Agenda item

(The Chairman brought forward this agenda item as the lead officer for the scheduled item was running late)

Cllr Chapman introduced the report, and invited Cllr Harden to offer any comments on it. Cllr Harden confirmed that he had no further comments, however there were a team of officers to answer any questions.

Cllr Tindall noted points 2.2 and 2.3 at pg 55 of the report; he asked for some further explanation why the move to a new complaints system had resulted in two indicators dropping into the red zone. R Smyth said that a new complaints policy had been introduced, with a streamlined approach of two stages instead of three; there were also a number of new rules and conditions. This was with the intention of improving the complaints system. He said that a lot of work had been completed developing this new system, with the business rules and business processes as well improving the way DBC monitor, record and collect data. R Smyth said that during the transition from the three stage to two stage there had been a ‘bedding in’ period for staff and managers as they got used to the new responsibilities and time limits. As a result, there had been a few complaints that had been responded a couple of days outside of the new time targets. R Smyth said that training to staff had been provided as part of the  roll out of the new process, however he said that the introduction of any new system brought teething problems. As part of the continued learning, they were working with each group manager to understand the types of complaints that they received, and if there was anything further that could be done to assist them in responding to complaints. R Smyth said that this had been a positive process; he said that the figures contained within the report were for Quarter 1, and already there had been a much improved service. Cllr Tindall asked if, given this, there would be any red indicators at Quarter 2. R Smyth said that he would expect the performance to be improved.

Cllr Douris asked when the new system had come into play; did it come into play before it went into red, or after? R Smyth confirmed it had been introduced in April. Cllr Douris then asked if with the benefit of hindsight, a greater level of attention should have been paid to the transitional arrangements, to protect the public from a less good service. R Smyth said that the biggest change to the process had seen managers having to take greater responsibility for the investigation into a complaint; he said that this had been a learning curve for all involved, and that ongoing lessons had been learnt for the continued management of the new system.

Leading on from this, Cllr Tindall referred to point 2.5 of the report (pg 55 of the agenda pack), which stated “Three Stage 2 complaints were unresolved”. This, he said, was his most significant concern of this matter. R Smyth provided further clarification; he said that they were not completed within the initial time frame, however he confirmed that they had now been completed. Cllr Tindall asked what were the results; were they satisfactory? R Smyth said that he would need to look into this; He said that the purpose of the stage two process was to independently review the original decision and consider if it was a fair one. The Chairman asked if there were any further questions in this matter; none were forthcoming.

Cllr Adeleke noted point 2.10 at pg 56; “The number of website users in the quarter is 132,907”. He asked if this had increased, and if it was satisfactory. B Trueman said that this was a new measure that had only been introduced this year. He said DBC needed to track if internet traffic was increasing or decreasing, however he said that there was presently no industry standard figure. B Trueman said that they were most interested in the quality of the journey; how many users were attracted to the site, and how long they stayed. B Trueman said they were just beginning to record and measure this information.  Cllr Adeleke responded, saying that when this measure was set up, there must have been a target in mind. R Smyth said that, as with all DBC indicators, some were set up with the purpose of ensuring that targets were met, while others were for information purposes. He said this was about understanding how customers were contacting us, and what they were contacting us about. This information then linked to the various digital improvements DBC were making such as a move towards printing, etc.

Cllr McLean noted point 2.7 (pg 55 of the agenda pack) “Staff turnover is a new indicator, which can help the organisation to understand its performance in relation to employee retention and motivation. The average rate in Q1 was 8% compared to a public sector average of 12% and a broader business average of 15%”. He asked for some clarification regarding this figure; was it 8% of total staff; permanent; agency? Do DBC measure them together, do DBC keep separate stats of the different groups? Do DBC undertake exits interviews, were any trends identified as to why staff were leaving the organisation?

M Rawdon confirmed that the figures included both fixed term and permanent staff. Cllr McLean asked how many staff there were; M Rawdon said that were approximately 720-730. He said that they did not track the turnover of agency staff, as they may only be required for a short or set time. Instead with agency staff, the focus was on the spend on agency staff. M Rawdon said that exit interviews were conducted with all permanent and fixed term staff; the reasons why staff were leaving were then reviewed; work was then conducted with managers where staff had  raised a particular concern to try and improve or resolve this issue in the future. M Rawdon said that in terms of identifying trends, there was a move to improve the exit interview process, by having them in a digital format online. He said that they were currently very paper heavy and harder to identify trends. M Rawdon said that this would be easier to identify areas within particular groups that they may need to focus on. This will enable a more strategic, corporate approach.

Cllr Douris asked M Rawdon if he was able to confirm the number of full time equivalent staff. M Rawdon thought that it was approximately 680. Cllr Douris noted that this was a new indicator, however asked how it compared against staff turnover from the year before within the same quarter. M Rawdon said that he did not have this information to hand, however confirmed if this was available. Cllr Douris requested that this information be provided to the committee after the meeting.

