Minutes
OF A MEETING OF THE |
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Five Councils Partnership Corporate Services Joint Committee Members
HELD on Wednesday 22 June 2022 at 2.00 pm This meeting was held in a virtual format, via microsoft teams |
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Present:
Committee members:
Vale of White Horse District Councillors: Neil Fawcett and Debby Hallett
South Oxfordshire District Councillors: Pieter-Paul Barker and David Rouane
Hart District Councillors: Peter Wildsmith
Havant Borough Councillor: Tim Pike
Mendip District Councillors: Liz Leyshon and Ros Wyke
Officers: David Clark (Head of Law and Governance at Mendip), Karen Dhaliwal (Director, Hartley Law), Andrew Down (5CP Commercial Director), Michael Flowers (Democratic Services Officer), Matt Goodwin (Client Relationship Director), , Susan Harbour (Strategic Partnerships Manager), Claire Hughes (incoming Client Relationship Director), Jeremy Lloyd (Broadcasting Officer), Paul Merrick (5CP Head of IT)
Guests
Emma Hall (Capita Partnership Director)
3 Opening announcements
RESOLVED: to appoint Councillor Pieter-Paul Barker as chair of the meeting
The committee were also advised that the role of Client Relationship Director would be moved from Matt Goodwin to Claire Hughes.
4 Chair's announcements and Urgent Business
There were no chair’s announcements and no urgent business.
5 Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Axam and Bowerman.
6 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
7 Previous minutes
RESOLVED: to note the minutes of the meeting on Wednesday 30 March 2022.
8 Capita Performance Report
The Client Relationship Director introduced the item. The committee were informed that the response to customer service calls had fallen short of the targets for Havant and Mendip Councils. The revenues and benefits call response time target had also not been met. There had also been a significant uplift in calls due to waste service issues at Havant, and Energy Rebates. This made it difficult to maintain service against standards, in the absence of a significant uplift in resources available.
The committee were concerned that, again, targets had not been met for calls answered to time, and that this seemed to be an ongoing issue. It was noted that during certain peak events, there was difficulty due to the limited staff available, and external influences such as decisions from the government could cause severe spikes in workloads. The lead officer assured that this was a matter which was subject to robust ongoing review. However, the concern was clearly recognised, and the committee advised that further mitigations would be considered.
The Partnership Director added that they were seeing an increase in elongated calls where one customer sought more help after their initial reason for calling had been resolved, and this contributed to the increase in waiting time for members of the public who were calling for support. In addition, the CRD added that whilst unanticipated events had let to unexpected demand, these past events provided learning opportunities so they could be better prepared in any new situation.
The Partnership Director also assured the committee that, despite an increase in length and complexity of issues needing resolving, that calls were being resolved in the first instance 90% of the time. It was noted that Covid-19 did make the situation more volatile, and the performance indicators may need adjusting.
The CRD also made reference to Revenues and Benefits performance. One omission noted was annual figures for Housing Benefits Overpayments. However, a positive picture was indicated with a net reduction in overpayments outstanding of £1.2M. The committee asked, the reduction of £1.2m, how much was outstanding as a total. The officer clarified that the original position had been £11.46m in overpayments which was reduced to £9.8m.
A second question followed asking whether officers were content with the charging for off-contract work. The officer responded that change control processes were followed, and the requirements were developed jointly with councils, who then agreed requirements for solutions with Capita. Governance here was overseen by all authorities and was deemed robust.
The committee requested that future reports should include more information on the average call time rather than solely a percentage. In addition, the committee asked for more quality indicators for topics such as the number of calls abandoned.
RESOLVED: to note the Capita performance report.
9 Capita Strategy Briefing
The Account Director introduced the item, and the committee received a presentation on the strategic review. The committee were told that since the start of the contract, the landscape within the services had changed, with Covid-19 having altered the way in which employees were working. Ongoing work including the IT Roadmap and Mendip’s incorporation into the Somerset Unitary would have a key bearing on the 2022-2025 direction. The committee were told that the Capita continued to work towards meeting the core ambitions of the service delivery plan and were given an update on the ongoing delivery of the plan, and their incorporation into meeting the annual plan. The Account Director provided an update on how Capita was looking ahead over the 2022-2025 period in order to support the scope of the contract and shape the priorities for the core services over the next two-three years, alongside supporting the wider strategic aims of the five councils.
RESOLVED: to note Capita strategy briefing.
10 Customer Satisfaction Survey
RESOLVED: to note the customer satisfaction survey update and for further updates to follow.
11 Dates of meetings in 2022-23
The Client Relationship Director added that the current intention was for the November meeting to be held in-person. The committee whilst only required to meet in-person once a year, would have a budget setting item in November and so the committee would need to decide whether to have September’s meeting virtually, or hold both September and November meetings in-person.
RESOLVED: to note the date of meetings in 2022-23.
12 Exclusion of the public
In accordance with Part 1 of Schedule 12A 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 and as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006, the committee agreed to exclude the press and public from the meeting.
RESOLVED: to exclude members of the press and public on the grounds that:
a. It involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraphs 1-8
b. The public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information.
13 Contract Finance Summary
The committee noted the contract finance summary.
14 Update on the Somerset Unitary Authority
The committee noted the update on the Somerset Unitary Authority
15 Havant and East Hampshire - ending of the Joint Management Agreement
The committee noted the ending of the joint management agreement at Havant and East Hampshire.
16 Update on the situation with Strategic IT initiatives project
The committee noted the update on the Strategic IT initiatives project.
The meeting closed at 3.42 pm
Chair Date
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