DEFINITIONS

Council Tax collected
The amount of Council Tax received as a percentage (%) of the Council Tax that should have been received.

Business Rates collected
The amount of Business Rates received as a percentage (%) of the Business Rates that should have been received.

Local searches completed in 10 days
The number of standard Local Authority searches completed within 10 days of requesting the search.

New homes built on developed land
This measures the number of new homes built on land that had already been used for development.

Planning cost per head of Population
The total cost of planning incurred by the council divided by the population in the area covered by the council.

Success in processing 60% of Major applicatons within 13 weeks
Percentage of planning applications determined in line with the Government's new development control targets to determine 60% of Major applications in 13 weeks.

Success in processing 65% of Minor applications within 8 weeks
Percentage of planning applications determined in line with the Government's new development control targets to determine 65% of Minor applications in 8 weeks.

Main roads needing repair
The percentage of principal roads deemed to be in need of repair.

Availability of recycling facilities
The percentage (%) of the population serviced by roadside collections or within 1 kilometre ('as the crow flies') of a recycling centre.

Amount of waste collected
Total amount of waste collected divided by the population of the collection area.

Cost of waste collection
The cost of collecting the waste divided by the number of households.

% of waste - Recycled
Measures the amount of household waste which has been collected & separated from other waste, with the specific view to subsequent reuse in some form or another.

% of waste - Landfilled
The amount of waste deposited on a landfill site. The landfill can be either on or under the surface of the land.

% of council homes deemed 'Decent' at start of the year
Percentage of Council homes which were classified as being 'Decent' at 1 April 2003.
A decent home is one which meets each of the following criteria:
a) It meets the current statutory minimum standard for housing
b) It is in a reasonable state of repair
c) It has reasonably modern facilities and services
d) Provides a reasonable degree of thermal comfort

Time to process new claims
The average number of days taken to processing new benefits claims. It is measured from the date a claim is raised to the date of it is determined to the legitimate.

Rent collected
The amount of rent collected from council house tenants as a percentage (%) of the amount that should have been collected.