Agenda item

The report of the Customer Services Team Manager

The Customer Services Team Manager presented the report.

A Member suggested that there was plentiful evidence of demand in the report, but that evidence on outcomes, in the form of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), could be more detailed. In response, the Customer Services Team Manager advised that KPIs were deployed to target areas such as abandoned call rate, calls answered, customer satisfaction and customer resolution. These, she added, were benchmarked against other comparable local authorities, with the Customer resolution target lower as some resolutions were policy and legislation driven. There were also things which were hard to measure, and thus target, but which were monitored, such as talk time, wrap time and customer wait times. Soft skills and customer experience were included in call monitoring by supervisors and included in staff one-to-ones.

Several Members inquired about the role of both technology and the Customer Service Centre in addressing complaints. In response, the Customer Services Team Manager set out for Members the breakdown of complaints between the phoneline, the digital form and the Customer Service Centre. She also set out the use of calendars, tracked emails and advised Members that Customer Services did not currently use any callback technology for when users were on hold.

A Member asked whether provisions had been made to anticipate the budgeted reduction in funding to local charities, in the context of the rising cost of living, and also the effects of an ageing population. In response, the Customer Services Team Manager advised that Customer Services and charities served the same customer base, and efforts were made to work cooperatively together.

A Member requested a breakdown of complaints between the Services. The Strategic Director of Communities advised that Housing, Waste and Planning were the top three, with Housing some way ahead of the other two. The Customer Services Team Manager also noted that she had meetings with Officers from key services on a monthly basis to report on complaints, patterns and potential training required. Furthermore, her team were trained to holistically consider all of a customer’s needs rather than simply the particular complaint which was in front of them.

A Member asked about the process for Member enquiries and the Customer Services Team Manager advised that the Feedback Officer in her team dealt with these, and they were reported to the Corporate Leadership Team.

A Member asked about the reference in the report to a complaint which had been escalated to involving the Housing Ombudsman. The Strategic Director of Communities advised that he would circulate the report to the Committee, and the Customer Services Team Manager added that it was important to note that this case referred to a historic incident, due to a two year backlog in the Ombudsman’s workload.

The Chair stressed the value of KPIs and discussed the potential future impacts of demographic change. The Customer Services Team Manager advised that she would give greater consideration to KPIs in the next iteration of the report.

It was moved by Councillor M Blair-Park, seconded by Councillor A Morley, and

RESOLVED THAT:

A further annual report is to be presented to the Corporate Scrutiny Committee in 2025.