The Data Protection Officer & Interim Information Governance Manager introduced the report which set out the quarterly performance management report for the fourth quarter of 2024/2025 (January – March 2025) and year end. The Data Protection Officer & Interim Information Governance Manager informed Members of the following improved amendments on page 26: that the quarter four figure for complaints responded to within 10 days was actually the overall outcome for 2024/25 and should be coloured green. The planning enforcement outcome for informing the complainant within 21 days had risen from 85.83% in 2023/24 to 95.97% in 2024/25.

The Chair invited Members to make comments, and these included:

·      The short-term working days sickness target of two working days was an unrealistically low target to meet;

·      the contamination in bin waste would hopefully be improved by the education residents of Swale were due to receive over the summer months;

·      concerned that the residual domestic waste per household had almost doubled;

·      what were officers planning on doing to reduce the residual waste?;

·      the residual waste indicator was not clear on whether it related to missed bin collections or education on what could go into the bins;

·      was there any data on mental health sickness related cases and whether it was work related mental health or other mental health issues?;

·      how did officers check the general mental health of the organisation?;

·      sickness was often not always properly recorded as when staff worked at home they often worked when they were actually sick;

·      a project was being carried out over the summer to work with residents helping them understand what they should put in the waste;

·      page 25 of the agenda pack stated that the residual household waste target was 273kgs, however on page 27 of the pack it suggested that the target was 475kgs. Could officers clarify what the actual target was?;

·      education could be delivered to residents to improve the residual waste, but the message needed to be consistent across the county and needed to be simple;

·      referring to the abandoned calls targets, what was classed as abandoned calls?;

·      page 26 of the agenda pack, showed the hard work that officers had put in to improve the percentage of fly-tipping incidents attended to within 10 days; and

·      thanked the officers for a detailed and well-presented report that made it easy for Councillors to discuss the indicators with their residents;

Responding to points raised, the Chief Executive said that abandoned calls were when residents phoned early in the morning, or during busier times and were placed on a call waiting system and then put the phone down. Referring to the mental health queries, she said that there was often more than one trigger that resulted in someone going off sick due to mental health related illness and the council worked with members of staff by conducting regular check-ins. The Council provided staff with welfare and counselling facilities and recently carried out a staff wellbeing survey around mental health and that information gave a lot of insights  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55