Focused on Our Performance 2015-16

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Appendix 1

This document is available in languages other than English and Welsh and in accessible formats such as large print, Braille, BSL DVD, audio-CD, or electronic format upon request. To request production of the Plan in these or another format more accessible to you please use the contact details below. Feedback We welcome your comments on both the format and the content of our Council Plan. If you have any suggestions or comments to make the plan more readable, or for additional/alternative areas on which the Council should focus, please contact us at the address below. Any proposals for additional areas of focus will be considered as part of the performance management and updating of this plan. Comments on the presentation of the plan will be considered for its next publication in spring 2017. To provide feedback please use the contact details below. Contact Details Performance, Improvements and Partnership Service Wrexham County Borough Council, Lambpit Street, Wrexham, LL11 1AY Email: telluswhatyouthink@wrexham.gov.uk Telephone: 01978 292263

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Table of Contents

Strategic Theme: Economy

E1 – People want to live, work, visit and invest here ................................................................. 6 E2 – Businesses can locate and grow here ............................................................................... 8 E3 – People can prosper as individuals and within their communities ..................................... 10

Strategic Theme: People

PE1 – All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential ................................................................................................................................... 12 PE2 – Children and young people are safeguarded. .............................................................. 14 PE3 – People feel, and are, safe and secure .......................................................................... 16 PE4 - All people are enabled to make healthy choices ............................................................ 18 PE5 – All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and well-being ......................................................................................................................... 20 PE6 – Welsh language and culture is promoted and supported .............................................. 22

Strategic Theme: Place

PL1 - Homes that meet people’s needs and aspirations ......................................................... 24 PL2 – An Environmentally Responsible Place ......................................................................... 26 PL3 - Communities with sustainable, attractive settlements, neighbourhoods, buildings and spaces. ............................................................................................................................ 28 PL4 – Well Connected Communities ....................................................................................... 30

Corporate Theme: Organisation

O1 – Engaged and Satisfied Customers ................................................................................. 32 O2 – Creating the Conditions for Success ............................................................................... 34 .................................................................................................................................................... National Performance Information ........................................................................................... 36 Local Service Board and Collaboration ................................................................................... 38

Appendix – comparative national performance

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Focused on Our Performance

This report sets out Wrexham County Borough Council’s self-evaluation of progress against the Council Plan that was agreed in May 2015; fifteen priority outcomes spread across the four priority themes of economy, people, place and organisation.

The Council had a budget of around £223 million in 2015/16 and it provides or enables services to over 130,000 local residents and many more stakeholders. As such this report does not attempt to be a comprehensive assessment of all that we have done: it is a summary of performance in 15 key areas.

Performance on each priority outcome is described over two pages and includes our overall judgement of performance along with a summary of the evidence for the judgement being made - performance on our agreed outcome indicators, recent comments by our regulators and other supporting information. Not all of our priority outcomes are Green. This reflects the scale of the challenge that we have set ourselves; the financial pressures under which we are working; and our lack of complacency.

This year we are continuing to give a higher profile to the budgetary context for each priority. This will be increasingly important over the coming years as we continue to reshape our services to meet the financial challenges ahead whilst prioritising the most vulnerable. We need to develop ways to present information so that performance can be judged in the context of whether we have invested or disinvested in specific areas.

Wrexham’s Council Plan

Wrexham County Borough Council works to ensure that the people of Wrexham are supported to fulfill their potential and to prosper. The Council Plan 2016-17 sets out how we intend to achieve that – focusing on the four connected themes of economy, people, place and organisation. The Council Plan is available on the Council’s website -www.wrexham.gov.uk - in a range of accessible formats:

How to Read this Report

This report sets out an overall judgement of progress against each of the fifteen priority outcomes within the Council Plan, with each highlighted as either:

Green Good progress is being made and outcomes are improving Amber Progress is being made but not yet impacting on outcomes Red Performance is off-track and outcomes are not improving

The rationale for the progress judgement for each priority outcome is set out over two pages. It includes graphical information on performance against

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target for agreed outcome indicators, along with highlights and challenges for future improvement.

Reading Graphs Each graph sets out 2015/16 performance against target and, where available, trend data and a benchmark is also included. Below each graph is the 2015/16 outturn, trend on the previous year, and our judgement of whether performance is on target or not. Trend information always refers to improving performance as regardless of whether the improvement is actually represented by a reduction – for instance fewer crimes occurring.

3.5% Green

Target Setting Wrexham County Borough Council works to ensure that local people receive good quality services that provide value for money within a reducing budget. We judge the success of these services through setting and monitoring outcome indicators. Outcome indicator targets are set at one of four levels, to reflect the Council’s level of ambition and whether the Council is investing – or prioritising its budget – as decisions are taken on reshaping services and making savings:

• Sustain current (ie 2014/15) standards of performance; • Improve performance in line with current trends; • Stretch to achieve a significant improvement; or • Minimum standard below which performance should not fall.

It should be noted that targets to sustain performance or to deliver against a minimum standard can still represent challenging and ambitious targets when considered in the light of the changes in funding and resources available.

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E1: People want to live, work, learn and invest here

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be green, reflecting continuing improvements in performance and significant investment being made in the Wrexham County Borough particularly with large investment through the Vibrant and Viable Places programme and the North Wales Prison.

Total Value of Economic Regeneration

Our Wrexham Plan – the plan of the then Wrexham Local Service Board – has

focussed on three priorities. One of which is:

“Making Wrexham a place with a strong, resilient and

responsible economy”

£7.35m GREEN HIGHLIGHTS • The investment in physical regeneration includes a large investment from the Vibrant and

Viable Places Programme (VVP) – which comprises nine inter-related projects contributingtowards delivering physical regeneration improvements to key land and buildings within thetown centre. During 15/16 the VVP programme:

• Helped 271 people complete and employment related course with 153 people gaining anemployment related qualification. Created 28 jobs within retail and factory

• Proposals for the town centre Arts and Culture Hub have been approved by Exec Boardand Wrexham Council approved just over £1.5 million match funding. In March 2016 anew Project Manager was appointed to take the project through to completion in March2018. Contractors will be appointed In August 2016.

• Reduced carbon emmissions in homes by 598 CO2 tonnes and completed 180 homeenergy assessments.

• Works completed on the Western Gateway in December 2015. This will support a rapidlyexpanding company to safeguard 550 existing jobs and develop a further 1000 posts in a newstate of the arts facility on a ten acre plot.

• A £54k contribution was invested in improving the visitor facilities within the Pontcysyllte WorldHeritage Site as well as some improvements to signage and interpretation.

• The North Wales Prison is expected to be operational in Feb 2017 has already appointed theGovernor Designate in July 2015 who will become Governor of HM Berwyn when it opens.The Senior Management team have also been appointed. The project has been regarded as abest practice regional project for partnership working and economic benefits along with theaward for National Skills Academy for Construction status giving the project nationalrecognition.

“We have perhaps always undervalued what we have here in Wrexham, but when you look at the number of global visitors coming to the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct or coming to Erddig or Chirk Castle, they are attracted to this area becuaes of its rich heritage, natural beauty, amazing food and drink and the standard of the welcome they receive. Landlord at the Bridge End Inn Ruabon and chair of the Destination Management Partnership

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E1: People want to live, work, visit and invest here

The Employment, Business & Investment Scrutiny Committee has continued to involve representatives of the Market Traders in discussions around the Town Centre Markets and the proposals to develop a new Arts, Culture and Market Hub within the People’s Market. Local media coverage has highlighted the positive comments at meetings from both Councillors and Traders regarding the improvements following the previous recommendations of the Committee. A Scrutiny Task & Finish Group has also been established to consider any improvements which could be made to the way in which different services are provided and co-ordinated in the town centre.

Town Centre Vacancy / Void Rate Value of Visitor Spend

10% Green

£111.9m Green

KEY ISSUES • The vacancy levels in the Town Centre have reduced during 15/16 and have continued to perform at

a better level than the national average, but have not achieved the target level of 5% below the national average.

• The Town Centre Master plan is being developed alongside the Vibrant and Viable Places programme. This has given the opportunity for the appropriate teams to contact local landlords and agents to consult on the plans for the future with identified priority areas in the Town Centre.

• Whilst there were initial concerns from market traders about proposals for an Arts and Culture Hub, with changes to the use of some of the space and to introduce galleries and performance space, now that the project is underway there are very positive discussions taking place. One stallholder has already relocated to the south mall in order to take advantage of the increased footfall that the presence of Oriel Wrecsam will bring in a move that has been supported by VVP funding as part of the project.

Investment in physical regeneration in Wrexham during 2015/16 exceeded targets at £7.35m. Vibrant and Viable Places contributed £5.1 million, including match funding, with £1.8m investment in the Western Gateway and £320k on the Pontcysyllte World Heritage Site and Cefn Mawr Townscape Heritage Initiative.

Wrexham Waless

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E2: Businesses can locate and grow here

In 2014/15 this priority outcome was judged to be green against target. This reflects the continued good performance against targets which aimed to sustain or slightly reduce the performance of the previous year in line with the reduced budget available to support this work.

85% Of commercial and industrial premises

were occupied

9,775 Recorded businesses

were in the County Borough. Up from

9,635 in the previous year

Number of Qualified Investment Enquiries 391 Jobs created

where the Assets and Economic Development

department were directly involved. A considerable

improvement from the previous year

from 142

381 Green

HIGHLIGHTS • The percentage of commercial property occupied has increased significantly on last year which

reflects the overall trend in all commercial premises within the County • The team have had over 2,000 positive business interventions which has led to job creation

and investment. • The new £12 million all Wales Business support service Business Wales was launched in

January of 2016. A number of staff have transferred into this service and there is now a regional base in St Asaph – we continue to work with colleagues in Business Wales to ensure that Wrexham Businesses are able to maximise the use of the service.

• The number of businesses within the Councy has increased by 140. This shows a positive upward trend towards the 2013 high of 9795 businesses.

• The introduction of a new North East Wales computer system – Evolutive - has improved our client management and customer engagement activities.

• During the year there has been over 86.5 million pounds worth of private investment creating over 600 jobs

• The North Wales Prison has achieved the following targets for 2015/16 • 61% of those working on site in March 2016 were local (average to date 71%) • £31.5m committed local business spend to date • £63.7 committed SME spend to date

“What a great service, it was so important for me to be able to sit down with a Business Advisor who was passionate about my

success, and was able to give me knowledgeable advice on running my business”

Fizzy Peach PR –

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E2: Businesses can locate and grow here

The Employment, Business & Investment Scrutiny Committee received an independent report from Paul Hildreth from the Bartlett School of Planning as part of his research with companies across the Mersey Dee Alliance region. The Committee noted that Wrexham was unique in the way in which nearby towns and cities complemented rather than competed and it appeared that Wrexham was well connected to North West England and to London, providing good access to customers locally and beyond. The Committee will be using the key messages from the report to review the way business support is delivered in Wrexham in the future.

Percentage of Council-owned Commercial Property Occupied

Number of Recorded Business Start-Ups

85% Green 64 Red NB - Performance was only one start up below target.

KEY ISSUES

• Despite the reduced availability of suitable land premises within the County, the level of investmentenquiries received remains particularly strong, with 381 investment enquiries received against a targetof 200.

• A range of projects that include both the growth of indigenous businesses and inward investment frombusiness that are new to the County Borough have led to a significant number of new jobopportunities.

• A buoyant economy facilitating expansion and growth, and strategic projects within Wrexhamincluding work being undertaken by the housing department, North Wales Prison and generalindustrial expansion projects have contributed to these figures.

• Our enhanced monitoring and recording systems continue to improve the way we recordinterventions, support and outcomes.

• Whilst all businesses on the Commercial Estate are able to access broadband provision, some arestill not able to acess the Superfast Fibre. This remains an issue for many businesses as it causesdisruptions and delays in communication - a requirement of any competitive business. There is a rollout programme currently ongoing with Openreach to resolve this.

The Council are working in collaboration with public and private sector colleagues to lobby for the long term future of the County Borough through campaigns such as www.growthtrack360.com, which is pushing for £1bn of regional rail improvement work.

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E3: People can prosper as individuals and within their communities

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be green because a high proportion of the local population are economically active and the numbers which are unemployed are reducing. Whilst economic predictions are improving, and key projects such as HMP Berwyn and the Vibrant, Viable Places will bring a wide range of training and employment opportunities with them, the challenge will continue to be to target areas of generational unemployment and poverty. .

Percentage of people aged 18-24 claiming job seekers allowance

The vibrant and viable places programme is providing a significant

investment into promoting employment and economic

activity within the County Borough.

1.7% GREEN HIGHLIGHTS • Communities First continues to deliver employability support within large sections of the

County Borough and met its Welsh Government programme targets for the number entering employment.

• Employment-focussed activities continue to be delivered to people to move them closer to securing work, for example training and qualifications in key areas such as construction (CSCS) retail and care sectors.

• The Vibrant and Viable programme’s Skills and Employment Project (Project 9) has delivered Foundation, Foundation + and Intermediate Labour Market interventions to support people into work, or to better prepare them to move into work.

• Support to the most financially vulnerable people in Wrexham is delivered through advice on welfare reform, with a large increase in the number of people accessing the benefits they are entitled to receive as the first stage in providing stability, from which employability development can be a more realistic process.

• The Council’ Employer Pledge, which adds value to the Community Benefits approach, has seen the delivery of training, support around employability skills (e.g. mock interviews) and work placements; all supporting people to move closer to, or into work.

“I just want to say that you and the rest of the guys were amazing with me and helped me loads. Not only was I able to get my grades higher, I also got some of my confidence back...between yourself and ITeC you took me from the ground up.”

Wrexham Waless GB

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E3: People can prosper as individuals and within their communities

The Employment, Business and Investment Scrutiny Committee set up a Task & Finish Group that collaborated with representatives of the Council, Coleg Cambria, Careers Wales and Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to consider how the tracking of young people, particularly the 18-24 year olds, could be improved. Although the DWP have not yet been able to sign up to the information sharing protocol, other improvements have led to a reduction in the percentage of young people who are unable or not ready to enter employment, education or training or whose status is unknown.

Percentage of people aged 16-64 claiming Job Seekers Allowance

Key benefit claimants

1.5% - GREEN 14.4% GREEN

KEY ISSUES • The majority of the Council’s contribution to the Economy priorities is support by external

grant schemes such as Vibrant & Viable Places and Communities First. Whilst neither grant was reduced for 2015/16, Communities First had seen a 5% funding cut applied nationally in the previous year. Although not possible to quantify accurately, the work of these grant programmes has been impacted by cuts and reductions in other areas as a result of funding pressures. Communities First in particular utilises relationships with partner agencies to support customers to achieve outcomes. These partners include Third Sector organisations, which have seen reductions to core or other grant programmes, which has had an impact on overall capacity and provision.

• Changes to benefits payments seriously affect household income and the financial impact on our customers is significant, with the number of complex cases reporting to our programmes is increasing. In these cases outcomes are more challenging to achieve and exernal support and specialist help through referrals is usually required, although the capacity of such providers to offer help is being impacted on by funding reductions. It will become necessary to adjust targets within this climate going forward.

Supporting and encouraging people into employment is the best long term defence against poverty; both for those entering into employment, and their families.

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PE1: All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn

and achieve their potentialIn 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be amber because whilst attainment has continued to increase across all stages of education, it is not increasing as fast as elsewhere in Wales or as fast as the Wales average. Provisional attainment figures for Summer 2016 is showing continued improvement, but this remains below the challenging targets agreed.

Percentage of Pupils achieving the Level 2 threshold inc. English or Cymraeg & Maths*

Percentage of Pupils Achieving the Foundation Phase Indicator

*Equivalent to pupils achieving 5 GCSE’s grade A*-C

52.1% AMBER 85.5% GREEN HIGHLIGHTS • The proportion of pupils achieving the Level 2+ threshold (roughly equivalent to 5 GSCEs

grade A* to C including English or Cymraeg & Maths) in Summer 2015 increased by 1.1% onthe previous year. However, provisional results for Summer 2016 suggest that performancehas increased again to 54.9%

• The percentage of young people leaving Year 11 who were not in education, employment andtraining (NEET) reduced further from 1.8% in 2014 to 1.7% in 2015. This remains 1.1% lowerthan the Wales average of 2.8%.

• The percentage of pupils leaving Year 11 without a recognised qualification reduced furtherfrom 0.5% in 2014 to 0.2% in 2015.

• The number of fixed-term exclusions (5 days or less) fell from 595 in 2013/14 to 506 in 2014/15(provisional).

• The number of fixed-term exclusions (over 5 days) also fell from 51 in 2013/14 to 49 in 2014/15(provisional).

• Attendance in primary and secondary schools continues to improve. Primary attendance rosefrom 94.1% in 2012/13 to 94.8% in 2014/15. Secondary school attendance rose from 93.6% in2013/14 to 93.7% in 2014/15.

• The overall A level pass rate was 98.5% in 2015/16 which is higher than the all Wales figure of97.3%.

“[We need] more advice and guidance on the different opportunities available after you finish school in year 11”

What’s Important To You Survey Respondent

WrexhamWaless

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PE1: All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve

their potential The Regional School Effectiveness and Improvement Service (GwE) was fully operational with effect from April 2014 and is accountable to and undertakes the statutory responsibilities of the six local North Wales authorities in respect of their duties to monitor challenge and provide support services for school improvement. The Local Authority continues to work closely with GwE to ensure continued and enhanced support for schools. Nearly all schools who have benefited from targeted support can demonstrate a positive impact on learner outcomes or removal from an Estyn monitoring category. Percentage of Pupils leaving Yr11 who remain

in full time education

87.7% of pupils achieved the Core Subject Indicator at Key

Stage 2 (ages 7-11)

80.9% of pupils achieved the

Core Subject Indicator at Key

Stage 3 (ages 11-14)

85.9% GREEN GREEN GREEN KEY ISSUES • Whilst educational attainment in Wrexham is improving, there is variation between and within schools

and the provisional Summer 2016 results suggest that attainment remains below the expected Wales average. The authority continues to work in collaboration with GwE (the Regional School Improvement Service for North Wales) and in partnership with schools to successfully implement the Education Improvement Action Plan 2015-2018.

