenue costs (in addition to financing costs) or reduces ongoing revenue costs to assist the revenue budget.
Over the planning period to 31 March 2009 the Council plans to invest £44.2m in Hastings and St Leonards. This relates to:
Communications & Organisational Development
£'m: 0.4
Environment & Safety
£'m: 3.3
Housing, Communities & Neighbourhoods
£'m: 13.1
Leisure & Cultural Development
£'m: 6
Central Services (including Finance)
£'m: 3.5
Regeneration & Planning
£'m: 17.9
This investment expenditure is heavily dependent on external funding sources.
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Hastings Borough Council acknowledges its responsibility for ensuring that its business is conducted in accordance with the law and proper standards, and that public money and assets are safeguarded, properly accounted for, and used economically, efficiently, and effectively. In discharging this accountability, Members and Senior Officers are responsible for ensuring proper arrangements for the accountability of the Council's affairs and the stewardship of the resources at its disposal. The Council's corporate governance arrangements are set out in a Local Code of Corporate Governance, which was agreed by Cabinet on 28 April 2003. The Local Code is consistent with the principles and reflects the requirements of the CIPFA/SOLACE Framework Corporate Governance in Local Government: A Keystone for Community Governance.
Hastings Borough Council is also responsible for ensuring that there is a sound system of internal control which facilitates the effective exercise of its functions and which includes arrangements for the management of risk.
The system of internal control is designed to manage risk to a reasonable level rather than to eliminate all risk of failure. It can, therefore, provide reasonable (but not absolute) assurance of effectiveness. The system of internal control is based on ongoing processes designed to identify and prioritise the risks to the achievement of Hastings Borough Council's policies, priorities, and objectives, to evaluate the likelihood of those risks being realised, the impact should they be realised, and to manage them efficiently, effectively and economically. Increasingly, the emphasis is on 'positive' controls to ensure the achievement policies, priorities, and objectives, rather than 'negative' controls for the avoidance of risk.
Key elements of the Council's internal control environment include:
An Audit Committee that is a fully constituted Committee of the Council and an internal Audit and Investigations Division that reports to it.
A Chief Finance Officer (the Deputy Chief Executive) with responsibility for ensuring the proper administration of the Council's financial affairs.
Processes for maintaining internal control include a framework of regular management information, financial regulations, administrative procedures (including segregation of duties), management supervision, and a system of delegation and accountability.
A performance management system that includes commentary on service-level risk, the setting of targets for service delivery and monitoring of performance
against targets and plans.
In accordance with its commitment to continuous improvement, during 2005/06 the Council changed the status of the audit Committee from a Committee of Cabinet to a fully constituted committee of the Council. New Terms of Reference for the Audit Committee were also approved that specifically state the Audit Committee's responsibility for the scrutiny of the Council's corporate governance arrangements, including risk management and internal control.
In addition, new Financial Rules and Finance Operating Procedures, that bring together and replace the current Financial Regulations, Contracts Standing Orders, and Financial Authorisations, were approved by Council in December 2005 to ensure the full accountability of all Members and Officers.
The key process for review is the Council's Audit Committee, which receives reports from internal and external auditors. The Audit and Investigations Division operates to the standards of the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Institute of Chartered Accountants, and the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. The Audit Commission monitors compliance with standards and stated in its Annual Audit and Inspection letter that the internal audit function provides an effective service to the Council.
The risk-based internal audit programme provides a continuous programme of review of corporate governance and risk management arrangements, together with the audit of the systems of internal control, including the accounting systems.
The Chief Auditor reports the findings of each audit review to the Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive, and the Audit Committee. Annually, the Chief Auditor provides an opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of the Corporate Governance arrangements and systems of internal control to the Audit Committee.
For internal audit work carried out during 2005/06, 89% of the systems audited were evaluated as 'good' or 'satisfactory'.
The assurance that all cash received and payments made are included in the Council accounts is achieved by completing a full cashbook reconciliation. Good practice is to complete this exercise monthly. No full cashbook reconciliations were completed during the year ended 31 March 2006. Throughout the year daily reconciliations have been completed confirming that all income received and payments made through the bank accounts have been posted to the Council's general ledger. These daily reconciliations have provided a mitigating control.
On the basis of the Chief Auditor's report, we are satisfied that the Council's Corporate Governance arrangements and internal control systems are adequate and operating effectively.
Peter Pragnell
Leader of the Council
Roy Mawford
Chief Executive
The Council is responsible for the preparation of the Performance Plan and the information and assessments set out within it, and the assumptions and estimates on which they are based. The Council is also responsible for installing appropriate performance management and internal control systems from which the information and assessments in the Performance Plan have been derived. The Council is satisfied that the information and assessments included in the plan are in all material aspects accurate and complete and that the plan is realistic and achievable.
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This page last updated: 30/06/2006