Agenda item

Details of Year 3 Performance for Transactional Services for the period April 2014 to March 2015 were outlined. Kevin Hales, Site Director, highlighted the Key Performance Indicators (KPI)  for the following areas:

Revenues and Benefits

• Target of 96% Council Tax collection rate achieved which had resulted in £1.8 million in additional revenue for the Council. 
• Business Rates had exceeded the annual collection rate targets with an extra £400,000 collected.
• Introduction of two Welfare Officers  - over £700,000 additional benefit awards to local residents as a direct result of their work.
• Issued 2015/16 Council Tax Bills and Benefits letters in the same envelope reducing customer bureaucracy and improving ease of use.
• The Self Serve System had gone live, enabling customers to undertake a number of transactions on the Council’s website – including Council Tax Details, Direct Debit and E-Billing Sign Up and correspondence review.

Transactional HR and Payroll

• 100% of KPIs achieved
• Successful implementation of new standards required by the 2014 Pension Scheme.
• Health and Safety incident report project for Professional HR complete.

Finance

• Consistent high performance on AR debt collections allowed new increased KPI targets to be agreed from July 2014.
• Implementation of ‘No P.O. No Pay’ policy and roll out of e-learning module for client managers.
• Removal of payments by cheque to all commercial suppliers to the Council.
• Successful completion of annual rent increase letter and quarterly statements for tenants.
• Implementation of Automated Payment Machines at Landmark Place (LMP) and other local access points across the Borough. The self service kiosks at LMP contributed to the collection of £120,000 during the first six weeks.

Customer Services

·  Increase in the number of telephone calls answered within 30 seconds from 38.5% to 52.8%.

·  Number of customers served within 30 minutes increased from 53.4% to 70.6%

·  Successful restructure of the Customer Service Centre to support the relocation of the Contact Centre.

·  Improved response times to emails and e-forms through the enquiries@slough.gov.uk

In the ensuing discussion a number of questions were raised, including:

Ø  What measures were put in place to mitigate peaks in service? It was explained that peaks and troughs in demand for services were inevitable but a number of measures had been implemented to mitigate the impact on service delivery, including increasing the number of self service kiosks and receiving prior warning from SBC of letters being sent out on a specific issue eg council tax bills; in order to allow the teams to make the necessary adjustments. 

Ø  Details regarding Monitoring Customer Feedback. It was confirmed that customer feedback, including complaint forms, was regularly monitored and although the details were not included within the annual report they would be circulated to Committee Members. 

Ø  Challenges facing arvato. It was noted that IT provision remained the greatest challenge for arvato as some of the infrastructure required for SBC was not fit for purpose and required further development. 

Ø  How to improve Direct Debit Take up. A variety of communication methods had been implemented to increase the number of households paying council tax by Direct Debit, including press releases, correspondence sent with council tax bills and a Direct Debit Take Up campaign. It was noted that following a six week campaign, an additional 1300 individuals had signed up to pay their council tax via direct debit and that approximately 60% of residents now paid via this method.

Ø  Clarification was sought regarding KPI L11, Council Tax arrears collection as the target KPI rate was noted as ‘to be confirmed’. Members were informed that figures regarding this KPI were not included within the annual report as performance monitoring in relation to this was not required until the next couple of years. It was noted however that the KPI target was 98.5% over the duration of the contract.

Ø  What strategies were being employed to reduce the current waiting time of thirty minutes for customers to be seen? A number of service improvements had been implemented to streamline processes and secure a step change in performance. These included the new online self service which would allow residents a broad range of facilities including ability to make payments, updates to personal details and sign up for direct debit.  

Ø  Concerns highlighted by Internal Auditors regarding Phase 2 KPI’s and achieving Value For Money. The Strategic Director of Customer and Community Services explained that the audit had been carried out prior to the KPIs having been agreed and monitored. It was anticipated that in the next three to six months the KPIs would be assessed as green.  

Ø  Civic Responsibility/ Involvement with the Community. The Committee were informed that arvato remained committed to its civic responsibilities and regularly participated in local initiatives to help support the Borough. Key activities included raising funds for local a local charity and investing resources in facilitating workshops in schools relating to poverty awareness. arvato continued to be engaged with Slough Aspire and more recently sponsored the Slough Business Awards 2015. It was agreed that a report detailing arvato’s work and projects within the community would be submitted to the January committee meeting.  

Ø  The current position regarding write off’s? It was explained that arvato made recommendations regarding write offs to the Assistant Director, Finance and Audit, who as the Section 151 Officer made decisions regarding write offs.

Ø  arvato’s role in supporting apprentices. It was brought to Members attention that arvato remained committed to supporting young people through the apprenticeships and NVQ scheme. In 2014, arvato retained 50% of the apprentice cohort in full time roles with others finding employment or full time education elsewhere. Over the lifetime of the contract arvato would employ and train a total of 117 apprentices.  

Resolved –  That details of the Thames Valley Transactional Services Report for the period April 2014 to March 2015 be noted.