• The number of permanent exclusions increased during the past three years. • The annual self-evaluation report 2015/16 has been written with involvement from Headteachers and

GwE. Four strategic priorities were identified: o Address variation to quickly improve outcomes. o Further strengthen leadership and learning. o Further strengthen health, wellbeing and behaviour support. o Utilise resources effectively to improve SEN provision.

• The Lifelong Learning scrutiny committee have considered education standards and whilst they have welcomed the improvements shown they have highlighted the inconsistency that remains within and between schools and the further improvement needed to bring performance above the Wales average

The secondary school budget per per pupil is the fourth highest in Wales at £5613, against a Wales average of £5227 for 2015/16.

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PE2: Children and Young People are Safeguarded

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be green. The department continuous to both maintain, and improve on good performance across the majority of performance indicators we report against. Where performance has been assessed as Amber against target, this reflects challenging stretch targets set, that aim to put Wrexham’s performance into the top quartile for Wales despite the high level of contacts we receive and subsequent pressure this places on resources.

Reviews completed within Statutory Timescale

94.6% Green

Children seen as part of their Initial Assessment

98.3% Green HIGHLIGHTS • Wrexham was the best performing authority in Wales for children being seen as part of their

assessment indicator for the second year in succession during 2014/15 at 98.2%. Performancein this area has been maintained for 2015/16.

• To deliver more targeted support at an early stage, to prevent family breakdown and reduce thenumber of children needing to be looked after, the Department developed a LAC Strategy thataligns with our Commissioning Strategy

• The new Waking Hours Team will increase our ability to prevent family breakdown.• The newly merged Disability Service between Adults & Children’s Social Care will provide a

seamless service for disabled people and their families• Despite the continued high level of demand during 2015/16, Wrexham continue to perform

extremely well in relation manager decisions on all contacts within 24 hours of receipt (99.2%)and re-referral rates (20.3%)

• Integration of the TAC team with the Assessment and Intervention Team (AIT). This allows forearly identification of families in need and ensures preventative services are in place to support afamily at the right time, preventing escalation and family breakdown

• Wrexham continues to lead the regional North Wales Adoption Service (NWAS) as part of theconsolidating National Adoption Service (NAS).

“It’s great being back home with Dad. With help, he has been able to get the car back on the road and I’m not late for school anymore. Dad knows that if he struggles, he can ask for help and we can stay together.”

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PE2: Children and Young People are Safeguarded

The Director of Social Services Annual Report is an annual, statutory self-assessment of Social Services performance which available on the council website: http://www.wrexham.gov.uk/english/council/social_services/annual_report.htm This report, along with its supporting evidence is reviewed throughout the year by CSSIW (Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales) to ensure it presents a recognisable picture of performance in Wrexham.

KEY ISSUES • The Social Services and Well-being Act (Wales) 2014, has provided a new legal framework

for social care in Wales. The Act received royal assent on 1 May 2014 and will be fully implemented in April 2016.

• From April 2016 the department is required to make provision for fostered children in stable placements to be afforded the opportunity to remain in their placements until they are aged 21 or 25 if they are in higher education, without any additional funding to support these arrangements

• Children’s Social Care has managed to make savings this year whilst at the same time protecting frontline services to ensure children and young people who may be at risk of harm or abuse are safeguarded and protected.

• Vacancies within the department account for a very small percentage of the overall workforce and the use of agency staff is kept to a minimum

• The demand for Children’s Social Care services, although still high, fell in 2015/16 (10164 to 10157)

• Whilst the department recognises the significance of measuring the timeliness of assessments, it also places significant emphasis on quality and ensuring children are seen as part of their assessment

• Finding suitable foster placements or alternative accommodation for those young people aged 16+ who present to the department as homeless remains a challenge.

There have been savings made in Children’s Social Care but given that this area relates to vulnerable children the cuts have been lower than elsewhere and have mainly focused on reducing management

61.5% Of initial assessments were completed within 7 working days. This is an improvement on 2014/15 performance but remains below the Welsh average of 75.9%

AMBER

During 2015/16 the average days taken to complete an initial assessment increased slightly to

16.4 days, however this still remains below the Welsh average

of 20.5 days AMBER

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PE3: People feel, and are, safe and secure

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be amber. This reflects the significant reduction in reported crime over the lifetime of this plan, but also the slight increase over the last two years. Concerns have been raised by local people and stakeholders about crime and anti-social behaviour and this has been targeted through steps such as establishing the alcohol treatment centre and subsequently a Public Space Protection Order on Wrexham town, although this has yet to impact on crime levels.

Number of Crimes per 1000 Residents

Our Wrexham Plan – the plan developed by the then

Wrexham Local Service Board – focussed on three priorities. One of which is:

“Making Wrexham a place

that’s safe and where everyone feels included”

73.98 RED

HIGHLIGHTS • The Alcohol Treatment and Welfare centre (Hafan Y Dref) proved to be a success providing

excellent service to visitors to the night time economy and also to licensees, door staff, business owners and other partners working in the town during the festive season. Hafan Y Dref is now open every Saturday evening and also during periods of high demand.

• The White Ribbon Campaign’ involving numerous awareness raising events across the County encouraged victims and survivors of Domestic Abuse to report incidents and access support services. This work has been successful and is positive in that it addresses underporting and gives a clearer picture of a vital issue, however it does also negatively affect overall levels of recorded crime.

• The Target Hardening Scheme supports residents who are victims of crime or domestic abuse to feel safe in their home as well as offering home fire safety checks to vulnerable people.

• The Cat’s Paw project has continued to increase young people’s awareness of sexual violence. This has been done through an interactive theatre piece that explores the subject of sexual violence sensitively to young people between the influential age groups of 13 and 16.

“We are now developing effective relationships with licensees, door staff and other partners working in the town centre. We are able to triage and treat individuals at

the centre …and with the Street Pastors we are also able to provide a holistic welfare service ensuring that individuals are safe and signposted to other services for support whenever necessary.” David Hallows the Operational Manager for British

Red Cross 16

PE3: People feel, and are, safe and secure

Benchmarking Performance:

The Home Office do not benchmark all areas against each other, instead preferring to compare performance across ‘similar groups’ of authorities that have similar contexts and so that could be expected to have similar levels of crime. Crime rates in Wrexham were about the same as the average for Home Office similar areas (such as Telford and Darlington) but, as would be expected, are higher than elsewhere in North Wales.

For more information see http://www.police.uk/north-wales/WXW13/performance/compare-your-area/

93% of members of the online watch link feel safe in the County Borough during the day. (This indicator first reported in Q1 2015/16 )

After public consultation, a Public Sector Protection Order (PSPO) has been put in place for Wrexham town. The PSPO means individuals can be fined for a number of ASB acts but is supported by Champions House who engage with the “visible vulnerable” to support them into services.

KEY ISSUES

• Wrexham town centre is facing ongoing issues of anti-social behaviour – such as substancemisuse and the aggressive and targeted vandalism of parking machines. The Council haverecently introduced a Public Space Protection Order over Wrexham town but concernshave been raised over whether this will simply displace the existing issues

• North Wales Fire and Rescue Service delivered awareness sessions within secondaryschools on the dangers of deliberate fire setting. They have also attended, in partnershipwith the youth service, various youth clubs, pupil referral units and hot spots identified as agathering place for young people to deliver further awareness sessions. However, arsonremains a serious issue in Wrexham.

• Racially motivated Hate Crime remains the most reported which may be due to targetedawareness rising and this will continued to be monitored in the light of Brexit.

• To understand and respond to risks to local community resilience and ensure thatcommunity tensions are identified and addressed at an early stage; a multi-agencyCommunity Resilience sub-group has been formed to address key community cohesionissues.

Reducing crime and the fear of crime is a key area where the Council has been working in collaboration with partners such as the Police, private and voluntary sectors to address local concerns

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PE4: All people are enabled to make healthy choices

In 2015/16 this priority outcome for the Council was judged to be AMBER. This reflects the fact young people’s diet whilst at school is improving and data shows that more people are adopting healthier lifestyles by reducing smoking, increasing physical activity and eating more healthily. However these lifestyle changes are not yet impacting on the overall levels of obesity.

Percentage of Wrexham adults who are overweight or obese

Percentage of Reception Age Children who are overweight or obese

59% Amber Most recent data is for 2014, published in 2015

27.4% GREEN Most recent data is for 2015, published in 2016

HIGHLIGHTS • The population smoking level has continued to fall (from at it’s highest 27%) and is now at 19%,

which is below the Welsh average of 21%. The Smoke Free Wrexham partnership group continues to work hard to support this agenda and has had notable successes this year in relation to campaigns and social media work.

• We have been working locally to increase the uptake of Free School Meals. We developed amedia campaign in collaboration with the Healthy Schools Team, the School Catering Service and the Dietetics team.

