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 2021-22 collection rate for Business Rates up to the end of September 2021 was 47.58% (10.22% below the target collection rate and 3.99% below the collection rate as at the same point in 2020-21). The 2021-22 collection rate for Council Tax up to the end of September 2021 was 54.35% (1.96% below the target collection rate and 0.11% below the collection rate as at the same point in 2020-21).

 

 

Median earnings of residents – Gross weekly pay

5          No update since the Q4 2020-21 Monitor as annual data.

 

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

6          No update since the Q4 2020-21 Monitor as annual data.

 

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

7          No update since the Q4 2020-21 Monitor as annual data.

 

GVA (Gross Value Added) per head (£)

8          No update since the Q1 2021-22 Monitor as annual data.

 

% of vacant city centre shops compared to other cities

9          At the end of Q2 2021-22, there were 60 vacant shops in the city centre, which equates to 9.40% of all city centre shops, and 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 10.3% in 2017-18 and the national benchmark figure has remained stable too, with a high of 12.3% in 2013-14.

 

10       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. At the end of Q2 2021-22, the vacancy rates within secondary shopping centres were relatively low (8% at Clifton Moor, 0% in Haxby Village and 3% in Acomb High Street), apart from at Monks Cross where the vacancy rate was 20%.

 

11       In the financial year up to the end of August 2021, there were 264 new business start-ups in the City of York Council area, which is lower than in previous years. Nationally the number of new companies registered in the UK in 2020 rose significantly as small and local businesses emerged in response to the pandemic; this may indicate why the 2020-21 figures looked positive for York and why a lower number of registrations could be seen during 2021-22.

 

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

12       In 2020-21, 76.6% of the working age population were in employment, which is higher than the national and regional figures (74.8% and 73.8% respectively) and the York performance gives the city a ranking of third regionally. The figure for 2020-21 is lower than in previous years, but this is mirrored both nationally and regionally.

 

13       At the end of September there were 12,335 people, in York, on Universal Credit which is an increase of 92% compared with February 2020 (pre-pandemic figures). However, there has been a decrease of -6% from April 2021. This trend should continue as restrictions continue to be lifted and the, nationally reported, staff vacancies in the service sector are filled.

 

Getting around sustainably

 

 

P&R Passenger Journeys 

14       Passenger journeys for park and ride customers totalled 0.71m (provisional) for Q2 2021-22. This is a large increase on the 0.33m journeys made during the same period in 2020-21 showing signs of recovery, but lower than the 1.11m journeys made during the same period in 2019-20.

 

Local bus passenger journeys

15       Passenger journeys on local buses totalled 1.68m (provisional) for Q2 2021-22. This is a large increase on the 1.04m journeys made during the same period in 2020-21, showing signs of recovery, but lower than the 2.74m journeys made during the same period in 2019-20.

 

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

16       No update since the Q4 2020-21 Monitor as annual data.

 

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

17       No update since the Q4 2020-21 Monitor as annual data.

 

Index of cycling activity (12 hour)

18       No update since the Q1 2021-22 Monitor as annual data.

 

19       The 2020-21 data from the National Travel and Active Lives surveys shows that 21% of respondents from York cycle once per week, which is 1% less than in 2019-20. When comparing the latest data to the previous year, a shift in activity can be seen which is likely to be a direct effect of changing mobility restrictions and behaviours caused by the pandemic. The percentage of respondents indicating that they cycle for leisure increased by 3% but those indicating cycling for travel decreased by 5%, which is why an overall slight decrease in cycling activity can be seen with the loss of those commuting by this method. However, York continues to perform well against the national and regional benchmarks of 12% and 10% respectively for weekly cycling activity.

 

20       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 September 2021, in York, retail and recreation activity is the same as the baseline, there has been an 8% increase in grocery and pharmacy activity, and a 22% 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)

21       No update since the Q4 2020-21 Monitor as annual data.

 

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

22       No update since the Q4 2020-21 Monitor as annual data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Greener and Cleaner City

 

 

 

Percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting

23       The latest provisional data for the amount of household waste sent for reuse, recycling or composting was 50.7% during Q1 2021-22 (the latest available data), which is an increase from 45.6% during the same period in 2020-21. This is above the Q1 average for the last 7 years.

 

Residual household waste per household (kg/household)

24       The latest provisional residual waste (i.e. non-recyclable) per household data shows that figures have reduced slightly during Q1 2021-22 (the latest available data) to 122.4kg of residual household waste per household.

 

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

25       The number of service calls received during Q2 2021-22 due to fly-tipping and cleansing (including dog fouling and litter) have remained stable since Q1 2021-22 (fly-tipping from 557 to 578 and cleansing from 521 to 518). The number of service calls received due to graffiti increased from 54 in Q1 2021-22 to 78 in Q2 2021-22, however, the figure for Q2 is still much lower than the 157 calls received during Q4 2020-21.

 

Air Quality

26       York has begun work on the 4th Air Quality Action Plan with the aim to further reduce nitrogen dioxide and particulates from all sources. Public Protection staff are working closely with colleagues across the council to develop this plan alongside the Council’s economic strategy, Local Plan, fourth Local Transport Plan and Climate Change Strategy. The Air Quality Action Plan will update current air quality improvement measures, identify the impact of emission sources and develop new measures to improve air quality and public health. We are awaiting new, more stringent health-based air quality objectives in the forthcoming Environment Act and will design our improvement measures to meet these.

 

27       The council continues to reduce emissions from taxis through the emission based taxi licensing policy and the taxi incentive scheme, which has encouraged 27% of York’s taxis to become low emission vehicles. Money is still available to taxi drivers who want to switch their vehicles, save fuel costs and save the environment.

 

28       The council are publishing the Government’s “Burn Better” campaign in October to raise awareness about Smoke Control Areas in York and the importance of burning the correct fuels and maintaining solid fuel burning appliances.

 

Trees Planted

29       During 2020-21, there were 271 trees planted, including 250 whips on Bootham Stray in February and larger trees in streets and parks in March. Due to the seasonal nature of tree planting, figures for 2021-22 will be available later in the year.

 

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

30       Talkabout panel surveys are run twice a year in Q1 and Q3 and therefore there is no update in this monitor. Previous data is shown within the table.