The county council has failed to deliver services to residents in three key areas, new documents show.

In 2024 so far, Kent County Council (KCC) missed targets for processing invoices, responding to freedom of information requests and dealing with public complaints.

Under the red/amber/green (RAG) system of performance, the council scores red.

In most other key performance indicator (KPI) areas, KCC gets green or amber status, in that it hits targets or nearly does so.

The KPIs are to be discussed at KCC’s Policy and Resources Committee on Wednesday.

Conservative member Cllr Paul Cooper, who sits on the committee, said: “Generally there is a lot of greens in the KPIs and that is encouraging but there are reds in worrying sections such as FoIs which are very public facing. So we need to pull our socks up.”

For “Invoices received by Accounts Payable within 15 days of KCC received date”, the council achieved just 67% against a target of 90%.

The papers note: “This KPI was revised to measure invoices received within 15 days instead of within 30 days which it was last year.

“This was identified as a key revision to ensure payments are made on time…2,455 invoices were received in (the) exchequer after 15 days in March.”

Public complaints’ responses fell short by 22% of the 85% goal.

The report explains: “A concerted effort has been made to clear the backlog of older cases, this has however had an impact on the closure of new cases, subsequently impacting the overall performance of response times.

“In terms of directorate performance, the Chief Executive’s Department and Deputy Chief Executive’s Departments, together achieved 64% of responses within timescale; Growth, Environment and Transport, 77%; Adult Social Care and Health, 54%; and Children, Young People and Education, 15%.”

No KCC department managed to complete requests under the Freedom of Information Act within 20 working days. The council managed 76% against a target of 92%.

The Growth, Environment and Transportation directorate did best at 79% at a time when it was dealing with a high volume of requests (620).

The papers explain: “Some of this increase has come from requests for information on specific issues, including the Herne Bay Active Travel Scheme, accommodation for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and potholes / general state of roads.”