w w w.charnwood.gov.uk

Charnwood Borough Council

ANNUAL REPORT2013-2014

@CharnwoodBC

I once again have the great pleasure in presenting to you the Council’s Annual Report for 2013/14.

We are midway through our current Corporate Plan and I am pleased to say that I feel we are on track and heading fi rmly in the right direction. The authority is in a strong fi nancial position and I think that is why we have been able to deliver so many projects for the benefi t of the borough.

In the year covered by the report I think we had a lot to celebrate. The Inner Relief Road in Loughborough was completed and it has taken the blight of traffi c out of our wonderful shopping area. We have invested in our market to make it better for traders and therefore shoppers and we continued to make our communities better places to live by tackling issues such as anti-social behaviour and littering. We have also continued to invest signifi cantly in our council properties and raise living standards for tenants.

As we look ahead I think this year will be one of the most crucial in the authorities history.

The examination of the Core Strategy began in March 2014 before being suspended. I expect it to continue later this year and I hope we can fi nally get it approved. This document will guide development of the borough for many years to come and we have invested an incredible amount of time and energy into getting it right. The Core Strategy will help make sure development takes place in the most appropriate parts of the borough and the resulting investment can be maximised for the benefi t of residents. That’s why it is such a critical piece of work.

Improvements in Loughborough town centre will also reach a conclusion this year and make it even more of a destination for shoppers and a much more pleasant place to visit. That will hopefully bring even more investment to the area. We remain committed to protecting frontline services and customers remain at the heart of everything we do.

There are still many challenges ahead, however, I believe we are ready for them thanks to the concerted efforts of the authority, staff and members, our partners and the Charnwood community.

Leader’s Introduction

Cllr David Slater,Leader of Charnwood

Borough Council

Our ValuesCustomer First:

We put the customer at the heart of

everything we do.

Working Together: We work together as

one council and in partnership with

openness and integrity.

Pride in Charnwood:We take pride in our

work and our borough, always striving for

improvement.

Our Place to... feel safe and secureWe will provide services that develop communities and neighbourhoods so that everyone feels safe, valued and secure.

We have worked hard with Leicestershire Police to reduce acquisitive crime;

< Unfortunately, theft from and theft of motor vehicles increased and consequently our Community Safety

Partnership is working hard this coming year to address this issue.

This has resulted in a

reduction in Domestic Burglary

reduction in Robbery

19%

In re-offending rates among young people – helped by effective use

of youth mentoring

The Business Improvement District (BID)

Charnwood Lifeline

‘Saved My Life’

Mrs Glover of Syston praises lifeline

in press article printed in the Leicester

Mercury and Loughborough Echo.

The Business Improvement District has merged pub watch and retail radio

leading to an increase in the take up of radios and opportunities to detect

crime on the High Street.

PAGE 2

reduction

increase

5% 11%

We will ensure that Charnwood continues to be a prosperous and thriving Borough which embraces innovation and enterprise, whilst providing a wide range of employment opportunities across the Borough.

Our Place to... grow and prosperThe Strategy for delivering growth for Charnwood up to 2028 (known as the Core Strategy) was formally submitted in December 2013 for independent examination by the Planning Inspectorate.

The Inner Relief Road opened in 2014 and supports our commitment to enhance and support Loughborough town centre for visitors and investors.

In 2013-2014

£150,000 Spent on Market Stall improvements,

specifi cally stalls and lighting

14,470 stalls Put up by the Markets team over a year

520 Kitchens were replaced

482 Bathrooms were replaced

999 Homes were rewired

£60 million contract awarded

602 homes built100 more than last year

151 Affordable homes builta third more than the previous year

To Wates Living Space for improvements to our

housing stock

In footfall in the town compared to the previous Sunday

250% increase

Classic Car Show 2014 showed a

““ “““I like the direction they (Loughborough) are going in. They have a solid understanding of the facts, they’ve made great alliances with partners, they’ve raised almost £300,000 in match funding

and they are moving forward. They are trying lots of things, learning from them and then modifying or re-applying,

and that is exactly what a pilot is supposed to do. Mary Portas, Why Our High Streets Still Matter, May 2014

BIGGEST & BEST

Turnout for the Christmas lights switch

on and Christmas shopping.

Our Place to... grow and prosper

We will protect our natural resources to provide a Borough which is clean and tidy and has a variety of green, open spaces for the benefi t of all our residents.

