Issue - meetings

RESOLVED that:

A     The proposal to introduce a new performance indicator and target for Contact Harlow telephone waiting times, as detailed in paragraph 11 of the report submitted, is approved.

B    A review be undertaken of the performance target for meeting the Council’s complaints procedure timescales.

The Cabinet received a report from the Scrutiny Committee that advised of the outcome of its review of the Council’s Customer Services and made recommendations for how the Service could be improved.

Proposed by Councillor Emma Toal (seconded by Councillor Jean Clark) Cabinet:

RESOLVED that:

A     The proposal to introduce a new performance indicator and target for Contact Harlow telephone waiting times, as detailed in paragraph 11 of the report submitted, is approved.

B    A review be undertaken of the performance target for meeting the Council’s complaints procedure timescales.

To consider the final report on the above Review and agree any recommendations to Cabinet.

The Committee received the final report for the review of the Council’s Customer Services. Simon Pipe, Customer and Media Services Manager, introduced the report and provided a brief summary of the review to date. Further to the information presented regarding lost call rates in the table at paragraph 6 of the report, Simon informed the Committee that the indicative lost call rate for January 2015 remained low, at around 10 per cent of all calls.

The Committee agreed with the proposal to introduce a new key performance indicator for call waiting times, but felt that the current target for responding to 85 per cent of complaints in accordance with the Council’s published timescales was too low. Councillors felt that the Council should aspire to a much higher compliance of this indicator: around 95-100 per cent.

RESOLVED that the Committee RECOMMENDS to Cabinet that:

A     The proposal to introduce a new performance indicator and target for Contact Harlow telephone waiting times, as detailed in paragraph 11 of this report, is approved.

B    A review be undertaken of the performance target for meeting the Council’s complaints procedure timescales.

The Committee received an interim report for the review of the Council’s Customer Services. Simon Pipe, Customer and Media Services Manager, introduced the report.

In response to questions from the Committee, Simon provided more detail on staffing arrangements, the software package used by customer service operatives (AchieveService) and use of social media in customer service. Simon also drew the Committee’s attention to the Invest to Save Bid (described in paragraph 30 of the report) for random telephone monitoring, which it is hoped will contribute to an improvement in the service’s performance. Should the bid be successful, it is hoped to include the results of the monitoring in the final report to the Committee in February 2015.

RESOLVED that the Committee notes the progress of the review to date with the final report to be submitted for the meeting 3 February 2015.

The Committee received a scoping report for the review of the Council’s Customer Services. Graham Branchett, Chief Operating Officer, introduced the report.

Councillor Joel Charles asked that the review also explore the computer system used by the Council to manage customer contact and complaints.

RESOLVED that the Committee confirms the scope of the review of the Council’s Customer Services.