Best Value Performance Plan 2007-08

Bedfordshire County Council’s Best Value Performance Plan – 2007/08

Welcome to Bedfordshire County Council’s Best Value Performance Plan for 2007/08. The Plan reflects on both our performance in 2006/07 and our priorities for 2007/08.

The plan describes:

Part 1

Our strategic objectives and priorities for improvement|

Arrangement for addressing the Councils improvement priorities
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Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement
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Compliance with the Code of Practice on Workforce Matter in Local Authority Contracts
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Part 2 (includes performance tables)

Children’s Services (Education)
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Children’s Services (Social Care)
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Community Services (Adult services)
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Community Services (Cultural and Community Safety)
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Environment
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Central Services
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2006/07 has been a significant year for the County Council:

• Confirmation of the Council’s attainment of 2 star status in the Government’s overall assessment of Councils – and confirmation for the second year running that the Council is “improving well”
• Improved ratings of our key front-line services
• Customer satisfaction rose from 43% to 57%
• Successful delivery of all the Council’s short-term priorities.

Our goal of achieving 3 star status in 2007 remains strong. In March 2007 the Government undertook its main three-yearly assessment of the Council. It is thrilling to reflect on the very positive conclusions reached by the inspectors about the County Council and the services we provide to the public. The Council is now a high performing organisation.

The County Council continues to focus on those things that matter most to the public – and these were reflected in the nine priorities set by the Council in the new Medium Term Strategy. New priorities for the Council are to:

• Improve value for money
• Tackle anti-social behaviour and reduce fear of crime
• Improve opportunities for older people to live fulfilling lives independently and at an affordable cost.

The Council’s Making Bedfordshire Thrive publication sets out all of the Council’s priorities and includes outcomes that the public will notice as a result of our work.

It is also in context of a forward-looking organisation to lead by example in important areas such as climate change and in 2007/08 we will focus on possible actions to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint.

Despite the Council’s significant achievements in 2006/07 – our ambition and desire to deliver high quality services for the people of Bedfordshire continues. We are not complacent and know that there is still more work to be done.

We are currently strengthening our case to government for a single tier of local government for Bedfordshire. We firmly believe that a single unitary authority for the county will ensure the people of Bedfordshire get the best possible services – offering the best value for money. This is what matters to us most. Whatever the outcome of the decision on unitary (expected at the end of July) we will take a strategic lead across Bedfordshire in achieving continuous improvement across all public services.

Madeline Russell Leader of the Council  30 June 2007

Andrea Hill Chief Executive 30 June 2007

Part 1

Our Strategic Objectives and Priorities for Improvement

Adopted in July 2005, Making Bedfordshire Thrive continues to provide a robust and enduring framework for the Council’s improvement planning.

Comprising the partnership vision for the county and the Council’s strategic objectives and priorities, Making Bedfordshire Thrive sets a clear direction for the future of Bedfordshire and secures a sharp focus for the County Council’s own improvement. Making Bedfordshire Thrive is translated into action through a number of statutory plans, the medium term strategy, the local area agreement and directorate service plans. 

The Council’s strategic objectives capture its contribution to the partnership vision as well as the key service and operational challenges it faces. The strategic objectives are:

• building strong, prosperous and sustainable communities
• helping children and young people to achieve their full potential
• helping those who need our support most
• transforming Bedfordshire County Council into a high achieving council.

When Making Bedfordshire Thrive was first agreed the Council’s most immediate priority was to tackle the performance of many of its services. Accordingly a number of discrete short term priorities, focused on specific service and corporate weaknesses, were set. These were supplemented by three medium term priorities, on matters both important to the public and where performance had been historically poor. Three long term priorities were also set, in recognition of the importance of economic prosperity to the county and the need to ensure the massive housing growth required in the county could be accommodated in a sustainable way.  

Making Bedfordshire Thrive was updated in 2006 as part of the Council’s medium term planning process. 

The vision and objectives are unchanged – they are designed to endure as long term aspirations. The priorities have been updated to reflect success in making substantial improvements against our short term priorities and changes in public priorities. The priorities are key local issues (that also reflect national priorities) where the Council has greater ambitions for the County. 

