To receive a report from the Corporate Manager for Digital Transformation and Customer Engagement. This report has been requested to provide members with clarity on existing opening times, customer transaction levels and future service activity for the Customer Services department which provides face-to-face, telephone and online presence for the residents of Mid Devon.
Minutes:
The Corporate Manager for Digital Transformation and Customer Engagement brought the Customer Service Front Desk Report* to the Committee.
The Corporate Manager for Digital Transformation and Customer Engagement highlighted the following:
· Phoenix House opening times to the public and that customers can contact by telephone to arrange a face to face appointment at an alternative time if required.
· The telephone contact centre is available Mon-Thu 08:30-17:00 and 08:30-16:40 Friday. That the Council Offices were open and Officers were available via the telephone and on-line between 9.00am and 5.00pm Monday to Friday.
· Before the Covid Pandemic the footfall was reducing exponentially every year and that access to the officers via telephone and on-line was generally preferred by customers, she pointed out that the available face to face appointments were not being filled. At no time did the Council want to reduce the level of service to the customer but resource was channelled as dictated by customer behaviour.
The following was discussed:
· That members of the public don’t pre-plan their conversations with the Council and that Councillors’ anecdotal experience was that members of the public do want face to face meetings with officers of the Council.
· A councillor had witnessed three people trying to access the Council building including a young lady who had been sent to the Council Offices having just been evicted.
· If the reduced hours for physical access to the building had to stay in place could the closed day be moved to a Friday as it was clear that there were more Council Officers in the building on a Wednesday, the day the building was closed, and less on a Friday when many Council Officers worked from home.
· Could Staff manning the front desk be able to deal with any on-line queries from that position so that when there was no-one to deal with, their time could be utilised. The Corporate Manager for Digital Transformation and Customer Engagement commented that it wasn’t possible to access some of the work from the front desk but that that issue was being looked at.
· When the offices were closed that there be an intercom facility at the front door for members of the public to speak with an officer and where necessary an officer could arrange for someone to open the door for that customer.
· That if the face to face appointment cost as little as the report stated it did at paragraph 3.4 then members of staff should have their pay increased.
· That whilst looking at Customer Engagement the issue of staff safety and security should be considered as there was no available “panic button” and no direct-line to the police – at the moment a member of the customer services team had to call the police.
· The Corporate Manager for Income, Revenues Benefits, Recovery and Leisure commented that his team had run some very large claim schemes paying our very large amounts in total to those in need and that all of the schemes have been administered on-line and by phoning and writing to customers using a flexible policy to accommodate members of the public. They were now administering the “Housing Support 4 Fund” and again it was all on-line and was evidence that the Council’s customers were very able to access the services by phone and on-line.
· How customers were looked after when they entered the building – were they offered a glass of water for instance. The Corporate Manager for Digital Transformation and Customer Engagement replied that most customers were seen by appointment and that they were seen within 15 minutes and so that was not necessary.
Regarding the Mid Devon Community Survey, it was asked why 644 people abandoned the survey before they had finished. The Corporate Manager for Digital Transformation and Customer Engagement replied that the survey was possibly too long and lessons had been learnt for the future. The survey was about the various methods members of the public used to access council services and there was a lot of repetition so it was necessary for the exercise. In future surveys would be shorter taking just a few minutes to complete. It was suggested that there could be an option at the end for those wanting to continue with a longer survey.
The Chairman said that he was minded to set up a working group to consider how the opening hours were affecting vulnerable customers. The Councillors who agreed to sit on the working group were: Cllr B Holdman, Cllr G Cochran, Cllr A Glover and Cllr C Harrower.
The Committee NOTED the Customer Services Briefing Report.
The Committee NOTED the Customer Services Briefing Report.
Note: *report previously circulated and attached to the minutes
Note: The Chairman would like the working group to meet on Friday 15th September 2023.
Supporting documents: