This page provides performance information for Law and Administration Services for the period April 2007 to March 2008.
SERVICE WIDE
Sickness absence
For the period April 2007 to March 2008, Law and Administration Services recorded 3.98% absence compared to the Council average of 5.21%. This was an improvement on the previous year where the Service performance was 5.36% compared to the Council average of 4.98%.
Number of complaints referred to SPSO
There were no complaints regarding Law and Administration Services reported to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
Number of Health & Safety incidents/accidents
There were no health and safety incidents or accidents reported during the period.
LEGAL SERVICES
Percentage of Council House Sales offers issued within two months of application
The paralegal team within Legal Services, with support from solicitors as necessary, deals with Council house sales on behalf of Housing.
The relevant legislation aims for all offers to be issued within 2 months of application, but this is rarely achieved in practice by any Council, generally due to those cases where the Council makes application to the Scottish Government for authority to refuse the sale where it involves a house specially adapted for older people.
In the period April 2007 to March 2008, 85.38% of Council house sales offers were issued within 2 months of application which is an improvement on last year's figure of 80.2%.
Percentage of Council House Sales settled within 26 weeks
The relevant legislation aims for all sales to be settled within 26 weeks of application, but this is rarely achieved in practice by any Council, generally due to delays at the purchaser's end of the transaction.
In the period April 2007 to March 2008, 90.1% of Council house sale transactions were settled within 26 weeks, at an average of 22 weeks. This is an improvement on last year's figures of 86.1% at an average of 22 weeks.
Average time to sell
2006/07 - 21.5 weeks
2007/08 - 22 weeks
Supporting Conflict Resolution Services to Tackle Anti-social Behaviour
Legal Services continues to work closely with the FIRST team to tackle anti-social behaviour. During the reporting period 6 interim and 9 full ASBOs were granted. The performance indicators and associated targets are detailed below:
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The performance measure we use
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Target
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Performance
Apr 07 to Mar 08
|
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Acknowledgement of new instructions within 1 day
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85%
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100%
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|
Initial assessment/request for further information to be provided within 3 days of receipt
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85%
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100%
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|
Lodge in court within 4 days of final instructions / information
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85%
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100%
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Council Tax and Business Rate Recovery - Inhibitions
Inhibitions are used to prevent the sale of a debtor's heritable property pending settlement of a debt. 6 instructions were received in this category during the period in question. 100% of court proceedings were raised within 3 working days of full instructions being received (target 100%). (See graph below).
Council Tax Payment Actions
89 instructions to raise court action to recover Council tax debt were received in the relevant period. 100% of court actions were raised within 5 working days of full instructions (target 85%). (See graph below).
Sequestration
53 petitions for sequestration (bankruptcy) were raised in the relevant period. 94% were raised within 5 working days of full instructions being received (target 85%). (See graph below).
Commercial Leasing
Legal Services prepare leasing documentation on behalf of Community Services in respect of the Council's portfolio of commercial premises.
The aim of this performance measure is to ensure that an efficient service is provided in support of an important aspect of the Council's promotion of economic activity within the Council area. The measure is the percentage of offers issued within 14 days of receipt of full instructions from Community Services (target 85%) in respect of first lets.
The number of instructions for first lettings received from Community Services was 40 during the relevant period with 30 offers being issued within 14 days of full instructions. This represents 75% of offers being issued during the period within 14 days of full instructions.
DEMOCRATIC SERVICES
Percentage of Council and Joint Board agendas issued within statutory timescales
144 agendas for meetings of the Council, its Committees, other meetings (ie Education Appointments etc) and Joint Boards were issued during the reporting period. This includes 18 supplementary agendas (12.5%). 99.3% of these agendas were issued within statutory timescales and in accordance with the respective Standing Orders. Only one agenda was not issued on time. This was the agenda for the Education and Leisure Committee meeting held on 28 April 2007 and an explanation for the late issue was provided at the meeting.
Percentage of Council and Joint Board agendas published on the Council's website within one day of the issue of the statutory notice
This is a new performance indicator and measures the time taken for Council (and Joint Board) agendas etc to be published on the Council's web-site following the issue of the notice of the meeting. The reporting period of April 2007 to March 2008 includes a quieter time in terms of Committee work as it coincided with the pre and post election period and the Council's summer recess. All (100%) Council agendas (Council, P&R, and Scrutiny Committees) issued during that period were published to the website within 1 day of issuing the calling notice. Joint Board agendas are now also included in this measure but have only been published to the Council's website since September 2007.
Children's Panel Recruitment
We measure the number of applications received in relation to the annual Children's Panel recruitment campaign in terms of vacant positions in comparison with the number of recruitment packs issued. The recruitment campaign concluded in November 2007 following final stage interviews. The table below indicates the total numbers in respect of the Children's Panels for Clackmannanshire, Falkirk and Stirling.
