Decision details

To consider a draft strategy intended to balance levels of customer service face to face, over the phone, and online against the best use of resources.

The Strategic Director Customer Service and Resources, submitted a report to update the Executive on the development of the Access Strategy and ask for comment on the direction it takes and the action plan it proposes, prior to finalising the draft.

Resolved

(1)       That the vision, aim and objectives of the strategy be agreed.

(2)       That the main pillars of the action plan be agreed as set out below:

1.      deliver the services most face to face customers want (not just our local office customers), at locations near them.

2.      deliver more services through the telephone contact centre so that more customers have their enquiry or request satisfied at first contact.

3.      deliver the services our online customers want to access themselves, and persuade those customers to change from phone to online.

4.      Use information from customers to improve service delivery, ultimately reducing the amount of contact we handle that is classified as “avoidable” in the definition of NI14.

5.      use NI14 data, customers’ own feedback, complaints and compliments, mystery shopping and customer consultation, to improve our service processes so that the customer need be less proactive and the Council can make best use of its resources – principally staff time.

6.      identify potential efficiencies and improvements to service processes and the investment to achieve those efficiencies, and put in place a means of getting decisions about whether to realise those efficiencies and improvements.

(3)       That the access strategy development group to complete work on the strategy and action plan and bring it back to the Executive for adoption

Reasons - The Council has an agreed strategic priority of being an accessible, value for money organisation.  This strategy is about achieving that ambition, focusing on removing barriers to access and providing choices to customers, by preventing unnecessary contact and making sure the most cost effective access channels are available and known about.