Our Place to... protect for future generations

Don’t Muck Around campaign led to:Don’t Muck Around campaign led to:

< Decrease in littering across 3 monitoring sites

The Recycler introduced for 2014

This character was used to promote recycling across the Borough and was also used for the Christmas campaign

and the Cash for Trash campaign.

< Flood alarms in vulnerable places were replaced

Dog fouling

Decrease in dog fouling

Leafl ets delivered for dog fouling

Posters have been placed on noticeboards across parish/town councils with co-operation from clerks

Littering

37% 31 Fixed penalty notices issued >

+1,500

Fouling hits on video

Climate Local was established which supports the Council’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions and help Charnwood prepare better for the impacts of climate change. Climate Local has been prepared following extensive public consultation, input from across the

Council and partnership working with key stakeholders.

Record number of sites visited

Loughborough celebrated striking gold at the East Midlands In Bloom awards for the third year running. The Bloom entry was also supported by 31 separate community entries to the

competition’s ‘It’s Your Neighbourhood’ awards.

WON LGC award for Campaign of the Year 2013

5,000

One in one of the monitoring areas

fi xed penalty notices issued

Our Place to...celebrate and enjoy

We will create opportunities for communities to live healthy, active and fulfi lling lives.

Charnwood completed a total of 128 Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs) across the Borough allowing people to remain living independently in their own homes.

Charnwood Museum awarded:• Best Small Visitor attraction in Leicestershire 2013

for the second year running

• Gained VAQAS certifi cation for 13/14. Awarded by ‘Visit England’ as part of their quality assurance accreditation

Loughborough Leisure Centre re-opened in September 2013 after work was completed on a £2 million refurbishment

Charnwood residents attended over 10 guided cycle rides

throughout the summer months

People attended the 2013 Panto ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’

45,282 People visited the museum in 2013-14

People attended sport and physical activity

programmes

Young people attended 0 - 4 physical activity programmes

Attendances at the three leisure centres – Loughborough, Soar Valley and South Charnwood

We awarded 91 Charnwood grants in 2013-14, totalling

(117,000 more than last year)

Our Place to...celebrate and enjoy

We will support residents to infl uence, contribute and take part in their communities.

Our Place to... belongCharnwood is the local delivery partner of the countywide Supporting Leicestershire Families project, helping to deliver innovative programmes around issues like physical activity, swimming, and domestic violence to add value to intensive family support. Leicestershire is within the top three achieving areas nationally, having already ‘turned around’ 78% of our target number of families for the three year programme.

More than 800 people took part in our Sounds of Summer 2013 residents’ survey

Residents’ priorities were:

• Feeling safe

• A variety of shops and markets

• Being able to go to parks and green spaces

postcard visual_Layout 1 25/06/2013 15:22 Page 1

Customer Service Programme The Council strives to put the customer at the heart of everything we do and in 2013/14 we initiated a programme of activities to improve the customer experience.

So far we have:

• Revamped our website to make it eaier for our customers to use

• Remodelled our customer service area

• Started sharing this area with the Police

• Invested in new technology within our reception area to encourage and enable customers to serve themselves

• Introduced fl oor walkers and a triage scheme to reduce waiting times and generally create a more welcoming environment for our customers

Overall 85% of residents were satisfi ed with the way we deliver our services. However, over half of residents felt

that they couldn’t infl uence decision making.

“““We have invested in our website and have introduced new features which

make it easier to book or pay for some services on-line. We have also started

the major editorial task which will make it easier for residents to fi nd and search for the information they need.

We plan to continue our efforts to improve our on-line presence in

2014-15 and beyond.

We plan to continue our efforts to We plan to continue our efforts to improve our on-line presence in

Local Web

The total number of homes built

There has been a steady increase in the percentage of household waste sent for reuse,

recycling and composting from 48.38% in 2011/12 to 49.54% in 2013/14. However, this was

short of the 51% target (2013/14)

Since the start of the Corporate Plan we have seen a huge reduction in the number of households living in temporary accommodation from 53 at the end of 2011/12 to 25 in 2013/14

The decent homes fi gure has dramatically reduced from 27.1% non-decent at the end of 2011/12

to 3.45% at the end of 2013/14

Sickness spiked in 2012/13 to 9 days per member of staff, this was a sharp rise from the previous year. 2013/14 saw a small fall to 8.59 days.

The target is 7.5 days

The number of serious acquisitive crimes per 1000 population has risen slowly since the start of the Corporate Plan from 9.37 crimes per 1000 population at the end of 2011/12 to 11.02 crimes at the end of 2013/14.

Performance Roundup... during the life of the Corporate Plan...

1,105