30 January 2013 A meeting of the COMMUNITY, HOUSING, ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES & PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE will be held at the Council Chambers, Bondi Road, Bondi Junction, at: 8.00PM, TUESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2013 COMMITTEE MEMBERS: Councillors: Betts (Mayor) Mouroukas (Chair) Goltsman (Deputy Chair) Burrill Clayton Guttman-Jones Kanak Masselos QUORUM: Four Committee members. APOLOGIES: Fax or e-mail the General Manager or the Governance Manager. Late notice by telephone or through a Councillor attending the meeting. Tony Reed GENERAL MANAGER Waverley Council PO Box 9, Bondi Junction, NSW 1355 DX 12006 Bondi Junction. Telephone: 9369 8000 Fax: 9387 1820 TTY: 9389 9827 (For hearing impaired) Website: www.waverley.nsw.gov.au
Transcript
30 January 2013 A meeting of the COMMUNITY, HOUSING, ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES & PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE will be held at the Council Chambers, Bondi Road, Bondi Junction, at:
8.00PM, TUESDAY 5 FEBRUARY 2013 COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
QUORUM: Four Committee members. APOLOGIES: Fax or e-mail the General Manager or the Governance Manager. Late notice by telephone or through a Councillor attending the
Community, Housing, Environmental Services & Public Works Committee Meeting – Tuesday, 5 February 2013 2
Committee Delegations
Community, Housing, Environmental Services & Public Works Committee 1. On 15 September 2009, Council delegated to the Community, Housing, Environmental
Services & Public Works Committee the authority to consider and make recommendations to Council, or to determine matters in accordance with its role as determined by Council resolution, subject to the following limitations: Limitations:
The functions delegated to the Community, Housing, Environmental Services & Public Works Committee do not include:
(a). The functions prescribed in section 377(1) of the Local Government Act 1993 as
functions that may not be delegated. (b). Determination of matters requiring the expenditure of money when no Council
allocation has been made.
(c). Determination of urgent matters raised in the Committee without prior notice.
(d). Determination of amendments to or adoption of the Council’s Management Plan, Revenue Policy, Rating Strategy and any matter involving changes to adopted estimates.
(e). Determination of amendments to and adoption of Urban Planning and Building
and Development codes, plans and policies.
(f). Determination of any matter where the decision of the Committee is not unanimous.
(g). Adoption of new or amendment to existing Council policies.
2. The Committee can exercise these powers only when:
(a). The specific item has been listed on the agenda paper giving notice of the meeting;
(b). The agenda in respect of the meeting has been distributed to all Councillors prior
to the meeting in accordance with Council’s Code of Meeting Practice;
(c). There are at least four nominated Councillors of the Committee present at the meeting.
Community, Housing, Environmental Services & Public Works Committee Meeting – Tuesday, 5 February 2013 3
AGENDA C-1302.O OPENING PRAYER & ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF INDIGENOUS HERITAGE The Chair will read the following Opening Prayer and Acknowledgment of Indigenous Heritage: “God we pray for wisdom to govern with justice and equity. That we may see clearly and speak the truth and that we work together in harmony and mutual respect. May our actions demonstrate courage and leadership so that in all our works thy will be done. Amen. Waverley Council respectfully acknowledges our indigenous heritage and recognises the ongoing Aboriginal traditional custodianship of the land which forms our Local Government area.” C-1302.A Apologies C-1302.DI Declarations of Interest
MATTERS PROPOSED TO BE DISCHARGED BY WAY OF DELEGATED AUTHORITY
C-1302.1 PAGE 5 Customer Service Annual Report (A07/0526) Report dated 24 January 2013 from the Director, Recreation, Customer & Community Services to provide an annual report on customer service performance and projects for 2012. Recommendation: That Council receive and note this report.
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MATTERS TO BE SUBMITTED TO COUNCIL WITH A
RECOMMENDATION FROM THE COMMITTEE C-1302.2 PAGE 13 Queens Park Footpath (A03/0802) Report dated 22 January 2013 from the Director, Corporate & Technical Services about the proposed construction of a footpath on the southern side of Queens Park Road between Manning Street and Bourke Street. Recommendation: That: 1. Council receive and note this report. 2. Council approve the construction of a concrete footpath on the south side of Queens
Park Road between Manning Street and Bourke Street. 3. Funding of the concrete footpath be considered for inclusion in the 2013 / 14 Capital
Works Footpath Program. C-1302.RM SUBMISSION OF RESCISSION MOTIONS Note from the General Manager: Rescission motions must be submitted to the General Manager, or in the absence of the General Manager a member of Council’s Governance Unit, and announced before the close of the meeting. The date and time of receipt will be noted on all rescission motions. Rescission motions received before 10am on the next working day following the meeting will stay action to implement Council’s decision until the rescission motion has been determined. This is in line with section 372 of the Local Government Act and Council’s Code of Meeting Practice. Rescission motions received after 10am on the next working day following the meeting may not stay action on implementing Council’s decision. Rescission motions will generally be dealt with at the next Council meeting. The Chair will call for the submission of any rescission motions.
