MORE young people in education, potholes being filled quickly and an increase in apprentices were among the achievements Thurrock Council highlighted in a report on its successes over the last year.

An end of year performance report, presented at the council’s cabinet last Wednesday, showed 68 per cent of the authority’s performance indicator targets were met in 2018/19 – up from 66 per cent in 2017/18, 59 per cent in 2016/17 and 49 per cent in 2015/16.

An impressive 99.1 per cent of potholes were filled within the target time and 60 new apprentices started at the council – up from 40 in 2017/18.

All “major and minor planning applications” were processed within target timescales. while just 1.9 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds are not in education, employment or training.

Deborah Huelin, cabinet member for central services and communities, said: “This report acknowledges some of the fantastic successes achieved last year, whether that be in terms of apprenticeship recruitment, pothole repairs or the processing of planning applications.

“Targets are deliberately set to be ambitious and challenging, so I am delighted 68% of all key performance indicators were achieved.