• Come and Cook sessions led by Dietetics have been delivered to support families in increasingconfidence, skills and knowledge to shop, prepare and cook healthy nutritious meals and to better understanding the benefits of eating well. A partnership has been established between Public Health Dietetics, The Caia Park Health Team, Flying Start, Families First, and Communities First to support delivery of the programme.

• In July 2015 Wrexham County Borough Council achieved the Gold Corporate Health Standard.Amongst other things, the Council were assessed on how they supported their 5,000 staff and ultimately their families and communities in access information and support on leading a healthy lifestyle. The assessors commented: “the values and the importance of staff health and wellbeing, were seamlessly embedded into the culture of the organisation”.

A range of teams across the Council are collaborating with partners such as Public Health Wales, and local community groups to

support and encourage people to adopt healthy lifestyles

WrexhamWaless

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PE4: All people are enabled to make healthy choices

Our Wrexham Plan – the plan developed by the then Wrexham Local Service Board – has focussed on three key priorities for the County Borough. One of which is: “Wrexham is a place

where people can live independently and are healthy and active”

Percentage of Adults who are a current smoker Number of visits to local authority sport and

leisure centres

19% GREEN Most recent data is for 2014, published in 2015

12,754 GREEN

KEY ISSUES • The choices that people make about their lifestyles and their health are hugly influenced by the

global media, and wider society

• Whilst the direct impact that the Council has over national health issues such as obesity is limited, the local influence that can be made by considering such issues when making decisions on education, school meals provision, parenting classes, leisure provision and planning decisions is potentially huge; as are the potential savings to be made from reducing the cost of smoking and obesity related diseases on public services. The value of the Council being involved in partnerships who tackle these issues should not be underestimated.

• The Welsh Health Survey has now ceased to exist and that is where we have collected much of

our data for this outcome in the past. New health related questions will be inputted into the National Survey for Wales but at present we do not know which indicators these will be.

Enabling people to make healthy choices – around their diet, active lifestyle and other habits – is fundamental to preventing the long term health issues which can drastically reduce an individual’s well-being and create huge demand for services in the future.

Wrexham Waless

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PE5: All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and well-being

The focus of the Adults Social Care department continues to be to enable people to live at home as independently as possible. This is being done through services that provide early support, preventing issues escalating into a crisis and contributing to managing demand within the reducing budget. In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be green as all targets were achieved or the out-turn was acceptable, with more of those people who we are working with reporting greater independence and an improvement in their quality of life.

Independence and Quality of Life of Older

People

Extent that help meets

Carers’ needs

Enhanced Telecare packages provided

Average Number of Days to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant

71.9% The overall index of the quality of life

of older people in Wrexham is continuing to

increase

79% Care must be taken in comparing data with previous years as

the survey approach

has changed

870 People were provided with the support

that they needed to continue to

live independently

Green Amber

Green 208 Green

HIGHLIGHTS • 96.3% of clients say that our services improve their Quality of Life.• 57.9% of clients felt that their Quality of Life was either “Very good” or “Good”.• We have been very successful this year in securing swift, safe hospital discharges for almost

all clients.• This year we contacted 3562 Carers; this was our biggest contact for some years. The overall

response rate to the survey was 23% and we had 3 times as many responses as last year.• Disability Facilities Grant average times are continuing to reduce compared to 2011/12 and

performance last year was in the second quartile for Wales• This year we have led the development of DEWIS Cymru. A new public web based information

system for health and social care in North Wales involving all partners and service providers.The service is intended to be taken Wales wide in the future.

“All my Social Workers have been amazingly kind to both me and my mother. I could not have wished for better support.”

Service User - Carer

WrexhamWaless

20

PE5: All vulnerable older people are safe, and have optimal health, independence and well-

being The Statutory Director of Social Services Annual Report is an annual self-assessment of Social Services performance which is available from the Council’s website. The report, along with its supporting evidence, is reviewed by the CSSIW (Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales) to ensure it presents a recognisable picture of performance.

Number of Delayed Transfers Per Annum Average Waiting Time for Occupational Therapy (in weeks)

18 Green NB – The target was increased from 16 to 19 during Q1

due to both increased activity and provider capacity

4 weeks Green

KEY ISSUES

• More people in Wrexham are living longer with increasing significant support needs• The budget reductions identified for this year are again in tension with the increasing demand

for Adult social Care services, though a continued focus on intermediate Care andReablement are contributing to demand management.

• The reduction in the number and scope of Third Sector provider contracts, especially in termsof supporting the ‘preventative’ agenda, in providing cost effective low-level services willcompromise previous success in ameliorating in part the impact on departmental budgetreductions.

• In 2015/16 Social Services met its financial targets through robust budget management andcontrol, this is despite savings of £3.75m in Adult Social Care.

• In 2015/16 we have been required to plan for 2016/17 Social Services budgets and arerequired to deliver further savings of £638,000.

• The Council is working in collaboration with Betsi Cadwaladr Health Trust to develop plans forintegrated health and social care services for the new prison, HMP Berwyn.

Whilst the Council is prioritising services to the most vulnerable, Social Services are still required to contribute to the significant savings to be made by the Council.

For the period 2014-2017 Adult Social Care budgets have reduced by £6.5m.

21

PE6: Welsh language and culture is promoted and supported

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be amber. This is because whilst the Council and its partners continue to work to promote the Welsh language and culture, nationally the standards that Councils are held to have increased and locally it remains a divisive issue. In a recent priority consultation ‘Welsh language and culture’ was the least popular overall priority for respondents, but the single highest priority for Welsh speaking respondents.

Reception age admission to schools providing Welsh medium education

Visits to public libraries per 1,000 population

226 GREEN 4379 AMBER HIGHLIGHTS • The Council received its final notice of the 150 Welsh Language Standards that it was required

to comply with in September 2015. All were implemented by 31 March 2016.• Plans have been developed for an ambitious Arts, Cultural and market space in Wrexham town

to provide a venue that can house a diverse programme which offers something for everyone.It will include gallery spaces, occasional performance or cinema spaces, a learning programmeand café, all alongside existing and new market stalls.

• The Council continues to increase access to Welsh medium education as has beendemonstrated by the 51% increase in provision at primary level since 2008; there has not beenany additional increases in the last 15 months as places are currently sufficient to meetdemand.

• Further the local Authority has secured agreement from Welsh Government to utilise identifiedsavings within the 21st Century Schools capital programme, in order to develop a permanentextension at Ysgol Plas Coch and a permanent extension at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd.

• All monitored contracts were found to be fully compliant with the Council’s Welsh LanguageScheme.

• 23.4% of Council staff have Welsh language skills of at least level one (a little/foundation), with55 members of staff completing Welsh Language training during the year. However, only 5.8%of staff have skills at level 3 (advanced/moderate). 161 members of staff have completedWelsh Language Awareness Training since 2013/14.

“Welsh language is important and should be encouraged” What’s Important To You survey respondent

WrexhamWaless

22

PE6: Welsh language and culture is promoted and supported

The Council’s final Welsh Language Monitoring Annual Monitoring Report was considered by Executive Board at its June 2016 meeting. The report and minutes of the meeting are available at www.wrexham.gov.uk

Welsh Language Visits to ww.wrexham.gov.uk

Web Transactions in Welsh

Contact Centre Customers using Welsh

1.7% This represents 5,236 Welsh language visits, compared to

307,912 overall.

0.9% This represents 7,042

transactions, compared to 774,956 overall.

0.09% Of all call / visits

0.77% Of all emails received

RED GREEN KEY ISSUES

• There are a further 21 Welsh Language Standards that the Council must comply with bySeptember 2016. The Council appealed against 11 although all have been rejected, weare in the process of re-appealing against one Standard and are awaiting the decision ofthe Welsh Language Commissioner.

• The risks to the Authority are that, despite its best efforts, it is unable to be fully compliantwith all of the Standards and the recruitment of Welsh speaking staff continues to be anissue and an area of concern.

• Welsh language services was the Council priority with the least support in the 2016 ‘What’sImportant To You’ survey. However, it was the most important priority of respondents whospoke Welsh

• The 2011 census showed that 15.4% of local people can speak, read or write Welsh butnevertheless choose to access services or seek information from the Council in English.Even on services such as twitter only 2.5% of the Councils followers choose to follow inWelsh

• Proposals to set up an independent Non-Profit Distributing Organisation / Trust topotentially deliver the Council’s Library, Heritage and Archives services have undergone afinancial and legal review. As a result it is no longer judged to be the most cost-effectiveoption at this point in time and the services will be retained within the Council.

• The number of visits made to libraries in Wrexham has increased over the last year, butremains below target and well below the Wales average

The Council have made an additional £250,000 available to meet the anticipated costs associated with the implementation of the Welsh Language Standards.

23

PL1: Homes that meet people's needs and aspirations

For 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be GREEN. This reflects the good progress towards meeting the Welsh Housing Quality Standard by 2020. The Housing Wales Act 2014 focuses on Homeless Prevention and new ways of working to meet these requirements have been introduced. Affordable Housing has continued to been developed amongst the County.

New Units of Affordable Housing

72% percentage of potentially homeless

households for whom homelessness was prevented for six months

the guidance for this indicator has changed during the year and so performance cannot be

compared against previous data or targets.