REPORT TO COMMUNITY, HOUSING, ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES & PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE
Customer Service Annual Report (A07/0526) Report dated 24 January 2013 from the Director, Recreation, Customer & Community Services to provide an annual report on customer service performance and projects for 2012. Recommendation: That Council receive and note this report. Purpose of Report This report will provide Council with an annual snapshot of customer service performance and projects for 2012. It includes: 1. An update on the Customer Service Centre’s annual business levels (January –
December 2012) and performance against agreed service standards. This also includes a comparison to the previous year.
2. An outline of the proportion of business being redirected to an external call centre
agency (overflow service). 3. An update on compliments and complaints received for 2012. 4. An update on Council’s Customer Service Strategy. Background / Introduction “Great Customer Service” is a key value of Council. This is supported by the Executive with the importance it places on the role of the Customer Service Centre and Call Centre as Council’s primary contact point for the community, and its acknowledgement of quality service to customers as a key driver in all of Council’s major projects. In recent years many improvements to the provision of customer service have been implemented. This was recognised by the community in the significant improvement to customer satisfaction at first point of contact recorded in the February 2012 Community Survey. During 2012, additional resources were allocated to the Customer Service Centre to address customer wait times. This has resulted in a marked improvement in our response times to customers during the past year. Future improvements to communication with customers have also been planned under the Customer Service Strategy. These include address of phone, email and letter standards for response, and implementation of a more "customer centric" customer request management system. This report outlines the performance in 2012 against service standards of the Customer Service Centre, and outlines key issues and challenges for customer service.
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1. Annual Customer Service business levels
During January – December 2012 Council’s Customer Service Centre (CSC) had 134,416 enquiries. There were 47,624 customers who completed visits to the CSC, with staff processing 45,501 enquiries/transactions, and handling 86,792 telephone calls (excluding abandoned calls). Staff also dealt with 5,367 enquiries at the reception desk at Council Chambers.
Graph: Annual Business Levels Comparison
There was an increase in business during 2012 with an additional 11,310 customers contacting or visiting Council’s CSC in 2012 compared to 2011. The most popular reasons for contacting our Customer Service Centre are:
a. Applying/enquiring about parking permits for the beach and residential parking
b. Developing in Waverley, and
c. Enquiries about waste services.
The Customer Service Centre’s (CSC) service standards have been built around timely response to our customers when they contact us by phone, or visit the CSC. Our measures are reflected in Council’s Customer Service Charter. The CSC service standards include the following:
75% of calls are answered within 60 seconds when contacting us by phone
98% of customers wait no more than 5 minutes when contacting us by phone or visiting our Customer Service Centre
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Less than 15% of calls are transferred to other parts of the organisation from the Call Centre, and
An abandonment rate of less than 5% when contacting or visiting the Centre
Graph: Annual Call Centre Comparison against Service Standards
The Call Centre has met or improved on all key performance targets during January – December 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. This is due to various interventions that were made from late 2011 to improve on 2011 results.
The abandonment rate reflects customers who disconnected before speaking to an operator. This has shown a marked improvement compared to the previous year, having approximately halved.
The percentage of calls answered within 60 seconds measure relates to a direct commitment in Council’s Customer Service Charter. The large majority of customers contacting us by phone wait less than a minute for a response, in 2011 customers were waiting on average 1 minute 50 seconds before speaking to a customer service officer. This is a vast improvement and the Call Centre is currently exceeding our service standard.
The maximum wait time measures how long customers wait before getting through to an operator or be served at our front counter. In 2012, we met our standard of ensuring that customers waited no more than 5 minutes to be served; this is an improvement compared to 2011 when the Centre did not meet this target.
The percentage of calls transferred relates to the number of calls referred to other parts of the organisation. This has slightly improved. As newly recruited staff become more knowledgeable about council services this figure should gradually reduce.
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2. Use of the overflow service during 2012
The overflow service is an external call centre managed by Well Done Pty Ltd. Calls are redirected when staff numbers are reduced in the Customer Service Centre by unplanned leave (illness) or by attendance at mandatory training/information sessions. This strategy was implemented in October 2011 to reduce customer wait times when contacting Council’s Call Centre. This has contributed significantly to improvement in service standards between 2011 and 2012.
During 2012 Council redirected 3775 calls to the overflow service, this figure represents 4% of the total number of calls answered in the Call Centre. There has been a significant reduction in reliance on the overflow service since May 2012. Although our reliance has decreased the Centre is continuing to use the service on an as needs basis to ensure that our customers are not experiencing long delays when staffing in the CSC is affected by illness.
