Annex 1 – Performance – Council Plan Outcomes

 

1          This report concentrates on the indicators that make up the Council Plan performance framework and does not cover COVID-related activity.

 

2          It is likely that due to impacts of COVID, a number of the indicators will see a significant change both in terms of their numbers and their direction of travel in future reporting periods. The majority of the performance measures within the Council Plan have a lag between the data being available, and the current reporting period and therefore impacts will not be immediately seen, and may occur over several years as new data becomes available.

 

3          Within the updates on the Council Plan indicators, are a number of indicators which show the status of economic, community or corporate recovery since the start of the pandemic.

 

Well paid jobs and an inclusive economy

 

 

Business Rates

4          The Government support schemes for local businesses that operated during Spring and Summer in 2020 have now closed. The support provided was:  

·         3,591 COVID Support Grants (value of £47.325m)

·         3,192 Business Rate Reliefs 2020-21 (value of £70.228m)

·         670 Enhanced Micro Scheme payments (value of £2.249m)

·         Approx. 1,000 Council Funded Micro Scheme payments (value of £1m)

 

5          In October, new grants were announced by Central Government which are still live, including Local Restriction Support grants, Sector Support grants and Lockdown Restrictions grants. As the government announced a return to lockdown from the 5th January 2021, further grant support will be provided in the coming months, including one off payments of up to £9,000 per business where they have a rateable value. In addition to the Business Grants, the Council along with Central Government have been supporting local residents through the crises and continue to do so. The support includes Community food parcels, Discretionary free school meals, Hardship Grant for Council Tax Support, Winter Support Grants, Discretionary Housing Payments and Isolation Grants.

 

6          City of York Council were the 12th fastest authority in distributing business grants to those who needed them most during the initial COVID-19 outbreak and are again paying all grants to both business and residents as quickly as possible.  Total support across the city is now approaching £130m and will move well beyond this with the new grants announced by Government on the 5th January.

 

7          The 2020-21 collection rate for Council Tax up to the end of December 2020 was 82% (2.14% below the target collection rate and 1.91% below the collection rate at the same point in 2019-20).

 

Median earnings of residents – Gross weekly pay

8          In April 2020, the median gross weekly earnings for full-time resident employees in York were £574.90, which is a decrease of 0.8% from £579.90 in 2019. Nationally, median weekly pay for full-time employees fell in the private sector (negative 0.6%) but not in the public sector (positive 2.4%), following four years of higher pay growth in the private sector; this fall reflects the different job types across each sector and the extent they have been impacted because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Data for 2021/22 will be available in November 2021.

 

% of working age population qualified – to at least L2 and above

9          In 2019-20, 83% of the working age population in York were qualified to at least L2 and above (GCSE grades 9-4), which is higher than the national and regional figures (75.6% and 72.5% respectively). This result ranks the city of York third regionally. The 2019-20 figure has remained stable compared to 2018-19 (83.2%). York performs in the top quartile compared to other Unitary authorities and is ranked 4 out of 56 Unitary LAs. Data for 2020/21 will be available in April 2021.

 

% of working age population qualified – to at least L4 and above

10       In 2019-20, 49.1% of the working age population in York were qualified to at least L4 and above (certificate of higher education or equivalent), which is higher than the national and regional figures (40.3% and 34.2% respectively). This result ranks the city of York first regionally. The 2019-20 figure is an increase from 2018-19 (47.9%). York performs in the top quartile compared to other Unitary authorities and is ranked 5 out of 56 Unitary LAs. Data for 2020/21 will be available in April 2021.

 

GVA (Gross Value Added) per head (£)

11       In 2018-9 (the latest available data), the GVA per head in York was £30,258 which was the second highest figure regionally. Apart from a slight dip in 2015-16, the GVA per head has been increasing annually since 2009-10 where it was £25,976 per head. Data for 2019-20 will be available in May 2021. Based on predicted economic trends nationally, it is expected that there will be a negative impact on GVA values in future years.

