PAPER FA
Purpose:
For Decision
REPORT
TO THE EXECUTIVE
Date: DRAFT FOR 6TH
OCTOBER 2004
Title Proforma: CUSTOMER SERVICE CHARTER AND&
STANDARDS – ENDORSEMENT FOR ADOPTION BY THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNCIL
REPORT OF THE PORTFOLIO HOLDER FOR [COUNCILLOR
R BARRY – PORTFOLIO HOLDER RESOURCES]
IMPLEMENTATION DATE: 18 October 2004Immediate
SUMMARY/PURPOSE
1.
To endorse the Customer Service Charter &
Standards for adoption across the Council.
BACKGROUND
2.
There are currently a number of different Customer
Charters and Customer Care Standards in place across the authority. This has
contributed to different levels of performance across services and this paper
proposes that these be replaced by one common Customer Service Charter and set
of Customer Service Standards as part of the move towards an excellent,
customer centred organisation.
BACKGROUND
There are currently a
number of different Customer Charters and Customer Care Standards in place
across the authority. This has contributed to different levels of performance
across services and this paper proposes that these be replaced by one common
Customer Service Charter and set of Customer Service Standards as part of the
move towards an excellent, customer centred organisation.
2. There are currently a number of different
Customer Charters and Customer Care Standards in place across the authority.
This has contributed to different levels of performance across services and
this paper proposes that these be replaced by one common Customer Service
Charter and set of Customer Service Standards as part of the move towards an
excellent, customer centred organisation.
The Executive is asked
to endorse the Customer Service Charter & Standards for adoption across the Council.
CONFIDENTIAL/EXEMPT
ITEMS
1.There are no confidential or exempt items.
BACKGROUND
3.
The development of the Customer Services Charter &
Standards is part of the GAGS Service Improvement Programme. The Programme is aiming to deliver on a set
of objectives that includes the objective for the Council to become truly
“customer-centred”. The Charter &
Standards are one of the ways in which we are bringing about the organisational
transformation required to deliver on that objective.
STRATEGIC CONTEXT
(c)
Organisational Change - which aims to review the way services
are currently delivered to the public, eliminate those things which no longer
need to be done and to work with services on those which remain to take
advantage of new technologies and news ways of working to provide consistent,
high quality customer centred services across the authority.
6.
As part of this work, it became clear that the
authority currently
works to a range of different Customer Charters and Standards. Whilst each is useful in its own
right, the net effect of this mix is differential standards and expectations
across different parts of the authority.
7.
The GAGS project team has therefore worked with
Directorates, Services and others as appropriate to develop a standard Customer
Charter and set of Customer Service Standards for the authority.
8.
The Executive is now asked:
(a)
to endorse the attached Customer Service Charter
(b)
to endorse the attached Customer Service Standards
(c)
to support the principle that these should become
the mandatory minimum standards across the authority
(d)
to support the principle that services should
display the corporate charter and standards in all public facing areas and that local
variations on these should not be displayed
1.The
organisational transformation of which this is a part is driven by Central
Government’s “modernising” agenda. The
Council has embraced that agenda and instigated the GAGS Programme to deliver
the required organisational change. GAGS began at the end
of 2002 when a number of different things came together at the same time.
There were a variety of ICT projects that had
reached the point where they could go in any of several directions and which
therefore needed a steer from the organisation as to the most appropriate way
forward.
This was particularly the case for the Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) project that was looking at the sort of
information systems that were available to help the organisation manage the way
it handles contacts with the public. In order to move forward, the project
needed a clear view from the organisation about how the council wanted to deal
with the public.
At the same time, a Best Value project that was
looking at what the public thought about the way the council provides services
reached the conclusion that the council needs to improve significantly the way
that it provides services to people.
Perhaps most importantly, the council received the
results of the Comprehensive Performance Assessment that rated the council as
‘fair’ (on a scale of poor, weak, fair, good and excellent).
As all of these strands came together, it became clear that the organisation
needed to change and the senior management of the organisation prepared a paper
that set out the proposed way forward.
