Agenda item

S Baker, Assistant Director – Chief Executive’s Unit (MO) presented the Quarter 1 Performance and Operational Risk Register for Legal Governance, Democratic, Commissioning & Procurement and People. He drew Members attention to the 5 new performance indicators for the Commissioning and Procurement Service which was set out in annexe 1 to the report. He added that there had been no change to the risk scores since the previous report. In the previous report HR06 was red, this had now moved to an amber score which he felt was encouraging.

Questions

Councillor Tindall referred to page 7 and the June-August start dates. He asked the officer if they could add targets to those and inform Members of the outcome.

M Rawdon said that he would report back to Members with this information.

Councillor Tindall referred to page 8 and the Health Trust moving into the Council owned premises 39/41 The Marlowes. He asked the officers to confirm whether they would be paying rent to cover Council costs.

M Brooks confirmed that he had been dealing with the legal documentation regarding this. He added that they would be paying a market rate which would cover all costs and produce an income.

Councillor Douris referred to page 9 no 15, and asked what proportion of returns had been done online.

J Doyle confirmed that from 1^st December 2014-1^st September 2015, there had been 21k deletions, 3 times more than they have had in previous years which may have had a lot to do with the general election. To date there have been 50% returns with a number of months to go.

Councillor Douris said that he thought this number was very low.

J Doyle explained that all the forms went out last year were 2 sides of A4. Because of transition arrangements they have had to be been very strict about how the forms have been sent out this year. This years forms are 2 sides of A3. Due to the way the forms have been sent out we have not had as much emphasis on the automated responses.

Councillor Birnie reported that the reports listed are still suffering from acronym recognitions not being explained and asked if officers could resolve this issue for the next meeting going forward.

The Chair added that this was a very important point made.

Councillor Douris referred to page 13, apprenticeships. He asked if the Council are actively seeking to have any care leavers on the apprenticeships scheme.

B Hosier said that this is not something that is currently being looked at, however it is something that could be included in future tenders.

Councillor Douris mentioned that Hertfordshire County Council does take on care leavers. He mentioned that the Council have a passion for the ongoing welfare of care leavers and recognise that care leavers may need that little bit of extra help.

The Chair asked officers to look at this further and report back to the Committee at a later date.

S Baker confirmed that they would report back at a later date to update Members.

Councillor Tindall referred to page 15 item 6 regarding the new layout. He asked if they have retained an area in Customer Services for staff to deal with a member of the public who has been affected by domestic abuse to be interviewed in confidence.

M Housden confirmed that there are two rooms in the CSU area to deal with sensitive issues as well as all face to face staff having had specific training to be able to cope with these issues.

The Chair asked why the average wait time for June had increased to 2 minutes 53 seconds.

M Housden confirmed that the average wait time related to how long it takes someone to be answered from the CSU. It relates to the number of calls coming through, the time of day or staff being trained. The longest wait time is 30 minutes but reiterated that it was not the average.

The Chair said that he had some concerns that this has gone on for more than 3 months now and asked if there can be any improvements made within the CSU.

Councillor Douris made reference to the reduction of 20% of calls being answered in 20 seconds and asked if this related to staffing issues.

M Housden said that the measurements of calls answered in 20 seconds relates to calls being answered at Dacorum Borough Council. All calls received at Dacorum Borough Council are answered by an automated system, so this is a measurement of automated calls answered in 20 seconds. He confirmed that this will be the last time that this figure will be reported on as this is not a true or accurate measurement.

Councillor Harden asked if Members could be provided with a list of data confirming the longest wait times as Members are concerned that 30 minutes is a long time to wait.

M Housden said that he will provide Members with the data however the longest wait time is the most extreme.

B Hosier added that Quarter 1 (end of May, June) is the busiest time in the Customer Service Centre. The more people that call during this busy period the longer wait times will be. He confirmed that M Housden is working closely with Digital Dacorum in terms of channel shifting and encouraging people to use the self service system.

Action:

1.    M Rawdon to provide members with details on the June-August targets.

2.    M Housden to provide Members with a breakdown of call wait times.

3.    B Hosier to further look at the apprentices and report back to committee.

Outcome:

Members noted the report.