Councillor H. Gilmour in the Chair. Councillors P.M. Bowmer, R. Brooks, C.P. Cooper, R.A. Heffer, D. McGregor and R. Turner.

Transcription

1 Minutes of a meeting of the Improvement Scrutiny Committee of the Bolsover District Council held in Chamber Suites 1 and 2, The Arc, Clowne, on Monday 22 nd September 2014 at 1000 hours. PRESENT:- Members:- Councillor H. Gilmour in the Chair Councillors P.M. Bowmer, R. Brooks, C.P. Cooper, R.A. Heffer, D. McGregor and R. Turner. Officers:- P. Hackett (Executive Director Transformation), J. Foley (Assistant Director - Customer Service & Improvement), A. Donohoe (Customer Contact Manager) (to Minute Number 0345), A. Bedford (Support Officer, Customer Service and Improvement) (to Minute Number 0345), C. Millington (Scrutiny Officer) and A. Bluff (Governance Officer) APOLOGIES Apologies for absence were received from Councillors M.G. Crane, J.A. Clifton and J.E. Smith URGENT ITEMS OF BUSINESS There were no urgent items of business DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of interest MINUTES 27 th AUGUST 2014 Moved by Councillor D. McGregor and seconded by Councillor R.A. Heffer RESOLVED that subject to the Customer Contact Manager s job title being corrected, the minutes of a meeting of the Improvement Scrutiny Committee held on 27 th August 2014 be approved as a true and correct record. 3

2 0343. LIST OF KEY DECISIONS AND ITEMS TO BE CONSIDERED IN PRIVATE Members considered the List of Key Decisions and Items to be considered in Private document, which had recently replaced the Amendments to the List of Key Decisions document. A query was raised regarding the 15 year lease agreement between the Police and the Council in relation to Sherwood Lodge and Members were advised that the Assistant Director - Property & Estates would be able to provide this information. Moved by Councillor R. A. Heffer, seconded by Councillor R. A. Turner. RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions and Items to be Considered in Private document be noted CUSTOMER SERVICE CODE OF PRACTICE AND STANDARDS The Support Officer, Customer Service and Improvement, presented a draft document in relation to Customer Service Code of Practice and Standards for Members consideration. The document had been put together to formalise the joint good practice of customer service within Bolsover and North East Derbyshire District Councils to ensure that the principles were embraced and adopted by all employees across the Strategic Alliance. This would enable both councils to respond to and communicate with its customers in a consistent manner no matter whom they contacted. In response to a Member s question, the Support Officer advised the meeting that the customer service standard to answer a telephone within 20 seconds had not been changed - the new telephony system provided 5 rings in 20 seconds to the old system which provided 6. A Member noted that the section in relation to confidential letters and faxes had been tightened up and commented that this had also been looked at by Improvement Scrutiny Committee in relation to giving out telephone numbers. A short discussion took place. Members agreed that it was a good report and a comprehensive document. Moved by Councillor D. McGregor, seconded by Councillor H.J. Gilmour RESOLVED that the draft Customer Service Code of Practice and Standards be received. The Support Officer, Customer Service and Improvement and the Customer Contact Manager left the meeting. 4

3 0345. REVIEW OF THE IMPACT OF WELFARE REFORMS AND OTHER ISSUES ON THE CONTACT CENTRES DRAFT REPORT FOR APPROVAL The Executive Director Transformation, thanked Committee for circulating the draft Review and noted that he had previously provided the Scrutiny Officer with a number of considerations to include within the recommendations which may prompt further discussion and changes to current recommendations. He noted that Welfare Reform impacted on other areas as well as Revenues and Benefits, for example, neighbourhood outreach team who really engage with vulnerable people and achieve good outcomes, taking pressure off the Contact Centres. A presentation would be given to Members at a future Council meeting on Neighbourhood Outreach teams and their achievements to date. Recommendation 2.1; that the current temporary roles in the Contact Centres be made permanent The Executive Director Transformation, raised concern that this recommendation would mean a budget expansion of 48k and would change the target for the Transformation Agenda. He added that the Council needed to be more innovative in expanding customer choice by diverting payment methods to automatic payments, which would enable greater capacity in the service; for example, use of direct debit, apps for electronic devices, the internet and self service, which could also help those affected by welfare reform. If only 5% to 10% of customers changed to an automatic payment method, this would make a big difference. It was stressed that it was not the intention to remove services but to encourage those customers who would prefer to self serve by offering more choice. In turn, this would free up staff time for the most complex cases. Members raised that due to time constraints, Committee had only been able to look at a small part of the impact of Welfare Reform and had agreed to look at the pressure on Contact Centre staff and how this could be alleviated. Further, customers surveyed at the four Contact Centres on the use of the service said they preferred to speak to a Customer Service Advisor face to face and no comments regarding technology were made; some people, especially the elderly, did not like direct debits either. The Assistant Director - Customer Service & Improvement advised Members that temporary staff were employed in addition to established posts and there were no actual vacant posts to be able to make temporary staff permanent. She asked Members to consider the wording used in the recommendation. An extra 90k had been allocated to Contact Centres for temporary staff over the last two years and this would run out in March There were a number of staff coming up for retirement and it was possible that the temporary staff could be made permanent in these posts. A reception post at the Arc was also being considered and a business case was coming forward regarding a payment machine. 5