In very simple terms, the paper proposed that the
organisation should adopt the vision of becoming a truly customer centered
organisation with the supporting slogan of ‘Great Access to Great Services’ and
so GAGS was born. After extensive consultation and external assessment, the
paper was submitted to full Council and in February 2003, was approved for
implementation.
1.Genuinely,
the objective to be excellent, in relation to customer service, will contribute
to all Corporate Objectives. The
Charter & Standards demonstrably support the stated vision and provide the
means to both drive the priorities of the change agenda and provide the
benchmark by which we will be measured in the future.
CONSULTATION
9.
Appropriate consultation with all identified
stakeholders has been maintained throughout the development of the Charter
& Standards.
10.
Consultation has taken place with:
(a) the public, via the Citizens
Panel and by publishing the draft Charter & Standards on iwight.com and by
exhibiting the draft in reception and other access points
(b) Members
(directly) through the GAGS Programme Board and GAGS Special Interest Group for
Members
(c) Staff (directly) through the Frontline
Focus Group and the Front Office Working Group and via direct requests for
feedback
(d) Unison, directly
(e) Members of the Local Strategic
Partnership through presentation and circulation
(f) the Diversity Link Group
(g) Town & Parish Councils and Community Forums
FINANCIAL/BUDGET
IMPLICATIONS
11.
The principal cost associated with the Charter
& Standards will be printing costs. These have been estimated as follows:
(b) 1,000 leaflets - Ł239, 5,000 leaflets - Ł368 or 10,000 leaflets - Ł574
The first print run will be limited, to gauge public reaction. Future print runs will also be limited due
to the commitment to update the documents on a regular basis.
12.
These costs will be met from existing the
???????????????????????strategic funding provided for the GAGS project.
LEGAL
IMPLICATIONS
13.
There are no perceived legal implications of
developing and publishing the Customer Service Charter & Standards.The adoption of a charter is consistent with the
duty to deliver best value services, but raises no specific legal implications.
OPTIONS
14.
The available options are:
(a)
To aendorsepprove the
attached Charter and Standards as proposed
as the mandatory minimum standards across the authority
(b)
To support the principle that the corporate charter and
standards be displayed across the authority
and that local
variations on these should not be displayed
(c)
Not to approve the draft Charter and Standards.To provide alternative direction as appropriate.
The
request to the Executive to endorse the Charter & Standards for adoption by
the Council as demonstrable support for the vision is not, as it were, one of a
number of options. There are options
associated with how the Charter & Standards are disseminated. The Charter & Standards as evidence of
the commitment is fairly common practice and we have used examples from many
other local authorities in the design of our own. We believe it is Best Practice.
EVALUATION/RISK
MANAGEMENT
15.
The Customer Service Charter & Standards are
amongst a number of initiatives that will support the vision. The principal risk associated with this
element is the potential for the Council to fail to met the service standards
that are defined and the subsequent potential damage to it’s reputation. This risk has been, and
can be further managed: We recognise this risk and have addressed it in a
number of ways:, managedman
(a) Through extensive consultation – to ensure that the
standards are realistic and present the appropriate degree of challenge to
drive out improvement
Through
the development of the customer service and telephony strategies to support the
standards. The strategies include all
the elements that are needed to equip the Council to deliver on the standards
to make continuous improvement
Through
the development of the Training & Development programme to support
frontline and other staff
Through
the continued development of the Customer Relationship Management system (CRM)
and the Document Image Processing system (DIP)
|
RECOMMENDATIONS
16.
That theIt is recommended
that the Executive aendorsepprove the Customer Service Charter
& Standards for adoption by the Isle of Wight Council
|
BACKGROUND
PAPERS
17.
Full Council debate on 15th October 2003.
18.
Similar documents from other local authorities and
working drafts.[Add any document relied on to a material extent in
the drafting of the report]
ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION
19.
Appendix
One – The Customer Service Charter
Appendix Two – The
Customer Service Standards
Contact
Point: Ken May, GAGS Support, extn. 3046, [email protected]
|
DAVID PRICEH
ead
of Service
[David Price, Head of Organisational
Development]
|
REG BARRY
Portfolio
Holder for
[Councillor R Barry Portfolio Holder
Resources]
|
Checklist on next page MUST be completed before the
report is sent to Liz Dutton in Committee Services.