Agenda item
Update on Community Access Strategy
The report provides members with a summary of the Community Access Strategy agreed by Cabinet on 15 October 2014 and the progress that has been made in implementing it.
Minutes:
Margaret Read (Operational Director - Brent Customer Services, Regeneration and Growth) introduced the report and advised members that the Community Access Strategy had been agreed at Cabinet on 15 October 2014. She stated that the strategy recognised the significant challenges, including financial, that the council faced and it was not feasible for services to continue to be provided in the way they currently were. Members heard that the strategy focused on accessing services in different ways, such as increasing access through digital channels, whilst freeing up resources to target customers who needed a more personalised approach. Margaret Read then drew members’ attention to the key principles underpinning the delivery of the Customer Access Strategy that supported the wider aims of the Brent Borough Plan, corporate strategic objectives and the Community Access Strategy.
Margaret Read informed the committee that the Community Access Strategy would be achieved through a programme of projects that were overseen by the One Council Board, with the four working streams in progress being:
· Improving telephony to ensure residents experience a consistently good response
· Channel shift – improving the digital offer to residents so that where they can self serve, it is easy and convenient to do so
· Modernising face to face contact to support changing access arrangements, in particular providing assistance to residents who may need help to self serve
· Thematic reviews – to redesign the way in which services, working with partners and the Voluntary and Community Sector and joining up service delivery so that individual and community needs are better met.
Margaret Read then provided members of an update on achievements and progress with each of the four working streams to date and in respect of channel shift, she advised that a new Customer Portal was due to go live in July 2015 that would include an increased number of services offered through this channel. She stated that it was recognised that some service areas needed to improve and it was important that services were joined up in a way that made sense to residents.
During members’ discussions, the multicultural nature of the borough was highlighted and it was enquired whether this had been taken into account, particularly as English was not the first language for a number of residents. It was asked whether lessons had been learnt from previous changes to services, such as parking and what was the level of savings expected from delivering the strategy. A member commented that many residents had no access to a computer and preferred to use the telephone, however he asked what steps were being taken to prevent customers being misdirected to the wrong department. Another member commented on the importance of communicating to residents that services could be accessed in a number of different ways and enquired whether residents were advised about things such as creating and changing sound passwords and was their data protected. In addition, another member asked if the new Customer Portal offered a facility to create a new password when the current one had been forgotten. It was asked whether help and advice was available to older people to help them access and use services digitally.
A member enquired whether the new Customer Portal would be tested with a variety of residents, including those with disabilities, prior to its launch. Another member asked whether the testing would be undertaken borough wide. She commented that the triage system had worked well to date and asked whether there was training for staff in dealing with particularly complex issues. She also asked what would be ideal way in which residents would describe the service they had experienced as far as the council was concerned.
A member sought further information on what service areas had been underperforming and how was misdirecting of calls by the switchboard being monitored or picked up. In terms of calls reported as misdirected, he asked if this was formally recorded. He commented whether there a danger of making the council too remote from the community by shifting access via IT and telephony channels and removing opportunities for direct contact with residents. Another member enquired how customer and staff feedback was followed up and she suggested that the committee receive an annual report on customer feedback and information on dropped and missed calls, as well as information on how the triage service was performing. A member asked what was the target for answering calls and also how long was information on customers kept and was it sold to external organisations. Another member stated that it was important to remove jargon to make it easier for residents to understand what was being offered and that there should also be consistency of language. It was also suggested that there needed to be better signage from the Civic Centre car park to the reception area.
With the approval of the Chair, Councillor S Choudhary addressed the committee. Councillor S Choudhary remarked that around 20% to 30% of telephone calls were dealt with by Serco on behalf of the council and that it was frustrating that the council was being blamed for misdirected or dropped calls when it was not necessarily handling them. The Chair also invited Councillor Collier to address the committee. Councillor Collier asked if there was information available on the increase in traffic to the council’s website, the percentage of dropped calls and the average length of time before the call was dropped and how this compared with other local authorities and similar sized organisations.
In reply to the issues raised, Margaret Read emphasised that the purpose of the strategy was to shift more access online, however no other access channels would be closed down. In respect of the move to shift parking to a mainly online service, a number of lessons had been learnt and it had been recognised that the online service had not been sufficiently user friendly and lacked the ability to support and help customers. Margaret Read confirmed that the new Customer Portal would be tested with residents across the borough before it went live and the lessons learnt from previous initiatives would help to ensure that residents had a good experience in using it. The committee heard that there would initially be a ‘soft’ launch of the Customer Portal to allow time to ensure that everything was working properly, before a full public launch. In addition, workshops would be offered to residents on how to use the Customer Portal and there would also be information available at libraries and at Brent Connects Forums on it. Customer Services were also liaising with the Head of Equality to ensure that the Customer Portal would meet the needs of those with disabilities. Margaret Read advised that IT and specialist external organisations had assisted to ensure customer confidentiality and that a password reminder facility was available that would be securely supplied through a series of security questions and sent to the resident’s e-mail address.
Turning to telephone calls, Margaret Read advised that the switchboard took around 20,000 call a month, with the vast majority of calls correctly routed. Misrouting was monitored through feedback from residents and staff and she encouraged members and customers to report any instances of misrouting so that the matter could be looked in to and corrected and there was also an e-mail address where complaints of this nature could be made. Members heard that there were occasions when calls had been routed correctly, but the relevant extension number had not been answered. Margaret Read informed the committee that Automated Call Distribution (ACD) had increased its call answering rate from 80% to 90% and was performing well, although non ACD call rates were around 60%. There were pockets of underperformance across the council in telephone responses and these were being looked at. The committee heard that Serco were contracted to operate some services on behalf of the council, however any complaints should be directed to the council. Members noted that the Customer Promise set out specific targets in responding to telephone calls, e-mails and letters. Margaret Read agreed to provide figures on the percentage of calls dropped, the average time the call took before it was dropped and to provide comparisons with other organisations on this.
Margaret Read advised that the triage service had been in operation for around eight weeks and was staffed by seven officers who had received cross training to enable them to handle a range of enquiries concerning housing, council tax, benefits and employment. Margaret Read explained that objective of the strategy was to ensure that residents felt that they had received an excellent experience of the service they had received. She stated that the Customer Services Centre was having to deliver difficult messages about how the way services were changing, particularly in respect of housing. An action plan had also been put in place to ensure mutual respect between customers and staff and for staff to convey difficult messages and staff had benefitted from training involving actors and role play.
Margaret Read advised that under data protection laws, the council could not pass on customer information to external organisations. She advised that retention of customer information was subject to Information Commissioner standards, with the length of retention depending on the type of information held and she agreed to provide further information to Councillor Colwill on this matter. Margaret Read advised that future reports to the committee could include more details on feedback about services, including information received from Focus Group meetings, exit surveys and benchmarking and comparing residents’ views on an annual basis. She also agreed to look at ways of improving signage from the Civic Centre car park to the reception.
A member expressed disappointment that the relevant Lead Member, or the Leader in their absence, had not attended to respond to questions from the committee on this item. Peter Gadsdon (Operational Director – ICT, Finance and IT) acknowledged this point and would ensure that the relevant lead members were invited for future meetings.
The Chair requested an update on this item for the December 2015 Scrutiny Committee meeting.
RESOLVED:
that the progress being made in implementing the aims of the new Community Access Strategy be noted.
Supporting documents: