Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor Rose Bowler.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to consider.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest made.

Minutes of a meeting held on 9^th September 2019

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Andrew Joesbury

RESOLVED that the Minutes of a Customer Service and Transformation Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 9^th September 2019 be approved as a correct record.

(Members should contact the officer whose name appears on the List of Key Decisions for any further information.  NB: If Members wish to discuss an exempt report under this item, the meeting will need to move into exempt business and exclude the public in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and Local Government Act 1972, Part 1, Schedule 12a for that part of the meeting only).

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Tricia Clough

RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions and items to be considered in private document be noted.

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Tricia Clough

RESOLVED that the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following item of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1, Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

The Joint Head of Property & Commercial Services and the Property Services Managerattended the meeting to address Members concerns and questions with regard to an exempt report, which would be considered at a meeting of Executive on 14^th October 2019, in relation to the Whitwell Cluster Be@Home Framework.

Committee suggested that ‘subject to Planning approval’ be added to each of the three recommendations in the report.

The Joint Head of Property & Commercial Services agreed to take on board the amendment to all three recommendations as part of the presentation of the report to Executive on 14^th October 2019.

In addition, Officers agreed to further consultation and investigation in relation to a specific proposal within the report.

The Joint Head of Property & Commercial Services and the Property Services Manager left the meeting.

Committee considered a presentation provided by the Communications Manager and the Web Development Manager in relation to progress on the development of a new BDC website which would be launched at the end of this calendar year.

The Communications Manager advised Committee that the Council’s current website was accessed more frequently via mobile phones than personal computers so the new website would be ‘scaleable’ for mobile phone compatibility. 

New user friendly elements had been developed for the new website and included 6 interchangeable featured service boxes which could be changed at different times in the year.  The website would also link to Modern.Gov, the Council’s new Governance software system, which would be available in early 2020, for public access to Committee meeting information including minutes and agendas and Councillor information.

In response to Members’ queries, the Communications Manager highlighted the following;

·         the Contact Centre Back Office Web Chat feature on the current website provided the Communications Team with data on the type of items that customers searched for. 

·         the new website would also provide data on how people searched for items which could also be searched for by postcode. 

·         information not required by a customer could be turned off on the results search bar. 

·         the new website could be used in different languages.

·         for customers using a personal computer, they would be able to navigate the new website with a keyboard as well as a mouse.

·         the success of the new website would be measured by the number of hits it received.

The Strategic Director – People noted that the new website was a digital shift for customers and would change how they contacted the Council and accessed the Council’s services in the future.  He added that transactions from telephone calls to online services had already increased by 60% and this was expected to rise with the new website.

Members welcomed the presentation and looked forward to the new website being available.  They thanked the Communications Manager and the Web Development Manager for providing the update.

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Tricia Clough

RESOLVED that the update be noted.

The Communications Manager and the Web Development Manager left the meeting.

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Tricia Clough

RESOLVED that the public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of the following item of business to avoid the disclosure to them of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 1, Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006).

Committee considered a joint presentation of the Chief Executive Officer and Strategic Director – People, which provided an update regarding the progress of the Joint Strategic Alliance.

At its meeting held on 15^th July 2019, Committee had agreed that the monitoring period for Recommendation 2.4 of their Review of the Strategic Alliance would be extended to October 2019, to enable Members to receive the report of the Strategic Director – People.

The presentation included information on;

·         recent changes in some service areas at the Council with regard to staffing structures and creation of new posts including consideration of future staffing capacity,

·         investments in key sites at both councils,

·         a business case to the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP),

·         successes achieved by the Joint Committee since its formation in 2011, including improvements/advances and savings via the joint Transformation Programme.

Members asked questions to which the Chief Executive Officer and Strategic Director – People replied.

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor David Dixon

RESOLVED that the Presentation be noted.

The Chief Executive Officer and the Strategic Director – People left the meeting.

Committee considered their Work Programme 2019/20.

Committee considered and agreed the scoping document for the Review of New Bolsover New Beginnings – Evaluating the Customer Experience.

Moved by Councillor Ray Heffer and seconded by Councillor Andrew Joesbury

RESOLVED that (1) the Work Programme 2019/2020 be noted,

(2) the Scoping Document for the Review of New Bolsover New Beginnings – Evaluating the Customer Experience be agreed.

The meeting concluded at 1130 hours.