Council performance
Performance reports and KPIs

Find out how the council measures performance, delivers its strategic plan, and where to access performance reports and open data.

Latest corporate performance reports 

Reports are published as part of Cabinet and Scrutiny meeting papers. View the latest report in our link. 

 

Key Performance Indicators 

These are the approved corporate indicators that help us track progress against the Council’s Strategic Plan. They were agreed by Cabinet and Scrutiny and are reviewed annually. 

Indicators are grouped by theme and show what success looks like for Colchester. For full details and latest performance updates, see the Committees and Panels page. 

Theme

Classification 

KPI 

What it measures 

Frequency 

2026-2027 Target 

Respond to the climate emergency 

Targeted 

Residual household waste per household 

Kilogrammes of non-recycled waste collected per household 

Quarterly 

345kg 

Targeted 

Household waste reused / recycled / composted 

Percentage of household waste sent by the authority for reuse, recycling, composting or anaerobic digestion 

Quarterly 

53% 

Targeted 

Fly tipping incidents 

Number of fly-tipping incidents recorded and cleared 

Quarterly 

3,800 

Targeted 

Garden waste subscriptions 

Number of garden waste bins subscribed to 

Quarterly 

28,000 

Grow our economy so everyone benefits 

Targeted 

Additional homes delivered 

Number of new dwellings provided by the Council in Colchester 

Quarterly 

1300 

Targeted 

Social value in procurement 

Percentage of non-framework contracts over £100K with social value 

Bi-annual 

80% 

Targeted (New) 

Planning applications decided 

Percentage of planning applications decided within statutory timeframes 

Quarterly 

97% 

Improve health, wellbeing and happiness 

Targeted 

Housing benefit claims and changed processing time 

Average time in days to process new HB claims and changes 

Monthly 

4 days 

Targeted 

Local Council Tax Support claims and changes processing time 

Average time in days to process new LCTS claims and changes 

Monthly 

5 days 

Targeted 

Corporate sickness rate 

Average number of working days lost to sickness across the Council 

Monthly 

8.5 days 

Targeted 

Waste & Recycling sickness rate 

Average number of working days lost to sickness across the Waste & Recycling service 

Monthly 

12 days 

Targeted 

Upheld Ombudsman complaints 

Percentage of complaints upheld by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman 

Annually 

2 

Targeted (New) 

Environmental protection complaints receiving initial investigation 

Percentage of statutory environmental complaints receiving initial investigation within 5 working days 

Monthly 

90% 

Targeted (New) 

Food hygiene interventions completed for high-risk  

Percentage of interventions at high-risk (cat A) and new or unrated establishments within 28 days 

Monthly 

100% 

Targeted (New) 

Licensing applications or complaints receiving initial investigation 

Percentage of licensing applications or complaints receiving initial investigation within 5 working days 

Monthly 

90% 

Monitoring (New) 

Number of sport and leisure visitors 

Number of visitors to council sports and leisure facilities 

Quarterly 

- 

Monitoring (New) 

Public Health indicators 

High-level population health outcomes 

TBC 

- 

Deliver modern services for a modern city 

Targeted  

Council tax collected 

Percentage of council tax collected against the total debit 

Monthly 

97.5% 

Targeted 

NNDR collected 

Percentage of business rates collected 

Monthly 

98% 

Targeted (New) 

EIR, SAR and FOI requests responded to 

Statutory compliance with information requests 

Monthly 

100% 

Targeted (New) 

Complaints resolved (corporate process) 

Percentage of corporate complaints resolve within agreed timelines 

Monthly 

100% 

Targeted (New) 

SLA compliance across all IT tickets 

Tickets resolved within agreed service levels 

Monthly 

97% 

Targeted (New) 

Statutory estates health and safety compliance 

Percentage compliance across gas /electrical / legionella / fire / asbestos / lifts 

Quarterly 

100% 

Monitoring (New) 

Volume of EIR, SAR and FOI requests 

Monitors demand for statutory information 

Monthly 

- 

Monitoring (New) 

Data breach incidents reported by services 

Monitors internal breach reports 

Monthly 

- 

Monitoring (New) 

Data breaches reported to the ICO 

Monitors incidents reported to the ICO 

Monthly 

- 

Monitoring (New) 

Complaints received (corporate process) 

Monitors number of corporate complaints received 

Monthly 

- 

Celebrate our city, heritage and culture 

Targeted (New) 

Museums income 

Earned income across Colchester museums 

Quarterly 

£802,600 

Monitoring (New) 

Visitors to council-run museums 

Number of visitors to council-run museums in Colchester 

Quarterly 

- 

Monitoring (New) 

School visits to council-run museums 

Number of school visits to council-run museums in Colchester 

Quarterly 

- 

Monitoring (New) 

Attendance at council-supported cultural events 

Total attendance at supported/funded events 

Quarterly 

- 

Deliver homes to those most in need 

Targeted  

Affordable homes delivered 

Affordable units via S106, council build and acquisitions 

Quarterly 

400 (over 3 years) 

Targeted (New) 

Households with children in bed and breakfast for over 6 weeks 

Statutory compliance measure 

Quarterly 

0% 

Targeted 

Average days to re-let low-cost accommodation 

Number of calendar days to re-let general needs properties 

Monthly 

48 

Targeted 

Repairs completed within target timescale 

Percentage of council homes repairs completed 

Monthly 

92% 

Targeted 

Customer satisfaction with latest repair 

Percentage of satisfied respondents 

Monthly 

90% 

Targeted 

Percentage of homes that do not meet the Decent Homes standard 

Percentage of non-decent council homes 

Annually 

0% 

Monitoring 

Monitoring the number of households in temporary accommodation per 1,000 households 

Number of households in temporary accommodation as a proportion of every 1,000 households in the city 

Monthly 

6 

Open data and frequently requested information 

For detailed datasets (spending, recycling, democracy, etc), visit our Council data hub. 

This hub contains all routinely published datasets and transparency information. 

We publish information in accessible HTML, PDF, and datasets in CSV. If you need an alternative format, contact info@colchester.gov.uk