79% Amber HIGHLIGHTS

• The Affordable Housing Project delivered 79 homes this year. This included 12 units ofaffordable housing at Ty Dewr, Wrexham which provides supported housing for Armed Forcesveterans to make a successful transition to civilian life.

• Prevention of homelessness has remained a key focus for the section this year with theimplementation of the Housing Wales Act 2014. To mitigate the impact of the new legislationnew initiatives have been set up. These include a Local Lettings Agency and Private SectorLiaison Officers, to exploit new opportunities provided by the legislation to provide solutions toclients within the private rented sector.

• The Council again delivered significant improvements to the Council’s Housing Stock to enableit to meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. Over £49 million was spent in 2015/2016delivering improvements.

I’d like thank you for the service I received; everyone involved was friendly, polite and efficient. I am delighted with the good standard of work.

Mrs H (elderly housing tenant).

WrexhamWaless

24

PL1: Homes that meet people's needs and aspirations

Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee welcomed the development of a Local Lettings Agency for Wrexham County Borough and welcomed its first year of operation as its effective use would help reduce spending in other areas of the housing budget and allow the service to be self sustaining.

The percentage of council homes which meet the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS):

60%

of homes meet the WHQS for Kitchens

51%

of homes meet the WHQS for Bathrooms

77%

of homes meet the WHQS for being

adequately heated

59%

of homes meet the WHQS for being in a good state of repair

60% Green 51% Amber 77% Green 59% Green KEY ISSUES

• The indicator used to measure Homelessness Prevention is a local indicator which has beendeveloped to monitor the activity and timescales of the processes involved in Housing Options.At the moment, there is no National Indicator to measure Homelessness performance, socomparison can not be made with other authorities.

• Due to the requirements of the new legislation (Housing Wales Act 2014) and clearerguidance, the number of homeless assessments has increased this year because of theadditional work required on each individual case.

• The number of applicants placed in temporary accommodation has remained constantcompared to last year, however the number of placements made in bed and breakfast hasincreased. This increase is principally due to changes in the new legislation and lack ofsuitable accommodation to meet the needs and demands of those presenting to the service.

Over £49 million investment was made during 2015/2016 in bringing council homes up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard. This extensive project also provides a number of added benefits to the local community, such as apprenticeships, employment and spending on local business.

25

PL2: An environmentally responsible place

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be green with statutory recycling targets having been surpassed and with the Council maintaining its position in the top quartile in Wales.

Percentage of municipal waste reused, recycled or composted

Following the introduction of additional recycling facilities

coming on-line during the year, the proportion of waste that is

diverted from landfill has increased significantly and was

top quartile performance for Wales.

Performance is targeted to increase further for 2016/17 as the new facilities only impacted on the latter quarters of 2015/16

62.29% Green HIGHLIGHTS • The Council has made significant improvements in reducing carbon emissions from its own

housing stock, on top of what has been achieved over recent years.• The percentage of recycled municipal waste achieved surpassed the statutory target of 58%

set by the Welsh Government. Non compliance with this requirement would have resulted inadditional charges of £200 per tonne of material sent to landfill.

• Revised waste collection fleet operations and collection round optimisation is continuing with aview to increasing the efficiency of operations and resultant recycling rates.

• The introduction of more efficient resource recovery recycling vehicles will contribute towardsthe continued reduction in carbon emissions.

• A customer satisfaction survey carried out in April 2016 indicated that although furtherimprovements in recycling and customer communication could be achieved, overall customersatisfaction with the waste recycling service was reasonable with improvements to the serviceranked of lesser importance than other services. Many of the issued raised are beingaddressed in the revised service improvements due for implementation in 2016/17.

• The Council has installed a biomass heating system at Redwither Tower, one of our largestoffice buildings which has historically accounted for 6% of the gas used by all non-domesticCouncil buildings. This project will not only reduce the council’s carbon footprint, but will alsogenerate an annual income for the authority through the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI)Scheme.

“I’d like to see you improve information, improve range of materials, improve street cleanliness after collections, improve receptacles” – ‘What’s Important To You’

survey April 2016

WrexhamWaless

26

PL2: An environmentally responsible place

Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee supported the Council’s Tree and Woodland Strategy which considers the tree population as essential infrastructure. Public consultation and the committee agreed that draft strategy objectives would help ensure a sustainably managed, protected and diverse tree population with sufficient canopy cover to benefit and meet the needs of all who live, work in, and visit Wrexham County Borough.

Percentage reduction in carbon emmissions from public

sector housing

11,900 Tonnes C02 carbon emissions from non-domestic buildings. This is a reduction from 13,321tco2 in

201415 – a reduction of 10.7%

8.09% Green 10.7% Green KEY ISSUES

• Food recycling caddies have been distributed to all households and 13,000 households have received new recycling trollies to facilitate more efficient recycling activities.

• Collaboration with WRAP (Waste Resources and Action Programe) will result in increased information to householders to accompany the revised recycling activities, meet future targets and improve services. Information will be distributed in the form of booklets, on the website and via public media notifications.

• The next statutory recycling target set by the Welsh Government is for 2020. The target is set at 64% and Councils will incur penalties if they do not meet it. The service improvements which are being established are indicating that this target is achievable, it having been achieved briefly in the early part of 2016.

The Council has faced severe financial constraints during this period and has had to be especially efficient in order to ensure that we maintain the high level/quality of service expected by our customers.

27

PL3: Communities with sustainable, attractive settlements, neighbourhoods,

buildings and spaces

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be green because of the improvements made in promoting housebuilding on previously developed land and the sustained performance on protecting conservation and special landscape areas. However, this performance will come under pressure in future from demands for development land for both housing and commercial use.

40% of all new housing units built were built on

previously developed land

100% Preserve or enhance the Conservation Areas - percentage of applications approved in line with Conservation Area Guidance

Green

Green

HIGHLIGHTS • The Council has continued to achieve the target of 40% for new housing on previously

developed land despite the limited amount of ‘brownfield land’ available. By definition, most new development must occupy new, undeveloped land.

• For developments within or affecting Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings, the Council take seriously it obligations to preserve or enhance the appearance of the area/building. It has retained expert advice in-house to undertake Conservation Area Assessments and to evaluate planning applications such that this high target is reached.

• Special Landscape Areas have been designated to help protect highly valued ‘greenfield’

landscapes from development. The Council has achieved the target of not allowing any new development on these specially protected areas.

“[I’m] concerned about preserving Wrexham’s heritage and

buildings” What’s Important To You Survey respondent

28

PL3: Communities with sustainable, attractive settlements, neighbourhoods, buildings and

spaces Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee considered the current arrangements for managing surface water flooding and supported the continued development of the asset register due to its contribution to the strategic management of surface water flooding and means of reducing flood risk.

Wrexham County Borough Council is preparing the Local Development Plan (LDP) which will replace the current adopted Unitary Development Plan. The Local Development Plan will be a long-term land use and development strategy focused on achieving sustainable development and will:

• guide development for housing,employment, retail and other uses;

• set out policies that will be used to decideplanning applications; and

• safeguard areas of land requiring protectionor enhancement.

0% Protect and enhance the character of the landscapes and reduce the percentage of designated Special Landscape Area lost to

inappropriate development

Green KEY ISSUES

• Given the large numbers of houses needed to meet future population projections it is unlikely,in the longer term, that the 40% ‘brownfield’ target will be achievable. This, however, will bedetermined via the new Local Development Plan (LDP) on which the Council will consultcommunities in 2017 and the Council will still try to maximise the redevelopment of brownfieldland in preference to greenfield land.

• The Local Development Plan will also carefully need to consider whether Special LandscapeArea land needs to be allocated for new development, although, again, this will be minimisedand subject to public consultation in 2017.

• The development industry has not, as yet, fully recovered from the recession so the numberof new houses being built to meet a high demand remains low compared to past rates ofdevelopment.

The Planning service has experienced some of the largest cuts of any service in the Council over recent years and is now one of the smallest in Wales.

29

PL4: Well connected communities

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be green because investment in improving the condition of the principal road network is continuing and the A, B and C classification roads are all in a better condition, as determined by a national annual road survey. Percentage of A Classification Roads in Poor

Overall Condition Percentage of B Classification Roads in

Poor Overall Condition

2.3% GREEN 2.7% GREEN HIGHLIGHTS • The class A and B road network continues to be in the top quartile in Wales for road condition,

with reductions in the percentage of roads that are in a poor condition.

• An improvement in the overall condition of class C roads has been demonstrated. However, despite the improving trend, these results are lower than the all-Wales average.

• The findings of the “what is important to you ?” public consultation exercise confirms road

condition to be of high importance to stakeholders and supports the Council’s aim of maintaining funding in support of carriageway resurfacing with the intention of reducing the percentage of reactive maintenance required to deal with potholes and other minor carriageway repairs.

• The network rail infrastructure improvement scheme between Rossett and Saltney Junction is

progressing with commissioning dates in March/April 2017. This will deliver increased capacity and frequency of service to the benefit of commuters.

