Issue - meetings

Cabinet received the report, which set out the full business case for the New Support and Customer Services Organisation (NSCSO) along with the Equalities Impact Assessment and List of principal legislation affecting the NSCSO services. 

Councillor Hugh Rayner, Chairman of Business Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Councillor Alison Moore, Leader of the Labour Group, addressed Cabinet.  Councillor Richard Cornelius, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Daniel Thomas, the Deputy Leader of the Council/Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources and Councillor Robert Rams, the Cabinet Member for Customer Access and Partnerships responded to the points raised by Councillors Rayner and Moore.

Due to continued disruptions from the public gallery, Cabinet adjourned at 7.55pm and reconvened at 8.02pm in an adjoining meeting room to continue with the meeting.

Councillor Daniel Thomas, the Deputy Leader of the Council/Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources and Councillor Robert Rams, the Cabinet Member for Customer Access and Partnerships introduced the report. 

A number of points were raised in subsequent discussion between the Cabinet Members and Cabinet colleagues:

o         Councillor Hart asked for reassurance on concerns that residents had expressed to her: (a) that residents using the telephone will not be put through to a call centre outside the country and that rates for telephone calls with be at local rates (b) that where face to face contact had previously been provided by the Council for services, the same opening times would still apply (c ) that customer satisfaction should not depend on calls answered after a particular number of rings but on efficacy and efficiency (d) that performance should be monitored from the start of the contract on a quarterly basis and where it falls below the current baseline of 69.5%, Capita be liable to financial penalties (e) what knowledge can be shared on Capita’s existing clients?

o         Councillor Rams responded that there will not be any premium rate telephone calls; Capita will be subject to a fine of £500,000 over a year if it did not meet its Key Performance Indicator target for customer satisfaction; Capita is committed to increasing customer satisfaction to 80% in two years, 85% in three years and 90% in five years; references had been obtained from Birmingham, Southampton and Swindon Councils.

o         Councillor Harper asked how the Council is protected throughout the life of the contract and how the Council will manage the process of bringing services back in-house, if that is the Council’s wish, after the term of the contract.

o         Councillor Rams responded that if services are to be brought back in-house during the term of the contract, there will be costs involved for the Council however if the contract runs its full term there will be no costs.  Officers added that there will be no liability to Capita if the contract runs the full term.  However, if at the end of the contract services are brought back in-house or move to another provider andif there were any redundancies, it will be for the Council to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5