4 Recommendation 2.2.1; that the current arrangements for regular staff training sessions are maintained to ensure that staff remain on top of the changing landscape of Welfare Reforms and maintain the high levels of customer service currently delivered. The Executive Director Transformation supported this recommendation and stated that the half day staff training sessions were a valuable tool which staff also valued. Members were advised that dates for 2014/15 training had already been put in place. Recommendation 2.2.2; that any additional training with new voluntary partnerships for Contact Centre staff are considered a priority e.g. SAFFA, CISWO, Sign Language. These needs may be identified by customer feedback, as well as by staff. The Executive Director Transformation supported this recommendation and stated that this should be incorporated within the existing training programme. Recommendation 2.3.1; the Committee endorses and supports the Portfolio Holder and Customer Contact Manager s investigation into a move to automated payment methods at The Arc, Clowne. Members were advised that a proposal to introduce payments machines in all four contact centres had been put forward by Management however there were cost implications and the proposal required a detailed business case. It would not be cost effective to only introduce one payment machine at Clowne as it would have cost implications on the overall costs for payments across the four contact centres. Recommendation 2.4.1; that the Authority continues to provide Contact Centres in the four current locations. The Executive Director Transformation supported this recommendation and advised Members that there were no plans to close any of the contact centres. Recommendation 2.4.2; that consideration be given to the Contact Centre at Shirebrook being relocated in new premises as a matter of urgency, bringing Shirebrook up to the standard of the other Contact Centres The Executive Director Transformation supported this recommendation and advised Members that plans were under way to find a suitable place in Shirebrook for a Contact Centre. Negotiations were also taking place with Derbyshire County Council on the wider opportunities to do more joint working although as with any other move, this will take time. Recommendation 2.4.3; with regard to the Contact Centre in Shirebrook, that the potential use of a language volunteer be in place as soon as possible. The Executive Director Transformation felt that the use of a volunteer would require further exploration as there were issues around liability. Further study on demand should also be undertaken to understand the times when this support would be required before attempting to recruit a volunteer. Members were also advised that the Council already has a contract to deliver translation services which is available at all times. 6

5 The Assistant Director - Customer Service & Improvement added that as there was now a growing number of languages, the Customer Contact Manager was currently liaising with Christian Aid regarding a language interpreter. It was noted that use of the Language Line facility had a cost implication to the Council. Recommendation 2.4.4; that the Authority considers trialing a ticket system to allocate places in queues. The Assistant Director - Customer Service & Improvement noted that this type of system was expensive at around 20k and was only really successful in places such as Derby City Council where they dealt with a lot more people. Although the Contact Centres had queues at times, it did not warrant this type of expensive system. The Council may wish to consider better layout and design rather than the expense of a ticketing system. As previously mentioned, work was underway on the business case to improving self service options to reduce queues. The Chair noted that this had been a request from a customer with a disability and had been included in the recommendations in good faith. The Assistant Director - Customer Service & Improvement suggested that as not all disabilities were visible, posters could be placed in each of the Contact Centres for customers to alert a member of staff if they were not physically able to queue. The Executive Director Transformation added that some promotional work and staff training could be arranged regarding this also. Recommendation 2.4.5; that the Authority considers how privacy can be improved in all four Contact Centres. The Executive Director Transformation noted that privacy issues were currently being looked at and the new Contact Centre at Bolsover would be designed to allow for privacy provision. This would also be taken on board when Shirebrook Contact Centre relocated. Two privacy rooms were available for customers at the Arc. A discussion took place and it was noted that customers had the right to request an interview room. Recommendation 2.5; that the revenues Service, where possible, take account of Bank Holidays and other issues when sending mass mail outs, to avoid additional pressure on both customers and the Contact Centres. The Billing and Recovery Manager advised that wherever possible, liaison between departments already takes place. Recommendation 2.6; that a Revenues and Benefits duty officer be available in the Clowne Contact Centre on a formal basis rather than the current informal one. The Billing and Recovery Manager had advised that it would not be possible to carry out the recommendation due to staff resources and there wasn t the demand to justify this. Recommendation 2.7; that the Improvement Scrutiny Committee monitors Contact Centre scripts twice yearly, to note any emerging issues and assess progress. The Executive Director Transformation noted that the Council was moving to the 7

6 Firmstep system. The Chair noted that Members had received a presentation on the Firmstep system. After some discussion, it was agreed that this recommendation would be removed from the final report. The Executive Director Transformation and the Assistant Director - Customer Service & Improvement thanked Committee for allowing them to attend the meeting and put their views forward and also help clarify some of the recommendations. The Executive Director Transformation and the Assistant Director - Customer Service & Improvement left the meeting. Members agreed revisions to some of the wording in the Review based on the discussion which had just taken place with the Executive Director Transformation and the Assistant Director - Customer Service & Improvement. Members also agreed to the removal of recommendations , 2.6 and 2.7 and that the Chief Executive s and Partnership Team be included in the list of Stakeholders The meeting concluded at 1205 hours. 8