Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence received.

Resolved: (For: 6 Abstain: 3)

For: Councillors Bradley, Cullens, Shaw, Smith, Snape and Walton.

Abstain: Councillors Bylinski-Gelder, France and Foster.

That the minutes of the meeting of the Shared Service Joint Committee held on Monday, 27 June 2022 be approved as a correct record.

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any pecuniary interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda.

If you have a pecuniary interest you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

None received.

To receive and consider the report of the Director of Change and Delivery.

The committee received a report of the Director of Change and Delivery which provided an update on the phase 1 and 2 shared services between Chorley Council and South Ribble Borough Council in relation to budgets, service development objectives, performance, staff satisfaction, and risk.

Overall, performance across shared services had been good. Most of the original service development actions had been completed for the phase 1 services, which had become further embedded as shared functions working across both councils, and focus was subsequently on the delivery of the refreshed objectives for 2022/23. The Customer and ICT services had also made progress in the delivery of their shared operating models, with recruitment to vacant posts within the teams increasing capacity and supporting service delivery.

Councillor Wilson joined the meeting at 18:14.

Much of the discussion focused on staff satisfaction, performance including call wait times, and the planned roll out of the new Terms and Conditions to all staff across both councils.

Members welcomed the improvements to staff satisfaction and recognised that although there was still a way to go things were moving in the right direction. The 45% response rate was considered relatively high and Members noted the significant improvements across the Customer Services and Revenue and Benefits service which included a 39.4% increase in those who agreed or strongly agreed that they are happy with their job.

In response to Member queries, reassurances were made that there were various mechanisms in which officers could provide feedback, such as regular focus groups, staff listening days, team briefings and pulse surveys to ensure that satisfaction can be further improved.

Steady improvements were reported from June to September in relation to the additional performance information for Customer Services, which included call wait times, abandoned call rates and calls answered within 90 seconds. Concerns were expressed that the abandoned call rates indicator was not always a true reflection of the service provided and Members discussed how the abandoned call rates were measured. Following discussion, Members suggested that the key performance indicators be developed to provide a more sophisticated analysis.

The committee queried how long the rollout of Terms and Conditions across all staff would take and the cost implications of this. Members were advised that the rollout, which had already started, would take place over the next 12 to 18 months. The process would include engaging with individual teams and undertaking a short consultation. There were six services varying in size and three months had been allocated per service for the rollout, although there could be some overlap. It was anticipated that the exercise would be cost neutral as it encompassed a wider package that was non-pay related, but this would be monitored throughout the process. A progress update would be provided at the next quarter.

The committee suggested that this report be circulated to all Councillors.

The report was noted.