Appendix 7 Service Planning Policy and Strategies of the Service, how the service operates and how it monitors performance What are the various elements of the service being reviewed? The functions of Customer Contact across Dumfries and Galloway Council in all departments: Chief Executive Service Community & Customer Services Education Services (including schools) DGFirst Planning & Environment Services Social Work Services How does the service currently contribute towards the Council’s Priorities and commitments? Customer contact is an integral part of all Council services and without it the Council would be unable to deliver on any of its priorities and commitments How is the service currently provided? Service is delivered at different levels across all departments, and with exception of staff in Contact centres, Integrated Service centres and Contact Centre, by staff that are also business support in services. Delivered face to face at: Council offices reception areas Integrated facilities (libraries & csc’s) School offices Delivered over the telephone at the Contact centre Delivered on line through the Council Website Why do we provide the service, is it Council policy, discretionary or statutory? If statutory, what standard of service is required to meet this Customer contact is an integral part of all Council services Direct customer contact in the following services is statutory: Electoral Register Births, Deaths and Marriages
Transcript
Appendix 7
Service Planning
Policy and Strategies of the Service, how the service operates and how it monitors performance
What are the various elements of the service being reviewed?
The functions of Customer Contact across Dumfries and Galloway Council in all departments:
Chief Executive Service
Community & Customer Services
Education Services (including schools)
DGFirst
Planning & Environment Services
Social Work Services
How does the service currently
contribute towards the Council’s
Priorities and commitments?
Customer contact is an integral part of all Council services and without it the Council would be unable to
deliver on any of its priorities and commitments
How is the service currently provided?
Service is delivered at different levels across all departments, and with exception of staff in Contact
centres, Integrated Service centres and Contact Centre, by staff that are also business support in
services.
Delivered face to face at:
Council offices reception areas
Integrated facilities (libraries & csc’s)
School offices
Delivered over the telephone at the Contact centre Delivered on line through the Council Website
Why do we provide the service, is
it Council policy, discretionary or
statutory?
If statutory, what standard of
service is required to meet this
Customer contact is an integral part of all Council services
Direct customer contact in the following services is statutory:
Electoral Register
Births, Deaths and Marriages
Appendix 7
obligation? School enrolment, free school meals, education maintenance allowance (EMA); clothing grants
Strategic Housing
Revenues & benefits
Planning
Licensing
What are the current objectives of
the service?
To resolve customer queries, whenever possible, at the first point of contact.
Overarching aims of draft customer service strategy:
Customers can reach us easily
Customers can expect to receive clear information and be treated with respect
Customers can tell us how we’re doing
What are the key influences that
are currently affecting the service?
Some key influencers both external and internal are listed below:
Local Government ICT Strategy
Digital by default requirements
Customer Insight
Channel Insight
Savings/Efficiency plans
Service Plans ICT visions
Channel Shift Strategy
Customer Service Strategy
Web redesign
CSC Integration plan
Contact Centre Development plan
Requirement for an enhanced and proactive Social Media presence
Self Service demands of the customer
Requirement for a “One Account” to facilitate self service securely
Contact Centre review – including potential for enhanced 24hr provision of services
Carnegie UK survey
SWAN
Appendix 7
What would happen if the service
was not provided?
If key contact points not available and telephone contact centre not in place there would be
considerable reputation damage to the council in that the citizens would not be able to interact with the
Council.
The removal of contact at local service offices and through use of individual telephone contact numbers
could be considered without negative impact to customers and could generate efficiencies.
What changes are anticipated in
the next 5 years (e.g. major
changes in resourcing, statutory
framework or method of service
delivery)
Reshaping of the council - major reshaping of the way our services are delivered
Service Reviews – reviewing how we do things and delivering agreed savings
Aging workforce in Customer Services – loss of skills and knowledge if we don’t succession plan
Council savings to be achieved - £30m over next 3 years which will result if service efficiency
requirements
Increased expectation from our customers for self service availability
Need to integrate service delivery to reduce costs and improve customer service
Improved broadband connectivity across the region
Digital by default expectations
Health and Social Care Integration requirements
Scottish Government elections in 2016 - changes that could affect local government
Local Government elections in 2017 - changes in local priorities
Impact of Community Empowerment Bill and local democracy changes
Office access strategy
Dumfries Learning Town
What are the key legislative,
economic or social variables that
are likely to affect the need or
demand for the service in the
future?
