Agenda item
Future of Customer Services
This report explains plans to change customer service arrangements in Brent to drive up standards of service to residents in response to society’s changing attitudes towards higher standards of service delivery, quality and customer care. The report therefore sets out principles that drive improvements to customer services through One Council projects.
Minutes:
Margaret Read (Assistant Director – Corporate Customer Services, Finance and Corporate Services) introduced the report and began by explaining that a key driver behind the project was to improve customer service arrangements and ensure that these were made more effective and efficient. It was important that customers felt that the council was one organisation whatever the service they were receiving and whatever method used to make contact. The present customer service arrangements had been outgrown over time due to a number of factors including changes in customer expectations and demands and also in demographics. There were also an increasing number of digital solutions becoming available to enable customer contacts to be handled through on line and self service facilities. Coupled with this, there was also a critical need to reduce the pressure on service areas as demand increased whilst also achieving financial savings. Margaret Read emphasised that improvements and efficiencies were both being sought simultaneously and these were not seen as competing objectives.
Margaret Read explained that there had been considerable debate over the course of action since the project had initially been conceived and a range of underlying principles had been agreed and would underpin the improvements to customer services were:-
· A better understanding of the council’s customers so that services were more sensitive to personal needs
· Improved efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery to better meet customer needs and reduce the pressure on council resources
· Moving service delivery to the front office to resolve enquiries at the first point of contact, ensure consistently high standards and have a consistent approach to customer services
· Developing a shared customer offer with partners
Margaret Read stated that this could be achieved through a number of measures, such as ensuring that a customer enquiry could be resolved at the first point of contact. A customer access strategy would be developed to meet the varying needs of customers and encourage more use of web based services where appropriate, whilst for others, such as more vulnerable customers, this could take the form of face to face contact. Margaret Read explained that Phase 1 of the project, up to October 2012, would provide the foundations for the improvements needed in customer service. The changes introduced as part of Phase 1 included the creation of a new Brent Customer Services division in January 2012 which included the One Stop Service, Revenue and Benefits and Pupil and Parent Support within Children and Families. Further services were planned to transfer to Brent Customer Services over the next 15 months or were being reviewed to determine how customer contact could best support effective resolution of customer queries. A consolidation of web functions within Brent Customer Services from January 2012 was also being undertaken and a business case was being developed during 2012 to replace the council’s current web infrastructure by December 2012. There was also to be a review of post functions to be completed by May 2012 for implementation by December 2012 and this would operate as a central digital post room following the move to the Civic Centre. Members noted that an automated switchboard for external users had gone live in January 2012 which should ultimately enable 80% of switch board calls to be automatically routed to the correct extension number. Margaret Read advised that approximately 60% of calls had been dealt with in this manner at the moment and to date positive feedback had been received. There was also to be a rationalising of face to face contact and from 2014 there would be two main customer access point, the Civic Centre and Willesden Green Centre. Margaret Read concluded by stating that the project would introduce a major cultural change for both customers and staff and this would increase the ways in which services could be offered.
During discussion, Councillor Lorber sought further information with regard to the role of smaller council buildings such as Kingsbury Library Plus and what support would be given to customers where English was not their first language or not spoken in respect of self-service and automated customer messages. If it was seen that customer contact was reducing since the changes had been made, he asked if there would be a re-consideration of how customer access was being provided. Councillor Mitchell Murray stated that she had used the automated telephone system recently and felt that it worked well, although her only concern was if the system started offering too many options. Councillor Sheth also commented that the new automated telephone system appeared to be working well and asked whether there were any staff implications concerning these changes. Councillor Beckman enquired whether the redesign of the council’s website was already underway.
In reply to the issues raised, Margaret Read explained that a customer self-service facility was available at the Kingsbury Library Plus and this allowed Customer Services to be consolidated in the busier council buildings. The automated switchboard recognised different accents and where customers who did not speak English or who did not speak it as their first language, they could contact the council by phone or by visiting local offices and council staff were at hand with a wide range of language skills on offer to help and the Language Shop could also assist. Margaret Read advised that increased self-service and internet facilities would mean that more customers could access customer services in this way and allow the council to focus more on those who still required face to face contact. Members noted that it was not intended to provide a large range of options with regard to the automated telephone system, in order to keep it user friendly. Those customers who did not respond to the automated system’s questions or gave a response that could not be dealt with would be automatically transferred to an operator. Margaret Read acknowledged that there was a need to educate customers with regard to the number of ways in which they would be able to access council services. Some services could already be accessed on the web, however on-line forms and booking systems were to be developed and be made easier to find on the council’s website. The overall changes to date had led to a major staff restructure which had resulted in 45 post deletions, however only five of these had led to compulsory redundancies and a number of the deletions involved posts that had been vacant, whilst some staff had found other posts in the council.
Toni McConville (Director of Customer and Community Engagement) added that access to computers in Brent was estimated to be around 68% and where services could be provided on-line, customers were being encouraged to access such services in this way. This would not only benefit customers but also allow the council more time to help vulnerable customers.
RESOLVED:-
that the report on the Future of Customer Services be noted.
Supporting documents: