To receive a information and to view a short DVD on the new proposals to provide face to face contact with the public.
Officer: John Rogers, Head of Customer Access
Minutes:
John Rogers, Head of Customer Access showed a short DVD detailing the new proposals to provide face to face contact with the public.
The Council is redesigning the way services are delivered, with high emphasis on meeting the needs of the customer, by looking at ways in which people could get the service delivery they needed.
Questions and comments were taken from the floor:
· The proposed new opening times looked very similar to what was available at present. Answer: The new extended hours of 8.30am to 5.30pm showed a modest improvement, which was a start. Phone traffic was being monitored to establish which times people were trying to contact the Council, with the aim of making services available at times when people wanted to use them.
· The Downton Library was suggested as a possible location to site a customer access kiosk, however it was also noted that the opening hours of the library had recently been cut so would limit the opportunity for people to access the service. Answer: If the library was chosen as the site for the kiosk, there would be an option for local people who had a library membership to gain access to the kiosk out of library hours, by swiping their library membership card.
· How would the home visit appointments be organised to make the best use of officers time. Answer: Discussions with other teams such as Environmental Services had taken place to establish how they currently provided the home visit service. Further consideration was ongoing.
· A single officer entering into someone’s house could be quite a dangerous thing. Answer: The Council already delivered over 75% of its face to face services in people’s homes, and had built up a body of experience of the practice. In addition to this the Council was currently creating a database containing details of customers who may be considered more of a risk to visit.
Councillor McLennan noted that with the new proposals, it would be possible for a benefit officer attend people in their own home, which he felt would greatly improve the service. He urged Parishes to spread the word about the new service.
Councillor Thomson informed the Board that one option which was available to Community Areas was to have a video link installed in a kiosk. This could be used by the community as an alternative to travelling into Salisbury to attend an appointment in person. Meetings could be arranged to take place with relevant officers via the video link without having to leave the Community Area, providing local community access to a wide range of services.
Tom Bray, Community Area Manager highlighted the problem faced by the Southern Wiltshire Community Area, in that as the area was spread out and does not have a hub town or village, it would be difficult to establish one site alone which would be accessible by the whole community area.
The DVD could be viewed on YouTube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pl1aAp6364
Further Enquiries to: John Rogers, Head of Customer Access, Department: Customer Services
Direct Line; 01225 756191
E-mail: john.rogers@wiltshire.gov.uk