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Issue - meetings

2025/26 Quarterly Service Review Q4

 

 

Meeting: 10/06/2026 - Executive (Item 494)

494 2025/26 Quarterly Service Review Q4 pdf icon PDF 273 KB

Purpose          

To provide details of the Council’s operational performance at the end of 2025-26 Quarter Four (Q4).

 

Recommendation

That the Executive Resolves to:

1.    Note the 2025/26 Q4 service performance report.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Andy Graham presented the item, the purpose of which was to provide details of the Council’s operational performance at the end of Quarter Four (Q4) of 2025-26.

 

In his presentation, Councillor Graham made the following points:

 

·         Overall performance was strong, with most services having met or exceeded targets and continued progress on corporate priorities.

·         CIL implementation had progressed during the quarter.

·         Regeneration schemes, including Salt Cross Garden Village and Carterton SDA, had continued to advance.

·         Community support funding and youth initiatives were ongoing.

·         Environmental investment had continued, including leisure decarbonisation and electric fleet upgrades.

·         Recycling was below target this quarter due to seasonal factors, but remained in the top quartile nationally (c. 25th of 200+ councils).

·         Leisure visits were below target; however, this was considered to be due to data capture issues, and annual figures showed an overall increase.

 

In discussing the report, other members raised the following points:

·         Significant work had taken place across corporate priorities, delivered by officers in partnership with communities and external organisations.

·         People and wildlife (environment priority) – Community-led nature recovery work had progressed in Carterton, alongside the Coronation and Community Orchards Scheme, now in its final delivery stage.

·         Orchard scheme delivery – 190 trees were planted in the final round, bringing the total to 392 trees across 25 orchards district-wide, with ongoing support funded (e.g. Longmead Foundation pruning workshops).

·         Climate emergency response – Major progress had been made on decarbonisation of Windrush Leisure Centre, with a new heating system installed and final connection pending.

·         Carbon reduction impact – The project was expected to deliver a significant reduction in district carbon emissions, noting the complexity of works within a live leisure facility.

·         Housing and Council Tax Support performance had improved significantly and was now back on track.

·         Positive outcomes were highlighted across housing services, including the delivery of 252 affordable homes, which would have a positive impact for families across the district.

·         The housing team had prioritised reducing homelessness pressures.

·         Temporary accommodation use was decreasing, with a shift towards providing more self-contained units for those in need.

·         A small increase in residual household waste was noted, reflecting the dip in recycling performance; the figures remained marginal but were identified as an area for improvement.

·         Strong national performance in recycling was acknowledged, together with an ongoing commitment to high recycling performance across Oxfordshire.

·         The Communications Team was working with officers and Executive Members on a coordinated communications plan for the financial year, including support for countywide initiatives.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s recommendation to include videos as part of the Council’s communication strategy was partly agreed and accepted by the Executive, and the most appropriate method and channel for this communication would be considered based on best practice guidance and available resources.

 

Councillor Wray stated that West Oxfordshire was performing above average on waste collection and recycling figures compared with the national average. A slight increase in residual waste was noted. In response to comments from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, it was recognised that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 494

Meeting: 04/03/2026 - Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Item 104)

104 2025/26 Quarterly Service Review Q3 pdf icon PDF 278 KB

Purpose

To provide details of the Council’s operational performance at the end of 2025-26 Quarter Three (Q3).

 

Recommendation

That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolves to:

1.    Note the report and agree any recommendations to the Executive.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the 2025/26 Quarterly Service Review Q3 report. The Leader introduced the report and highlighted that:

·         There was now only one vacant unit at Marriotts Walk and public realm improvements would be coming forward soon.

·         The Salt Cross Area Action Plan had been approved by full Council.

·         The Woodford Way project was progressing with further plans to come forward in quarter 1 of 2026/27.

·         Customer satisfaction was high.

·         Shop front improvement grants were on track to be awarded.

·         Leisure centre visits remained high.

·         Planning applications were being determined in a timely fashion.

·         Affordable housing delivery was above target.

·         100% of high-risk food premises had been inspected.

·         Missed bin collections were within target.

 

The Senior Performance Analyst summarised the areas that were below target:

·         Processing times for Council Tax change events – this was a cumulative measure which had fallen below target in quarter 1.

·         Processing times for housing benefit change of circumstances - the performance was skewed where people had failed to provide the requested documentation.

 

The Committee asked questions and noted from the responses that:

·         Household recycling performance remained strong when compared nationally although there were concerns that the trend was that recycling was down and residual waste was up.

·         The Council was looking at further recycling messaging and campaigning and what more could be done to encourage and facilitate recycling and make it simpler for residents.

·         Officers would explore whether quality metrics could be included for disability grants, as well as processing times for fast-track applications.

·         Council Tax and Business Rates collections needed to be reprofiled for next year to reflect the increase in people switching from 10 monthly payments to 12 monthly payments.

·         Officers would consider the impact of Oxford City Council offering free bulky waste collections.

·         Officers would consider whether the performance reports could be more prominent on the Council website.

 

The Chair thanked the Leader and officers for presenting the report and answering questions. There were no recommendations to the Executive.

 

 

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