 

% of vacant city centre shops compared to other cities

12       At the end of Q3 2020-21, there were 57 vacant shops in the city centre, which is an increase from 42 at the same point in 2019-20. The number of vacant shops equates to 8.88% of all city centre shops, which is lower than the national benchmark in Q1 2019-20 of 11.7%. Properties in York are owned by different commercial parties and CYC commercial properties have very low levels of vacancies. The York figure has not fluctuated a great deal in the past 10 years, with a high of 9.2% in 2016-17 and the national benchmark figure has remained stable too, with a high of 12.3% in 2013-14. This measure will continue to be monitored along with a number of new measures looking at vacancy rates within secondary shopping centres to broaden the economic picture of the city. These will include Clifton Moor, Monks Cross, Haxby Village and Acomb High Street.

 

13       In the financial year up to the end of November 2020, there were 634 new business start-ups in the City of York Council area. This figure is very similar to that at the same point in 2019 therefore showing signs of recovery.

 

% of working age population in employment (16-64)

14       In Q1 2020-21 (the latest available data), 80.10% of the working age population were in employment, which is higher than the national and regional figures (76.2% and 74.6% respectively). The York performance gives the city a ranking of first regionally and represents a continued yearly upward trend.

 

15       At the end of November 2020, there were 13,120 people in York receiving Universal Credit, of which, at the end of October 2020, 6,917 were not in employment. These figures are considerably higher than the same period in 2019-20 (5,976 and 3,342).

 

 

 

 

Getting around sustainably

 

 

P&R Passenger Journeys 

16       In 2019-20, there were a total of 3.98 million Park and Ride passenger journeys into and out of the city. This is lower than in 2018-19 (4.24m) and the lowest in the previous seven years (with a high of 4.61m in 2015-16). Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, lower numbers than normal were seen during March 2020, which partly explains the decrease since 2018-19.

 

Local bus passenger journeys

17       In 2019-20, 11.6 million local bus passenger journeys originated in the local authority area. This is slightly lower than the number of journeys in 2018-19 (12m) but overall, there has been a steady increase over the previous seven years (from 9.7m in 2012/13).

 

% of ROAD and pathway network that are grade 4 (poor condition) or grade 5 (very poor condition) - Roadways / Pathways

18       In 2020-21, 22% of the road network was classed as in poor or very poor condition. This is a slight increase from 2019-20 (20%) but lower than the two year previous to that. In 2020-21, 3% of the pathway network was classed as in poor or very poor condition. This remains relatively low compared with previous years, with the highest being 6% in 2015-16.

 

Area Wide Traffic Levels (07:00 -19:00) (Excluding A64)

19       Between 2011-12 and 2016-17, the number of vehicles on the city’s roads increased year on year to a high of 2.2 million. Since then the numbers have slowly decreased to a provisional figure of 2.15 million in 2018-19. This slight decrease in numbers is set against a backdrop of a city with an increasing population. Data for 2019-20 will be available in February 2021.

 

Index of cycling activity (12 hour) / % of residents actively cycling and national comparisons

20       From a baseline in 2009 (31,587), there has been a 20% increase in cycling activity in 2018. The highest level seen since the baseline was established was in 2014 where there was a 29% increase above the baseline. Data for 2019 will be available in February 2021.

 

 

21       Statistics about walking and cycling in England in 2019 were published during August 2020. The data is based on two main sources, The National Travel Survey and the Active Lives Survey. The picture for York residents is a positive one with a higher than average proportion engaging in both walking and cycling (the percentage of adults in York who walk or cycle five times per week (50%) is higher than regional and national averages (34.1% and 35.8%).

 

22       Community mobility data has been available regularly from Google since the start of the pandemic to track how visits to places such as shops and transit stations are changing. Data is sourced through phone location history where consented and changes for each day are compared to a baseline value for that day of the week taken during January and February 2020. At the end of December 2020, in York, there had been a 46% reduction in retail and recreation activity, a 3% increase in grocery and pharmacy activity, and a 57% reduction in the use of Public Transport. Overall, York has performed better than the national averages.

 

Index of pedestrians walking to and from the City Centre (12 hour in and out combined)

23       From a baseline in 2009-10 (37,278), there has been a 3% increase in the number of pedestrians walking to and from the city centre in 2020-21. This is 8% lower than in 2019-20 and can probably be attributed to the national lockdowns that have taken place during 2020 and early 2021. Data is gathered on an annual basis  over the course of one day; it is a count of pedestrians crossing an inner cordon set just beyond the inner ring road and includes off-road routes such as riverside paths.

