Agenda item

Councillor Tucker, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Insourcing, reported that the Front Office, Back Office project (FOBO) had focussed on rationalising how the Council communicated with the public, service users and local businesses.  The prime objective was to improve the way that the Council worked rather than to cut services.  There was nevertheless the potential to make significant savings, particularly through the intelligent use of Information Technology (IT).  The intention was to create the capacity to increase the number of direct interactions with service users and particularly those who were vulnerable or had difficulty dealing with IT. 

The savings were to be made from a reduction in staffing and he was therefore glad that the trade union representatives were present at the meeting and therefore in a position to express any concerns.  The intention was to maximise retention of the number of staff that wished to stay.  Substantial savings could be delivered from not filling vacancies and reducing the number of temporary and agency staff.  Consultation was taking place with staff and their representatives and preserving quality jobs and staff welfare were clear priorities.

Andy Briggs, Assistant Director for Corporate and Customer Services and Libraries, reported that the project involved merging front and back office functions.  The aim was to make interactions easier so more attention could be focussed on those in greatest need of support, such as people in debt or living in poverty.  The objectives of the programme were explicit in the new Borough Plan.  These were that people should be able to access the advice that they needed first time and that it was easy to interact with the Council.  It was planned that the programme would not only deliver savings identified within the MTFS but also provide a better service to customers.  It would take two years and involved three phases.  100 opportunities had been identified and these had now been distilled down to six key projects.  Significant improvements had already been achieved since January.  This had included a telephone queue call back system and decision trees on the Council’s website, helping residents access information in a much easier way.

Belinda Black, the Programme Director, reported that the opportunities identified had come from staff.  They had looked at the whole of the customer journey and focussed on the needs of the 90% of customers that were able to access services on-line.  The aim was to create spare capacity that could be used to assist those who were less able to self-serve.   £250k of savings had been achieved so far in 2018-19 with no staff cuts.  In 2019-20, there would be reductions in staffing levels but half of these would come from vacant posts.  Some of the cuts in staffing would be at the higher levels. 

Gerard McGrath, Joint UNISON Branch Secretary, reported that many staff affected had been adversely affected by the previous restructuring of libraries and customer services.  Although the new proposals aimed to be more balanced in their approach, there were still some concerns.  UNISON was seeking to protect jobs and terms and conditions.  They also wished to ensure the welfare of those who would be staying.  Maggie Griffin, UNISON Joint Central Services Convenor, stated that there was “change fatigue” within the service, with staff constantly anxious about where the next round of cuts were likely to be.   There had been an increase in stress levels since the last restructuring and this had been reflected in higher sickness absences.  There was a lack of confidence in the ability of the IT structure to deliver the support needed by proposed changes.  Current IT systems were unable to communicate with each other.  She would welcome the opportunity to see the overall plan for where jobs would be lost.  If agency staff were to leave, somebody would still have to cover their workload.  It was likely that some staff would choose to leave. 

Mr McGrath stated that there had been positive discussions with Mr Briggs regarding culture and management style at the Contact Centre.  He felt that the current work environment was toxic in nature and there were now plans to address this.  It was not a pleasant place to work and the screens separating staff could result in them feeling isolated.  It was agreed that the Committee would visit the Contact Centre and that this would be scheduled to take place before the change programme was implemented. 

In answer to a question, Mr Briggs stated that lessons had been learnt from the last restructuring.  The current process had been led by staff with a limited amount of external support.  There would be no reductions in staffing levels until the new systems were embedded and functioning to plan.  He stated that the concerns regarding IT systems were understandable.   Services had a lot of legacy IT systems and the change programme cut across many of these.  A key part of the programme was the development of a new digital platform.  He commented that not all of the savings were based on reductions in staffing.  For example, a large amount of money was spent on printing and it was now intended to become paperless.  Consideration was being given to making savings from changing the way the service worked in the first instance with reductions in front line staffing only being looked at when all other options had been exhausted.  

Ms Black reported that staff had been engaged in workshops but she was not aware of the exact number who had been involved.  Staff had also been engaged in work to design the new services. All had been given an opportunity to be involved.   In answer to a question regarding assistance in accessing services for people whose first language was not English, Mr Briggs agreed to consider the matter further and report back.

Mr McGrath stated that he hoped that staff would be supported during the implementation of the changes.  Some staff had not experienced a job interview for a long time and were likely to find such processes challenging.  In addition, UNISON also wished to ensure that those who want to stay were supported.

Ms Black reported that the programme aimed to save £1.5 million in 2019/20.  However, savings other than those from not filling vacancies were not required to be made until October.   Services involved had approximately 500 staff in total.  Reductions of 20-25% in staff had originally been envisaged but this had now been revised down to 62 full time equivalent in total.  A significant number of staff did not work full time.  It was therefore not possible to be exact regarding the number of people affected.  However, temporary and agency staff would be the first to go.  Offers of reduced hours were being discussed with staff who had expressed an interest.   The Council’s Human Resources team were looking at what the implications of this might be for individual staff.

The Cabinet Member commented that staff had stated that they would like the routine side of their jobs reduced so that they could spend more quality time with clients and finding solutions.  Restructurings had not always been managed in the best way and staff needed to have confidence in the current plans.  Engagement with the trade unions was key to this.

In answer to a question, Ms Black stated that the new roles had been created to reflect what staff were doing rather than the need to make savings.  There would be a greater emphasis on work that “added value”.  There would be new job descriptions and these would be evaluated. It was intended to make savings in a way that improved both services and the working life of staff.   She was open to suggestions on additional ways that staff could be involved in the process.

Mr Briggs reported that the intended savings of £4.2 million was set in the Medium Term Financial Strategy of two years ago.  Many areas of improvement did not involve any savings being made.  Improvements to communications was an example of this.  If the projected savings were delivered, it would help to protect other vulnerable services from cuts.  It was likely that there would be elements of the new arrangements that would not work well and, if so, they were happy to revisit them and exercise flexibility.  Ms Black commented that they had been relatively conservative in the savings that were projected.  Some initiatives were likely to over deliver. 

Ms Griffin stated that she was not against progress but there would still be a need for some work to be done manually, such as preventing fraud.   IT could not deliver all of the services.  If the number of staff were reduced, the work would still need to be covered.

RESOLVED:

1.    That a further report be made to the Committee in July and that this include:

·         Details of engagement with the trade unions and how staff were informing the process;

·         Support provided to staff who wished to remain;

·         Lessons learnt from previous reorganisations;

·         Arrangements for providing assistance in accessing services for people whose first language is not English; and

·         Clarity on the number of staff required to cover workloads.

2.    That a visit be arranged to the Council’s Contact Centre and that this be arranged to take place before the proposed changes have been implemented.