“Potholes are causing problems and long term resurfacing would be better than patching up”. What is important to you consultation

Wrexham Waless

30

PL4: Well connected communities

Homes and Environment Scrutiny Committee have raised concerns regarding the level of investment available for the improvement of street lighting assets and highways and the increased demand this places on these services. However, they also acknowledged the changes which have been made to optimise the programming and timing of planned highway improvement works to maximise best value and effective use of the powers afforded to better protect investment in the road network from the activities of statutory undertakers

Percentage of ‘C’ Roads in Poor Overall

Condition Number of Concessionary Travel Pass

Journeys Per Annum

19.7% GREEN 2,015,548 RED

KEY ISSUES • Local transport funding of £273,200 was awarded in 2015/16 which has been supported by a

further grant of £179,000 for 2016/17 to deliver Active Travel infrastructure improvement schemes.

• The Council’s Highways Asset Management Plan (HAMP), which establishes strategies for the cost-effective management of the highway infrastructure, will be revised to provide the maintenance strategy for the next five year period. This will take into account reduced available funding and data on the condition of the roads to provide for the most cost-effective management of the network, while also seeking to achieve stakeholder aspirations.

• Bus policy in Wales has undergone significant change in recent years with the abolition of the Regional Transport Consortium and changes to Welsh Government funding mechanisms and levels. This has had a negative impact on passenger journeys. Councils continue to work in partnership to improve the regional network.

• The withdrawal of capital funding by the Welsh Government after 2014/15, which supported road resurfacing, has placed an emphasis on Councils adhering to cost-effective asset management strategies. Revised framework contracts have been established to maximise the benefit of limited budgets.

• 2015/16 was the last year of the Council’s contract with an external provider of highway maintenance. The Council has brought this function in-house in 2016.

Increased funding in road resurfacing has demonstrated an improved trend in road conditions over the last year.

31

O1: Engaged and Satisfied Customers

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be amber. This reflects the positive improvements being made in developing and promoting online services, but also delays which have meant that fewer people have signed up to on-line accounts than was anticipated. Similarly, there has been a positive and significant improvement in the profile of consultation and engagement within the Council and the number of respondents getting involved in consultations and yet a lower proportion of local people feel they can affect local decisions.

Customer Satisfaction With All Council Service Percentage of people who feel their authority provides good quality services

80% GREEN 45% RED HIGHLIGHTS • Customer satisfaction with all Council services continues to increase despite a period of

change due to the Council’s reshaping programme.• The proportion of customers who find it easy to access services remains high, although lower

than the previous year.• Development of the Council’s on line self service account is progressing well with a range of

Revenues and Benefits services now available. Over 1300 customers have now registered touse the service. In addition the Councils on line alert systems “My Updates” now has over21,000 subscribers receiving information relevant to them.

• The citizen’s panel has been transferred to the ‘Your Voice Wrexham’ on-line consultation huband hub members receive quarterly newsletters about all consultation and engagementactivities being carried out through the hub as well as feedback on them.

• Webcasting of Executive Board, Planning Committees and Full Council meetings has takenplace to provide more opportunities for the members of the public to see the Council at workand increase public engagement in those meetings through the use of social media.Webcasting of scrutiny committee meetings is also being piloted

• We are using social media to promote consultation and support greater awareness ofengagement opportunities and a more direct line of communication with members of the public.

• An annual ‘We’re Listening’ report was published, which summarises consultation andengagement activity carried out across the organisation throughout the year and the impacts on service design and delivery.

Involving people and communities in the decisions which affect them is one of the five ways of working defined

within the Well-Being of Future Generations Act Wales.

WrexhamWaless

32

O1: Engaged and Satisfied Customers

Customers, Performance, Resources & Governance Scrutiny Committee highlighted the need to monitor the changes in contact levels which will result from the revised opening hours of contact Wrexham. Scrutiny were concerned to understand the implications for customers and to ensure that the services available to the public are not affected. This will be considered in future reports.

95%of customers feel it is easy to access Council Services

96% in 2014/15

4% Of customers have

signed up to an on-line account

0% in 2014/15

Percentage of respondents who live in Wrexham County Borough who feel that they can influence decisions affecting the local area

GREEN Amber 18% RED KEY ISSUES

• The Councils ongoing Reshaping agenda may have impacted on customers perceptions ofthe Council and how much they feel we are listening to them

• On line services were implemented later than we had hoped causing a delay in the numbersof sign ups anticipated. This is now in place providing on line access for customers to viewCouncil Tax and benefits accounts, make a new claim for benefits and report a change ofaddress. Further services to allow reporting of Street Scene issues are now underdevelopment.

• We are doing more consultation than ever before, and our response rates are higher thanever, however the downside of this is that this can raise expectations and therefore increasepotential for people to feel disappointed if the outcome of a consultation does not exactlyreflect the views that they gave. We will continue to improve the quality of our ‘You Said WeDid’ feedback across the organisation to explain why we make the decisions we make anddemonstrate the impact that consultation has had.

• Welsh Government analysis has highlighted that benchmarking customer satisfactionacross Welsh authorities can be misleading, as a result this indicator was removed from the2016/17 Council Plan.

The Council is continuing to invest in new web software systems that will increase the availability of digital services and improve the usability and customer focus of the website

33

O2: Creating the Conditions for Success

In 2015/16 this priority outcome was judged to be amber because during a sustained period of change it can be expected that performance may dip and this needs to be monitored on an ongoing basis. The Council is continuing to take a positive and proactive approach to delivering a comprehensive reshaping programme in response to the changing demands and reducing funding that all public sector organisations are facing. However, the aims of this programme are ambitious and will have significant implications for citizens and particularly for staff who continue to be challenged to do more with less.

Percentage of employees due to receive a PRD who did so*

“Wrexham County Borough Council’s vision and

ambition are helping to deliver improved outcomes

for citizens, but some outdated arrangements may limit the speed of progress”

Auditor General for Wales Annual Improvement Report 2015-2016

*NB – Data does not include the Environment and Planning Dept.

94.8% AMBER HIGHLIGHTS • The Auditor General for Wales’ Annual Improvement Report for Wrexham County Borough

Council found that “The Council, in collaboration with its partners, continues to improve performance and outcomes across most of its priority areas”

• A significant review of our Senior Structures in the Council took place as part of our reshapingprogramme this included the Strategic Leadership & Management Teams and Departmentalrealignments and Service Manager posts at tiers 4 and 5 of the organisation.

• The Council achieved the Gold Corporate Health Standard in July 2015, following an externalassessment of arrangements to promote the health and wellbeing of employees.

• Numerous external good practice awards were achieved including being a finalist in theprestigious MJ Award (Channel Shift - Contact Centre/Communications teams).

• The Council launched a new on-line performance review process, which embeddedbehavioural competencies, based on our values, into the process.

• Corporate Training organised courses for over 600 employees and 1:1 coaching was accessedby approximately 40 employees.

• Our employee survey highlighted that we have a committed workforce that invests time andenergy into getting the job done and doing it well.

“Today has demonstrated that positive steps are being taken to make day job issues easier.”

Manager feedback from a MyView/HR/OD briefing, June 15. 34

O2: Creating the Conditions for Success

“This was an impressive assessment which was indicative of the amount of work that has gone into proactively developing a culture of health and wellbeing integral to the ethos and philosophy of the Council. It is clear that in Wrexham Council health and wellbeing is embedded, integrated and sustainable.”

Welsh Government ‘GOLD’ Corporate Health Standard assessment report 2015

Level of Employee Engagement Percentage of employees who feel that they

have the opportunity to develop and improve to fulfill their potential

59% RED 43% RED KEY ISSUES

• The Council is continuing to restructure services as multiple consultations on future servicedelivery model proposals are concluded. This obviously has an impact on employeeengagement and perceptions, despite the communications and consultation mechanisms inplace and the investment being made in employees which was recognised by the CorporateHealth Gold Standard award

• Responding to Wales Audit Office proposals for improvement and in particular the use ofresources - people and ICT

• A ‘Delivering Effective Scrutiny’ action plan has been implemented following the review ofscrutiny. Whilst this has lead to some immediate improvements in areas such asmaintaining forward work programmes, it is too early to judge the impact of this work;

• The Council is actively monitoring absence levels in the workforce, as sickness levels withinthe Council remained higher than the Wales average during 2015/16, although an increasingnumber of authorities have stopped reporting this data. A project is working to improverecording practices, streamline reporting and ultimately to monitor absences in accordancewith a revised Council policy with the aim of reducing sickness absence levels

Performance in 15/16 has to be seen in the context of our reshaping programme which has created a fast paced, transformational change environment which is challenging all services to review delivery in line with our reshaping principles.

35

Our Wrexham Plan

Our Wrexham Plan is a high level aspirational plan for 2013 to 2024 for the people of Wrexham and has three strategic priorities:

• Wrexham is a place where people can liveindependently and are healthy and active

• Wrexham is a place with a strong, resilientand responsible economy

• Wrexham is a place that’s safe and whereeveryone feels included

It was developed by Wrexham Local Services Board (LSB), a partnership which has been superseded by the Public Services Board (PSB) who are developing their new plan. The PSB includes representatives from Wrexham County Borough Council, A.V.O.W, Betsi Cadwaldr University Health Board, the Fire Service, the Police, the Probation Service, Public Health Wales, Glyndwr University and Yale College.