The six new medium term priorities (2006 to 2010) reflect local residents’ priorities and the Council’s desire to combine service improvement with value for money:

• improve road and pavement maintenance
• improve value for money through increased efficiency while delivering innovative, customer focused and high quality services
• improve children’s GCSE results
• minimise the increase in the future cost of waste
• tackle anti-social behaviour and reduce fear of crime
• improve opportunities for older people to live fulfilling lives independently and at an affordable cost.

The Council’s longer term priorities have not changed. They reflect the Council’s long term objective of effectively managing significant growth in jobs and housing, which requires the fostering of new enterprises so that more of the growing population can work locally. Key steps have been made to effectively manage the growth by creating new communities with local jobs, better community facilities, improved and increased public facilities, convenient public transport and better roads, footpaths and cycle ways to reduce traffic congestion. 

The four long term priorities are:

• effectively manage growth (at least 80,000 new homes) and work with government to deliver better infrastructure by 2031
• create 50,000 new jobs locally by 2021
• make transport improvements to keep the county moving and support economic growth
• Reduce the Council’s carbon footprint and lead the County’s response to climate change

Robust action plans for each priority have been agreed and are managed through the Council’s performance management arrangements which include regular reporting to the Corporate Management Board, Cabinet Members, Overview and Scrutiny Committee and select committees. 

Making Bedfordshire Thrive now contains an important commitment to the people and businesses of Bedfordshire through the publication of “community outcomes”. These set out the things people can expect from the County Council and will notice happening in their local area. Linked directly to each of the Council’s priorities the community outcomes present a tangible expression of what will happen as the priorities are implemented and delivered e.g. a new by-pass for a village, a new visitor centre on Dunstable Downs and an increase in the number of vulnerable adults and older people remaining in their own homes.

Arrangements for Addressing the Council’s Improvement Priorities 

The County Council has undergone a rapid transformation and significant improvement since 2004. This was confirmed in February 2007 with the announcement by the Audit Commission that under the Comprehensive Performance Assessment the Council was “improving well” and demonstrating 2-star overall performance. 

Improvements have been achieved in some of the most crucial services:

• adult social care – has moved from a one star authority in 2002 to two stars in 2006 and ranked equal first out of sixteen on the basis of CSCI comparator data
• children’s services – in 2005 children’s social services was awarded its first star rating for four years and in 2006 children’s social care received an APA rating of 3
• education – key stage one results continue to be among the top 10% in the country and remarkable improvement has been made in key stage two in maths and science. At key stage three performance is above the national average on all three main subjects
• finance – financial standing, the quality of financial management and value for money have all improved, contributing to a use of resources score of 2 under the comprehensive performance assessment in 2006
• recycling and composting – the overall level of recycling of household waste has grown from 9% in 2002 to 35% in 2006/07
• roads – the condition of roads has improved considerably over the last four years, with a significant reduction in the length of non-principal classified and unclassified roads in need of investigation
• overall satisfaction with the Council has improved since 2003/04 - from 35% to 43%. This still represents a significant improvement, with Beds County Council achieving the second highest level of improvement among all county councils.

The improvements illustrated above demonstrate the Council’s ambition and determination to transform its services. The transformation has been achieved through strong performance management driving improvement and ensuring the constant focus on ambitions, targets and declared priorities.

The Council’s approach goes beyond a formal corporate monitoring system to embrace cultural and managerial change. The significantly improved performance has only been possible through a performance ethos across the Council that ensures a dedicated and relentless focus on receiving, analysing and reporting key performance information and, as a result, making decisions and taking action.  

The Council’s performance management approach has become the key enabler of change and transformation. It ensures that weaknesses are identified and that the capacity and corrective action planning are deployed to rectify them.

The revisions to Making Bedfordshire Thrive in 2006 reflects the Council’s success in achieving its short term priorities, and moving on to accelerate the improvement in key service priorities. 

The Council fully recognises it cannot deliver such an ambitious agenda along and recognises the importance of strong partnership working to increase capacity to deliver priorities and improve services. For example: 

• the Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership has overseen a dramatic turnaround in children’s social care
• the Bedfordshire Highways Partnership between Amey and the County Council has seen substantial productivity gains and service improvement
• the Bedfordshire Authorities’ Waste Partnership has driven the significant improvement in recycling
• the Bedfordshire Drug and Alcohol Action Team Partnership is tackling the difficulties and consequences of substance misuse and now has a successful Drugs Intervention Programme (DIP)
• a voluntary and community sector reference group is in place to help keep the diverse range of organisations connected in to the development and delivery of the local area agreement (LAA) and the sustainable community strategy.

