| Hatfield Town Council |  |
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In 1999 the Government placed a new duty of "Best Value" on all County, District and Unitary Councils as well as 41 of the largest Town and Parish Councils in England. Hatfield Town Council is one of those Councils and we have just published our latest Best Value Performance Plan.
Hatfield Swim Centre and the Galleria. What is Best Value? The Government expects
the Council to demonstrate continuous improvement in the way in
which it exercises its functions, looking at a combination of economy,
efficiency and effectiveness.
The Town Council Serves the people of Hatfield which has a population of approximately 30,800. There are 15 elected Councillors who each serve for a term of 4 years, the next elections being in May 2011 and employs 30 full-time equivalent staff. Best Value Performance Plan 2005 Best Value Performance Plan 2006 Best Value Performance Plan 2007 The Council's main purpose and objectives The Council considers its unique purpose to be to offer a range of very local services that meet the need of our communities, many of which would not otherwise be provided. More specifically we will offer our residents.
• Other venues, situated within the heart of our communities, two of which are highly valued village based centres, providing local people and local groups with a choice of easily accessible activities, including outdoor and indoor sports, playgroups, play areas, and hosting a variety of local clubs requiring meeting and other social event space. • A Festival Week in June, as a focus for the Hatfield community. • Well maintained and well occupied allotment spaces. • Well maintained community parks and open spaces. In addition to these specific services, we seek to promote the broader interests of the community. The Council will achieve these objectives by • Consulting the community generally and service users specifically on services provided, and by demonstrably responding to findings. • Engaging the Community on the big issues facing Hatfield and playing a key advocacy role on their behalf. • Working in partnership with a wide range of local organisations to ensure an improving standard of services to meet the needs of residents and others. Our relationship with the University of Hertfordshire , and other public bodies are critical to that success. Town Council Services The Council provides a
wide range of Leisure and Community Services throughout Hatfield.
The Performance Plan gives
a description of each service together with its objectives, achievements,
targets, costs and performance. The measurement of performance
is through “performance indicators” which we use to
look at our own progress year by year.
Targets and Progress How we met the set targets for 2006/2007.
Certified sickness was reduced to 4.35 days and a comparison may be drawn with Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council's figure for the same period which is 8.50 days. Uncertified sickness was reduced from 4.50 days in 2005/06 to 4.35 days this year but continues to be a service target as there is a need to reduce this figure further.
Staff assessments were completed throughout the year and from this the staff training days figure has increased to 0.74% from 0.42% the previous year as staff are trained when there is a genuine need for training.
For 2006, additional events included the option for children to write to Father Christmas via the Council Offices, Father Christmas visits to the nursery schools in Hatfield, the Council having a tombola and its own stall on Christmas Festival Day, Tree Planting in November, and the launch of the Best Kept Plot Competition for the Allotments in 2007.
This was not done but instead we concentrated on improving the website by adding a new page for Grants, updating the Council Meetings page to include agendas and minutes for all the main Committees, and regularly updating the News & Events page with Council events. The increase in the number of visits to the website reflects these improvements.
A new page has been included on the webiste for Grants where the application form and policy conditions can be downloaded.
An initial meeting was held in November 2006 and a follow up meeting in April 2007 involved a steering group being set up for the Association. Initial feedback has been obtained from the allotment holders and the majority are in favour of an Association at the site.
Completed in March 2007.
As this strategy is Member led it has not yet been developed due to the elections taking place.
Achieved as there are currently 64 active Gold Card members compared to 24 the previous year.
This is slightly increased but due to one-off casual bookings rather than block bookings.
From Christmas 2006 it was decided to close Birchwood on Bank Holidays to save money so this target has not been met.
Completed.
The construction of the building, Briars Pavilion, was completed.
Maximum capacity of two bookings has been secured for next season.
Awaiting final details on kitchen requirements from the Newgate Street Village Hall Committee.
Figures have been held with a slight increase in most areas. We have set the following Targets for 2007/2008.
Service Reviews Last year the Council committed itself to completing the following reviews in 2006/2007:
It also considered the content of future Reviews and agreed that no reviews will be set at the present time due to the status of the Best Value regime in the next 12 months. Full copies of the Reviews can be seen at the Council Offices or downloaded from the links below. Community Parks and Open Spaces Service Review Consultation The Council is committed to consulting widely on its performance using: user and resident surveys, Community News, the web site, liaison with voluntary groups, and the Best Value Panel to understand how people view the way in which Hatfield Town Council provides its services. All users of our facilities have been surveyed for their views, enabling the Council to make changes to these services where necessary. In November 2006 a Survey of 1000 households (1 in 20) of the electorate took place. 175 forms were returned. This represented an overall return rate of 22%. The analysis of the results will be used to complete the Review Programme. It is the Council's intention to repeat this survey on a two yearly basis. If you would like to help us further with your views and comments pleas let us know. Hatfield Town Council, Freepost ANG9379, Hatfield, AL10 0BR Telephone: 01707 262023 Email: enquiries@hatfield-herts.gov.uk |
Best
Value
You
can obtain a full copy of the plan from the Town Council Offices
but you can also read it at Birchwood Leisure Centre, Hatfield Library,
Jim McDonald Centre, 
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Hatfield Town Council | All Rights Reserved