The LSB’s annual report of partners’ progress against the plan is available on the Local Service Board website, www.wrexhamlsb.org. It sets out how Wrexham County Borough Council and its partners within the LSB have collaborated in working towards the priorities set.

Collaboration in WrexhamWrexham County Borough Council are keen to work collaboratively with local and regional organisations where this improves services, outcomes, and/or efficiency. The Council have defined four key principles for entering into collaborative arrangements, which focus on ensuring that such arrangements remain in the best interest of Wrexham County Borough and local people – the need for Members to remain central to decision making, for a sound business case, for proposals to support the Council’s vision, and for proposals to maximise benefits for Wrexham.

Where collaborative arrangements are in place, or are planned, that support the priority outcomes of this Council Plan they are detailed against the relevant priority outcome. Examples include major regional developments, such as GwE, the North Wales Regional School Effectiveness and Improvement Service, which is detailed under Pe1 – All children and young people have positive aspirations, learn and achieve their potential. The Council also leads on North Wales initiatives such as the North Wales Adoption Service and the North Wales Emergency Social Services Duty Team.

36

Corporate Assessment Wales Audit Office

The Wales Audit Office undertake an in-depth Corporate Assessment of each Welsh local authority every four years. The fieldwork for the Corporate Assessment took place in October 2015, was received by the Council in February 2016 and considered the extent to which arrangements are contributing to delivering improved service performance and outcomes for citizens. The Corporate Assessment found that “Wrexham County Borough Council’s vision and ambition are helping deliver improved outcomes for citizens but some outdated arrangements may limit the speed of progress.’ In terms of performance it found that “The Council, in collaboration with its partners, continues to improve performance and outcomes across most of its priority areas.” The full assessment is available at www.wao.gov.uk. It does not make any formal recommendations on the Council but did make a number of proposals for improvement which the Council has accepted.

Comparative Performance National Performance Indicators are defined by Welsh Government, or through the Welsh Local Government Association, to provide a set of measures by which performance can be compared across local authorities. The data shows absolute performance (eg the speed of a particular process) and comparative performance (eg the speed of a process compared to other areas in Wales) also groups all indicators into quartiles (ie if a Council is top quartile for performance, its performance falls into the top 25% performing authorities). This enables a quick and easy comparison across authorities, although not all indicators are an equal priority for all local authority areas in Wales. A full breakdown of comparative national performance is available at Appendix A.

Wrexham County Borough Council Performance Top

Quartile Second Quartile

Third Quartile

Bottom Quartile

2015-16 9 9 11 11 2014-15 8 11 9 12 2013-14 7 12 6 14

Performance Trends from 2014/15 to 2015/16

Trends in PI value

(ie trends in absolute performance) Trends in Quartile position

(ie trends in comparative performance)

37

Sustainable Development The Well-Being of Future Generations

As an early adopter for the Well-Being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, Wrexham County Borough Council has been working closely with Welsh Government and the Welsh Local Government Association to embed sustainability. This means maximising our contribution to the six Well-Being Goals for Wales:

• A prosperous Wales • A resilient Wales • A healthier Wales

• A more equal Wales • A Wales of cohesive communities • A Wales with a vibrant culture and thriving

language

As a part of this work we are developing an integrated planning framework with a focus on sustainable governance where decisions consider five ways of working :

38

Page 1

Appendix One

Performance IndicatorImprovemen

t directionWales

AverageWrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Rank

Wales Average

Wrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Trend

Wrexham Rank

Comment

EDU/002i: The percentage of all pupils (including those in LA care) in any LA maintained school, aged 15 as at the preceding 31 August who leave compulsory education, training or work based learning without an approved external qualification

smaller is better

0.32 4 0.50 19 0.24 3 0.2 improving 16

Performance in this area has improved faster than elsewhere in Wales, but care should be taken in considering trends due to the small numbers of individuals concerned.

EDU/002ii: The percentage of pupils in local authority care in any local authority maintained school, aged 15 as at the preceding 31 August who leave compulsory education, training or work based learning without an approved external qualification

smaller is better

1.22 1 0 1 0.49 1 0 sustained 1 Performance was joint best in Wales

EDU/003: The percentage of pupils assessed at the end of Key Stage 2, in schools maintained by the local authority, achieving the Core Subject Indicator, as determined by Teacher Assessment

bigger is better

86.43 4 84.2 19 88.07 3 87.7 improving 14

Performance improved faster than the national average. Provisional figures for 2016/17 will be considered by Lifelong Learning Scrutiny Committee in November.

EDU/006ii: The percentage of pupils assessed, in schools maintained by the local authority, receiving a Teacher Assessment in Welsh (first language) at the end of Key Stage 3

bigger is better

17.17 3 9.3 15 17.81 3 9.3 sustained 15Performance has remained consistent with the previous year

EDU/011: The average point score for pupils aged 15 at the preceding 31 August, in schools maintained by the local authority

bigger is better

530.36 3 526.5 13 538.56 4 509.2 worsening 17

Local performance fell whilst the national average increased. The authority is working in collaboration with GwE (the regional Schools Improvement Service for North Wales) and in partnership with schools to successfully implement the Education Improvement Action Plan.

EDU/015a: The percentage of final statements of special education need issued within 26 weeks including exceptions

bigger is better

64.50 2 94.1 8 68.10 1 98.4 improving 6Performance was top quartile for Wales

EDU/015b: The percentage of final statements of special education need issued within 26 weeks excluding exceptions

bigger is better

95.62 1 100 1 94.50 1 100 sustained 1Performance was the joint best in Wales

2014-15 2015-16

Page 2

Appendix One

Performance IndicatorImprovemen

t directionWales

AverageWrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Rank

Wales Average

Wrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Trend

Wrexham Rank

Comment

2014-15 2015-16

EDU/017: The percentage of pupils aged 15 at the preceding 31 August, in schools maintained by the local authority who achieved the Level 2 threshold including a GCSE grade A*-C in English or Welsh first language and mathematics

bigger is better

55.49 4 51 18 58.33 4 52.1 improving 20

Whilst local performance increased, the national average increased faster. The authority is working in collaboration with GwE (the regional Schools Improvement Service for North Wales) and in partnership with schools to successfully implement the Education Improvement Action Plan.

EDU/004: The percentage of pupils assessed at the end of Key Stage 3, in schools maintained by the local authority, achieving the Core Subject Indicator, as determined by Teacher Assessment

bigger is better

81.22 3 78.4 16 84.08 4 80.9 improving 19

Whilst local performance increased, the national average increased faster. The authority is working in collaboration with GwE (the regional Schools Improvement Service for North Wales) and in partnership with schools to successfully implement the Education Improvement Action Plan.

EDU/016a: Percentage of pupil attendance in primary schools

bigger is better

94.78 3 94.8 12 94.95 3 94.8 sustained 14

EDU/016b: Percentage of pupil attendance in secondary schools

bigger is better

93.61 2 93.7 11 93.86 3 93.8 improving 12

SCA/001: The rate of delayed transfers of care for social care reasons per 1,000 population aged 75 or over

smaller is better

4.83 2 1.75 8 4.87 1 1.64 improving 4Performance has improved on last year and is now top quartile for Wales

SCA/002a: The rate of older people (aged 65 or over) supported in the community per 1,000 population aged 65 or over at 31 March

bigger is better

67.30 64.45 10 64.12 63.57 worsening

Welsh government no longer judge performance for this indicator against quartiles, but Wrexham's performance remains better than the Wales average.

Whilst performance has not improved in line with the national average, provisional data is showing continued improvement in reducing both permanent and temporary exclusions

Page 3

Appendix One

Performance IndicatorImprovemen

t directionWales

AverageWrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Rank

Wales Average

Wrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Trend

Wrexham Rank

Comment

2014-15 2015-16

SCA/002b: The rate of older people (aged 65 or over) whom the authority supports in care homes per 1,000 population aged 65 or over at 31 March

smaller is better

18.82 2 17.48 8 18.02 2 18.44 worsening 11

This represents 471 people where the Council is paying for their care and support. This is an increase of 37 on the previous year.This rise is due to the number of complex cases presenting this year. E.g. EMI. This is a PI we have little or no control over and a year to year comparison is difficult.

SCA/019: The percentage of adult protection referrals completed where the risk has been managed

bigger is better

95.60 2 99.42 9 97.00 3 98.7 worsening 12

This represents 304 out of 308 cases in the year. This means that only 4 clients have asserted their legal right to manage the risk of their own care or support. This only represents 1.3% of all cases that were identified to us where an adult may have been at some risk. It is difficult to compare year to year figures as we are not comparing the same client cohort each year.