As a result of the strength of its achievements and the acknowledgement from external regulators that it is a two star authority, a goal was set of achieving 3 star status under the CPA. In March 2007 the Government undertook its main three-yearly assessment of the Council. In submitting its self-assessment the Council highlighted some of the strengths which made it confident it would attain its goal:

• it had improved significantly over the last three years and was now performing well overall, having set clear and achievable priorities focused on improving weaker services and transforming itself within a partnership vision
• a strategic framework was in place to accelerate the improvement
• the need to manage growth in the area, through job creation, building homes and improving infrastructure, was a challenge the Council had readily championed and was driving forward
• the Council recognised its community leadership role and was working well with partners to deliver improved outcomes for citizens
• the Council has good calibre staff and members which provide positive managerial and political leadership, which contribute to its local community leadership role and a greater voice in the Eastern Region
• financial capacity and management have improved and further improvement is planned
• the Council has a strong performance culture, supported by a comprehensive and effective performance management framework
• equalities and diversity are being well integrated into Council activity, with the attainment of level three of the Equalities Standard.

The Council is self-aware and knows that a number of weaknesses and challenges must be addressed. These include:

• implementing action plans to improve procurement, asset management and value for money
• further improving the corporate management of human resources to ensure the Council’s challenging improvement programme is more effectively supported
• engaging more effectively with partners bring them along with the ambitious pace of change the Council is seeking
• fully restoring internal financial controls, thus ensuring the Council’s accounts are not qualified in 2006/07
• making further efficiency savings through better commissioning and procurement of services
• addressing the growth agenda more effectively by linking emerging strategies to set a more coherent approach to sustainable communities.

The Council is now much more forward looking and better able to progress and demonstrate its community leadership role in critical areas such as climate change. In 2007/08 the Council will be focussing on possible actions to reduce the County’s and the Council’s contribution to climate change, including the Council’s own carbon footprint. Local authorities are uniquely placed to take such a lead not only by providing vision and leadership, raising awareness and helping to change behaviours but also, through their powers, responsibilities and being a large employer, purchaser and estate manager, having a significant influence over greenhouse gas emissions in the local area. 

The Council has submitted a proposal to the government for single tier local government in the County. The Council is convinced that such an arrangement will provide the people of Bedfordshire with the best possible services, offering the best value for money. The government’s response to the proposal is expected towards the end of July 2007. Whatever the outcome, considerable change will result, even in continuing two-tier areas, with the government expecting considerable improvement in service delivery and efficiency gains. The County Council will therefore take a strategic lead across Bedfordshire to secure continuous improvement in all public services.

Community Strategy and Local Area Agreement

Bedfordshire’s Local Area Agreement (LAA) was successfully negotiated to completion and on time in March 2006 by a multi-agency project team. The LAA is an achievable and focused plan for the area and represents a significant contribution to partnership working in the county. 

The LAA is firmly based on a robust assessment of local need which enabled a very clear set of priorities to be identified, derived from an evidence base which pointed to the groups and neighbourhoods where targeted action is required. 

The LAA addresses two shared top level priorities:

• preparing for high level population growth
• focusing collective support on those who need it most

and will deliver the following outcomes:

• increasing the number and diversity of local jobs to meet the challenge of population growth
• having a skilled workforce to increase local productivity
• enhancing the growth and sustainability of enterprise and small businesses
• having sustainable and convenient transport
• improving the health and well-being of children and young people
• improving exam results at ages 11 and 16
• reducing school exclusions
• reducing health inequalities caused by smoking
• tackling obesity
• increasing the independence of older people by preventing falls
• reducing crime, the harm caused by illegal drugs and, to reassure the public, reducing the fear of crime
• building respect in communities and reducing anti-social behaviour
• empowering local people to have a greater voice and influence in local decision making and delivery of services
• reducing the impact of waste on the environment
• enriching the lives of all Bedfordshire residents through culture and sport.

