How did we perform?
In November 2007, the Scottish Government agreed a new way of working with Councils. Instead of providing funding for specific projects or initiatives, a ‘lump sum’ is now given, and it is up to Councils and their partners to use the money as appropriate for their area.
This means that the way in which money is spent in the Borders may differ to the way, for example, Edinburgh City Council spends its money. Priorities are informed by elected members, local conditions and public consultation, e.g. our annual household survey.
Instead of reporting to the Government on every detail of the actions we are taking, we now report only the impact of actions.
For example, instead of providing the Government with our Waste Plan and the details of what we are doing, we will report on recycling levels and tonnage to landfill. If these figures, on an annual basis, show an improvement, then the Council’s actions are judged to be working.
On the other hand, negative performance will alert the Council and its partners that corrective action needs to be taken.
This way of working is captured in a document submitted to the Scottish Government called a Single Outcome Agreement (SOA). This agreement is a high-level summary of the areas where the Council and its partners need to concentrate their efforts to make improvements.
Our SOA will be discussed with the Government on an annual basis and priorities within it will change over time, to reflect changing local conditions and opinions.
On these pages, we report on just some of the ‘performance indicators’ in the SOA that were reported to the Government in September this year.
How the council is measuring up
Access to affordable housing
Delivering more affordable homes continues to be a challenge. However, construction companies in the Borders have benefited from accelerated funding announced by the Scottish Government in 2008. However, prospects for next year may not be as good as Government investment in affordable housing is set to drop across Scotland.
Aim: Increase the number of new affordable housing units provided through Registered Landlords
2008/09 - 92
2007/08 - 89
Because of the reliance on road travel in the Borders, we will prioritise resources to reduce the percentage of the network identified as requiring maintenance.
Aim: Reduce the percentage of the overall Borders road network requiring maintenance
2008/09 - 37.2%
Town centre regeneration
The current economic downturn is likely to have a negative impact in the short/medium term with regards to town centre vacancies. Regeneration funding to support town centres is being actively pursued and Jedburgh was recently awarded more than £606,000 by the Scottish Government.
Aim: Sustain the town centre retail vacancy rate
2007/08 - 9%
The opening of the new dental centres in Hawick and Coldstream will help to increase the number of three to five-year-olds registered with an NHS Dentist.
Aim: 80% of all three to five-year-olds to be registered with an NHS dentist by 2010/11
2008/09 - 66.3%
2007/08 - 64.3%
School meal take-up increased significantly during 2007/08 as a result of the free school meals pilot. With the end of the pilot, take-up has dropped off, but not to
pre-pilot levels. Changes to menus and ongoing promotion should help improve school meal take-up.
Aim: Increase the percentage of primary school children taking up nutritious school meals (as % of school roll)
2008/09 - 38%
2007/08 - 48%
The economic downturn is having an impact on levels of poverty in the Scottish Borders and increased demand has resulted in more support being provided from local agencies to deal with this.
Aim: Increase the number of people accessing welfare benefits services
2008/09 - 2,614
2007/08 - 2,602
Helping people to live independently is a national and local priority and part of a drive to give people the support they need in their own homes. The Council’s Transforming Older People’s Services (TOPS) review will ensure that this continues to be the focus of our efforts and delivers real benefits for older residents in the Borders.
Aim: Increase percentage of people aged 65+ requiring long-term care, who receive intensive homecare (10+ hours per week)
2008/09 - 28.8%
2007/08 - 25.7%
The Scottish Borders currently has one of the lowest average weekly wage levels for full-time workers in Scotland, which is largely due to the industrial base and continued over-reliance on the public sector. The financial year 2006/07 showed a promising increase in that figure, but the latest available data (for 2007/08) showed that people in the Borders currently earn only 83 per cent of the Scottish average weekly wage. Once again, the current challenging economic climate will mean that the Council and its partners will have to work hard to close the gap.
Aim: Increase the average weekly earnings of the Borders-based workforce, relative to the Scottish average
2007/08 - 83%
2006/07 - 86%
The impact of the economic downturn has been particularly notable in relation to the percentage of people in the Borders claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance and recent monthly figures of 3.1 per cent suggest a significant increase in claimants. Although the number of claimants is stabilising, the Council and Community Planning Partners are working hard to ensure that people get back into work as quickly as possible. Through PACE (Partnership Action for Continuing Employment), partners provide a service to help individuals and businesses reduce the effect of redundancies when they do occur.
Aim: Reduce the percentage of people in the Borders claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance
2008/09 - 1.9%
2007/08 - 1.7%
“Awards for All” funding levels are being maintained, despite an overall reduction in the amount of funds available and significantly higher levels
of national competition. There is comprehensive support provided to applicants to improve the quality of applications, to ensure compliance with application criteria and to raise the success rates. Scottish Borders application success rates are higher than the national average.
Aim: Maintain the number of community groups accessing lottery funding up to £10,000
2007/08 - 106
2006/07 - 102
The Council and its local partners have had a particular focus in recent years on the protection of adults at risk of harm. Domestic abuse is one such area where increased investment in services and training for staff, in the medium term, may show an increase in reporting as awareness and provision are improved.
Aim: Reduce the rates of domestic abuse incidents (per 10,000 population)
2007/08 - 53
2006/07 - 59
The harmful impacts of alcohol are felt in Scottish Borders, as they are in Scotland as a whole. Reducing availability through new licensing legislation, identifying people who are drinking to harmful levels through screening and increasing funding to allow easier access to services will all help tackle this problem.
Aim: Increase the number of individuals accessing specialist alcohol services
2007 - 459
2006 - 411
Traditional economic sectors
The nature of the Borders economy, with a reliance on traditional sectors such as textiles, tourism and agriculture, combined with the economic downturn mean that sustaining employment in key sectors will be a challenge.
Aim: Sustain employment in the agriculture sector
2005/06 - 4,280
Improving public transport
A review of public transport in the Borders started in September and will bring forward ways to address the continuing difficulty of maintaining high-quality, responsive public transport in a rural area. Alterations to the Council’s bus contracts should see improved disabled access to buses.
Aim: Increase the percentage customer satisfaction with public transport services
2008/09 - 45%
2007/08 - 44%
Waste and recycling in the Borders
Ongoing publicity is aimed at householders as well as traders to promote the various recycling and waste services provided by the Council.
Also important is promoting the benefits to commercial waste producers of recycling, including strategic pricing of recycling services.
The Council is providing increased recycling services at Community Recycling Centres, as well as making the recycling services easier to use by moving from dual bag system to a single dry recyclate collection.
Aim: Increase the percentage of waste recycled
2007/8 - 33%