Interim Corporate Plan
Value for Money Services
We are doing all we can to find efficiencies while keeping high
standards to protect the essential services the people of the
district value. There are two key areas to delivering value for
money services: spending money wisely and listening and responding
to peoples’ needs.
Spend money wisely:
With the financial situation requiring us to look at all our
services and objectives, it is important for us, and you, to know
we are focusing on the front-line services you want and need and
making them even more efficient and effective.
We will seek to deliver the most effective outcomes for our
communities whilst keeping Council Tax low. While meeting our
statutory duties, we will explore ways to work with others to
deliver services valued by our communities.
Listen and respond to peoples’ needs:
In the current climate, it is essential that we reduce costs and
concentrate on delivering services you value.
Customer Services, Communication and Feedback are vital to
delivering quality services, enabling us to build on what people
want rather than what we think they want.
We know there are vulnerable people such as a growing elderly
population, or disabled people, who rely on public services. By
developing a clearer understanding of their needs, we will be able
to join services with other agencies to support them better.
We need to continue to know the views of people who live and
work here in order to plan for the services you want to see both
now and in the future. We continue to welcome all views on the
future priorities and performance of the Council – please forward
to policy@dover.gov.uk
| You
said |
We have
|
| 31.9% of Dover residents thought DDC
provides value for money, compared to 29% of Kent residents. |
- By the end of March 2009 we had achieved 97% of our efficiency
savings target
- Delivered, with our neighbouring authorities, a joint East Kent
Shared Human Resource service, realising savings for all
authorities.
|
| 66.7% of residents felt they were well
informed of how their Council Tax is spent. 41.9% of residents feel
they are well informed about public services. |
- Started producing our District Newsletter in conjunction with KCC and twice a
year rather than 4 times a year, realising financial savings and
more joined up information.
- Introduced a Communication Toolkit
and Corporate Communication Plan to improve they way we communicate
with residents and partners, building on the Neighbourhood Forums and Together groups.
|
| You would like to see the recycling scheme
extended |
- Introduced door-step collections of plastic and card to meet waste and recycling
targets. Re-organised refuse collection rounds and developed
proposals for joining waste contracts across East Kent to deliver
huge efficiencies.
|
| Clean streets is in both your top 10 of things to make the
District a good place to live and in the top 10 if things most in
need of improving. |
- Adopted a Street Scene Strategy
(seeking to increase local ownership of quality of the district’s
streets) and, working with the London Road Community Forum,
Folkestone Road Taskforce and the Dover Market Square Rejuvenation
Group, started to make changes in how local issues are dealt with.
Preliminary discussions are also underway regarding Deal High
Street.
|
We will (targets for the next 3 years)
- Achieve 100% of our efficiency savings target.
- Work with neighbours in East Kent to develop a Shared Service
Vehicle realising financial savings.
- Work towards moving all our services to a position where for
every service, performance is in a higher quartile than cost.
- Deliver a joint council tax and benefits database saving
£20,000
- Reduce the grounds maintenance budget by attracting additional
external funding and/or sponsorship.
- Implement the joint waste collection proposals, increasing the
range of recyclates collected and reducing unit costs of
collection. Increase the level of local involvement in the
provision of services.
- Continue to meet 95% (annually for the next 3 years) of visits
to complainants within 3 working days by the pest control
operative.
- To meet the target of 3 days (from reporting) as the average
time taken to remove fly-tips
- Meet the target of 90% customer satisfaction rating (annually
over the next three years)
- Continue to ensure 90% of calls (annually over the next three
years) regarding stray dogs and fouling are investigated within 3
working days
- Encourage and facilitate a 20% increase (2010/11) in those
people switching to direct debit payments and the ‘sign me up’
campaign (to receive communication from the Council via email),
with a further increase of 15% year on year thereafter.
- Maintain 85% customer satisfaction with environmental health
services.
- Reduce the times (as a percentage) customers contact the
Council about the same issue from 36% in 2010, to 32% in 2011 and
29% in 2012, however continue to have a transactional website.
Additional interim priorities
- Continually seek to maximise our external funding
opportunities, such as grants, in conjunction with our partners, in
order to maximize income and optimise the range and quality of
services delivered. We will monitor and report annually the number
value and range of grants obtained.
- Ensure that our spending plans and financial management respond
to prevailing economic circumstances.
- Working with neighbouring authorities and services to deliver
joint solutions where possible, and economically viable, to produce
further savings.
Interim Corporate Plan pages:
Contact
Email: policy@dover.gov.uk