Performance management and monitoring of the LAA has demonstrated that it has stimulated increased and more effective joint working and service improvement including:

• ground-breaking work of national reputation in researching and developing enterprise teaching in schools
• an innovative and successful project to train Bedford Prison staff to engage prisoners to stop smoking
• health, fire and district councils working together have achieved a huge reduction in deliberate (anti social behaviour) fires – a 32% improvement from target for 2006/07
• Great Barford bypass opened earlier than the provisional Autumn opening
• 25per cent reduction in school exclusions for academic year 2005/6 from 126 to 95
• 13per cent reduction in recorded crime in Mid Bedfordshire from 2004/5 to 2005/6 according to the British Crime Survey
• improved working with districts to better manage waste and increase recycling including performance-linked incentivisation.

The LAA received a successful six month performance review in November 2006 from the Countywide Partnership and GoEastand has been refreshed to include new targets including those for health inequalities and anti-social behaviour. 

Bedfordshire’s local strategic partnership (LSP) forum was dissolved in Spring 2006 and replaced with a streamlined executive called the Countywide Partnership. The change was designed to bring together the LSP and LAA governance arrangements into a single body. It has re-energised the commitment to partnership working at leader and chief executive level among member organisations, including the county and district councils, the police, fire and health services, the three district based LSPs and the voluntary and community and private sectors. 

As well as performance managing the LAA the Countywide Partnership is leading the refresh of the community strategy to update it and turn it into a sustainable community strategy. 

A shared understanding of priorities and discussion of the options for tackling them are central to the refresh process. Accordingly, a Countywide Assembly has been established to facilitate discussion and consultation among a very broad base of stakeholders with a legitimate interest in the strategic development of public services in Bedfordshire. 

In September 2006 the Assembly was attended by 135 delegates from a wide range of partners from the public, private and voluntary and community sectors who identified the key issues facing the county. These were subsequently refined by the Countywide Partnership into five key priorities for the refreshed strategy:

• growing our economy and raising the profile and identity of the county as a great place to live work and visit
• raising the aspirations of children and young people
• building strong communities where people have a shared identity, values and a sense of belonging
• ensuring the health, safety and well being of people: reducing health inequalities; tackling anti-social behaviour; and reducing the fear of crime
• providing improved value for money, greater efficiency and better customer access to public services.

The refreshed sustainable community strategy is due to be finalised in July 2007. 

Compliance with the Code of Practice on Workforce Matters in Local Authority Contracts

In the past we have worked with a number of partners to deliver services to the people of Bedfordshire, most of which were in the private sector. In 2005/2006 our partnership with HBS and Jacobs Babtie ended and we formed the Bedfordshire Highways Partnership with Amey.

When we have awarded a contract that involves the transfer of staff from the Council to the private sector company we have taken proper account of staff matters. There have been five transfers from a private sector company into the Council, no transfers into the private sector have been made in the past year. Those transfers and any in the future, will have regard to compliance with the Code of Practice on Workforce Matters in Local Authority Contracts.

Part 2

The following section contains commentary from the Directors of our Services explaining progress in 2005/2006. This section also includes tables containing details of our performance in 2005/2006 compared with our target for the year and our targets for the next 3 years

Notes:

The tables contain a brief description of the indicator. Some definitions may have changed over a period of time – we will indicate when this has happened.

Full definitions can be found on the Audit Commission website| (new window).

The tables show actual performance for the previous year for comparison. For some indicators in this document there will be no comparable data available, particularly if the method of calculation has changed or the indicator is new. Full details of this Council’s performance against other council for previous years can be found at the Audit Commission website| (new window).

 Children’s Services (Education) - Our progress in 2006/2007| (PDF document opens in new window)

When reporting schools data please note that the figures refer to the previous academic year, so 2006/2007 financial year refers to the 2005/2006 academic year (i.e. exam results for 2006).

There has been improvement at Key Stage 2 (KS2) level 4 or above for English, mathematics and science and we are just above the national average in all three aspects for the first time. There has been noticeable improvement at KS2 level 5 (those achieving the higher grades). Pleasingly, we improved our position for mathematics and science when compared to similar authorities. We anticipate making further progress during 2007/2008 with the establishment of the Middle Schools Intensifying Support Programme (MSISP) supporting the primary strategy which identifies and intervenes in cases of pupils not meeting their targets.