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Number of Panel members required
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34
|
|
Number of Applications received
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95
|
|
Number of candidates considered for first stage interview
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90
|
|
Number of candidates considered for final stage interview
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69
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Number of candidates recommended for appointment
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34
|
|
Total number of expressions of interest
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408
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Following the appointment of new panel members, we carry out a survey to assess the levels of satisfaction with the appointment process and initial training. 96.2% of questionnaires issued were returned with 84.4% of respondents rating the appointment process and training as being good or very good.
BUSINESS & MEMBERS' SERVICES
Percentage of Members expressing themselves satisfied with training provided
This reporting period was an important time for Member training as it coincided with the post election period. A programme of induction and training was provided to all new members of the Council. The table below summarises attendance at the sessions and notes the member evaluations of each, where appropriate.
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Training
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Member attendance
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Evaluation
Lowest 1 to Highest 6
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Evaluation Range
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Introduction to Falkirk Council - 9 May 2007
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27
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Not evaluated
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n/a
|
|
Training Needs Analysis - 14 May and 7 June 2007
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15
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Average rating 5
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4 to 6
|
|
Audit of Best Value and Community Planning - 5 June 2007
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14
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Average rating 5
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5 or 6
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Development Control and the Planning Regime - 29 May and 6 June 2007
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17
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Average rating 5
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5 or 6
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Licensing Board (Compulsory) – 15 June 2007
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10
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Not evaluated
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n/a
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Licensing Board (Compulsory) - 1 August 2007
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9
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Training provided by accredited external company. Evaluations retained by them.
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n/a
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Introduction to the Community Health & Safety Committee - 8 August 2007
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9
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No evaluations returned
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n/a
|
|
Introduction to the Housing & Social Services Committee - 10 April 2007
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9
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No evaluations returned
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n/a
|
|
Civic Licensing Committee (Compulsory) - 10 August 2007
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9
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Not evaluated
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n/a
|
Introduction to the Education and Leisure Committee - 22 August 2007
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10
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Average rating 5
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3 to 6
|
Introduction to the Environment and Heritage Committee - 24 August 2007
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6
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Average rating 6
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5 to 6
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Protection, Support and Care of Children and Young People - 28 August 2007
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12
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Not evaluated
|
n/a
|
|
Introduction to the Economic Development Committee - 31 August 2007
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6
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No evaluations returned
|
n/a
|
Appeals Committee (Compulsory) – 6 September 2007
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7
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Not evaluated
|
n/a
|
|
Investment Committee – 20 September 2007
|
4
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Not evaluated
|
n/a
|
|
Planning and Development - 11 December 2007
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6
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Average Rating 5
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4 to 6
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CUSTOMER & DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
Registration of Births, Deaths & Marriages
We previously reported that the District Examiner had partially completed her examination of events registered in 2006. She has now finalised her examination and has commended staff for their "consistently high standards" with the average accuracy level of 98% across the registration district.
Life Events
Level of recommendation of Council facilities for civil marriages
100% of our customers would recommend Council facilities for civil marriages.
Civil Marriages
During the reporting period 316 civil marriages took place.
Civil Partnership
9 civil partnership ceremonies took place during the reporting period.
Baby Naming
11 baby naming ceremonies took place during the reporting period.
Renewal of Wedding Vows
7 couples chose to renew their wedding vows during the reporting period.
Ceremony Venues
During the reporting period, 43 events were conducted in Council premises and 300 at approved venues.
Wedding Fayres
In a continued attempt to promote our life events, and ensure that couples have access to the correct legal registration requirements, the Ceremonies Co-ordinator and Assistant attended 10 Wedding Fayres during this period.
Citizenship
Citizenship Ceremonies continue to take place within the ceremony room in Grangemouth. During the reporting period we have conducted 6 group ceremonies and 2 private ceremonies welcoming 44 adults and 10 children to citizenship.
Falkirk PrintWorks
In the financial year 07/08 Printworks produced 3432 jobs with 95% of jobs either completed early or on time.
2459 (71.6%) were on time and 798 (23.3%) were delivered earlier than the date requested.
Of the 175 jobs reported as late the majority of them were only recorded as late due to client proofs not being returned on time or a change in job format. No time critical dates were missed.
Printworks continues to work with all Services to ensure best value for the print and copying budget is achieved.
Records Management
Corporate Records Management
Since April 2007 we have been recording performance information relating to the Council's Corporate Records Management service. A full breakdown of this performance is provided at Appendix 1 (PDF, 80KB)|.
Freedom of Information
Performance information relating to Freedom of Information requests for the period April 2007 to March 2008 is provided at Appendix 2 (PDF, 80KB)| and indicates the total number of information requests received. These are broken down into requests relating to Law and Administration Services and those that relate to other Services but received centrally.