Here’s a summary of some of the key findings from Bridgend Council’s Annual Report for 2017-18 (pdf).
The report does warn that some of the indicators/statistics used to measure performance compared to other councils in Wales haven’t yet been published.
Where is Bridgend Council doing well?
- School attendance – Bridgend ranked 5th (of 22) for primary school attendance and 7th for secondary school attendance.
- 31 apprenticeships were created within BCBC compared to a target of 15.
- Annual tourist expenditure increased by around £31million compared to 2016-17.
- There are very high satisfaction rates (85%+) with the care support adults and children receive.
- 973 people have been helped to “live independently” compared to a target of 200 and 87.7% of people have felt they can now live independently thanks to home adaptations (target 75%).
- BCBC hit more than twice the target (3%) for a reduction in carbon emissions from BCBC estates.
- Bridgend ranked 9th in Wales for preventing those threatened with homelessness actually becoming homeless.
- Bridgend ranked 6th place in Wales for visits to sports and leisure facilities.
Where has Bridgend Council met expectations?
- The proportion of children living in workless households (14.9%) is only slightly above the Welsh average (13.9%)
- Only 1.7% of Year 11 school leavers in 2017-18 were not in employment, training or education compared to a target of 2.8%. This is near enough the Welsh average (1.6%).
- The employment rate (71.3%) is higher than the target (69.7%) though it remains below the Welsh average (72.7%).
- Footfall has increased in Bridgend town centre but fallen in Porthcawl.
- The number of vacant town centre premises has broadly remained the same as in 2016-17.
- 13 community organisations have used packages of support for community asset transfer (target 8), though only 1 asset has actually been transferred compared to a target of 5 (with 6 transfers subject to contract).
- Staff absence rates have remained broadly the same as 2016-17.
- BCBC’s response rate to fly-tipping reports (96%) and determination of planning applications (88.2%) were both near enough the Welsh average.
Where is Bridgend Council performing poorly?
- A-Levels – The average wider points score (695) was much lower than the target (820). This was blamed on A-Level reforms.
- Only 61.6% of children have been supported to live with their own families by social services compared to a target of 65%.
- The condition of A, B & C roads ranked poorly compared to the rest of Wales; BCBC intends to spend £6.2million across the next three years to address this.
- Bridgend was near the bottom (20th) for the number of days taken to deliver Disability Facilities Grants. A review is currently taking place.
- Bridgend ranked 18th for library visits per 1000 people. New equipment has been installed at libraries to more accurately record visits and a new performance indicator is due to be used for 2018-19.
