Opposition fumes at missed council targets (From Thurrock Gazette)
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Opposition fumes at missed council targets
7:50am Thursday 1st November 2012 in News
THE Thurrock Tories have hit out at the way Labour is running the council, claiming a fall in performance and lack of leadership have led to it “drifting off target”.
A Corporate Scorecard Performance report, put before the council’s cabinet on October 17, shows less than 40 per cent of the council’s key performance indicators are on target.
Each month, the council reviews progress of its corporate scorecard. The report said that in July, the council hadn’t hit its target in the percentage of the workforce between 16 and 24-years-old and in the number of apprentices being employed by the authority and its outsource companies Serco and Europa.
The Tories point out, too, that the council is also failing to hit performance targets in landfill, anti-social behaviour actions, looked after children and alcohol deterrants.
Speaking after the meeting, Thurrock Council leader John Kent said several of the indicators were off target because of other priorities, such as issues relating to the Olympics, which affected anti-social behaviour scores, and the closure of a waste plant for upgrading, which led to the low landfill scores.
Cllr Kent added the housing complaints indicators are “entirely down to the Morrison contract the Conservatives signed up to”.
But deputy leader of the Conservatives Cllr Rob Gledhill said: “The Corporate Scorecard shows a range of important measures, including use of landfill and housing repair complaints, have drifted entirely off target.
“Rather than outlining how they plan to improve performance, the Labour cabinet spent a few minutes discussing why it is not paying the bills on time. “It’s no wonder the majority of the council’s own performance indicators are not improving.
“You would have thought the cabinet members could have given some reassurance or outline of progress or improvement plans.”
Cllr Kent said: “I would appreciate some thought-through arguments, not automatic gain-saying and some constructive criticism would be useful, not just destructive knocking.”
