Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 July 2022 were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

The Communications and Customer Services Manager presented the Council’s External Communications Strategy to the Group.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager explained that the Council would usually develop five to ten year strategies but that this was a three year strategy to allow for further adaptation in line with resident and Councillor behaviour and expectation. He explained that this was in some part due to adaptation to a post covid-19 era and also due to the rapid nature of change in the communications and customer services arena, impacted by the wider financial landscape.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager explained that there were a variety of channels through which residents could feed back to the Council, one of which being the Residents’ Survey which would take place in 2025, before the Strategy expired which meant that it could be taken into account.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager said that external communications needed to be timely and engaging, clear, accurate, inclusive and informative, and to utilise a variety of channels and mediums to ensure that as many residents as possible were informed. The Group was informed that whilst there was an ever growing digital audience who were engaged with the Council, there was also a large percentage of residents who didn’t engage, perhaps who were digitally active but chose not to, or perhaps who were not digitally engaged at all.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager said that external communications were critical to strengthening the Council’s relationship with residents and communities in delivering the Council’s vision for the Borough and in communicating the Council’s priorities and activities which had been designed to meet the needs of the community.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager said that the internal communications strategy focussed on internal stakeholders such as Councillors and staff and was particularly important during and post covid-19. He explained that it required continual review to ensure that the methods remained effective in keeping internal parties feeling integrated and connected to the Council’s internal objectives.

In relation to the Action Plan, the Communications and Customer Services Manager said that education about Council services was important, including the ways in which this could be done. The Group was informed that social media development, adapting to new channels and new trends in channels and advocacy and behaviour change would be important. The Group was informed that the Council’s email subscription service which was sent out on Sunday mornings had circa four thousand subscribers and the Council was committed to developing this as a means of reaching residents in a convenient way. The Group was also informed of the importance of aligning both digital and non-digital communications, with Rushcliffe Reports circulated three times a year to every household in the Borough, as potentially the main direct communication that the non-digitally engaged had with the Council.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager added that the team would look at conducting a skills survey to assess who read what survey to ensure communications were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

The Communications and Customer Services Manager presented the Council’s Customer Access Strategy to the Group.

The Group was informed that the previous Customer Access Strategy had expired in 2017 and that covid-19 had brought about significant changes in resident behaviours and the Council therefore wanted to ensure that it delivered contemporary, efficient and easy to use channels for residents to access services where and when they needed them.

The Group was informed that the Strategy sought to respond to customer’s current and future needs and to identify and explore innovative digital options to meet the increased engagement with web and email services, whilst balancing with the continued need for traditional face to face and over the phone services. The Group weas informed that the Council was looking at its customer services sites and working with partners to ensure that they were accessible and were places that residents felt that they could visit.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager said that the key themes of the Strategy were to build on and explore innovation, embed further self-service, review and building on partnerships and to listening and respond to residents

In relation to the Action Plan, The Communications and Customer Services Manager ran through the key elements which were to identify and explore new contact channels, develop and embed self-services and online options, aided by free wi-fi at customer service sites, showcase digital solutions in person to customers, review existing contact point locations, use Customer Service Advisors to further shape services, signpost customers to develop their digital skills, have clear Customer Service Standards across channels and sites, review service level agreements with partners, routinely monitor customer feedback and satisfaction, evaluate systems for more responsive service and review postal communication. 

Members of the Group said that they were pleased to see that face to face and telephone services were still being offered. The Group referred to some hold messages being irritating, in particular when being constantly directed to the website.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager explained that often the answer to a customer’s query could be found on the website and so the Council would continue to signpost to it. He explained that the Council was also exploring chat bot options as an effective way of providing quick answers. He confirmed that the key aim was to provide features that helped people find information quicker, whilst noting that it would be important to find balance between options.

Councillor R Mallender understood but thought that there were times when people just wanted to speak to a human being or required help in understanding nuanced information, and so it was therefore important to continue to offer the option. The Communications and Customer Services Manager assured the Group that the Council was committed to providing the option of having someone to speak to, to meet the needs of the Borough’s demographic but that there was also need to review how it would evolve over the next three years.

The Communications and Customer Services Manager  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

The Chairman presented the report of the Director - Finance and Corporate Services, which detailed the proposed Communities Scrutiny Group Work Programme for 2022/23.

It was RESOLVED that the Group consider its Work Programme and that the following items for scrutiny were agreed.

19 January 2023

·       Establishment of a Youth Council

·       Corporate Enforcement Policy

·       Work Programme

          16 March 2023

·       Carbon Management Plan

·       Environment Policy

·       Work Programme