Minutes:
“Since becoming a Councillor, I have noticed that Council response levels and
times to my enquiries vary wildly from department to department, and indeed person to person. Some respond quickly, and with relevant information, and this is great as it enables me to get back to my resident with an update and manage their expectations.
Sadly though, this is not the norm and, in many cases, Councillors get no response until it has been chased once, twice or sometimes three or more times. Councillors do not expect an immediate answer or resolution to enquiries, we know that is not possible or realistic in most cases. What I think we should expect though is an acknowledgement that the issue has been received, details of the next steps to be taken or who is dealing with it, and a date that we will be updated.
To be clear, this is not about getting issues resolved at the initial stage, it is about acknowledgement and communication, so that the residents that we represent can be kept informed. It is also not a case that Councillors are more important than the public, but commonly, we are asked to intervene either on behalf of residents or when residents have not been able to get a resolution from the council themselves.
Delays and/or inefficiency reflect badly on the council and on Councillors, and more importantly can mean that maintenance or safety work can be delayed. In light of the recent housing maintenance failures, there is a need for this to be addressed as part of the council's commitment to keeping the momentum going.
So, my question is as follows. Will the council agree to implement a 'service level agreement' for responding to Councillor's queries, an SLA that ensures that within 24 hours Councillors are aware of what the next stage of the enquiry will be, who will be dealing with it and when the next update will be given?”
Answer
“Thank you Councillor Platt for your question.
I am sure members are aware, as reported to our Cabinet earlier this month, we are carrying out a council-wide review of customer service as our contact centre and reception will be brought in-house at the end of the Sopra Steria contract in December this year. This will also be developed into a brand new Customer Service Strategy, which will set out our commitments to residents and members. The setting of SLA will be very much part of this strategy.
It is our intention to engage with members after the Election to seek your views on our Customer Service Strategy and also to brief you more about our new customer contact system, Jadu, which we are planning to develop this further to capture member enquiries. The system will have the capability for members to receive an acknowledgement, clear timescales for response and name of the investigating Officer in the future.
This is a sizable project and that I do not believe it is right to set SLA on members queries in isolation without considering the implications on the overall Customer Service strategy. Otherwise I fear there is a danger that our members may be inundated with residents enquiries and they may simply by-pass all the other means of customer contacts.
To sum up, we have already embarked on a new customer improvement journey and agree in principle that it is helpful to set SLA on members enquiries, but we cannot agree to a specific SLA at this stage, without considering the wider picture.
In the meantime, if members are not receiving a response on your queries in a timely manner, can I please ask you to contact the relevant Head of Service and / or Portfolio holder?”
(Note: Apologies were received from Councillor Platt, so the question was read out by an officer).