Head of ICT and Customer Services [M105] 1.1 To agree terms of reference and the timetable for the review of Customer Services.

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1 SERVICE REVIEW CUSTOMER SERVICES AGENDA ITEM NO 9 Committee: Personnel and Corporate Services Committee Date: 20 September 2012 Author: Head of ICT and [M105] 1.0 ISSUE 1.1 To agree terms of reference and the timetable for the review of. 2.0 RECOMMENDATION 2.1 Members are requested to approve the terms of reference and the review timetable. 3.0 BACKGROUND 3.1 The review of is one of four agreed 2012/13 service reviews. 3.2 The review should be conducted in accordance with the Council s agreed methodology. 3.3 Draft terms of reference and associated timetable are attached at Appendix ARGUMENT/CONCLUSION 4.1 The last review of was conducted in 2006/ The Councils refurbished front of house/reception facility now operates as a onestop shop with Anglia Revenues Partnership and Sanctuary Housing. Now is an opportune time to review the service particularly within the context of the new shared service arrangements. 5.0 FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS/EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT (EIA) 5.1 There are no financial implications arising from this report; however the review may reach conclusions which do have financial implications which would need to be considered at the appropriate time by the Finance and Governance Committee. 5.2 EIA not required at this stage of the review. 6.0 APPENDICES 6.1 Appendix 1 Draft Terms of Reference 6.2 Appendix 2 Draft Stage 1 report Agenda Item 9 - page 1 U:\commlive\Personnel & Corp Servs\ Customer Service Review.doc

2 Background Documents Draft Service Plan 2012/2013 Location Room 105 The Grange Ely Contact Officer Annette Wade Head of ICT and (01353) Agenda Item 9 - page 2 U:\commlive\Personnel & Corp Servs\ Customer Service Review.doc

3 APPENDIX 1 DRAFT REVIEW OF CUSTOMER SERVICES TERMS OF REFERENCE It is proposed that Members follow the methodology of Service reviews as agreed by Internal Overview and Scrutiny Committee. There will be three stages to the review as outlined below: - Stage1 (Scoping the Review) Formal agreement of terms of reference/timetable and review process (including member involvement) Description of service. How is the service currently provided/resources employed? Current Service targets and performance. Key issues for Stage 2 review. Deadline: Personnel & Corporate Services, 20 th September 2012 Stage 2 (Option Appraisal) Option to achieve review of objectives Joint service delivery Efficiency improvement Use of ICT telephony/technology Compare performance & Customer Satisfaction Impact on service in medium long term challenge Deadline: Scrutiny Committee, 17 th January 2013 Stage 3 (Improvement Plan) Agreed improvements arising from Stage 2 Financial Implications HR Implications ICT/Telephony implications Other implications (including joint working partners, ARP, Sanctuary Housing and Veolia) Improvement/Action Plan Deadline: Personnel & Corporate Services, 7 th February 2013 Agenda Item 9 page 3 U:\commlive\Personnel & Corp Servs\ Customer Service Review App1.doc

4 APPENDIX 2 INTRODUCTION DRAFT REVIEW OF CUSTOMER SERVICES STAGE 1 REPORT 1.0 The review of is one of the four service reviews timetabled for 2012/ Prior to 2007 the Council operated a traditional telephony/reception service model. Telephonists would simply transfer the caller to the correct person/team would handle telephone calls. In addition, direct dial numbers were, in some but not all cases, published in telephone directories etc and callers could dial direct bypassing the telephonist. There was an option to leave a voic if the call was not answered. 1.2 Visitors to The Grange were met by receptionists who provided a simple meet and greet signposting service. 1.3 No management information was available. 1.4 The former government used a carrot and stick approach to ensure Customer Relationship Management (CRM) was introduced into public service organisations, believing that greater knowledge of the Customer and their enquiries would inform and enable decision making and improvements in key areas and generate efficiency savings such as identifying opportunities for self service (the most cost effective way of customer interaction) 1.5 Councils were required to implement CRM and in return were given capital grants to purchase the necessary ICT and telephony infrastructure. 1.6 CRM was implemented throughout the council in July All members of staff have access to the system and can interact accordingly. Information input into the system can be viewed by all (authorised) staff, enabling enquiries to be followed up by team members even when the original advisor is not present. The voic facility was removed as it was not being used effectively. 1.7 Long-term aspirations are for 80% of customer enquiries to be resolved at first point of contact i.e. without the need to hand off to the back office. This would result in significant capacity gains throughout the Council. A medium term objective was set to resolve 20% of customer enquiries at first point of contact. 1.8 The resolution of calls at first point of contact involves the use of scripting which requires joint working between the customer services team, the service department and ICT. The programme of script development is driven by the opportunity for quick wins i.e. high volume calls for simple service requests and other enquiries that lend themselves to resolution through the use of scripting. 1.9 The customer services team works very closely with the Council s partners. The team s remit was extended in January 2009 to provide a single point of Agenda Item 9 page 4

