Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor Lisa Powell.

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.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on 25^th March 2024.

Moved by Councillor Vicky Wapplington and seconded by Councillor Amanda Davis

RESOLVED that the Minutes of a meeting of the Customer Services Scrutiny Committee held on 25^th March 2024 be approved as a true and correct record.

To consider the minutes of an extraordinary meeting held on 22^nd April 2024.

Moved by Councillor Vicky Wapplington and seconded by Councillor Louise Fox

RESOLVED that the Minutes of an extraordinary meeting of the Customer Services Scrutiny Committee held on 22^nd April 2024 be approved as a true and 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).

Committee considered the List of Key Decisions and Items to be Considered in Private document.

RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions and Items to be Considered in Private document be noted.

The Housing Strategy and Development Officer explained that part of the Bolsover Tenants Challenge and Change Group was to provide a direct link for tenants to provide feedback to the Council.  Mr. S. Bramley had been invited to address the Committee.

Mr. Bramley explained he was 1 of 6 tenants in the Challenge and Change Group, adding they had chosen to review the Voids Process as their priority; they would ask what the standard was, what the speed was, and whether tenants were satisfied with the work being undertaken by the Council.

A number of site visits had taken place; the offices at Doe Lea to look at the systems and processes and 3 void properties at different stages of the void process.

At Doe Lea, the tenants saw how the Council and Dragonfly Development Ltd. handled the work.  A whiteboard system was in place which helped portray the start-finish timeline, with Mr. Bramley noting the statutory steps required such as the removal of asbestos.  Mr. Bramley stated he and the other tenants had been very impressed with the handling of the work involved, with the next step witnessing the work being undertaken in practice; this involved the site visits of 3 void properties.

These visits took place independently and away from the Council’s own inspections team; this was to not confer and influence the tenants’ views.

A property on Westfield Bank, Barlborough, where the previous tenant had passed away with no next of kin, needed clearing of all furniture and personal possessions before any/all repairs could take place.  During the visit, the tenants had carried out their inspection with guidance from the repairs co-ordinator; a worksheet was used to categorise the repairs required.  The repairs co-ordinator explained that these works would be ordered on the computer system which would automatically produce a costing, including a separation of materials and labour costs.

A property on Elmton Road, Creswell was partway through a refurbishment.  The works were major with a new bathroom, kitchen, and rewire.

A property on East Street, Creswell, was almost complete, with major works having been undertaken; a wet-room installed and a rewire of the electrics.

There had been the intention to visit a fourth property, but due to time constraints this proved not possible.  The tenants had been told major work had been undertaken, with a wet-room, replacement windows, full decoration, and rewire taking place.

At a following meeting, the tenants had been able to see the full costing and planning involved, as well as the work undertaken by Dragonfly Development Ltd. and the various contractors; the latter enabled fair comparisons to take place.

A number of recommendations had been forwarded by the tenants, including the need for a greater number of electrical sockets be made available and for more documents that were easier to read for tenants.  An exploration of a voucher programme for decorating could also take place, enabling new tenants to choose their own styles.

Mr. Bramley noted the standards of the Council were  ...  view the full minutes text for item CS7-24/25

The Customer Service, Complaints and Standards Manager explained the report was to provide information on the Council’s performance in relation to its customer service standards.

For the Revenues & Benefits Telephone line, the target for ‘direct dial’ Revenues incoming calls to be answered within 20 seconds was 60%; for Q4 2023/24 this was 84% and the cumulative performance for 2023/24 was 79% - both exceeding the target.  The target for ‘direct dial’ Benefits incoming calls to be answered within 20 seconds was 78%; for Q4 2023/24 this was 93% and cumulative performance for 2023/24 was 92% - both exceeding the target.

For the Contact Centres telephone line, the target for incoming calls to be answered within 20 seconds was 75%; for Q4 2023/24 this was 75% and the cumulative performance for 2023/24 was 80% - on or exceeding the target.

For E-mails, target 1 was for 100% of emails to be acknowledged within 1 working day, and for target 2 for 100% to be replied to within 8 working days.  For Q4 2023/24, 8,804 email enquiries from the public were received through enquiries@bolsover.gov.uk; all were acknowledged within one working day; and 100% were replied to in full within 8 working days cumulatively for Q4 2023/24.

For Live Chat, which remained a relatively new service, the target was 75% of incoming Live Chats to be answered within 20 seconds.  Contact Centres achieved 91% for Q4 2023/24 and the cumulatively performance for 2023/24 was 93% - both exceeding the target.

It was noted for E-mails and Live Chat, handling these communications took longer on average than traditional methods.

For the Corporate Telephone Standard, the total received calls to the authority (direct dial internal/external), the target was 93% to be answered within 20 seconds. Cumulatively, performance was 87% for 2023/24 – below target.  For incoming calls not answered, cumulative performance was 10% for 2023/24 – above the target of 5%.

For Compliments, a total of 55 written compliments were received during Q4 2023/24.  For Comments, 12 were received and 100% of these were acknowledged and passed to their respective departments within the target time of 3 working days.  For Stage 1 Complaints, a total of 45 were recorded – Customer Information System had 33, Open Housing Repairs system had 12 – for Q4 2023/24, 89% of which were responded to within the Council’s customer standard of 3 working days.  For Stage 2 Complaints and M.P. enquiries, 26 formal complaints were registered in Q4 2023/24 42 M.P. enquiries during the same period – 100% Stage 2 Complaints and 100% M.P. enquiries were responded to within 15 working days.  For Stage 3 Complaints, 9 were received and all responded to within 20 working days.  1 Ombudsman Complaint was received in Q4 2023/24, but no fault was found by the Housing Ombudsman.

The Chair noted there were clearly some obstacles present, with more needing to be done, but thanked the team for their very good work.

Mover by Councillor Vicky Wapplington and seconded by Councillor Louise Fox  ...  view the full minutes text for item CS8-24/25

The Customer Standards and Complaints Officer explained since April 2024 the Council had changed the rules and the amount of time to respond to Complaints.  Stage 1 Complaints had seen an increase and it remained important to capture all relevant data, using the example of improvements and trends taking place.

The Council’s website and the Complaint and Customer Services leaflet had been updated.  The Head of Service – Housing Management explained due to time constraints, a final copy of the leaflet could not be provided to the Committee for consideration, adding that the Housing Regulation Act 2023 required all local authorities to provide proof of them meeting the new code. The report was being prepared, and while no final version was ready for the Committee, it would be provided to the Executive on 24^th June and full Council after.

The Chair stated it was good to know the new guidelines for tenants had been made a priority.

The Head of Service – Housing Management noted all appeals were now going through the correct process due to the previous unsustainable demand on the Housing Register.  The Portfolio for Housing added that many on the Housing Register had been present for 15 years as a “just in case” measure, but the new rules would not prevent those in genuine need of a Council property being housed; they would stay protected.

Moved by Councillor Amanda Davis and seconded by Councillor Vicky Wapplington

RESOLVED that the verbal report be noted.

The Head of Service – Housing Management, Customer Services Manager, and the Customer Standards and Complaints Officer left the meeting.

The Scrutiny Officer explained that it was a new municipal year with many reports included in 2024/25.

The Committee considered the Work Programme 2024/25  provided separately from the document pack.

The formal part of the meeting concluded at 10:51 hours and Members then met as a working party to continue their review work.  The working party concluded at 11:36 hours.