At Key Stage 3 the percentage achieving level 5 or above indicates good outcomes compared to our 2005 results. Our performance was above national average for mathematics and science and we mirrored the national decline in English with a 1% fall on the previous academic year.

For GCSE and equivalents the percentage achieving 5+A*-C for 2006 showed good progress compared to 2005. But we also know we should do much better when compared to similar authorities. The new measure of 5+A*-C (Including English & mathematics) was introduced for 2006/2007, this improved by 2% on the previous year while nationally the improvement was 1%. Unfortunately, we are still below the national average and similar authorities. The percentage achieving 5+A*-G (including English and mathematics) was well above the national average and in the top quartile. We anticipate making good progress during this year. 

The 2006/2007 picture for managing absence in Bedfordshire’s schools remained positive despite the noticeable rise in absence which was also reflected nationally. However when compared nationally and with statistical neighbours Bedfordshire’s performance remains strong. The Education Welfare Service is fully engaged in both addressing and highlighting where there are concerns with absence.

At the end of the academic year 2005-2006 seven schools had been placed in Ofsted categories of concern, two required Special Measures and five a Notice to Improve, schools were from all phases except nursery. By the end of 2006 only one upper school remained in a category, requiring special measures. The rest, on re-inspection, were judged to be satisfactory and in the case of Five Oaks Middle School, good. Mark Rutherford Upper School was joined by The Northfields Technology College in November 2006 as requiring Special Measures. Both schools have received termly monitoring visits by HMI and are making good and satisfactory progress, respectively.

The percentage of special educational need statements issued within the year 2006 / 2007 (financial year) and prepared within 18 weeks (including and excluding exceptions to the rule) shows strong performance, we were also pleased to far exceed the target for SEN statements including exceptions.

Youth Service have made pleasing progress for the percentage of young people aged 13-19 who gained either a recorded (25% improvement on the previous year) or accredited outcome (12% improvement) compared to the percentage of young people who participate in youth work and there are measures in place for continuous improvement. The Youth Service was re-inspected in March 2007 and the overall evaluation by inspectors was that the service had made good progress to date in rectifying weaknesses in provision.

There was a very pleasing reduction in permanent exclusions; we achieved a 25% reduction in 2006/2007 compared to the previous year. Fixed term exclusions were broadly in line with the previous year. The projections for 2007/2008 indicate continued improvement with permanent exclusions continuing to fall (currently this is 34% down on last year’s figures at this point). However, traditionally this coming half term yields a high number of exclusions. Fixed term exclusions are currently on a trajectory to end the year slightly below last years figures although days lost will be slightly up. This has been identified as a priority focus for future action by the Behaviour & Attendance Group.

In 2006-07 10% more integrated early years and childcare settings have been funded or part-funded by Bedfordshire during 2006-07 where leaders have gained a level 4 qualification or above.   100% of integrated early years and childcare settings that have input from staff with graduate or postgraduate qualifications in teaching child development have been maintained. This level of performance met expectations. It is expected that future targets for level 4 qualifications can be met with the availability of further funding through the Transformation Fund. 

 Children’s Services (Social Care) Our progress in 2006/07| (PDF document opens in new window)

The year culminated in a highly successful JAR inspection, which gave Children’s Social Care a rating of “Good”. This confirmed our self assessment and the achievement of our ambition to sustain progress in social care. Most Performance Assessment Framework (PAF) indicators either improved, or maintained the strong position evident last year. Improvements were also seen in priority areas identified by the 2006 APA letter.

Our first APA Staying Safe area for improvement was long term placement stability; this has improved again this year, exceeding our plan. The second priority was to improve timeliness of assessments, both initial and core assessments have consistently achieved or exceeded target level and the PAF indicator for core assessments has jumped from the second to the fourth band (Good). 

The proportion of care leavers in education, employment or training compared to the local population has increased significantly and will be judged “Good” (PAF), this should improve our position relative to our peers. Improved partnership with Connexions and better local information will help to build upon this figure over the next year.

The number of Adoptions and Special Guardianship orders increased again in the past year. Our plans had stretched beyond that achieved previously, with an outturn projected 1.7% above last year, this will increase our PAF judgement to the top band.

