Council boosted by leisure centre usage surge and drop in rent arrears

The council says that its latest performance report indicates there has been major progress in delivering its long-term strategy – Vision 36 – while continuing to manage public funds responsibly.

Not everything went to plan for the borough council, however, with a clerical error associated with its car parks contributing to a loss in revenue of more than £50k, with all fees having to be suspended for three weeks earlier this year. There was also an increase in the number of complaints made against the council.

The Corporate Performance, Risk and Feedback Report highlights that 60 per cent of key performance indicators are on track or above target for the council.

Councillor Margaret Glancy, deputy leader and portfolio holder for governance, environment and regulatory services, commented: “We are proud of the progress made in the first quarter of the year.

"These results show that we are delivering on our promises to residents, improving services, and managing our resources wisely.

"We remain focused on tackling challenges and ensuring every pound spent delivers real value.”

The council is pleased that an underspend is forecast for the 2025/26 financial year and, whilst there are spending pressures, these have been offset by additional income and efficiencies found elsewhere.

One of the boosts has come from the footfall at its leisure centres – Waterfield and the Melton Sports Village – which have seen a 60 per cent increase in the number of users compared to the same period last year – this represents 156,000 at the refurnished sites, which benefited from a £1.7M overhaul last year.

Rent arrears for council homes in Melton borough ‘have reduced significantly to 4.22 per cent, the lowest in 18 months, as a result of sustained improvements in the process’.

Invoice payments are being made promptly, the council states, with 97 per cent of undisputed invoices paid within 30 days.

Treasury management performance has continued at a high level with the council outperforming a number of other similar councils, the authority points out, with the interest received contributing to the cost of council services.

While the council continues to face challenges such as temporary accommodation pressures and sundry debt collection, it says, proactive steps are being taken to address these issues, including increased staffing, preventative work and improved oversight of these services.

The report also includes a summary of the complaints and compliments received in the first three months of the year, as well as the council’s approach to learning from them.

Figures show that in 2024/25, the council received 177 formal complaints from customers – a rise on the 134 it dealt with in the same period in the previous year – with 109 being upheld or partially upheld by the authority.

The complainers were mostly unhappy with the quality of service, unreasonable delays and the treatment given and behaviour shown when their issues were addressed.

The council said very few of these complaints were referred to the Ombudsman and none were upheld.