Agenda item

This report provides Members with a summary of the key deliverables achieved as a result of the Future of Customer Services project.

Margaret Read, Operational Director Brent Customer Services, introduced the report which provided a summary of the key deliverables achieved as a result of the Future of Customer Services Project. The Project had set out to achieve a more strategic approach to ensure that the Council’s customer contact resources matched the customer demand. The first objective of the Project was to bring together disparate points of contact into an integrated customer services environment to ensure that most enquires were resolved at first point of contact and that customers were only required to give their information once to avoid duplication and delay. To achieve this objective, they had, amongst a number of other initiatives, reviewed the list of published telephone numbers for the Council and had reduced the number from 154 to 89. They had also reduced the number of published email addresses for services from 95 to 87. They had also consolidated face to face contact into two customer services centre in the Civic Centre and in Willesden. The central call centre was now handling around 25% of all calls coming into the Council and the digital post room was scanning 93% of post. The web team had been brought within Customer Services team and there had been a fundamental review and redesign of the Council’s web site. There were new governance arrangements that ensured that the content was displayed in a coherent way and was more user friendly. They recognised that there was still more work to be done to improve the website based on customer feedback.

They had also achieved their second objective to ensure financial savings as they had saved 1.49 million in 2012/13 and 1.64 million in future years. They were continuing to modernise the service further and would provide the committee with an update regarding this in the new financial year.

In response to questions raised by the Committee Margaret Read stated that a number of other boroughs had also recently reworked their website. Therefore Brent had been communicating with them to learn from them what had worked well so they could use this information to inform the Brent access strategy. Margaret Read informed Members that she would let them know whether they should contact the street care team or the contact centre when reporting illegally dumped waste. She added that this was likely to be clarified under the new Public Realm contract but that she would confirm with Members. Members also requested an update on the trade waste arrangements under the new contract. It was confirmed that there were no indirect legal implications arising from the project and that she would provide the Committee with a full copy of the EIA completed in relation to the project. She also stated that she would inform Members how the post room dealt with registered post.

Members were informed that the Customer Services team had learnt a number of lessons regarding customer services arrangements from the Civic Centre that would be put in to practice in the new Willesden Green centre that was scheduled to open in the summer of 2015. For example they would have more self-service computers to ensure that more customers used the online facilities.

RESOLVED:

(i)            Members noted the report.