Action Point: M Rawdon to provide staff turnover figures for quarter 1 of 2016/2017.

Cllr Douris noted point 2.14 of pg 57 “All community contracts have completed the procurement process and have gone live. We have held a number of contract meetings with each of the service providers”. He asked Cllr Harden if this meant that this had not gone as originally anticipated. Cllr Harden said that there were regular, informal update meetings with the various providers, to check that everything was on track, and if any issues had been raised. He said that this was very much a positive. Cllr Douris thanked Cllr Harden.

Cllr Douris noted 2.19 of pg 57, in particular “… and to introduce tablets to field officers”; he asked how useable tablets were. Leading on from this, he also observed that within Hertfordshire each district appeared to be using different tablet, none of which seemed to be entirely satisfactory. Cllr Douris asked if tablets were the right choice, or if laptops were more appropriate for use. B Trueman said that when talking about tablets for field officers, they specifically meant two-in-one devices; these provided the full Windows operating system. Although there were limits with screen size, there was a detachable key board. It could be used in the field as a tablet, but also placed into a docking station within the office, and then used as a PC.  B Trueman said that this was for some officers in the field that required a portable device. Other officers may be provided with a very light weight laptop. The device provided would be dependent on the operational and role requirements of the officer. Cllr Douris asked if this philosophy would also be applied to members. B Trueman agreed that it would; although this was moving forward somewhat, as IT had yet to formally review the technology provided to members, feedback would be reviewed in due course and consideration given to whether tablets were the appropriate device.

Leading on from this, Cllr Tindall noted that he was using a different device in his role as a County Councillor; he said that there were 10 District Council and one County Council – he asked if these IT departments talked to one another about the devices that they were each using, or if they just went their own way? B Trueman confirmed that they did: there was a Herts group of IT Managers that discussed and consulted one another about the technology that they used/provided. However, there were a range of approaches across the organisations. Cllr Harden accepted that it would be ideal if Hertfordshire could purchase all the devices at the same time, however he highlighted that various councils were at very different stages in the refresh of their hardware. Cllr Tindall observed that if this could be co-ordinated, an entire County Council would present significant procurement power.

Cllr Chapman referred to point 2.17 of pg 57 “The HR team provides dedicated support and coaching for all managers engaged in employee relation issues… ” He asked if this was ongoing, or if all managers had received coaching. M Rawdon said that as part of a manager coming into the organisation, they receive training around DBC’s policies and how to approach people management. With the HR team, where there was a staff incident of conduct or capability issue, time was invested working with the manager through that case so that they were in a better position in the future to deal with this. M Rawdon said that this approached appeared to be working well.

At this stage, Cllr Tindall apologised to the Chairman, and declared an interest. He noted that there were members of Unite that worked for DBC; He confirmed that he was Branch official for Unite, although he concentrated on London, and Civil Servants. He confirmed that he did not have any dealings with Local Authority staff. Cllr Chairman thanked Cllr Tindall for this, and also confirmed that he was the Chairman of the JNC which had union members as part of the Committee.

Cllr Silwal noted point 2.6 of pg 55 “The total days lost through sickness, absence has reduced by 23% compared to the last quarter. However, the figure is worse than the same period the previous year. The primary cause is long-term sickness and the Council is developing a new project to understand and address this”. He asked for some further explanation of this project. M Rawdon said it had been noted that there appeared to be a spike in long term sickness for this quarter. As part of the project, the team will be looking to identfy the best way to support these individuals back to work, as well as whether managers were doing all they can to enable this. M Rawdon said that when an individual had been off for longer than a month, the percentage of them ever returning to work dramatically decreased. As well as offering support to these individuals, there was a need to assess that all cases of long term sickness absence were genuine; this was why DBC had an occupational health service that they used to ensure that there is medical opinion around an individual’s condition, and what we can do to help them return to work. M Rawdon said that the second part of the project was the statistical side of the sickness outturn. He said that DBC needed to understand the sickness trends in each group rather thanat the moment just a corporate perspective; however there needed to be a better understanding of why people were on long term sickness, and what could be done to prevent this. This linked to health and well-being, and what DBC provided to staff to improve their health. M Rawdon confirmed that the Sickness Scrutiny Group would continue to meet monthly; as well as scrutinising all sickness within that month, to ensure that they are being consistent with all staff, and if appropriate, identify any staff that presented concerns.

Cllr Taylor noted the latter part of point 2.17 of pg 57 “… We also continue to enjoy good relations with our recognised Trade Unions (Unison and Unite)”. He noted that at the last JNC, they had been informed that the Unison representative was leaving. He asked if a new representative had been appointed, and if they had been encouraged to attend. M Rawdon confirmed that new representative, Matthew Nix, from Cupid’s Green had been appointed to the Unison Branch Secretary, and had been encouraged to attend.

Outcome: At the invitation of the Chairman, the Committee noted and agreed the contents of the Performance and Risk report Quarter 1 2017/2018 for Performance, People & Innovation.