Issue - meetings

There will be a presentation on this item. Sides are attached.

Amanda George, Director of Business Change & Customer, and Marc Higgins, Head of Service – Business Change Hub,  gave a presentation which covered the following:

·  Business Change Hub Update Introduction

·  Role of the Business Change Hub

·  Principle programmes of work

·  Customer Experience programme

·  Customer Experience workstreams

·  Children and Education Transformation Programme

·  Programmes

·  Corporate Landlord model

·  Integrated Corporate Landlord

·  Development of a toolkit and processes

Panel members asked the following questions and raised the following points:

Councillor Singleton asked if the ‘customer experience’ referred to only external customers or did it include internal customers. The officer explained that customer service standards are being introduced at present. This does include internal customers as well, the work covers both.

Councillor Hirst asked how success will be measured and recommended that a balance be found around robust processes but not too much bureaucracy. The officer explained that it was not a large department and he did not want to create a bureaucratic system. He explained that it was a diverse organisation with some significant programmes of work and some small. Regarding measurement of success, the officer explained that measures regarding specific outcomes are being developed.

Councillor Hughes asked if the primary driver is to reduce costs. The officer explained that the critical driver is improvement of outcomes and how we operate.

Councillor Davis asked officers if they were confident that Parish and Town Councillors are kept in the loop. She also asked if feedback regarding Councillor Direct is followed up. The officer explained that Councillor Direct is a central email address and that the feedback has been good. Regarding Parish Councillors, this is on the radar. The service design team will be contacting them regarding ‘Fix My Street’.

Councillor Hodge asked the following questions (officer responses shown in italics):

·  Has there been investment in the unit? There has been £330k per year initially and there will be core funding from April.

·  How will you report back? We are working on governance at present, feedback will depend on the project.

·  How does the unit sit with internal audit? There is not a duplication with internal audit, we act as an internal consultancy which may dovetail with audit.

·  How do you hope to get employee buy in? This has come from the Senior Leadership Team. Work will be focused, we are not involved in business-as-usual work. Employee buy in is important, we work a lot with a service at the start to build a relationship and engagement.

Councillor Hounsell commented that it is useful to inform Parish clerks about works or surveys (eg. Surveys carried out regarding the Local Plan) as then there are less calls to local Councillors and officers.

Councillor Singleton asked if an in-house work team will be recommended. The officer stated that the Corporate Landlord Model would address this eventually. Value for money will be a consideration. Councillor Singleton asked how the Corporate Landlord Model is defined. The officer explained that there will be a strategy as to how assets are managed.

Councillor  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51