Agenda item

This report provides an update on the Front Office, Back Office Transformation Programme since the report brought to Overview and Scrutiny Committee on the 30-4-19.

The Committee received a report which provided an update on the Front Office Back Office Transformation Programme, following a previous update provided to the Committee on 30^th April 2019. The report was introduced by The Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods. Andy Briggs, AD for Customers Services and Libraries, was present along with Helen Gaffney (HR Business Partner) and Belinda Black (FOBO Programme Director). Maggie Smith and Gerard McGrath from Unison were also in attendance.  The following was noted in discussion of the report:

a.    The Cabinet Member advised that her primary concern around implementing the FOBO programme was around ensuring that undue stress and excessive workloads were not placed on staff as a result. There had been significant consultation undertaken with trade unions and their concerns had been incorporated into the proposals as they developed. The Committee was advised that the formal staff consultation did not end until 25^th July but that the information given during the meeting was the latest that was available. The Cabinet Member set out that she recognised that the Council needed to offer a 21^st Century technology–based customer service solution to residents, whilst ensuring that services worked for everyone.

b.    In response to a question, officers advised that there were around 2000 calls and 300/400 emails per day to Haringey Customer Services.

c.    In response to a question, officers advised that there were nine staff engagement sessions held, including a number of pre-engagement sessions and that as a result, there were no surprises for staff in respect of these proposals. Officers advised that Committee that they had been able to have an open and constructive dialogue with staff and to ensure that the numbers of compulsory redundancies were kept to an absolute minimum. Officers advised that the number of expected redundancies had been reduced since last coming to the Committee and that through a series of mitigations they were able to advise that there would be no compulsory redundancies for staff.

d.    In response to a request for their comments, the Unison reps advised that engagement with management had improved since the previous update and that they were satisfied that a positive way forward had been found overall. The Committee noted a number of concerns from the unions which included:

                       i.        The process felt overly rushed and the unions felt that back-office jobs had been taken before management were able to demonstrate adequate technological solutions.

                      ii.        There was a lack of clear evidence to justify the level of posts deleted within the Revenue and Benefits service.

                     iii.        The unions raised concerns from staff that those left behind would be dealing with increased stress levels and workloads from backlogs.

                    iv.        Concerns were raised about  gaps in service and that Customer Service staff would be asked to attend Liability Order hearings without the proper training or accreditation.

                      v.        The Committee was advised that the unions remained concerned about whether the IT programme needed to run this programme was fit for purpose and the level of IT support that would be available for staff.

                    vi.        That staff had raised concerns about a lack of training within the team entrusted within the new roles and that the training courses only took place once a month. Staff were also concerned about the impact on existing roles and having to effectively do two people’s jobs.  

                   vii.        The Committee noted that the technology in question was not working as effectively as hoped within the DWP, who were much further advanced in the process. This would have a significant impact on  existing staff.

                  viii.        Given the issues around the technology, concerns were raised about deadlines being revised and implementation being delayed.

                    ix.        The unions set out that whilst they welcomed having no compulsory redundancies, they did not want to see redundancies of any kind as this they represented job losses. Rather, the unions wanted to see their members in work in secure employment.

                      x.        The formal response to the consultation of behalf of the unions would be submitted to management on 24^th July.

e.    The Chair directed the Committee to focus its questions around the communications with staff. The Chair acknowledged that officers were due to bring a follow-up report back to the Committee in October and requested that the report set out some of the concerns raised here including; whether what had been implemented to date was working effectively, what the impact of those changes had been and further information about the impact on staff undertaking Liability Order hearings. (Action: Andy Briggs/Clerk).

f.     The Committee sought clarification about whether the decision to transfer the business support function back to Children’s Services from the corporate centre had been considered for other services, and whether adequate consideration had been given to the loss of specialism arising from adopting a centralised model. In response, officers advised a series of workshops were held with representatives of all services around 18 months ago and the business support function was not raised as an issue at that time. Subsequent to these workshops, a new Director for Children’s Services had been appointed and it was decided, following significant discussions, that those functions would be better placed within CYPS. Following further questions, officers advised that there had been no desire to go back to services and actively seek reconsideration of the discussions that took place 18 months ago. However, officers emphasised that the FOBO programme was fully communicated and that the FOBO Board consisted of representation from across the Council and met monthly. There were also a variety of sub-boards which met regularly.

g.    In response to the discussion outlined above, Unison advised that in their opinion the shared service model had never worked and questioned the implementation of an additional level of management as a result of the model. Unison welcomed the return of the shared service functions back to Children’s Services and suggested that this should be replicated for services across the Council.

h.    The Committee enquired what level or grade the Change Champions were within the organisation. In response, officers advised that they ranged from PO2 to Scale 5. Of the around 30 Change Champions, the majority were at the Scale 5 or Scale 6 Level.

i.      The Committee requested that the Change Champion newsletters be shared with all Members. (Action: Andy Briggs).

j.      The Chair highlighted some of the information contained in the newsletters and emphasised staff feelings of negativity, frustration and poor IT systems. The Chair suggested that there was a lot of learning for the Council in this around the culture of the organisation and asked the Cabinet Member how this information might be used to bring about positive change to the organisation’s culture. In response, the Cabinet Member set out that the newsletter demonstrated that the organisation was serious about culture change and acknowledged that staff across the organisation were feeling some of the pressures outlined therein. The Committee was advised that the FOBO programme would play a central role in updating and improving IT systems, which was one of the main concerns highlighted. The Cabinet Member acknowledged the concerns outlined and advised the Committee that she would be taking the issue of culture change to Cabinet.

k.    The Committee enquired about how officers were going to ensure that there was a continuous level of service given the staff losses outlined and the fact that the demand of answering 2000 phone calls and 300 emails a day would still be there. In response, officers reiterated that they acknowledged the concerns about overloading staff and emphasised that the purpose of the programme was not just a cost cutting exercise, but rather a transformative approach which would, as a consequence, allow the Council to provide a more focused and responsive service to residents with higher needs. The AD for Customer Services and Libraries advised that resources would not be released until officers knew that what was being implemented would work. In addition, significant work had, and would continue to be, done around tracking this programme and its impact on staff.  

RESOLVED

     I.        The Committee noted the report.