Legislative: o Welfare Reform Act 2013 o Statutory Instrument for Community Planning/ Community Learning and Development
Regulations 2013 o Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill 2014 o Housing Scotland Act (2010) o The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Bill 2013 o Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Bill 2013 o Christie Commission – The Future of Public Services
Appendix 7
o Digital by Default Policy o Varney Report - Service Transformation: a Better Service For Citizens and Businesses o Gershon Report - Independent Review of Public Sector Efficiency o Government’s Digital Inclusion Strategy
Social: o Aging demographics – and their contact expectations o Aging workforce - and issues on training/experience loss o Managing customer expectations - same level of service with fewer resources o Recognition of requirements for self service - need for web development and upkeep of
information o Social media usage - needs to be proactive and planned not reactive and intermittent o Ever changing technologies o Council Anti Poverty Strategy
Economic o Reducing council and service budgets o Need to deliver savings whilst improving customer satisfaction o Need to invest in infrastructure and support initially to deliver on long term savings
What impact will these have on the
ability to provide the service over
the next few years?
A reduction in experienced staff leaving service and skills gap
Need for multi skilled staff delivering across customer service range of services
Reduction in budget will require increased service efficiency
Increasing customer demand for self service and an improved digital infrastructure
Requirement to assist customers to move to “cheaper” delivery methods
Requirement to have additional resources allocated to change processes to meet digital requirements from a reducing skill set and number.
Potential increased number of contacts through enhancing options for contact
Increasing customer expectation for automated communication and audit trails of contact
Need to effectively gather information on customers to improve delivery
Are there any other corporate
issues that need to be addressed?
The outcomes of several service review programmes in particular:
o BTB08 – administration and support services
o BTB02 - debtors billing and Financial control
Appendix 7
o BTB03 - Housing, revenues, benefits and financial advice
The outcomes of the above reviews need to be taken into consideration with the wider review of
the Council being undertaken by the Chief Executive
Council savings - how we contribute to this through identifying efficiencies and providing more
effective ways of providing the service
Council policy on no compulsory redundancies
Council’s integrated services programme currently underway and the efficiency requirements
from that
Savings identified by services that involve implementation of self service and their timescales
Council commitment to shared services and partnership working
Who else provides the exact or
similar service or the same or
similar elements of the service?
Specific customised service delivery in CSC/Integrated Service Delivery points and Contact Centre.
All services provide customer contact in different shapes and sizes dependent on nature of service.
Largely through business support staff although there is an element of customer service in all front line
delivery posts.
Are there alternative credible
providers of the service? Who
provides the exact or similar
service?
Some elements of provision could be provided externally - contact centre is an example of that. Some
third sector provision could also be expanded for customer contact.
What is the strength of
competition?
Not known – but suspect not strong
What is the total budget for the
service?
See appendix attached to report for details of draft budgets
What is the total level of statutory
spending?
Not distinguishable - some related to provision of for example Registration Services
What funding streams are provided Nil
Appendix 7
direct from government or other agencies?
Which activities/outputs are reliant on this funding?
The customer service provision is across council, across all services as well as specific to support contact centre and face to face provision. Also included costs of web development and support teams.
What is the total level of non-
statutory expenditure?
To be determined
What are the main items in the total
expenditure for the service
expressed as a proportion of the
total budget for:
Employee costs
Supplies, goods and
services
Equipment and vehicles
Buildings and/or asset
rentals
Corporate overheads
Support services
This will require to be further developed to give an accurate across council assessment as a part of this review.
What income or fees does the
service generate?
This will require to be further developed to understand definition of what will be classed as “fees” – as a
number of services have “fees” associated with the service delivery which include a customer contact
element including building control, planning, registration, libraries etc
How are the fees and charges set? Level of statutory fees re above are agreed at committee through budget setting.
