Agenda, decisions and minutes

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In accordance with the Code of Conduct adopted by the City & County of Swansea, no interests were declared.

To approve & sign the Minutes of the previous meeting(s) as a correct record.

Resolved that the Minutes of the Corporate Services & Financial Resilience Service Transformation Committee held on 26 September, 2023 be approved and signed as a correct record.

The Head of Digital & Customer Services presented the Customer Charter and Service Standards Framework.

The Committee had discussed the draft Customer Charter and Service Standards at their meeting on 25 July, 2023 following which public consultation and engagement was undertaken in the form of a survey.  The Charter and Standards had been updated as a result of feedback in the survey.  Further views were being sought with specific consultation groups before the Charter and Standards are submitted to Cabinet for approval on 18 January, 2024.

The Customer Charter and Service Standards Framework is a dynamic set of guidelines which will require constant review and will be updated in line with changes to legislation and working practices.  Therefore, although it is recommended that this version of the Charter and Standards are adopted, it will be subject to change and development.

There were 73 responses to the survey of whom 81% were Swansea residents and 16% were Swansea Council staff. A summary of feedback from residents regarding the Customer Charter was detailed.

With regard to the Service Standards listed for each service area, some comments were received around individual cases and current service requests, these would be passed to the relevant department.

It was noted that providing access to information and services in alternative formats such as large print or braille would incur additional costs for some services which is expected to be accommodated within existing budgets.

Committee questioning and discussion focussed on:

·       Timescales in regard to dealing with Council Tax and Free School Meals – the Head of Digital & Customer Services will liaise with the relevant Heads of Service on this.

·       Corporate complaints had benefitted from the introduction of a new system which had assisted with processing times.  Freedom of Information requests could prove complex if responses were required from multiple organisations.  In these cases, the individual would be advised of revised response times if the timescales were not feasible.

The Head of Digital and Customer Services stated that she would report the Committee comments to Leadership Team. 

The Chair thanked the Head of Digital & Customer Services for the informative report.

Resolved that:

1)    the Chair present the Customer Charter and Service Standards Framework to Cabinet on 18 January, 2024, for approval and adoption from 1 April, 2024.

The Head of Communications and Marketing assisted by Consultation Co-ordinator presented the Co-production Policy.

It was noted that the Council was committed to co-production where opportunities exist and were appropriate. This intention was set out in the Corporate Plan (2023-2028) by involving local people in Council decisions that affect them, their families, and our communities.   This would be accomplished by incorporating co-production behaviours and thinking into the way we work.

During the last 12 months Co-Production Lab Wales had been working with the Council to increase knowledge of co-production and develop a co-production policy.

Alongside the development of a policy, a Co-production Champions Network had been established to provide a dedicated space for peer support and learning. In addition, the Council had invested in staff training and were developing a co-production toolkit to help with co-production implementation.

The purpose, development, public consultation and next steps of the Policy were detailed.

The Cabinet Member for Communities stated that the Policy required a huge cultural shift and whilst there would be challenges good progress had been made.  The Cabinet Member thanked all concerned for developing the Policy.

In response to a Member question, the Consultation Co-ordinator detailed the process for engaging champions.

The Chair thanked the Head of Communications & Marketing and the Consultation Co-ordinator for the informative report.

Resolved that:

1)    The Co-production Policy be presented to Cabinet on 18 January, 2024 for adoption.

The Chair presented the Committee Work Plan 2023-2024.

Resolved that:

1)    Workforce and OD Transformation Programme: Leadership and Management Development be considered at the meeting on 23 January, 2024.