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Agenda item

Channel Choice and Telephone Access

Purpose

The purpose of this report, in light of a continuous decline in demand, is to propose to Cabinet to reduce telephone access hours to the public.

 

Recommendations

That Overview and Scrutiny Committee scrutinise the report and make any recommendations to Cabinet on 2 October 2023.

 

Invited

 

Councillor Tony Dale, Cabinet Member for Economy and Council Transformation;

Jon Dearing, Assistant Director for Residents Services

Minutes:

The item was introduced by the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance.

 

The purpose of the item was to provide scrutiny of the report that was scheduled for Cabinet on 2 October. The report was concerned with trialling new telephone opening times for customers accessing Council services through this channel.

 

The Committee highlighted that the item was announced as part of the Publica blog which gave the perception that the item had been decided before the meeting. It was noted that this was an unsatisfactory practice which should not reoccur.

 

It was also noted that the scheme had been agreed by West Oxfordshire District Council, with whom the Council provides a joint Customer Services service. It was noted that both Councils would have to agree the change for it to be implementable.

 

It was explained that the change would not involve any mandatory redundancies, and would be phased by replacing vacant full time roles with part-time staff and diversifying the work load of full time Customer Services staff to include cross-departmental administrative support.

 

The following points were raised during the Committee’s discussion;

 

  • The Key Performance Indicators that would be used, which would include customer satisfaction and observing behaviours
  • The balance between providing services and meeting the financial challenges, and that if the new operating hours were not accepted after the trail, the savings would need to be found elsewhere

 

Following questions about the minutes of the previous meeting indicating high call volumes, the Cabinet Member clarified that this was likely to be a specific reference to the cost of living challenges and receipt of council tax correspondence. The Cabinet Member confirmed that overall call volumes had decreased.

 

The Committee asked if data could be added to show the call volumes. It was noted that the vision information had been provided to Cabinet and if it could be published, it would be.

 

Following questions in regards to the marking of this item as a Key decision, the Director of Governance and Development clarified that the report was considered non-key as it was asking Cabinet to approve a trial period. The report after the trial would constitute a key decision as it would make the arrangement permanent.

 

Cllr Cunningham that the Committee make the following recommendations to Cabinet. This was seconded by Councillor Hughes.

 

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

1)    AGREED the following recommendations to Cabinet;

·         The trial set out in the report is approved (the outcome of the trial will be reported back to Overview and Scrutiny before a final decision on the service is made by Cabinet), with consideration of when the report should come forward;

·         That Cabinet Members receive data regarding call volumes for Cotswold District Council and not just the combined figures with West Oxfordshire, and graphs to show trends;

·         That the report that will be received after the six month trial includes an Equalities Impact Assessment;

·         Cabinet Members consider concerns raised by committee members regarding consultation with affected staff, and whether savings can be realised without redundancies.

 

Voting Record- 10 for, 0 against, 0 abstention

Supporting documents:

 

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