Educational attainment of young people leaving care slipped back from the high of the previous two years.  Due to low numbers, this indicator can be extremely volatile. 

Reviews of children on the Child Protection Register did not meet target. This was the result of a delayed initial review of a single family. Since that date a new report was developed and is updated daily to identify if any review is planned outside of the prescribed timescales.

Our priorities next year will be to continue to focus on the quality of our interventions, maintain high performance on our responsiveness and to continue to promote good outcomes for children in need and children looked after.

 Community Services| (PDF document opens in new window)

Adult Services
We have made good progress in Adult Social Care in 2006/07. Our provision of Direct Payments to enable people to purchase their own care has increased substantially and we are now a ‘good’ performer. Our provision of intensive home care continues to increase and we have met our target for 06/07.

We have again reduced the time that people have to wait for an assessment and the time to wait for a service. Our speed of provision of equipment within the required timescale has recovered from the drop experienced in 2005/06 and is in the ‘very good’ category.

Our overall performance for adult services has continued to improve year on year and we are now 29^th out of 150 councils and this demonstrates a rapid improvement from our relatively low performance in 2003/04.   

Crime
The number of domestic burglaries has fallen again in 2006/07. Some of this success can again be contributed to the joint Police and County Council Trading Standards Service running the ‘No Cold Calling’ zones and the associated response team. For 2007/08 the response team will form part of our Community Safety team, this will provide a higher visibility in local communities. Members of the response team are Special Constables who will be working to enforce the ‘No Cold Calling zones’. Bedfordshire County Council have funded Bedfordshire Police partnership ‘Bobby’ scheme to provide support to the elderly and vulnerable in our communities by supplying and fitting equipment such as door viewers, window locks, door chains etc., and we intend to continue supporting this scheme in 2007/08 and beyond.

Violent crime has fallen again in 2006/07 and robberies have shown a slight increase, which is attributable to the slight increase in mobile phone robbery. The County Council now has representation on The Crime and Disorder Partnership at a local level, and a number of initiatives to reduce this type of crime involving younger people are being developed.

Vehicle crime has also reduced slightly in 2006/07 and will we will continue to work with our partners to reduce this type of crime in identified hot spots with the Crime and Disorder Partnerships.

Footpaths
The Council has achieved and exceeded its target for footpaths and rights of way and remains between thresholds for Corporate Performance Assessment (CPA).

Libraries
The Council has achieved satisfaction rates above its targets in the library service and other cultural services. In order to achieve a score of 2 for BV220 we are continuing to introduce different initiatives to encourage library use including "The Corner" in Dunstable Library. This is an area designed and stocked for and by teenagers and it has enabled the young people to work with staff in developing their own space.

The Virtual Library has continued to develop and use was close to 6 million hits during the year. Following the success of Asian Bedford a new site - European Bedfordshire - has been added. There has also been some early testing of a real time enquiry service.

Although there will be a reduction in opening hours in the coming year it is anticipated that there will be no change in overall satisfaction with the service, the request response times will remain above standard and the Service will continue to address the question of visitor numbers, book acquisitions and terminals available to the public.

 Environment| (PDF document opens in new window)

Recycling
Recycling (includes composting) performance in 2006/07 has increased by 3% exceeding our target and now places us as an above average performer.

Partly as a result of increased recycling due to our proactive awareness campaigns, household waste in Bedfordshire has unfortunately increased by 5,000 tonnes this year. We will continue to work with communities to promote waste minimisation as well as recycling in order to reduce this and associated costs.

Our improved recycling performance and proactive interventions have enabled us to divert more waste from landfill, resulting in a saving of £174,000 in landfill taxes during 2006/07. Targeted performance improvement for the coming year will increase diversion from landfill and thus help us offset landfill taxation costs.  This will support our medium term priority of reducing the future cost of waste. The cost of disposal now provisionally stands at £62.00 per tonne and having reviewed waste collection and waste disposal costs, we are in a position to forecast more accurately for the future. However, future pressures in 2008/09 due to rising landfill tax and inflation are likely to increase the overall cost per tonne.

