Agenda and minutes

To appoint a Chair for the Partnership Sub-Group

Councillor Peter Baker was nominated and seconded to act as Chair of the Sub Group.

RESOLVED - That Councillor Peter Baker be appointed as Chair of the Partnership Sub Group. 

An apology for absence was submitted on behalf of Councillor Geoffrey Russell.

Members of the Committee are reminded of their responsibility to declare any personal interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct.  If the personal interest is a prejudicial interest, then the individual Member should not participate in a discussion on the matter and must withdraw from the room and not seek to influence a decision on the matter.

No Member disclosed any interests in relation to matters under consideration at the meeting.

To confirm the terms of reference for the Partnership Sub-Group.  

The Sub Group considered and discussed the draft terms of reference in full.  

It was AGREED that the terms of reference be as follows:

1.                  To review the Lancashire Shared Services Contact Centre partnership arrangements.

2.                  To assess whether the Council is achieving the desired benefits of partnership working, for example, procurement, single point of access to services.

3.                  To identify possible improvements.

4.                  To report on the findings and make recommendations to the Corporate and Customer Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

This document was distributed at the Panel meeting in September to be added to your reference box file.

This report was considered in conjunction with the following item. 

This document was distributed at the Panel meeting in September to be added to your reference box file.

The Sub-Group considered the Audit Commission Performance Summary Report on Customer Access and the Overview and Scrutiny Report on the Shared Services Contact Centre Review submitted to the Lancashire County Council Executive Cabinet. 

The Sub-Group noted that the Partnership was a groundbreaking project with the vision for customers to access all services from a single point.  This included a virtual network between the County and the six districts enabling calls to be answered by the County if all the lines were busy at a District. 

There had been issues with the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.  The contract had originally been awarded to SX3, who had been bought out by Northgate.  This had meant that the CRM had not been implemented and used effectively.  Negotiations were ongoing with Northgate to resolve these issues.  The contract arrangements were complex as Northgate had a contract with Lancashire County Council, who had back to back contracts with the districts.  The management of the contracts had been an area of concern in the past and was an area for the Sub-Group to look at further. 

The Partners were all at different stages of implementation.  It was key that Chorley’s progression was not held back.  Each partner was able to develop their CRM independently to enable them to utilise the benefits of the CRM.  The second phase was to enable the County and Districts to deliver services for each other.  There were plans for Lancashire County and Chorley to be the first wave to achieve phase two by February 2007.  The relationship between Lancashire County and Chorley would be key in achieving this and would realise massive benefits, such as extended opening hours after six in the evening and Saturday mornings. 

The Sub-Group AGREED

1.                  To visit the hub at Lancashire County Council and ask for reassurance on the future of the project as a whole, in particular relating to the contractual arrangements and the relationship with Lancashire County Council and

2.                  To talk with other Partners to ascertain their views. 

This document was distributed at the Panel meeting in September to be added to your reference box file.

The Sub-Group considered the Customer Access Strategy and noted that Chorley had an Access Strategy (No 8 in the reference box file).

It was AGREED that an update on the Chorley Customer Access Strategy be presented to a future meeting.  

The Sub-Group will have a group discussion on the way forward on the Scrutiny Inquiry and in particular the issues to be considered at future meetings.  

The Sub-Group discussed the way forward for the Inquiry and AGREED

1.                  That a visit to the hub be arranged for a Friday in November, with a tour and an opportunity to speak to an officer and a Councillor involved in the project,

2.                  That representatives from two Partner Councils be interviewed to give feedback on the Partnership and progress with the project,

3.                  That Councillor Edgerley and Councillor Walker be interviewed to give feedback on the Partnership and progress with the project. 

To confirm the date of the next meeting.  

It was AGREED that the Democratic Services Officer would arrange the date of the next meeting to discuss the questions to be raised during the visit to the hub.