Agenda item

To note the Business Change Performance Report for 2015-2016, Quarter Four.  The report and appendices are a summary of the main areas of progress towards the delivery of the Corporate Plan 2014-17.

The Commission considered the report from the Strategic Director of Business Change in respect of the Quarter 4 Outturn Performance report 2015/16. The report and appendices summarised the main areas of progress towards delivery of the Corporate Plan 2014-17.

The following points were noted in discussion:

      a.            Ref. BU163 – Percentage of ICT requests using self-service.  Members asked for clarification on the -12% variance from target.  Officers confirmed that work was being progressed to improve the take up of the self-service offer. Customers would be consulted and the outcomes would inform a tailored communications plan, supported by service level agreements to support delivery.

      b.            Ref. BU205 – Number of Knowledgebase hits to Advice Centre calls. Members asked for clarification of the terminology used.   Officers advised that this related to the number of calls received from customers that prompted the use of pre populated ‘knowledgebase’ scripts used by advice centre staff to answer telephone enquiries.  Officers to confirm the targets expected.

Action: Dominic Mason

       c.            Ref. BU171 – % procurement spend with 'Small and Medium sized Enterprises' (SME's) s. Members requested detailed analysis to include local spend.  Officers confirmed that the definition of ‘local’ was still under consideration with a scope of BS16 a preferred option.  Officers to report back to Committee.

Action: Shahzia Daya

      d.            Members referred to the progress against the major projects within the Single Change Programme (SCP) and asked whether progress had been made with reference to the use of Salesforce to enable councillors to track local case work.  Officers confirmed that a solution for this work was still under consideration.  Committee Members asserted that progress on this would be both useful and welcomed. The Strategic Director confirmed that future reports would be presented with a prioritised view of projects within current financial constraints.

      e.            Members referred to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution and asked for clarification regarding the current position and whether customer facing staff now had access to the full functionality of the system.  Officers confirmed that whilst the Citizens Account had been achieved this was not yet functional with the CRM tool.  Further enhancements were needed to provide a single software platform. A staff training programme would then need to be developed.  Officers to update the Commission on the current position with reference to a local casework solution.

Action: Shahzia Daya

        f.            Ref. BU115 – Customer satisfaction (%) with ICT service desk service.  Members questioned the rationality of reporting this type of target at Scrutiny level.

      g.            Ref. BU011 – Percentage of financial audits concluding the level of control is acceptable or above.  Members commented that the analysis reporting a considerable improvement on quarter 2 painted a confusing picture. Officers were asked to report back on the areas that had not measured a satisfactory level of control.  Officers confirmed that detailed reports were already considered by the Audit Committee but could be shared with the Commission.

Action: Julie Oldale

      h.            Officers reassured Councillors that Finance Services had commenced an improvement programme which was being monitored by the Audit Committee.

        i.            Ref. BCP182 – Number of working days lost due to sickness absence.  Members asked whether sickness absence was being monitored at Committee level and whether officers could be apprised of the Fire Authority performance with reference to this difficult issue.   Cllr Godwin, Chair of the Human Resources Committee confirmed that sickness absence would be looked at in detail this year.

        j.            Members asked for clarification with reference to the Forecast budget outturn position of (£0.1m). It was confirmed that this related to a People Directorate overspend of £6.5m and an underspend of £6.6m, particularly related to capital projects.

       k.            The Strategic Director asserted that there was a need to provide clarity between Business Change results and the rest of the organisation.  Future budget monitoring reports would deliver one version of the truth providing greater transparency and opportunity to challenge.

        l.            The Commission discussed the potential of obtaining a more meaningful suite of performance indicators that was dynamic, relevant and demonstrated trends.  This could support monitoring of the Commission’s work programme and well as performance which denoted significant financial impact to the organisation.  Officers confirmed that this approach would be welcomed and would mirror existing work being carried out within the directorate; with the objective being to link performance with the correlating financial impact to create a fuller picture.  Members commented that this should be a joint process. It was agreed that officers arrange an informal workshop to explore this work further and in the context of the Mayor’s vision and other significant factors.

Action: Andrea Dell

    m.            Members raised concern that Procurement had moved to the People Directorate and therefore under the remit of the People Scrutiny Commission.  There was strong feeling that this area should be scrutinised by a different department, either through OSM or Business Change.  The Strategic Director would reflect the concerns raised with the Strategic Leadership Team and the new Head of Paid Service when in post.

Action: Anna Klonowski/Lucy Flemming