Issue - meetings

(a)       That Members of the Committee note the comments received on the service and the progress made during the first six months since its launch and advise that further public awareness of the telephone numbers be developed;

(b)       That Members note the content of the Action Plans for the service and that deadlines and persons responsible be incorporated into the Action Plans;

(c)        That point 4.03 of the report, concerning the Grass Cutting Policy be removed from the recommendation;

(d)       That a further report be presented to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee during 2013-14; and

(e)       That the Director of Environment convey the thanks of the Committee to the Streetscene supervisors for their work.

The Head of Streetscene introduced the report to update Members on the outcome of the review of the Streetscene service six months after its launch in March 2012.

In order to assess the progress made by the service so far, feedback and comments on the service were requested from Council Members through the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, members of the public through satisfaction surveys, all Streetscene Staff, Trade Unions and Town and Community Councils.  The Head of Street Scene reported that 23 replies had been received from councillors with a total of 89 comments, 17 were complimentary and 29 suggested improvements to be made.  A total of 6 replies were received from staff and two replies from two trade unions.  In relation to the Customer survey, 50% of customers were aware of Streetscene and a third knew the phone number. Two thirds of respondents had noticed an improvement. The comments related to four main areas which fed into the following four action plans:

1. Staffing structure

2. Operational

3. Office and Depot and a series of Action Plans implemented.

            4. Contact Centre

The Head of Street Scene said that the action plans would be built into future service plans.  The Director of Environment then provided an update on the four main objectives of the project as follows:

Improving Customer Access to the Service

Streetscene now had one telephone number to cover the whole service.  It was recognised that initially there were not sufficient contact centre staff to deal with the high volume of calls.  The Director of Environment commented that changes were being made to the contact centre as the service evolved.

Raising Public Awareness of the Project

There had been a big media campaign around the launch date and lots of people now recognised Streetscene and the single number as a result of this.

Operational Changes

Operational changes had lead to a more joined up service.  Generic job roles had improved flexibility and enabled priorities to be met.

Office and Depot rationalisation

Previously there were five depots; there was now one operational depot at Alltami.

            The Director of the Environment said that there had been enormous changes to the service in the last six months and suggested that an update be submitted at some stage in the 2013/14 Forward Work Programme.

            Councillor C. A Thomas asked how the surveys had been carried out.  The Director of Environment in response said that customer surveys had been undertaken at roadshows and fetes during the summer.  Councillor Thomas asked about street lighting and the Director of Environment advised that the Committee’s FWP had timetabled a street lighting workshop in November.  She raised concern on the changes to grass cutting in rural areas which were not reflected in the Grass Cutting Policy and said that she expected the grass cutting policy to have been changed as a result of the grass cutting Task and Finish group in scrutiny.  The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30