List of key issues arising
Reducing resources
Lack of information about customer requirements
Lack of benchmarking or use of info to improve service delivery
Definition of customer contact for going forward in service review needs clarity
Need to recognise differences in localities whilst ensuring consistency of service across
Appendix 7
channels and across areas is available.
Customers need encouragement and support to change how they interact with the Council
Need to recognise need for investment in infrastructure and staffing in short/medium term to realise benefits and efficiencies in the longer term.
Customer Results
How well the service meets the needs and expectations of its customers
What do you presently know about
your customers?
All residents of D&G - persona and journey mapping have been used to identify “types” of customers
and their expectations in relation to how they contact and interact with the Council. No available,
accurate information available for further analysis.
Other Council Services - customer contact is also provided for internal services - this has not been
developed as part of this review.
Partnership and third sector organisation - the provision of joint up provision with partners and third
sector will be investigated as part of this review.
What is the current need or
demand for the service? (consider
the various groups of customer and
different elements of the service)
Limited information is collected via our current CRM system which is detailed below. However a
significant number of customer interactions are not recorded on this system.
Channel Number of Contacts %
Face to face 92715 41%
Telephone 127098 56%
Other e.g. mail, email 7972 3%
An extensive exercise to get average recording figures for each service was undertaken and
summarised below. Key points to note include:
Very few systems being used to record customer contact
Customer contact for the exercise below based on initial contact before professional officer
involvement
Most are estimated based on outputs or knowledge
No accurate and consistent method of recording used therefore limited value in terms of
comparison and future planning
Appendix 7
Directorate Total Face to face Tel Web Other
SWS 39,052 21,732 12,320 0 5,000
Education 7,326 150 2,184 0 4,992
P&E 25,673 7,531 14,436 1,461 2,245
CES 385,510 10,769 11,800 67,915 295,026
CCS 287,712 151,226 111,847 0 24,639
DGF 61,343 16,299 43,509 0 1,535
Note school admin staff not included in these figures but has been recognised that 40-60% of staff time is allocated to customer (parent) interaction.
What is the trend in need or
demand over recent years and for
the next 3 years?
No accurate trend data available. It is forecast that by providing additional channels and choices to
contact us that numbers could increase.
What are the present
characteristics of customers or
users of the service?
Personas were developed using area profiles and demographic information and identified 9 key
customer groups:
Residents of small to mid sized towns with strong local roots
Families in low rise social housing with high level of benefit needs
Elderly residents reliant on state support
Couples with young children in modern housing
Middle income families in modern suburban housing
Active elderly residents in retirement locations
Residents of isolated communities
Visitors
Staff
What have existing consultation
mechanisms told you about the
views of customers or non-users?
During 2014/2015 17 surveys were carried out by 4 Departments of which CSMT was used by 3
surveys and one survey partly used the questions contained in CSMT. The Services who did not use
CSMT either are using industry wide survey questions e.g. the BTS Infra survey uses the SOCITM
Benchmarking User Satisfaction Questionnaire or as in the case of Education the surveys are linked to
Appendix 7
specific questions regarding parental satisfaction with elements of their child’s education and their views
of the school. However Education are looking at CSMT to gauge whether some of the questions or use
of the 5 drivers of customer satisfaction would be appropriate to include in surveys in the future.
It is likely that on-going consultation will be part of the new web development and a consultation plan
will be developed as part of review.
What are the customers/users
needs and are these currently
being met?
Customer needs are varying from simple to complex and there are varying methods of testing being
used including surveys whether these are being met but no consistent across council approach
What is the current level of
satisfaction in the community?
Unknown to consistent methodology applied and no KPI’s in place.
What does the analysis of customer complaints and suggestions tell us?
Whilst the majority of complaints are about a process and not staff initial analysis is indicating that a significant amount of time is allocated to dealing with matters when they are escalated to complaints as opposed to resolution at first point of contact
Do customers or users value one
function above others?
No consistent approach to gathering this type of information to enable effective analysis to take place
Are there any known gaps in your
current consultation information?
Significant gaps in terms of consistency of how consultation takes place, what is measured and how
used to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction.
List key issues arising
Lack of consultation that is effective, controlled, measured consistently and used to evidence
service change or improvements.