 

% of customers arriving at York Station by sustainable modes of transport (cycling, walking, taxi or bus – excluding cars, lift, motorcycle or train)

24       In 2019 (the latest available data), 75% of customers arrived at York station by sustainable modes of transport which is an increase from 73% in 2018. The data is gathered by an annual survey which takes place for a five- hour period in seven locations around the station. Members of the public are asked how they arrive at the station and the results are flow weighted to take into account the split of people arriving at each entrance.

 

A Greener and Cleaner City

 

 

 

Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting

25       The latest provisional data of 49% in Q2 2020-21 shows that the amount of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting has decreased from 56% in the same period in 2019-20. This may be partially due to COVID-19 restrictions being relaxed in July before being tightened in September, however the provisional annual recycling rate has increased from 44% in 2018-19 to 48% in 2019-20 and York performs in the middle quartile compared to other Unitary Authorities (ranked 22nd out of 56 Unitary LA’s).

 

Residual household waste per household (kg/household)

26       Latest provisional residual waste (i.e. non-recyclable) per household data shows an increase from 104 kg in Q2 2019-20 to 130kg in Q2 2020-21 possibly partly due to the COVID-19 restrictions being relaxed in July before being tightened in September, however the full year annual figures have decreased from 551kg in 2018-19 to 461kg in 2019-20. York performs in the middle quartile compared to other Unitary Authorities and is ranked 26th out of 56 Unitary LA’s.

 

Incidents - Fly tipping / Rubbish / Cleansing (includes dog fouling, litter and all other cleansing cases) / Graffiti – On Public/Private Land

27       The number of service calls received due to cleansing (including dog fouling and litter), graffiti and fly-tipping during Q3 2020-21 have all decreased since Q2 2020-21 (cleansing from 534 to 477, graffiti from 144 to 104 and fly-tipping from 627 to 456).

 

Air Quality

28       At the start of October 2020, Clean Air Day took place and was promoted through the council’s Kick the Habit campaign which aims to help tackle the issue of unnecessary vehicle idling in the city. In addition to a press release and social media messages throughout the day, officers from CYC’s Public Protection team organised a pop-up campaign within short stay parking at York Railway Station. Anti-idling signage was erected outside a local primary school and at York hospital. The ‘Switch off engines for Clean Air Day’ message was also posted on all variable message signs around the city. Public Protection has erected further ‘Kick the Habit’ promotional material and signage at the Askham Bar Flu vaccination site, in partnership with CYC Public Health.

 

29       In November 2020, the City of York Council Public Protection team launched the Air Quality hub (grant funded by DEFRA) as a one-stop resource for other local authorities and air quality practitioners to learn about best practice in terms of air quality strategy, planning, actions and monitoring.

 

30       Also in November, CYC launched its DEFRA funded Low Emission Taxi incentive scheme which offers financial support for eligible CYC registered taxi drivers to upgrade their vehicles to low emission vehicles. The scheme provides grant funding of up to £3000 to purchase petrol hybrid, plug-in hybrid and some petrol/diesel vehicles and will have the effect of reducing emissions of the pollutants NOx/NO2 and particulate matter across the city. The use of low emission taxis will also contribute to City of York Council’s net carbon neutral target by 2030, following the declaration of a climate emergency in March 2019.  The current taxi incentive builds on an earlier taxi grant scheme that kick-started the conversion of 20% of the York taxi fleet to using hybrid vehicles (figure correct as of July 2020).

 

Trees Planted

31       Due to the specific times of year that trees are planted, no trees were planted during the first 6 months of 2020-21, but this is expected to increase by Q4.

 

% of Talkabout panel who think that the council and partners are doing well at improving green spaces

32       The Talkabout Resident Satisfaction Survey was adapted and included in the ‘Our Big Conversation’ (OBC) consultation which ran in 2020. It was sent to the Talkabout panel and was available to all York residents.

 

33       The results for Q2 2020-21 (the latest available data) showed that 44% of respondents agreed that the Council and its partners are doing well at improving green spaces, an increase from 42% in Q3 2019-20.