The aim is to minimise impact on customers when being redirected to the overflow service. The overflow service information database is consistently updated by Council’s Customer Service Manager and the majority of calls are lodged directly into Council’s Customer Request System “Service Desk” by the overflow operators. 3. Compliments & Complaints in 2012
Compliments
There were a total of 113 compliments registered on Service Desk, Council's customer request management system, in 2012.
These were mainly staff related with compliments on a range of issues including speedy tree removals, compliance issues, rubbish collection, and response to local history enquiries.
Complaints
Council’s Complaint Management Policy defines a complaint under three categories:
Quality of Service – quality of a finished job
Behaviour of Staff – dissatisfaction with the behaviour of a Council employee
Policy and Procedure – dissatisfaction with service charges, policy decisions or agreed practice covered by policy or procedure.
During January – December 2012 Council received a total of 111 complaints registered in Council’s Customer Request System “Service Desk”. Twenty-six percent of these related to behaviour of staff, 30% related to policy and procedure and 44% related to the quality of the job done. See the graph overleaf.
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Graph: Types of Complaints lodged in Service Desk 2012 (by percentage)
There are currently seven open complaints lodged in December 2012 still under investigation. investigated by staff. All other 2012 complaints have been resolved in line with Council’s Complaints Management Policy. Note There are some complaints and compliments formally received by Council which are not registered with the Customer Request Management system, and so are not reflected in the figures above. A key criterion in the assessment and implementation of a new customer request management system would be increasing integration with other systems, to ensure all complaints are captured. 4. Customer Service Strategy Update
Council's Customer Service Strategy 2010-2014 outlines key directions for customer service in line with Waverley Together 2 and Council's Delivery Program. An organisation-wide steering group co-ordinate and drive actions under the strategy. Achievements to date:
Service Culture
Development and rollout of a Customer Service Charter which clarifies standards for timeliness of response to customers through phone calls, letters and emails.
Design and implementation of a Customer Service Induction module.
Development of a Customer Service Toolkit designed to promote improved and timely communication with customers.
Sound performance against service standards for the Customer Service Centre.
26%
44%
30%
Behaviour of staff Quality of Service Policy and Procedure
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Service Tools & Support
Implementation of Development Application (DA) tracking, reducing demand on the Customer Service Centre as customers have the ability to follow the progress of a DA online.
Customer Insight
The design and implementation of a customer survey program – mystery caller and mystery shopper.
The design and implementation of internal customer surveys followed by targeted responses to identified issues.
A new Complaints Management Policy, resulting in more targeted reporting of complaint types and responsibilities.
Future actions
The action plan to cover the final two years of the current Customer Service Strategy (2012 to 2014) has been developed with a continued strong focus on specific customer service and customer contact issues.
New Customer Request System
A key project under this action plan is the investigation of a new customer request management system (CRM), the primary tool used by Council to record and refer requests for service and feedback from customers via phone email or letter. The current system "Service Desk" has a number of in built deficiencies including poor reporting and monitoring tools, poor public interface, duplication of records and a number of integration issues, all of which cause problems in expediting service requests from customers.
The Project scope for investigation of a new CRM includes:
Investigation of what information on the customer is presently kept within CRM system and what is required for the future (linkage to customer properties)
Development of a robust process for Customer contact and interaction
Retention of, and access to, customer information including consideration of regulatory and legal privacy issues.
Potential integration where feasible with all relevant processes/systems within all departments of Council.
Other high level directions for the action plan for the next two years include:
Service Culture:
Engagement of the Executive Team and Senior Management Team in leading and driving cultural expectations of service.
Focus on internal customer support with better use of existing tools, for example, improving the quality and timeliness of phone, email and letter responses and improving access and usage of Trim.
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Enhancement of the Customer Service Charter including more obvious links to the Complaints Management process, inclusion of standards for response through Council’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM ) system.
Continued focus on Council’s commitments in the Customer Service Charter including the quality and timeliness of communications with Customers via phone calls, emails, letters and through the CRM.
Service Tools and Support
Expansion of available online service, e.g. access to permits.
A customer-centric website - to promote better access to useful information and services.
Review and rationalisation of service standards.
Customer Insight
Continuation of the survey program including:
Mystery Shopper program for outdoor staff, assessing staff performance against standards as set out in the Customer Service Charter.
Internal audit program of staff responses to requests from customers via phone calls, emails letters and through the CRM system.
Internal customer surveys – program to be developed to reflect areas of improvement as identified through the recent staff survey.
Customer satisfaction surveys targeting specific projects, services or process improvements.
