Issue - meetings

To consider a report by the Head of Customer Service in order to provide feedback on the summary document, prior to a full Strategy being produced later in 2015.

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet provided feedback on the summary document, prior to a full Customer Service Strategy being produced later in 2015.

The Cabinet gave consideration to a report (a copy of which is appended in the Minute book) on progress with the revised Customer Service Strategy.  A summary ‘Plan on a Page’ document of the Customer Service Strategy was presented to the Cabinet for comment prior to a final version of the Strategy being presented to Members later in 2015.

It was explained that the Customer Service Strategy was a key corporate document which established how customer service was delivered across the Council.

The Cabinet were referred to the timetable for implementation of the Strategy as contained within paragraph 6.1 of the Officer’s report. Consultation had already taken place with Officers, Members and the public.  However, a further consultation exercise was scheduled. 

The Cabinet stated that it was important for the revised Strategy to be of importance to all Officers and during the recruitment process officers should consider the attitude as well as the skills of any applicants to ensure that new Officers were customer focused.

There was a consensus amongst the Cabinet that the strategic direction being adopted within the revised Customer Service Strategy was accurate. However, there should be a corporate template to ensure all ‘Plan on a Page’ documents were consistent.  In conclusion it was,

RESOLVED:

That the Cabinet provided feedback on the summary document, prior to a full Customer Service Strategy being produced later in 2015.

John Taylor, Head of Customer Services will present the Customer Service Strategy to the Panel.

It was noted by Members that the report on the Customer Service Strategy looks at the whole Council rather than the Customer Service Department alone, and it is intended that the information included is clear and useful. The new strategy is being constructed by revisiting the Corporate Plan, the Code of Conduct and development within the Council (including savings that need to be achieved).

Members were made aware that Appendix 1 of the report is a first draft of what the developing plan will look like, and that the authors of the report have worked to make the language as simple as possible, making the strategy accessible to those both inside and outside of the Council.

Positive comments were made by members regarding the strategy ‘on a page’ and the Corporate Director of Services talked through the different areas of change for this report, including:

·  A clear understanding of what works in terms of customer service

·  Stakeholder engagement within the development of the strategy

·  Service developments – how we do what we do

·  Working with various external groups during development, using every opportunity to get customer feedback.

The Panel questioned how the 135 Action Plans from the previous Corporate Plan will be incorporated into the strategy.  Members noted that rather than appearing on the strategy itself, all Customer Service actions are available within separate Service Plans and can be accessed by Heads of Service if required.

The Head of Customer Services addressed a question from the Panel regarding possible timescales for the completion of the Customer Service Strategy, informing Members that the team are looking at the document being ready in the next financial year (April 2016).