Need to set standards customers cant expect
Need to set across council Kpi’s
Need to evidence use of information and consultation to change/improve service delivery
Appendix 7
People Resources
What people resources are used and how they are managed and motivated
What are the staffing levels
(include organisational structure
together with staffing profile)
Dedicated Customer Services staff in Contact Centre and Integrated Service Centres =
All other staff are embedded in core service delivery for other services, in most cases also perform the
business support functions within services.
Approximate figures and costs in appendix to report
What is the employee turnover
level?
Estimated to be low
What is the average level of
employee sickness absence in the
service?
Only available data is corporate as below:
The average number of days lost per all other (non teacher) local government employees through sickness absence
12.2 days
9 days
Percentage of days lost per employee through sickness absence as a percentage of total possible attendances
4.88% 4%
What level of skills and experience
do employees have within the
service?
Varied across all departments as part of wider business support gradings. Some work done to identify
those providing customer care and course provided. Expectations include:
Basic induction training
Customer Care (CDU)
Customer Services Professional Qualification
Call Handling
Do these skills and experience
match the need for future service
requirements?
With the current structure of embedded within business support sections in services skills are sufficient.
Integrated services delivery model has identified issues of cross training for staff which will be examined
as part of this review.
Appendix 7
Provision of enhanced services within the contact centre would require additional skills assessment and
provision of policy and controls to be implemented.
What are the key concerns or
satisfactions for employees which
impact on service delivery?
Some concerns expressed re integrated service delivery model in terms of structure, job enrichment
and gradings which have initially impacted on service delivery and customer satisfaction. This will be
examined as part of this service review. Any new models/delivery methodologies require extensive staff
and customer consultation.
Staff concerns being expressed that there are cross over of reviews and staff are being considered
more than once for change which is impacting on morale.
How are employees involved in
assessing improvements and
performance issues?
CCS • Area Staff Meetings: A minimum of three of these are held annually in each of the four areas. These meetings allow CCS staff to have the opportunity for face to face dialogue with the Director and Heads of Service. The format for these meetings also includes the opportunity for Staff Focus Group style discussions to take place. The recommendations and feedback from staff at these events form the basis of a report to CCS Management Team and where possible are acted upon, hence demonstrating the value and importance that is placed on staff views. • Regular Service Manager and Principal Officer events are held within CCS, as well as monthly
Team Meetings at which staff have the opportunity to contribute, therefore ensuring they are engaged
with and informed on CCS, service specific and operational matters.
CES
One to one monthly meetings in place for all staff
Monthly team meetings in place
CES staff focus group used to gather staff thoughts, suggestions and improvement ideas
Improvement plans in place through PSIF exercise including staff involvement
DGF
Appendix 7
Support focus group in place for ideas, improvements and suggestions
Monthly one to one’s in place for staff
Monthly staff meetings held
P&E
Staff consultation through focus groups
Feedback from internal and external measures and staff suggestions
PDR and meeting schedules include staff ideas
Education: Regular meetings within central support services
Secondary schools have regular team meetings
No team meetings in primary due to small numbers and infrequent attendance patterns
All staff have annual PDR’s
Social Work: Team meetings Supervision sessions for all staff
How do you ensure effective
operation of key service
deliverables?
All services have business plans in place which are monitored through covalent.
All services have one-to-one/supervision sessions in place for staff
Team plans are used in some services to monitor at team level
Improvement plans are in place for some services based on either inspection frameworks or internal
PSIF assessments.
List key issues
Develop understanding of Customer Contact requirements at service/location based level to
prioritise training for staff
Appendix 7
Staff response to change and potential duplication across service reviews
Customer contact vision for each service requires to be developed
Staff skills need developed in new technologies, re-engineering of services for digitisation and
dealing with customer expectations
Issue been raised about staff skills and capacity in relation to development of self service – may
need external support for initial implementation period.
Partners and Other Resources
Relationships with partners, other resources and how these are managed
What are the interfaces with other
services/functions or partners?
Customer contact interfaces with all other services and functions of the council to some extent.
What internal and external
partnerships exist and for what
purpose?
