To receive a report from the Assistant Director, Wellbeing and Communities.

Roxanne Warrick, Healthy Living Strategic Lead presented Members with a report that detailed the draft South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Customer Experience Strategy, pages 23 to 28 of the Agenda refer.

The Chairman further welcomed Councillor Graham Marsh, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Leisure and Culture, and Carbon Reduction and Emily Spicer, Assistant Director forWellbeing and Community Leadership and Client Lead for Customer Services to the Meeting.

Members were further delivered a presentation, a copy of which is attached at Appendix A to the Minutes.

Members were advised that as a sovereign Council and as part of the Partnership, East Lindsey District Council was committed to a vision of providing a customer experience that was simple, effective and customer focused and ensured access to the many services that were offered.  One of the key principles to achieving this vision was to understand the Council’s communities and customers, and how they changed to inform the way the Council provided its services, now and into the future.

The draft South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Customer Experience Strategy was attached at Appendix A which set out the vision, principles and approach for Customer Experience across the three sovereign councils ‘working together to offer a clear and consistent experience’, pages 29 to 38 of the Agenda refer.

The strategy set out three key outcomes that the Council was seeking over the next four years to achieve:

·       An organisational culture that was customer focussed

·       A simple, effective, and positive customer experience

·       Support that met the Council’s customers’ needs

Success would be monitored through the South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership Customer Experience Board who would have oversight of the Strategy and work collaboratively to enable effective strategic direction and co-ordination of delivery.  The governance framework for the Customer Experience Board was attached at Appendix B, pages 39 to 40 of the Agenda refer.

N.B.  Councillor Jill Makinson-Sanders joined the Meeting at 10.16am.

Members were invited to put their comments and questions forward.

·       A Member queried why the strategy was focussed on services offered and not customers, particularly in relation to the large number of complaints that the Council received for the customer services department.  It was further considered that staff would need an element of retraining and a concern was also raised for residents who could not access officers at the Hub in person, and those that were not able to access the internet.

It was highlighted that in the past Councillors had offered to ‘test drive’ the new website which was a cheap and easy solution, but this had not been taken up.

·       A Member referred to the consultation process and queried what demographic had responded to this.  The Healthy Living Strategic Lead informed Members that out of the three Councils in the Partnership, ELDC was the best represented and added that a wide list of people and organisations were consulted.  However, it was highlighted that there was no requirement to consult but was carried out as it was considered important to do so.  The Healthy Living Strategic Lead advised Members that she was happy to share the full sheet of feedback received.

·       A Member stated that he found the report interesting and acknowledged that customer services was a difficult area to look at and encouraged strong feelings.  With regards to ‘Our People’ and the population quoted as 25% residents aged over 65, page 32 of the Agenda refers, a Member highlighted that in his Ward Sutton on Sea there was a much higher number in this age group who would benefit from more face to face contact and asked whether this could be facilitated.

The Assistant Director forWellbeing and Community Leadership responded that the internet was not for everyone and highlighted the success of the community hub models that were available across the district and full of good volunteers available to assist.  The Healthy Living Strategic Lead informed Members that drop-in sessions were offered in Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea and she would signpost and provide information in relation to the hubs.

The Healthy Living Strategic Lead highlighted to Members that the strategy was a document produced across the Partnership and advised Members that the average age of an ELDC resident was 52.

It was further highlighted that Lincs Digital had been attending community hubs and had been tremendously successful, identifying a general interest with people wanting to get online.

The Healthy Living Strategic Lead advised Members that the Council was very proud of the community hub model and the service had been adapted to meet local needs.  There were over 20 hubs in East Lindsey and there was grant funding available to support these.

Members noted that ELDC staff were not placed in the community hubs, however were informed that volunteers did have priority access to the Healthy Living Strategic Lead and her team.  The value of the role volunteers played in the community hubs was highlighted and it was acknowledged that this must never be underestimated.

·       A Member referred to Platform Housing and difficulties residents experienced getting repairs and maintenance done to their homes.  The Assistant Director forWellbeing and Community Leadership advised Members that the Portfolio Holder for Communities and Better Ageing had challenged Platform Housing, following which they had reinstated their officers back into the community hubs.

·       The Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Leisure and Culture, and Carbon Reduction stated that he wholly supported the volunteers and was exceptionally pleased with the community hub model.  He considered that it was very important to continue to support the hubs and officers could be engaged for specific projects.

·       A Member queried how the Council was managing volunteer ‘burnout’.  The Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Leisure and Culture, and Carbon Reduction responded that he was not aware of any, however hoped that if this was present it would be identified and supported.

·       Following a Member query relating to monitoring success, the Assistant Director (Corporate) advised Members that discussions were underway with all services on how performance was measured.  There would be a mechanism to collate that information moving forward and KPIs would feature in performance reports.

·       Further to a query on whether Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) had a part in the strategy, it was confirmed that it was a Partnership document.  Following which, a Member considered it would be useful if LCC could be a partner in this type of scheme as residents often raised issues at the hubs that were under the remit of LCC.  The Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Leisure and Culture, and Carbon Reduction responded that he would support the Council if it wished to approach LCC with regards to the working model of the hubs.

No further comments or questions were received.

The Chairman thanked Roxanne Warrick, Healthy Living Strategic Lead,

Councillor Graham Marsh, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety, Leisure and Culture, and Carbon Reduction and Emily Spicer, Assistant Director forWellbeing and Community Leadership and Client Lead for Customer Services for their attendance and stated that she would be pleased to see the Customer Experience Strategy Action Plan in due course.

Following which, it was

RESOLVED:

That the draft SELCP Customer Experience Strategy be noted and feedback provided by the Committee be used to inform its development.

N.B.  Emily Spicer, Assistant Director forWellbeing and Community Leadership and Client Lead for Customer Services left the Meeting at 10.51am.