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Â鶹ÊÓƵ has published the first in a series of quarterly performance reports.

The report highlights the Council's performance against key indicators and is aligned to the five Ambitions in its 20-year vision for the borough to be a place where people live healthy, happy, and fulfilled lives.

The report also sets out the latest updates on the major projects the Council is leading or involved in, as well as other work that is contributing to achieving the Ambitions.

Cllr Tracey Dixon, Leader of Â鶹ÊÓƵ said: "This is the first time that we've publicly reported in this way.

"We've made a firm commitment to increased openness and transparency and our new reporting structure will mean that we can regularly review progress against our Ambitions. It gives us a shared understanding of how we are doing, celebrating what we are good at and most importantly allowing us to focus our efforts on those areas that need our attention most. Ultimately, this will lead to improved outcomes for our residents."

Current areas of strength this Quarter include: the numbers of children adopted; proportion of local schools rated 'Good' or 'Outstanding' by Ofsted; proportion of adult social care providers that are rated 'Good' or 'Outstanding' by the Care Quality Commission (CQC); satisfaction rates with Adult Social Services; improvements in proportion of reception-aged children with a healthy weight; numbers of leisure memberships; and, levels of waste produced by local households.

Areas for attention this Quarter include numbers of children becoming cared for; numbers of children subject to repeat child protection plan; numbers of domestic abuse incidents; numbers of people admitted to residential and nursing care; employment and unemployment rates; crime and anti-social behaviour incidents; and 'at risk' of homelessness presentations and those rough sleeping.

Cllr Dixon added: "Our challenges relate more broadly to social pressures and high demand. When we agreed our 20-year vision last year it was shaped to tackle some of the most fundamental issues challenging our society. By taking a quarterly snapshot of performance we can see what progress we are making in these areas, so that we can help people in South Tyneside be financially secure; healthy and well throughout their lives; connected to jobs, skills, and learning; part of strong communities and so that we can target support to make things fairer.

"It's about being open and transparent. There are so many things for us to celebrate in South Tyneside, but I am focused and determined to improve those areas of concern and can assure residents that there is significant work being undertaken by the Council and its partners across all areas to improve things.

In addition to Cabinet receiving Quarterly Budget Monitoring Reports and Quarterly Performance Reports, Borough Council will receive a formal Annual Review each January, with support from Overview and Scrutiny Committee. These reports will provide detail and transparency around key areas of strength and challenge for the Borough, and progress against key plans.