Internally – across all services
Externally - Police for CCTV monitoing; Fire service for alarm monitoring; Some service provisions
have customer service as part of their SLA’s with external providers for example call handling
Customer contact is embedded within all service delivery whether for external customers or internal
services.
Is it possible to enter into
partnership with other providers
that could be explored?
Third party or contractor provision of services should be explored.
Partnership approach with other public services should be explored.
Can users or customers choose
between the providers or make
independent comparisons between
them?
Due to the nature of customer contact across all services there is currently no choice for customers in
terms of service delivery.
Can customers or users be This should be investigated as part of service review
Appendix 7
involved in the delivery or
services?
List key issues
Explore use of external providers for services
Explore use of partnerships with other public service providers
Need to understand and manage customer expectations from offering alternative ways of
contact.
Need to have processes that are fit for purpose, streamlines and co-ordinated to generate
efficiencies
Staff involvement and communication needs to be developed
Customer engagement requires to be initiated and supported
Service Processes
Activities and Initiatives – what the service does to meet the aims it has set out
What is the volume of key activities
of the function, service or services
within the review? This may
include numbers of transactions,
customers, inspections,
applications processed and other
relevant volume data.
Best estimates contained in the table in customer section on page 8 of this document
Has this changed over the past 3
years? If so, how?
Not known
To what extent do existing ICT
systems support the service?
Only common way of recording information for customer contact is through our CRM system. There is a
limited amount of services on the system and therefore a limited amount of information. Our new self
service module within our web platform will enable a consistent approach to recording customer
information and support the required “one account” approach as well as providing an ability to evidence
Appendix 7
benefits to channel shift through “dashboards” to log benefits. A CRM review currently underway will
ascertain the requirements for any future CRM requirements for the Council.
Some services have some level of interactions and transaction information on their back office systems
including, Comino, Respond, Seemis and Lagan for EMES and CMES.
How could the service be improved
with enhanced ICT systems and
infrastructure?
A new web platform will allow the development of business process re-engineering, automated
communication and content management to facilitate improving self service options for our customers
as well as providing a means of redesigning processes to fit digital service provision and ensuring we
make full use of automated communications to manage customer expectations.
The implementation of one account integration to back office services will ensure we can offer secure
accounts for our customers to enable them to manage their interactions and transactions with the
council securely whilst ensuring that back office system responses are automated to reduce duplication
and improve efficiencies.
What transactions within the
service could be carried out
electronically or be automated?
Each department has produced a prioritised action plan and we have a draft Channel Access Plan
which is up for approval with the papers of this meeting. The Customer Service Programme Board will
produce a corporate prioritised action plan based on an agreed framework and scoring methodology
which will be approved by CMT late this current calendar year.
What transactions within the
service are currently carried out
electronically?
See previous table on page 8 - this is only information currently available.
Describe the main processes or
functions of your service/business
area and who is responsible for
delivery?
The main processes will be confirmed as part of this service review
Identify the main processes
involved. (This type of breakdown
may help with benchmarking or
inform separate business process
reviews)
Face to face enquiries
Telephone
E mail
Letters
Web transactions
What systems are in place to check Council Corporate Complaints, Compliments and Comments procedure
Appendix 7
concerns, complaints and
discrimination?
EMES and Community Council Enquiry Service
Staff supervision and meetings
What quality systems are used in
the service?
PSIF has been adopted as the corporate approach to self assessment. Each of the services who have
undertaken the assessment have an improvement plan in place. The customer service improvements
need to be collated and assessed as part of this Service Review.
Are there any process strengths or
weaknesses which need to be
addressed?
Multi skilled management and staff teams who are able to provide a variety of services and react quickly
to deal effectively and efficiently with any situation which may arise. A willingness to provide the best
customer service to the public.
Different approach to recording customer contact needs to be addressed as part of this review including
setting of KPI’s and customer expectations. These are detailed in the Customer Strategy and Charter
which is included in the paper to this committee.
Need to increase the number of queries dealt with at the first point of contact and reduce avoidable
contact through effective communication.
How are processes currently risk
assessed?
In individual departments
Which processes are deemed:
High Risk
Medium Risk
Low Risk
Face to face – medium risk
Telephone – high risk Why??????
Web – high risk
E mail – low risk
What steps are taken to
reduce/manage risk?