SCA/007: The percentage of clients with a care plan at 31 March whose care plans should have been reviewed that were reviewed during the year

bigger is better

79.97 4 71.6 21 82.99 3 82 improving 12Performance has improved significantly in this area in comparison to the previous year

SCA/018a: The percentage of carers of adults who were offered an assessment or review of their needs in their own right during the year

bigger is better

88.34 1 100 1 91.39 1 100 1Performance was the joint best in Wales

SCC/002: Percentage of children looked after at 31 March who have experienced one or more changes of school, during a period or periods of being looked after, which were not due to transitional arrangements, in the 12 months to 31 March

smaller is better

13.48 2 13.3 10 11.87 2 10.1 improving 8

Performance is improving and is better than the Wales average. It should be noted that performance on this indicator can be affected by changes of large family groups, or where children are moved for positive reasons.

Page 4

Appendix One

Performance IndicatorImprovemen

t directionWales

AverageWrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Rank

Wales Average

Wrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Trend

Wrexham Rank

Comment

2014-15 2015-16

SCC/004: The percentage of children looked after on 31 March who have had three or more placements during the year

smaller is better

9.03 2 7.9 9 9.78 4 11.3 worsening 17

Performance has fallen against the Wales average. However, it should be noted that performance on this indicator can be affected by changes of large family groups, or where children are moved for positive reasons.

SCC/011b: The percentage of initial assessments that were completed during the year where there is evidence that the child has been seen alone by the Social Worker

bigger is better

44.78 3 48.7 12 49.46 3 46.7 worsening 16

Whilst performance has fallen, the Council's priority in this area is to ensure that all children are seen by the social worker and Wrexham is the best performing authority in Wales on this in relation to that indicator (98.3% in 2015/16). There are various instances where it would not be appropriate for a social worker to see a child alone.

SCC/033d: The percentage of young people formerly looked after with whom the authority is in contact at the age of 19

bigger is better

93.32 4 75 21 93.16 3 93.3 improving 14

Whilst remaining just below the national average, this represents a significant improvement on the previous year. The total cohort included in this indicator however is very small (for 2015/16 this equated to 15 young people)

SCC/033e: The percentage of young people formerly looked after with whom the authority is in contact, who are known to be in suitable, non-emergency accommodation at the age of 19

bigger is better

93.09 3 88.9 14 93.52 4 92.9 improving 17

Whilst remaining just below the national average, this represents a significant improvement on the previous year. The total cohort included in this indicator however is very small (for 2015/16 this equated to 14 young people)

SCC/033f: The percentage of young people formerly looked after with whom the authority is in contact, who are known to be engaged in education, training or employment at the age of 19

bigger is better

59.51 4 44.4 18 60.69 1 85.7 improving 2

Performance is top quartile for Wales. The total cohort included in this indicator however is very small (for 2015/16 this equated to 14 young people)

Page 5

Appendix One

Performance IndicatorImprovemen

t directionWales

AverageWrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Rank

Wales Average

Wrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Trend

Wrexham Rank

Comment

2014-15 2015-16

SCC/037: The average external qualifications point score for 16 year old looked after children, in any local authority maintained learning setting

bigger is better

276.21 3 239.4 16 268.52 2 251.7 improving 11Performance has improved on the previous year and moved into the second quartile

SCC:041a: The percentage of eligible, relevant and former relevant children that have pathway plans as required

bigger is better

91.21 4 92 18 93.46 4 90.8 worsening 20

The indicator is based on the relevant young people classified as Care Leavers on a specific date (31st March) and as such fluctuates throughout the year. Although performance worsened slightly for 31 March 2016, monitoring throughout the year shows that this return is unusually high for the year. 100% of all Care Leavers open to the department have an allocated social worker and personal advisor.

SCC/045: The percentage of reviews of looked after children, children on the Child Protection Register and children in need carried out in line with the statutory timetable

bigger is better

88.95 1 95.3 6 90.30 2 94.6 worsening 8

Although a slight decrease on last year’s performance, Wrexham continues to perform well and remains above the Welsh average for this indicator

SCC/025: The percentage of statutory visits to looked after children due in the year that took place in accordance with regulations

bigger is better

87.68 1 92.9 6 88.14 1 94.9 improving 5 Performance is top quartile for Wales

PSR/002: The average number of calendar days taken to deliver a Disabled Facilities Grant

smaller is better

231.15 3 238 12 240.63 2 208 improving 8Performance has improved by 30 days on the previous year and moved into the second quartile

PSR/004: The percentage of private sector dwellings that had been vacant for more than 6 months at 1 April that were returned to occupation during the year through direct action by the local authority

bigger is better

11.76 1 17.2 6 11.08 2 12.73 worsening 7

Whilst performance in this area has fallen it remains better than the national average and reflects the fact that as more properties are brought back into use those that remain are harder to turn around.

Page 6

Appendix One

Performance IndicatorImprovemen

t directionWales

AverageWrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Rank

Wales Average

Wrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Trend

Wrexham Rank

Comment

2014-15 2015-16

PLA/006(b): The number of additional affordable housing units provided during the year as a percentage of all additional housing units provided during the year

bigger is better

41.35 2 44 9 35.95 3 29 worsening 15

The Affordable Housing Project delivered 79 units of accomomodation during the year. This included 12 units providing supported hsougin for Armed Forces veterans to make a successful transition to civilian life.

CAM/037: The percentage change in the average Display Energy Certificate (DEC) score within local authority public buildings over 1,000 square metres

bigger is better

- n/a - - 2.05 4 1 n/a n/a

Information for this indicator has not been updated, but carried forward from the previous year. The indicator only measures improvements in certificate scores in large buildings. Carbon emissions from local authority non-domestic buildings in 2016 were 11,900 tonnes of carbon dioxide - a reduction of 10.7% on the previous year.

WMT/004(b): The percentage of municipal waste collected by local authorities sent to landfill

smaller is better

29.38 4 36.91 18 18.14 2 14.23 improving 11This represents a significant improvement which is expected to be further improved next year

WMT/009(b): The percentage of municipal waste collected by local authorities and prepared for reuse and/or recycled, including source segregated biowastes that are composted or treated biologically in another way

bigger is better

56.24 2 56.45 10 60.19 1 62.29 improving 6

This represents a significant improvement and takes Wrexham comfortably passed the statutory target of 58%

STS/006: The percentage of reported fly tipping incidents cleared within 5 working days

bigger is better

93.05 4 86.65 20 95.26 4 91.96 improving 18Whilst below the Wales average, performance has improved by 5.31 percentage points on the previous year

STS/005b: The percentage of highways inspected of a high or acceptable standard of cleanliness

bigger is better

96.91 4 92.2 21 96.51 4 91.1 worsening 19Whilst below the Wales average, performance has remained broadly consistent with previous years

THS/007: The percentage of adults aged 60+ who hold a concessionary bus pass

bigger is better

85.78 2 87.4 10 85.62 2 87.4 sustained 11Performance remains consistent with the previous year

Page 7

Appendix One

Performance IndicatorImprovemen

t directionWales

AverageWrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Rank

Wales Average

Wrexham Quartile

Wrexham Outturn

Wrexham Trend

Wrexham Rank

Comment

2014-15 2015-16

THS/012: The percentage of principal (A) roads, non-principal (B) roads and non-principal (C) roads that are in overall poor condition

smaller is better

11.94 4 13.8 20 11.18 4 12.8 improving 20

THS/012a: The percentage of principal (A) roads that are in overall poor condition

smaller is better

4.06 First 2.9 6 3.66 First 2.4 improving 5

THS/012b: The percentage of non-principal (B) roads that are in overall poor condition

smaller is better

4.99 First 2.8 2 4.30 First 2.8 improving 3

THS/012c: Percentage of non-principal (C) roads that are in overall poor condition

smaller is better

17.18 Fourth 21.6 21 15.94 Fourth 19.7 improving 21

PPN/009: The percentage of food establishments which are ‘broadly compliant‘ with food hygiene standards

bigger is better

94.19 1 98.02 1 94.22 4 92.7 worsening 17

The reduction in performance is in part due to the Food Safety function moving towards a statutory minimum level of service, reducing the rate of inspections and so enabling a reduction of staff by 1FTE.

CHR/002: The number of working days/shifts per full-time equivalent (FTE) local authority employee lost due to sickness absence

smaller is better

9.85 4 11.94 21 10.20 4 11.9 improving 18

The Council is actively monitoring absence levels in the workforce and a project is working to improve recording practices, streamline reporting and ultimately reduce sickness absence levels

LCL/001(b): The number of visits to Public Libraries during the year, per 1,000 population

bigger is better

5525.87 3 4361 16 5373.76 3 4379 improving 14Performance has remained consistent with the previous year despite changes to staffing and responsibilities

LCS/002(b): The number of visits to local authority sport and leisure centres during the year where the visitor will be participating in physical activity, per 1,000 population

bigger is better

8656.65 1 13114 2 8408.95 1 12388 worsening 2Despite a reduction on the previous year this remains extremely good performance for Wales

The percentage of roads in poor condition is continuing to improve,

with additional investment being made to ensure that this continues.

However, whilst the overall proportion of roads in poor condition remains higher than elsewhere in Wales the

proportion of the County Borough’s A roads (2.4%) and B roads (2.8%) in poor condition is far lower than the national

average and performance is top quartile for both these aspects.