Roads
Investment in unclassified roads has produced significant returns. This indicator stipulates the Course Visual Inspection (CVI) survey method; other survey methods provide us with a more quantified view of current condition. The coarser CVI approach indicates that we have made a significant improvement in this area.

The number of days where temporary traffic controls, or road closures on traffic sensitive roads, caused by road works, per kilometre of traffic sensitive road has increased slightly due to the increase in the programme of road repair works during 2006/07. We have made every effort to keep disruption to a minimum although there is a medium term risk that as our programme of road works continues at pace, our performance for this indicator may deteriorate slightly. This indicator refers only to road works undertaken by the County Council and does not include works undertaken by public utilities, although we are working with these companies to minimise congestion levels. We will look to maintain user satisfaction by providing a comprehensive information service about all road works.

Following a particularly detailed review of pedestrian crossings by the Audit Commission in 2005/06, the number that complied with the very technical guidelines for this indicator, has been subject of a negative step change. All of our pedestrian crossings have been re-surveyed in 2006/07and performance has risen slightly.

During 2007/08 we plan to consult local access groups and produce a detailed and costed programme to improve performance, not only in technical compliance but directed to customer satisfaction.

Passenger Transport
Our outturn for 2006/07 shows an apparent reduction in the number of passenger journeys in Bedfordshire. Only journeys made on local bus services (including home-to-school services) available to the general public, can be counted for this indicator. In 2006/07 bus operators removed a significant number of school bus services from general public availability in order to provide dedicated improved services to school children. However this means that we can no longer include these journeys and the 2006/07 outturn is lower than anticipated. We are currently working with bus operators to set targets accordingly.

Road Safety
We remain a top performing county and continue to meet the national long term casualty reduction targets of 40 % by 2010 (based on 1994-1998 levels) for adults killed or seriously injured; performance to date has already reached 30% of that target.

Street lighting faults
There are two indicators for the rectification of street lighting faults. We have improved performance and met our target in 2006/07. The first indicator measures the average number of days it takes the local authority to rectify lighting faults and we have improved performance in 2006/07. The second indicator measures the average number of days it takes the district network operator (DNO) to rectify faults that come under their jurisdiction; these faults are likely to be of a more serious nature and usually relate to the mains supply. Performance has met the forecast target but we continue to work with the DNO to improve communication and performance in 2007/08.

Planning
In 2006/07 the Planning Service performed much better than forecast. This was despite dealing with a significantly increased number of schemes, compared to previous years, and also undertaking five planning appeals, which were all found in our favour. We plan to increase this performance in 2007/08.

 Central Services| (PDF document opens in new window)

Sickness Absence
Although we are disappointed that sickness absence in this Council has increased in 2006/07, we will continue to review and further strengthen our policies and procedures for managing sickness absence to help managers focus on attendance in problem areas, in particular schools sickness absence which has shown the biggest increase during this year. We recently hosted a corporate performance clinic to focus on initiatives to both prevent and reduce sickness in the authority; we will monitor the effectiveness of these during 2007/08.

Public Access to Local Authority Buildings
We have again increased the percentage of local authority buildings that are open to the public in which all public areas are suitable for, and accessible to, disabled people. We had planned to complete another four properties in 2006/07 but at the end of March, only two were fully completed with the other two still in progress and due for completion shortly. We intend to carry out work on another four buildings in 2007/08.

Invoices
The performance of our invoices paid within 30 days has improved again in 2006/07. Steady progress has been made over the last three years and the profile of this indicator has risen within the authority. It was recently the subject of a corporate performance clinic designed to improve its performance and in particular to aid the effective capture of disputed invoices, and initiatives arising from this will be monitored over the next twelve months.

Equalities and Diversity
Progress in implementing the Equality Standard has stabilised at Level 3. In setting the targets for 2007/08 and beyond, consideration has been given to the need to ensure that changes in legislation requiring the inclusion of age, religion and sexual orientation as well as the introduction of disability and gender equality duties are fully implemented. The inspection criteria for this indicator, is also tightening and being made more rigorous. An Equality Standard approved assessor is working with the Council on a consultancy basis to help identify development areas.

Progress in implementing the Race Equality Scheme has exceeded the targets that were set. Evidence for 2006/07 includes measurable improvements in the representation of the workforce at all levels, a widening ethnic profile of service users and improved service outcomes.