Agenda item

To recommend to the Executive Committee that the revised Customer Care Strategy be approved as set out at Appendix 1. 

83.1           The report of the Communications and Policy Manager, circulated at Pages No. 78-92, attached the Customer Care Strategy which Members were asked to recommend to the Executive Committee for approval.

83.2           The Communications and Policy Manager explained that the Council Plan included a promise that the Council would put the needs of customers at the heart of what it did and would listen to what they said, treating people fairly and without bias.  The Customer Care Strategy detailed how the Council planned to deliver customer care and outlined the organisational commitments it would make to customers.  The strategy also included a set of customer care standards which detailed what customers could expect from the Council and they would be adopted by all services across the authority.  The draft strategy had been considered at an Overview and Scrutiny Committee workshop on 11 January 2016 where Members had endorsed the proposals.  If the strategy was approved by the Executive Committee, Officers would work with staff to ensure that the standards were effectively embedded and they would also be presented at a staff briefing.  The Communications and Policy Manager felt that it should be borne in mind that this would be a cultural change for some services, however, she was confident that the standards could be rolled out successfully.

83.3           A Member noted that there were several references to letters and online queries receiving a response within 10 working days and she questioned how this would be monitored.  The Communications and Policy Manager explained that the onus would be on Managers to ensure that the standards were being implemented within their own teams.  It was noted that Officers were already working to a 10 working day response rate so this should not represent a major change.  If Members did experience any problems with particular areas, she encouraged them to report this to her so she could work with that particular Manager to address any problems.  A Member indicated that he often experienced problems with the Planning department failing to pick up telephone calls and he queried whether this was due to workload.  He went on to advise that the main problem was not necessarily that a particular Officer was not available but rather that there was no response whatsoever and, therefore, no indication as to when a response might be received.  The Deputy Chief Executive explained that, although the volume of planning applications being received was significant, there was a wider issue around re-educating staff.  It had also been identified that a more effective case management system could help to free up Officers and work was being done with the Customer Services team to identify possible solutions.  The Member felt that it would be useful for the Lead Member for Customer Focus to attend a future meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in order to answer questions once the strategy had embedded and he explained that, as a relatively new Member of the Council, he did not feel that he was aware of what was included in the various Lead Member Portfolios.  The Democratic Services Group Manager advised that this point had been raised during the workshop on the review of the effectiveness of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  She explained that it was intended to reintroduce Lead Member presentations to Council in order to familiarise Members with the work which was carried out in each Portfolio and she would be putting together a programme for consideration by the Executive Committee and Corporate Leadership Team.  If the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had a number of questions on a particular issue then, under those circumstances, it may be appropriate to invite the responsible Lead Member to attend a meeting.

83.4           A Member suggested that it might be beneficial to add an automated message at the end of telephone calls inviting customers to rate the service they had received.  The Communications and Policy Manager advised that there was an action around monitoring satisfaction and an automated message would be considered amongst a range of options.  A  Member congratulated Officers on the strategy which she felt was a really good piece of work and it was subsequently

RESOLVED          That it be RECOMMENDED TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE that the Customer Care Strategy be APPROVED as set out at Appendix 1 to the report.