Agenda item

The Committee will receive a report on the Customer First Programme which will include an update on the Customer Service Centre.

Contributors:

Councillor John Chilver, Cabinet Member for Accessible Housing & Resources

Councillor Tim Butcher, Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources

Sarah Murphy-Brookman, Corporate Director for Resources

Lloyd Jefferies, Service Director for Resources – Business Operations

Paper:

Customer First and CSC Performance Update and Quarterly Dashboard

The Chairman welcomed Councillor T Butcher, Deputy Cabinet Member for Resources, and the officers to the meeting.

In the presentation from the Cabinet Member and Deputy Cabinet Member, the following points were highlighted:

• The customer service centre had improved significantly over the last 18 months, with additional resources being used to answer the calls where there was increased demand. The updated IT system had also helped improve the service. In the week before the meeting, 7,712 calls (95%) had been answered. The average wait time was 2.9 minutes, with the average handling time being 11.1 minutes. This equated to the Council receiving three calls per minute across an eight-hour working day.
• The public were encouraged to contact the Council electronically where possible. Where spikes were anticipated (e.g. after sending Council Tax reminders), mitigations had been put in place. Reductions in the number of calls were also expected through the move to a single planning service system which would allow county-wide access rather than the existing legacy council arrangements.

The following points were noted during the Committee’s discussion:

• A Member questioned whether the website’s search functionality was effective for customers. It currently still operated on the legacy systems due to a delay in the arrival of equipment needed to set up one system. Whilst improvements were needed to make the website more user-friendly, it was going through transformation and the search function was being improved. A web chat option was available on the ‘Contact Us’ page and would be implemented in other areas, such as the Revenue and Benefits pages. It would also respond to customers hovering over the web page as a pop-up to offer targeted support. Additionally, the service had met with Surrey County Council who had implemented AI and Chatbots.
• Due to additional demands in Revenue and Benefits, 10 additional full-time staff had been employed and trained. Turnover in the customer service department was high, with 34 staff having left the business over the last 12 months. Onboarding and training the new staff members were beneficial and low-cost, leading to an improvement in productivity.
• A Member noted that good risk planning helped to reduce the number of unknown events and highlighted the importance of keeping the customer service centre informed of any potential challenges. It was noted that the change of Revenue and Benefits systems was handled well due to the amount of preparation undertaken to inform customers and the customer service centre of the changes, and a similar exercise would be carried out during the Transport for Bucks contract transition. Weekly meetings were held by senior management to anticipate possible challenges, though it was not possible to foresee issues such as missed bins. The Customer First Initiative had highlighted the importance of good customer service and contributed to improvements. Overall, the challenges presented by unforeseen events had taught some important lessons about planning ahead and resulted in improved performance thereafter, alongside the use of behavioural nudges and call monitoring.
• Customer service training had been undertaken by all officers and agents, with 1,400 officers completing it within a few days. This training was also mandatory for new starters and was being rolled out across the organisation.
• The option for customer service staff to work additional hours was implemented to respond to spikes. Staff could be redeployed to answer phone calls and webchat enquiries.
• Cyber security was very important, and a focus of senior management’s weekly meetings. An internal phishing email with a Black Friday offer had been sent to staff to see how many employees would click on the link. Councillors had also been sent training sessions on Cyber Security.
• Sickness levels had generally been lower this time last year due to less socialisation. Differences in sickness levels were now seen between directorates where staff were more office based in comparison with front-facing roles. Sickness levels were mostly consistent across desk-based roles, whilst front-facing staff, such as social workers, had a different sickness absence profile. It was noted that sickness levels were difficult to compare, though directorates with mostly desk-based workers saw lower absences compared to mobile roles.
• A Member noted discrepancies in the percentages of calls answered which would be investigated and updated by the service. It was explained that these rates followed an industry standard deemed a reasonable wait, meaning customers who hung up within 60 seconds of their calls would not be included in the abandonment rate. It was suggested that the table should more clearly explain which calls were not included in the percentage.

Action: L Jefferies

The Chairman thanked the Cabinet Member and Deputy Cabinet Member for the report.