Agenda item

·  Casework Task & Finish Group.

(a)  That the report of the Casework Task & Finish Group be welcomed and the recommendations be endorsed in principle.

(b)  That the Task & Finish Group, working with the Commissioner for Performance & Accountability, re-convene to take forward implementation of the recommendations, including both the short term improvements that could be made to the casework process and investigation of the most appropriate IT system.

Councillor Ajaib, Chair of the Casework Task & Finish Group, introduced a report which detailed a series of recommendations designed to improve the Members’ casework process.  The report had been approved by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee on 20^th January 2016.

The current software system had not been upgraded for a significant period of time and it had limited functionality which made it difficult to log, track and respond to casework in a timely and efficient manner.  The recommendations were outlined as follows:

1.  That the possibility of a system upgrade be investigated, with the system requiring the following elements to justify its procurement; 

·  The ability to act as a central repository for casework, from submission to completion or final decision;

·  The ability to be interrogated by officers, allowing previous cases on the same policy matters to be found and used in decision making;

·  The ability to be accessed via Councillors’ iPads; and

·  The ability to be accessed by residents via the Slough Borough Council (SBC) website to track the progress of their cases.

2.  For any such system to include automated escalation points, whereby inaction by an established deadline would cause responsible officers to receive an alert;

3. SBC officers be asked to establish previous decisions made in comparable cases where applicable, in order to avoid any inconsistencies in decisions made, actions taken or advice given to residents;

4. SBC officers to ensure that final responses are sent to residents, with the relevant Councillor copied into the response. Councillors are to be made aware that this is the standard procedure and should not act as spokespeople for decisions made by officers; and

5. In cases where the decision made or the action taken has an impact across their ward, Councillors are to inform other Councillors in that ward.

The Cabinet welcomed the Task & Finish Group report and recognised the importance of ensuring the casework process and software system was able to deal effectively with issues raised by residents.  The complaints process and digital interaction with residents was a wider project for the medium term, however, the Cabinet agreed that there was an opportunity to improve the casework process and system as a short term priority, in particular:

·  Process – to provide more consistent standards and timely responses to casework from across Council departments, and ensuring much better feedback to Members and residents on progress.

·  IT system - the software options should be investigated to provide simple, mobile access to enable Members to log and track casework. 

The Cabinet felt that designing the right processes and procedures was the first step to be followed by identifying the software best able to meet that specification.  It was agreed to ask the Task & Finish Group to continue its good work by re-convening to take forward implementation of the recommendations.

Resolved –

(a)  That the report of the Casework Task & Finish Group be welcomed and the recommendations be endorsed in principle.

(b)  That the Task & Finish Group, working with the Commissioner for Performance & Accountability, re-convene to take forward implementation of the recommendations, including both the short term improvements that could be made to the casework process and investigation of the most appropriate IT system.