Business continuity planning
CCSPB monthly meetings
TCSPB monthly meetings
TCSWG monthly meetings
NEC quarterly meetings
Maintenance and management of risk registers
List key issues arising
Web and self service processes need to be prioritised, developed, and benefits identified and
evidenced.
Appendix 7
Policy, processes and effective management need to be put in place to enable proactive use of social
media
Face to face process need to be examined to ensure consistency and equality of service provision is in
place.
Key Performance Results
The performance of the service in relation to the targets set out in business and team plans
How is the current performance of
the service monitored?
Body Frequency
Departmental Management Team Monthly
Corporate Management Team Monthly
CCS Committee Twice a year
4 x Area Committees Twice a year
Covalent, an online performance management system is used to record and report performance. A network of Covalent Administrators supports this work and a corporate covalent administrator’s network enables consistency to be applied across our Council.
Performance indicators are used to report on the Single Outcome Agreement, Council Priorities and
Commitments and the Scottish Local Government Benchmarking Framework. Services also feed in data
Appendix 7
to report on a set of Corporate Indicators and Equalities outcomes. Where performance exceeds or is
below targets set we produce exception reports which outline corrective action being taken to ensure
performance is back on track or to explain the reasons we have been able to over achieve.
What indicators are currently in
place to measure the performance
of the service?
No specifically set customer service KPI’s are currently set - this will be reviewed as part of this service
review
How does your performance
compare against:
Top quartile
Benchmarking group
average
No benchmarking currently in place specifically for customer services.
What are your present quality
standards and targets?
Current customer charter and handbook.
What are your present targets for
service delivery?
Current customer charter
Can you identify trends in results? Not as yet
Have you taken any action to
address any identified trends?
To be determined as part of service review
What currently recognised ‘best
practice’ authorities could you
compare with?
To be determined as part of service review
List key issues arising No kpi’s set – a set of indicators that is appropriate for assessing the performance need to be developed
No benchmarking undertaken - this needs to be taken forward as part of this review
Appendix 7
No trends mapped, understood or used to forward plan
Summary strengths, improvements and opportunities
What are the strengths of the
service?
Services engaging and responding
Wider community acceptance of need for change
Cross service working in place
Provision of direct customer services well respected
Staff knowledge and experience extensive
Knowledge in service provision localised and good
Integrated service provision
Work already underway through Transformational Channel Shift programme
What can be improved in the
service?
New web site - under development
Service processes – fit for purpose, streamlined and consistent
Recording of data - consistent and used for improvement priorities
Development of KIP’s and measurements - reported
Development of integration of front and back office systems to improve efficiencies
Make most of use of automated communication to manage customer expectations
Integrated ICT systems
Proactive use of social media
Communication and engagement with customers and staff
What are the opportunities for the
service?
Re-shaping of council allows customer services and customer contact focus to be developed
across the council through the centre of excellence
Opportunity to work with partners to deliver customer contact cohesively
Opportunity to gather customer information to drive customer centred decision making
Maximise expectations of specific customer sets through simple transactional processes on line.
Appendix 7
Opportunity to assist change with customers through adoption of a assisted delivery model
Use developed personas to drive service improvement based on customer needs
Summary of all key issues to take forward for the review scope
Having completed an analysis of
the service(s), what are the key
issues that will provide a change in
the performance of the service(s)
for the benefit of the community?
Use information gathered to
discuss the scope of the review
with the Lead Director, Head of
Service and the Business
Transformation Board.
Key finds based around 5 key points:
We do not have an agreed customer strategy to drive forward a vision for customer contact for
the future and we do not have any key standards to be measured and benchmarked against.
We do not effectively or consistently record customer contact and therefore do not design
change around our customer needs.
We need to ensure our customer contact is user centre, based on differences in localities and
provides equity of service across Dumfries and Galloway
We currently do not have staff capacity or skills to deliver transformational change. In general
we need to invest in the short term to allow staff to be trained in required skills whilst delivering
on the change required to generate the efficiencies and savings.
We currently do not have a significant number of interactions with customers through digital channels
and our processes are not fit for purpose, systems are not integrated and our communications are not