5 contact on behalf of Veolia who are responsible for delivering the Councils waste and recycling service. Additionally since 8 th May 2012 the team are working along side ARP and Sanctuary Housing customer service staff within the new refurbished reception. This was created to improve customer service by providing a one-stop shop for all Housing related enquiries. These joint working projects generate an income of 32, per annum for the Council The review will be led by the Head of ICT and and assisted by a Council Member and representatives from service areas & partners. The Deputy Chief Executive will be the lead Management Team representative. DATE MEETING/COMMITTEE REPORT 20 th September 2012 Personnel & Corporate Services Committee Terms of reference Stage 1 Report 17 th January 2013 Scrutiny Committee Draft Improvement Plan (Pre Scrutiny) 7 th February 2013 Personnel & Corporate Services Committee Final Improvement Plan 1.11 Terms of reference are attached in Appendix 1 2. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE 2.1 provides a single point of contact for the public and agencies within the Council s normal working hours, and aims to resolve as many customer interactions as possible at first point of contact The service provides a polite, friendly and responsive face to face reception service and responds to all telephone calls to the main Council contact number , all generic received by the Council and general enquiries submitted via the eastcambs.gov.uk website The team record all customer interaction (telephone, , face to face) on the Council s Customer Relationship Management System and use scripts to either resolve calls at first point of contact or to collect the correct information required by the back office to respond to customer enquires quickly and efficiently and reduce avoidable customer contact, i.e. with out the customer having to repeat the details of their enquiry In addition to the above Customer Service s undertake a number of additional administration duties, examples include: - Taking payments for Council tax, parking tickets, various services & market stalls etc Issuing railcards Issuing job packs Booking Building Control Inspections and Housing appointments Liaising with Cambridgeshire County Council regarding the disposal of asbestos and Issuing asbestos bags Tell us once administration of deaths and births Booking in visitors and issuing visitor passes Agenda Item 9 page 5

6 2.1.5 The team continually identify self-service opportunities (the most cost effective form of customer interaction) and promote and direct people to the Council s website and self service kiosks, providing assistance and guidance as and when required Performance data Telephone Calls received by the team Year Total No Calls Received Total calls Answered No of calls CRM cases generated No of CRM Cases resolved at first point of contact *No of quick Calls / call backs etc no CRM case generated 2008/09 71,380 67, % 49, % 18, /10 71,260 68, % 53, % 14, /11 83,576 79, % 46, % 33, /12 84,396 78, % 42, % 36,083 Visitors to The Grange Year Total no of Visitors 2008/09 Not Collected 2009/10 Not collected 2010/11 Not Collected 2011/12 25,442 Self Service forms completed on the web and directed to the appropriate service for resolution. Year Total no of Self Serve CRM Cases Received 2008/ / / / Links to Corporate Objectives CORPORATE OBJECTIVES (DRAFT) To run an efficient and effective Council to deliver best value for its residents. LINKS TO SERVICE OBJECTIVES Customer Service supports this objective by providing a single point of contact for the public and agencies. Shared reception with ARP and Sanctuary Housing provides a one-stop shop for all Housing enquiries. Agenda Item 9 page 6

7 Resolving as many calls as possible at first point of contact or by collecting the correct information required by the back office to process customer enquires more quickly and efficiently thus freeing up back office professional staff to do the day job and reducing avoidable contact for the customer. Management Information produced by CRM provides customer insight and can Inform decision making. 2.3 Resources The current net cost of the service (2012/13) is 225, Staffing Resources (9.88 fte) Title Full/Part Time Quantity Comments Team Leader Customer Service Liaison Officer Full Time 1 Part time 1 22 hours per week over 3 days Full time 4 Part Time hours over 4 days Part Time hours over 5 days Part Time 1 21 hours to be replaced temporarily for two years by full time apprentice Part time 1 20 hours over 5 days per week Part Time 1 20 hours over 4 days Part Time 1 15 hours over 3 days 3. OUTCOMES OF THE REVIEW 3.1 Key issues to be considered as part of the stage 2 report to Scrutiny Committee are as follows: Operational Is the staffing structure fit for purpose (number, roles, hours of work)? Is the CRM software fit for purpose? Agenda Item 9 page 7

8 Alternative ways of working including exploration of multi tasking between the three front of house organisations Integration of software to improve front and back office efficiency Are members getting the most out of Customer Service (e.g. what enquiries are constituents making)? Strategic Where do we wish to go in terms of customer service within East Cambridgeshire (e.g. should we concern ourselves with Customer service beyond the initial point of contact. Should we be registering every customer? Should customer service be better embedded throughout the Council) Should we provide local access points (is there a business case for doing so) Opening Hours? Performance Are the existing performance standards fit for purpose? If not propose new ones Can a common set of performance standards be applied across all three organisations (namely ECDC, ARP and Sanctuary Housing)? Should we extend this to include Veolia? Strategy to improve first point of contact resolution Analysis of most requested services/information requests and match scripting development accordingly. How can more self-service be generated? How does performance and cost compare against others? Is performance reporting effective; what do mangers and the Council want Need to conduct regular satisfaction surveys (are we on the right tract, are improving, has the integrated service made a positive difference to people)? Agenda Item 9 page 8