Agenda item

CUSTOMER ACCESS STRATEGY

The panel will receive an update with regard to progress on the Customer Access Strategy.

Minutes:

The panel received an update on progress with the Customer Access Strategy, ahead of the co-operative review.  In attendance for the purposes of the briefing were Faye Batchelor-Hambleton, Assistant Director for Customer Services, Peter Honeywell, Transformation Programmes Manager, and Ross Johnston, Transformation Project Officer.  Members were advised that –

 

(a)

 

the new city centre first stop shop, which was being designed around a retail bank model, would be more customer focussed and friendly with staff trained to assist in a much wider range of customer queries and needs.  Included within the facility would be a number of self-service points where customers could access services directly themselves with assistance being available on-hand if required.  Most significantly of all, the shop would be open late on a Thursday evening and on a Saturday morning and it was currently expected that the shop would open to coincide with the first late night Christmas shopping event;

 

(b)

 

following feedback, the ‘Customer Access Strategy’ had been renamed the ‘Customer Service Strategy’;

 

(c)

 

one of the biggest challenges faced by the Council, besides meeting the demands of face-to-face customers, was the volume of telephone calls.  An automated messaging service was therefore being developed which would give callers various options to select without the need to immediately speak to a member of staff (this option being the last with the caller being asked to hold to be connected).  With simple and straight forward requests being filtered out, the call centre staff would be freed up to concentrate on front line/high priority issues;

 

(d)

 

work continued on reviewing and rationalising the Council’s digital service to ensure that it was easier to use and that old information was not unnecessarily retained.  It was also hoped that more use could be made of the highly successful ‘Plymouth App’;

 

(e)

 

the new Customer Service Strategy was part of a package of documents, including the Customer and Service Blueprint, Customer and Service Roadmap and Implementation Plan, which would be presented to Cabinet on 9 November 2014;

(f)

 

the strategy was required in order to –

 

·         transform the way the City Council interacts with customers and  ensure uniformity of standards across the authority;

·         outline the standards customers can expect when interacting with the Council;

·         deliver services efficiently and cost effectively to all service consumers;

·         align and co-ordinate the necessary changes across the Council;

·         respond quickly to changing environmental pressure, political pressure and social pressure.

A copy of the draft Customer Services Strategy 2014-2017 summary document was tabled and Members were invited to submit their comments via e-mail to the Transformation Project Officer by Friday 12 September 2014.

 

It was proposed that a half-day co-operative review could be undertaken in October to –

 

·         review the full Customer Service Strategy;

·         explain and promote the Customer and Service Blueprint and Roadmap;

·         scrutinise the Implementation Plan and outlined actions

 

With regard to the co-operative review, the Chair and Democratic Support Officer would canvas members’ interest outside of the meeting.

 

(Members expressed concern about information being ‘tabled’ at the meeting and commented that it would be much more beneficial to the debate, and in terms of preparation, for them to have sight of all documentation in advance of meetings).

Supporting documents: