Agenda item

7.1

The Director of HR and Customer Services, Mark Bennett, informed the Committee that the report gave an overview of the 2021/22 to date performance of the Customer Services Contact Centre.

7.2

It was mentioned that the report identified issues that affected performance, future developments and areas for improvement.

7.3

The Committee was advised that the Contact Centre had experienced issues on recruitment. It was also mentioned that inductions for new starters had been affected due to the pandemic.

7.4

New ways of working and how the Contact Centre could improve its performance were set out in the report for the Committee to review. Short-term issues and how to reduce immediate pressures along with long-term potential developments were highlighted.

7.5

Members of the Committee asked questions and the key points to note were-

7.6

Councillor Angela Argenzio referred to the Revenue and Benefits table which reported the longest waiting and handling times across all the departments outlined in the report. Councillor Argenzio asked why it was difficult to contact the Revenue and Benefits department. The Director of HR and Customer Services acknowledged that the waiting and handling times were unacceptable although it was mentioned that the nature of the calls directed to Revenue and Benefits, were usually more complex and required specialist responses.

7.7

Councillor Angela Argenzio asked what the Customer Services Contact Centre had done to improve their performance. The Director of HR and Customer Services informed the Committee that the Storm telephony system along with a new CRM (Customer Records Management) system had been introduced. The Director of HR and Customer Services outlined the ambition to improve the Council’s Contact Centre webpage, adding that the aim was to make it the primary point of receiving adequate information, which would lead to the reduction of call volume. It was mentioned that approximately 60% of customers had tried to resolve their issues initially on the Councils webpage before calling the Contact Centre.

7.8

The Director of HR and Customer Services stated that approximately 30% of customers had previously called the Contact Centre and the purpose of their call was to follow up on existing enquiries. Therefore, it was noted that issues needed to be dealt with first time round, which would also lead to the reduction of call volume.

7.9

Councillor Angela Argenzio asked if there was a timeframe on updating the Contact Centres webpage. The Director of HR and Customer Services advised that developing the webpage would not be a quick process and would require contribution from multiple services, therefore a deadline would not be confirmed.

7.10

Councillor Angela Argenzio asked if there was anything in place to encourage staff to remain in the Contact Centre. The Director of HR and Customer Services explained that Team Leaders, Supervisors and Managers were excellent at providing support to staff. Corleen Bygraves-Paul stated that regular one to ones and team meetings were scheduled. It was added that one reason why staff leave the Contact Centre was due to development opportunities as the Contact Centre is known for developing staff knowledge in various services which gave staff the ability to progress their careers, within the Council.

7.11

Councillor Josie Paszek expressed sympathy for the staff within the Contact Centre. Councillor Paszek asked if the Contact Centre was adequately staffed and how many posts required recruitment. Corleen Bygraves-Paul explained the difficulty around recruiting when the requirement is only for short-term contracts although active recruitment was taking place. Part-time staff had been asked to extend their working hours and the recruitment process had been adapted to attract quality staff. The training time for new starters had been reduced from 6 weeks to 3 weeks.

7.12

It was mentioned that 7 experienced Customer Service staff had moved to the Council’s Test, Track and Isolate Team and that they would return to Customer Services in the future.

7.13

Councillor Mohammed Mahroof stated that some customers could become anxious when trying to resolve an immediate issue, and that long waiting times could worsen the customers’ anxiety.

7.14

Alison Howard (Independent Co-opted Member) suggested that future reports should include benchmarking against other authorities and the private sector, this would assist the Committee understand the position of the Council compared to other organisations. There was also a suggestion to incorporate an action plan so the Committee could see the progress made at a future meeting.

7.15

The Chair thanked the Director of HR and Customer Services and Corleen Bygraves-Paul for their detailed responses and requested that the Executive Member for Finance and Resources be made aware of the discussion that had taken place.

7.16

RESOLVED: That (1) the Committee considered the report in order to provide its view on the future performance of service, the improvements proposed, and the issues raised and (2) the minutes be circulated to the Executive Member for Finance and Resources.