Analysis Financial Funding has been identified where required for all projects included in the Customer Service Strategy. The new Customer Request Management system will be fully costed in the process of project development, and subject to budget approval.
Delivery Program/Operational Plan
Council’s current strategic plan (Waverley Together 2, 2010 to 2022) articulates a vision for the future and outlines Council’s mission in achieving this vision for the community. The mission is supported by a range of values including Great Customer Service, which is defined as:
Great customer service is the willingness and ability to give priority to customers, delivering high quality services which meet their needs.
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This Customer Service Strategy supports Council’s overall mission and contributes to achieving its vision by providing a road map for delivery of high quality services to its customers. The Customer Service Strategy is informed by a number of other plans Council has in place – in particular, Council’s Strategic Plan (Waverley Together 2 covering the period 2010 to 2022) and Operational Plans, and has been developed with reference to these plans. Consultation
Customer service initiatives are driven by customer service data, including direct community feedback via surveys, complaints, feedback, plus mystery shopper results and other service data.
Timeframe The next annual report on Customer Service business levels and project progress will be submitted in February 2014. The Customer Service Strategy is due for review in June 2014. Recommendation: That Council receive and note this report. Cathy Henderson Director, Recreation, Customer & Community Services Authors: Linda Bathur, Divisional Manager, Library & Customer Services; and Ra Clarke, Customer Service Manager.
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Queens Park Footpath (A03/0802) Report dated 22 January 2013 from the Director, Corporate & Technical Services about the proposed construction of a footpath on the southern side of Queens Park Road between Manning Street and Bourke Street. Recommendation: That: 1. Council receive and note this report. 2. Council approve the construction of a concrete footpath on the south side of Queens
Park Road between Manning Street and Bourke Street. 3. Funding of the concrete footpath be considered for inclusion in the 2013/14 Capital
Works Footpath Program. Purpose of Report To report back to Council on the request from 17 July 2012 to investigate the cost and feasibility for constructing a footpath on the southern side of Queens Park Road to improve pedestrian access for park users, Moriah College students, residents and others. Background / Introduction As part of improving access in and around Queens Park, a shared path for pedestrians and cyclists was constructed by Centennial Parklands within Queens Park, from the corner of York Road and Darley Road, along Baronga Avenue towards Queens Park Road and parallel to Queens Park Road up to Manning Street. Entrances to the park have also been formalised at corner of York Road and Darley Road, Baronga Avenue, Newland Street, Manning Street and Bourke Street, however there is not a formal footpath or shared path between the Manning Street entry and the Bourke Street entry, either within the park or along Queens Park Road. It was intended by Centennial Parklands to extend the shared path to Bourke Street. Unfortunately priorities have changed and this extension has been deferred for a number of years. Several years ago Council constructed a footpath on the south side of Queens Park Road from Manning Street heading west to the bus stop and the entry to Queens Park just east of the intersection with Newland Street. Council has now been requested to provide a new footpath up to Bourke Street, so there are accessible footpath facilities along the southern side of Queens Park Road from Bourke Street through to Baronga Avenue (note Baronga Avenue to Manning Street is within the park). This new footpath will connect to the existing footpath constructed by Council along the kerb from Manning Street to Newland Street (see map – Attachment 1). Analysis In order to improve pedestrian access and facilities along the south side of Queens Park Road, a footpath should be constructed between Manning Street and Bourke Street along the
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kerb line – to provide adequate pedestrian access and connect all entrances into Queens Park. Financial – The cost estimate for the installation of this concrete footpath is $30,000
(approximately 180m2). This project is currently not included in any future Capital Works Footpath Program budgets and is, therefore, unfunded.
Delivery Program/ Operational Plan – The construction of this footpath contributes to
achieving the following:
- Waverley’s vision – ‘we are safe’. - Delivery Program 2010-13 - Strategy L7a: Create safe and accessible pedestrian and
cycle links into, out of and within Waverley. Consultation – While investigating the feasibility of constructing this footpath, Council
consulted Centennial Parklands on the Queens Park Plan of Management and their schedule of works. Centennial Parklands have indicated that while they do intend to complete this path from Manning Street to Bourke Street, it is not part of their current four year plan up to 2016 and it is not certain when this project could be completed.
Timeframe It is proposed that Council construct the footpath from Manning Street to Bourke Street (along the south side of Queens Park Road) in 2013/14, as part of the annual Footpath program. Recommendation: That: 1. Council receive and note this report. 2. Council approve the construction of a concrete footpath on the south side of Queens
Park Road between Manning Street and Bourke Street. 3. Funding of the concrete footpath be considered for inclusion in the 2013/14 Capital
Works Footpath Program. Bronwyn Kelly Director, Corporate & Technical Services Author: Kate McCabe Attachment 1: Map of proposed footpath – Queens Park Road
