Powys County Council's performance in the first quarter of 2022/23 has been largely positive, despite challenging circumstances, Cabinet has been told.

The council collects and reports a wide range of service information to gauge performance against the delivery of national and local priorities. The latest 2022/23 quarter one performance information was considered by Cabinet on Tuesday, July 26.

Overall, 69% of the 55 reportable Corporate Improvement Plan (CIP) objectives were on track and 64% of the 65 reportable CIP measures met their target.

During 2022-2023, the Council's performance will be reported against the 'Vision 2025: Corporate Improvement Plan', which was lightly updated in April 2022 prior to the Local Government Elections.

A new Corporate Improvement Plan is under development for 2023 onwards to support the new Cabinet's vision: To build a stronger, fairer, greener Powys.

Cllr James Gibson-Watt, Leader and Cabinet Member for an Open and Transparent Powys, said:

"Despite challenging circumstances and the need to manage Council resources within the context of 'business as usual' activities and the COVID-19 and 'cost of living' response, performance against the Council's usual monitoring framework has been largely positive.

"We are on target for 50 plus affordable housing completions by quarter 4 2022-2023, however, due to COVID related delays with materials and workforce, the intended completion of two sites in quarter one, has been revised for completion in quarter 2.

"A private sector investment strategy has been drafted within the Mid Wales Growth Deal proposals. The aim of this strategy is to outline the principles and approach to attracting investment in Growth Deal projects alongside the Growth Deal funding to provide a more comprehensive package of investment into the region.

"A further 15 individuals have been signed onto theCommunities for Work Plusprogramme funded by the Welsh Government, with 11 job entries.

"The Welshpool Transport Interchange work was progressed well and was fully operational by the end of May 2022.

"The Chweched Powys Sixth will be launched in September 2022 to the Post -16 transformation. The offer will continue to be developed to improve the educational offer to include vocational qualifications, apprenticeships, and work-based placements.

"The CLA (Children Looked After) virtual school has been launched this term to support our Children that are Looked After. Brynllwarch Hall School, Ysgol Cefnllys and Ysgol Golwg y Cwm achieved Trauma Informed Schools status. The Powys Inclusion Platform, as well as Powys Early Years ALN systems and joint working have been identified by Welsh Government as practice worth sharing.

"Welshpool hosted the finish of stage 4 the Women's Cycling Tour of Britain on 09 June. Sport Powys were highly involved in the planning and delivery of cycling/sporting activities at the finish line. Working with Welsh Cycling and Hafren Cycling Club, over 60 Year 6 pupils from local primary schools were able to participate in a cycling coaching clinic and a finish line sprint.

"The county road network has 127 Roadside Verge Nature Reserves. The Council and its contractors work hard to conserve the wildlife inhabiting the roadsides of the county. A number of initiatives are underway to leave whole sections of verges uncut or with their own individual management plans to benefit the species present on that site."

2022/2023 Quarter one performance highlights:

• Foster carers in Powys have increased to 72
• 509 adults are receiving regular direct payments
• 3 new communities have begun their journey to receive superfast broadband
• 3 Powys towns have been installed with Free Wi-Fi routers and statistical capacity
• £5 million over 3 years has been approved for a Transforming Towns application
• 45 homeless households were successfully rehoused
• 39 households that were threatened with homelessness had their homelessness successfully prevented
• £10,220 was successfully awarded to 4 Powys clubs/organisations through the Sport Wales Be Active Wales Funding application
• 2,746 new My Powys accounts were created
• 4,067 residents now on Council Tax paperless billing