Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Room 4, Brent Town Hall, Forty Lane, Wembley, HA9 9HD. View directions
Contact: Toby Howes, Senior Democratic Services 020 8937 1307 Email: toby.howes@brent.gov.uk
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Declarations of personal and prejudicial interests Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting any relevant financial or other interest in the items on the agenda. Minutes: None declared. |
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Minutes of the last meeting held on 22 November 2011 PDF 128 KB The minutes are attached. Minutes: RESOLVED:-
that the minutes of the last meeting held on 22 November 2011 be agreed. |
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Matters arising Minutes: One Council Programme
Councillor Brown enquired whether there were any One Council Programme projects with a red RAG status that should be reported to the committee. In reply, Phil Newby (Director of Strategy, Partnerships and Improvement) explained that projects’ statuses changed regularly and that those of a red RAG status now could change by the time of the next meeting. Members noted that the procurement project was presently at red RAG status although was likely to move to amber soon. Children’s social care transformation was also at red RAG status, however this service was demand led and the project was being mainstreamed to help address the challenging nature of this area. Phil Newby advised that information on projects that were considered of sufficient risk could be presented to Members at future meetings, or any other projects which were of particular interest to the committee. |
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Presentation - Project Athena This is a Pan London project involving 6 Local authorities to create a single ICT and shared services platform for London public sector. A presentation will be delivered by Clive Heaphy, Director of Finance and Corporate services, giving details of the project including the benefits of the project, the implementation proposal, timescales and costs.
Minutes: Clive Heaphy (Director of Finance and Corporate Services) gave a presentation to Members on Project Athena, a pan-London project that was essentially IT focused but was also with a service delivery element to it. The ultimate aim of the project was to deliver a single ICT and shared services platform, however the first phase of the programme would focus on HR and payroll functions. In order to create a system to enable this, the first stage would involve standardising processes to fall in line with the other London boroughs that are part of Project Athena. The council would also need to implement Oracle Release 12, migrate some systems to Oracle, introduce Business Analytics reporting and empower staff to manage budgets and resources. Clive Heaphy added that even if the council had not joined Project Athena, it would still have needed to introduce Oracle Release 12, however doing so with project partners would allow costs to be shared. Ultimately, Project Athena partners would share the delivery of not only HR and payroll functions, but also finance and procurement services possibly via a joint committee arrangement.
Clive Heaphy explained that ‘Cloud’ technology would be used to operate the system, with information being hosted externally at a centre located within the EU, which would considerably lessen the risk to holding data on site. Cloud technology would help reduce data storage costs, currently a considerable cost to the council. The London Borough of Havering had been proposed as the host as it had already introduced Oracle Release 12. The other members of Project Athena were the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Croydon, Lambeth and Lewisham. There were a further eight London boroughs who had Oracle that may join the scheme at a later date. In the meantime, work was continuing on putting the appropriate joint governance arrangements in place and councillor involvement was also being discussed. Clive Heaphy referred to the efficiencies of using a common platform and then turned to the council’s objectives, which included vastly improved services in HR and payroll, a standardised, simplified, streamlined process and services and significant and on-going financial benefits and to enable self-service in HR functions. As it was intended to introduce Project Athena in two phases, this would reduce the risk element and allow the council to learn from any issues from those project partners who were introducing all processes at the same time. The impact of the changes on HR related activities, which were currently very labour intensive, would mean a reduction of 15 back office operational staff. The partnership working with other local authorities supported the One Council Programme approach, whilst the transition to a single Oracle Release 12 platform for HR and payroll functions and ultimately financial tasks too would bring efficiencies and drive down operational costs. Members noted that the cost of implementing the scheme was around £2m and a tender exercise would be undertaken for a ‘systems integrator’. Clive Heaphy outlined the four possible financial benefits scenario and suggested that ... view the full minutes text for item 4. |
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Future of Customer Services PDF 109 KB 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 ... view the full minutes text for item 5. |
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Performance report for quarter 2, 2011-12 This report summarises performance information in relation to Health and Wellbeing Strategy and other strategies which collectively enable the Council to deliver Brent’s Borough Plan.
I have attached hard copies produced in colour for members only.
Minutes: Phil Newby introduced the report and explained that it was presented in a new format following requests to make it more streamlined. A traffic light approach was taken to categorise the performance of each indicator and each service area was provided with a scorecard. Phil Newby stated that Members could request more information on any areas of interest to them to be presented at a future meeting.
The Chair enquired whether there had been improvements in Adult Social Care performance in the most recent assessment. Phil Newby advised that the Adult Social Care Transformation Programme was a major programme of improvement within the One Council Programme and an update would be provided from Alison Elliott (Director of Adult Social Care).
Clive Heaphy then presented a financial summary of the report and advised that the budget for 2011-12 was on track after the overspend in Adult Social Care had been compensated for in other areas. In addition, the council was benefitting from favourable borrowing rates and Clive Heaphy was confident that the financial year would close on budget.
Councillor Lorber sought more information on what areas had overspent. He raised the issue of illegal sub-letting of council properties and asked if the council was taking any steps to address this and also to use as an opportunity to recover any income. Councillor Chohan asked if there were any figures available in respect of council properties being sub-let. The Chair asked if the Electoral Register could be used to ascertain whether such properties were being sub-let. Councillor Mitchell Murray spoke of concern regarding multiple tenancies and overcrowding in properties and also stated that some were taking advantage of the Empty Properties Act by moving into vacant properties.
In reply, Clive Heaphy advised that overspends had occurred in Adult Social Care and Children’s Social Care and this was due to these areas being demand led. Efforts were being made to ease demand by working in collaboration with relevant partners, however it was inevitable that demand was subject to rises, particularly in the present economic circumstances. In respect of sub-letting of council properties, Clive Heaphy advised that the council was working with other West London authorities through data matching to help identify such properties, although data protection issues needed to be taken into account. Members heard that such action was unlikely to lead to significant financial gain for the council, however, it would help ensure that council accommodation would be provided to those in most need and reduce those being housed in temporary accommodation. The Electoral Register was used to help identify cases of sub-letting, along with the Client Index and Clive Heaphy concurred with the suggestion that Members could assist by reporting any suspected sub-letting of a council property. |
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One Council Overview and Scrutiny work programme PDF 63 KB The work programme is attached. Minutes: Jacqueline Casson (Senior Policy Officer, Strategy, Partnerships and Improvement) reminded Members to contact her if they had any suggestions for items to add to the work programme. |
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Date of next meeting The next meeting of the One Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee is scheduled for 21 March 2012.
Minutes: It was noted that the next meeting of the One Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee was scheduled for Wednesday, 21 March 2012 at 7.30 pm.
Councillor Chohan advised of his apology for absence at the next meeting. |
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Any other urgent business Notice of items raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Democratic Services Manager or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 64. Minutes: None. |