A report was issued on the 19th September by the National Oversight and Audit Commission (NOAC) which shows that local authorities continued to deliver improved performance and efficiency in 2017.

The Local Authority Performance Indicator Report 2017 reviews and compares the performance of local authorities for a wide range of services. The performance indicators are categorised by local government functions: housing, roads, water, waste/environment, planning, fire services, library/recreational, youth/community, corporate, finance and economic development. Full report can be downloaded at:

https://www.noac.ie/noac-annual-reports/

Summary of Performance Indicators for key service areas by Kilkenny County Council:

Revenue Collections

Kilkenny County Council continues to maintain and improve the collections of Rates, Rents and Housing Loans.

In 2017 the Council achieved a percentage collection as follows:

• Rates - 95% compared to 86% in 2013.
• Rents - 92% compared to 90% in 2013.
• Housing Loans - 85% compared to 74% in 2013.

Housing

Kilkenny County Council working with the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government is committed to the delivery of the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness.

Kilkenny County Council added 61 units to our social housing stock during 2017. By the end December 2017, the Council owned and managed 2,305 social housing units. This is an increase of 108 new units over the last 2 years.

The percentage of vacant dwellings within social housing stock was 1.65% in 2017. Vacant stock includes all units waiting re-tenanting or those waiting necessary repair works. The Council spent on average €15,702 to make the units ready for occupation.

The average time to re-let a social house was reduced to 17.16 weeks in 2017 compared to 18.38 in 2015. The average national vacancy rate in 2017 was 28.9 weeks.

Kilkenny County Council plays a key role in regulating standards in the private rental sector. There are 4,673 registered private rental tenancies in Kilkenny at the 30/6/2017. In 2015 there were 4,164 private rentals registered. The Council inspected 496 private rental units during 2017 compared to 379 in 2015.

Planning/Building Standards

95.45% of planning decisions made by local authorities that were appealed to An Bord Pleanala in 2017 were upheld.

Commencement of 221 new buildings was notified to the Council during 2017. 15.84% of these buildings were inspected by the Council during the year. In 2015 there was only 127 new buildings commenced.

Roads

Kilkenny County Council manages and maintains 3,026 kms of regional and local roads throughout the county. In 2017 Kilkenny County Council and the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport invested:

• €977,072 in works to strengthen 5.8kms of regional roads.
• €3.7 million to strengthen 40.2km of local roads.
• €383,710 to reseal 11.9km of regional roads.
• €874,132 to reseal 41.7km of local roads.

The number of motor tax transactions that were conducted online increased to 67.43% in 2017.

Economic Development & Employment

Kilkenny County Council plays an expanded and significant role in relation to economic development. In addition to adopting and coordinating the implementation of Local Economic and Community Plans (LCEPs) and the Regional Action Plan for Jobs, the sector provides planning and development services, physical infrastructure and supports social enterprise. The sector also delivers a range of festivals, events and place branding, bringing tourism to cities towns and villages throughout Ireland.

The Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) are central to local economic development. In 2017, the LEOs assisted businesses to create 78 whole time equivalent jobs.

The total number of participants in LEO mentoring programmes in 2017 was 384.

Private Water Supply

In 2017, 97.47% of samples taken from private water schemes were compliant. 97.35% were compliant in 2015.

Environment

Kilkenny County Council carries out a broad range of environmental services including street and park cleaning, litter services, veterinary services, cleaning graffiti, road cleaning, management of recycling centres and civic amenity sites, and management of landfill sites. Kilkenny County Council plays a regulatory role in relation to waste collection.

In 2017, 91% of areas surveyed were found to be unpolluted, litter free or slightly polluted.

Community Organisations & Youth

In 2017, a total of 67 community organisations were involved in the local Public Participation Network compared to 48 in 2015.

In 2017, 75% of second level schools participated in Youth Councils/Comhairle na nÓg compared to 62.5% in 2015.

Fire & Emergency Services

Kilkenny County Council has a part time retained fire service. The average time to mobilise the fire brigade in response to a fire was 6 minutes 15 seconds. The average mobilisation time for a non-fire incident was 5 minutes 50 seconds.

27.19% of fire scenes were attended within 10 minutes, while 63.13% were attended within 10-20 minutes.

Libraries

There were 285,587 visits to libraries during 2017 compared to 286,825 in 2015. 261,485 items were borrowed from our libraries in 2017. This is a reduction when compared to 2015 which was 308,473.

 

 

 

Conclusion:
All staff, management and elected members are to be commended for the work undertaken to continue to strive to deliver a better service for our communities and all our service users. We will strive in 2018 and in future years to deliver an improved service within the available resources and seek more efficient methods of delivery.

Overview of National Performance across all 31 local authorities.
 2,532 new social homes added to stock in 2017 - a 43% increase in new additions.
 The number of new buildings notified to local authorities grew by 34% in 2017.
 €210 million invested in strengthening and improving roads.
 3,252 new jobs supported by Local Enterprise Offices.