More than half of Peterborough City Council's key corporate targets missed in second quarter

A corporate performance report for quarter two (July to September) revealed that 40 out of 79 key performance indicators (KPIs) for the council did not meet their targets.

The KPIs are monitored throughout the year and highlight the progress made against the council priorities set out in its Corporate Strategy 2025-2028.

According to the report, challenges faced by the council in quarter two included: an increase in long-term empty homes, an increase in police recorded violent offences in the city centre, a continued decline in the timeliness of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), a rise in the number of children excluded from school, a decrease in placement stability for children under the age of 16, council tax collection challenges, and an increase in agency workers at the council.

Violent crime in Peterborough City Centre has risen for a third consecutive quarter with a rolling 12-month total of 863 offences.

Home Office funding has been provided to help tackle this and a winter action plan is in development, the council said.

ECHP timeliness decreased from 68 per cent in quarter one to 55 per cent in quarter two, a drop which the council said was "indicative of persistent difficulties" in securing adequate educational psychologists to meet demand.

Compliance levels in this area are expected to remain below target during quarter three with recovery expected to commence in January, according to the corporate performance report.

Council tax collection remained a challenge for the authority, with quarter two performance at 55 per cent (1.3 per cent below target). Payment of tax was at 92 per cent, three per cent below the council's target.

The authority said that delays from the Valuation Office Agency backlog continued to affect banding decisions and billing.

Improvements:

Despite the challenges, 35 per cent (28) of the council's KPIs met or exceeded their targets in quarter two – a five per cent increase from quarter one.

Improvements were primarily seen in the PIR (prevention, independence and resilience) and EIG (economy and inclusive growth) priority areas.

These included:

The percentage of cases where homelessness was prevented stood at 57 per cent – seven per cent above target and an eight per cent improvement since quarter one.

The percentage of people with a learning disability supported in paid employment – above target at 91 per cent

An eight per cent decrease in the number of police recorded anti-social incidents in the city centre from 607 incidents in quarter one to 559 incidents in quarter two.

An increase in the percentage of care experienced young people (aged 19 to 21) living in suitable accommodation – stood at 96 per cent in quarter two, two per cent above target.

The number of children classed as Missing Education (CME) reduced by 43 per cent between quarter one and quarter two from 288 children in quarter one to 152 children in quarter two – additionally a significant decrease of 55 per cent when comparing against quarter two 2024/25 CME numbers (338 children).

The number of households in bed and breakfast accommodation decreased from 47 in quarter one to 29 in quarter two of 2025/26, representing a 38 per cent decrease. Compared to quarter three 2024/25, when there were 121 families in B&B accommodation, this was a 76 per cent reduction.

Councillor Shabina Qayyum, leader of the council, said: “Our quarterly performance report is a chance for staff, councillors and residents to see how we are performing against a set of key criteria. “The nature of the work we do, for example the complexity in areas such as children’s and adult services where demand is hard to predict, and the challenges that we face, particularly financially, mean that it can be challenging to meet the targets we set ourselves. “This is not a new thing and is a trend we have seen in other years too. In addition, some of our targets are cumulative and therefore are unlikely to be achieved until quarter 4. “However, we believe that it is important to set ourselves goals which stretch our service areas, as this is how we will achieve the ambitions set out in our corporate strategy. “There is lots to celebrate in this latest quarterly report, including the percentage of cases where homelessness was prevented, the number of people with a learning disability supported into paid employment, and a reduction in the number of police recorded anti-social incidents in the city centre. “Our performance has also improved when compared against Q1 and we are anticipating that this trajectory will continue. “However, challenges remain, as they do for every local authority, and we will continue to strive to meet our targets in these areas. “Some of these will be harder to achieve than others, such as to reduce the number of agency social workers and the timeliness of completing Education, Health and Care Plans, both of which we know are national issues affecting many local authorities.”