Recent data from Oflog (Office for Local Government) reveals Richmond is a "very high" performer in London across service areas and nationally. 

During Richmond Council's Policy and Performance Review Board (PPRB) meeting on 17 October, councillors were presented with the figures on council services across Richmond from its performance team.

Richmond Council's performance team used Government data to analyse the areas highlighted by The Times in its April 30th edition, including planning, waste, roads, social care, and more. 

Excluding City of London, Richmond Borough would have been ranked first in the capital according to The Times' analysis.

Planning  

Across all Oflog planning indicators, Richmond performs better than the median for similar councils and England in data from 2022-23. 

93.8% of major planning applications are decided on time. This placed Richmond 10th in London and 28th in England. 

Richmond also has the lowest rate of major planning decisions overturned on appeal, ranking 1st in both London and England. 

The council say in its report that while there has been a "slight dip" in processing smaller applications recently, Richmond still outperforms the average with 90.6% of decisions made on time. 

Waste & Recycling  

In this area, Oflog data between 2021-22 reveals Richmond is a "strong" performer on waste and recycling with the 7th highest recycling rate in London (first being Bromley Council). 

Richmond also has the 3rd lowest contamination rate in London, at 1.3% and is 13th in England. 

Where this contamination rate has been increasing for England and other London Boroughs in recent years, Richmond's has been decreasing. 

Adult social care  

Richmond performs well in relation to short-term service provision (which tracks how many people use short-term care and don't need long-term support).  

In data between 2021-22, Richmond ranks 2nd in London and 7th in England. 

Finance 

Oflog's data in this area reveals that Richmond spends less on debt (5.0%) compared to similar authorities (9.3%) and the national average (9.0%). 

In its report, the council states: "With large reserves (73.0% of revenue), Richmond is financially secure and well-prepared for future challenges." 

Richmond also collects 98.1% of council tax on time, outperforming both similar authorities (96.4%) and the national median (95.2%) which "ensures consistent funding for local services". 

The council's total debt is 93.2% of its core spending power, significantly lower than similar authorities (249.6%) and the national average (226.7%).

Public Health 

Richmond has a strong performance in promoting physical activity, with 73% of adults being active, higher than both the London (66.8%) and England (67.3%) averages, placing the borough 6th place in London. 

Additionally, Richmond outperforms the national average in providing annual health checks, with 10.3% of eligible people receiving checks, compared to England's 8.8%. 

Hospital admission rates increased which the council say is due to Covid, but the latest data reported to the Committee for 2023-24 shows the rate has reduced to 420, which would put Richmond 13th in London. 

Child services  

Richmond rank in the top four in London in six out of 11 key performances areas.  

Notably, the borough leads London in KS2 pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths. 

At the secondary level, Richmond ranks 4th in London for both the average KS4 attainment eight score and for pupils achieving Level 5 in English and Maths.  

Crime 

The rate of crime per 1,000 residents is 62.4, making it the best across London, with the average in the capital being 109.6 and in England 90.2. 

Housing 

In this area, there is one indicator where the council could improve on and that is the number of affordable housing completions per year.

Between 2022-23 the council completed just 38 affordable housing builds, less than the London average (491.8) and national average (63,910). 

To remedy this, the council say: "action is being taken as set out in the Affordable Housing Report which was scrutinised by the recent June ASSHH Cttee." 

To read the full report and data from the Policy and Performance Board meeting, click here.