Agenda Item No_____17______
CROMER OFFICE IMPROVEMENTS
Summary:
Conclusions:
This paper brings together the business case
for office improvements which will improve
customer service and at the same time provide a
financial saving for the Council.
The three areas of work detailed, if approved,
will allow efficiencies to be realised through
better use of staff and buildings resource. In
addition, they will support the change agenda
required to deliver the Council’s Corporate Plan
and will significantly improve customer
interaction with the Council.
Recommendations:
1. To delegate authority to officers, in
conjunction with the Portfolio Members for
Resources and Customer Services, to
procure the necessary building works, along
with any professional input required in
respect
of
the
customer
services
improvement works.
2. That £31,500 is allocated from the
Restructuring and Invest to Save earmarked
reserve to fund the removal of the Annexe
and associated works
3. To authorise officers to obtain the necessary
quotes and/or tenders to ensure the safe
removal of the annexe building and the
reinstatement of the facilities currently
contained therein.
Reasons for
Recommendations:
To ensure that the works are carried out by an
appropriate contractor procured within the
framework provided by the Council’s Financial
Standing Orders
Cabinet Member(s)
Cllr Rhodri Oliver (Corporate Assets)
Cllr Tom Fitzpatrick (Customer Services)
Contact Officer, telephone number and email:
Nick Baker
01263 516221
nick.baker@north-norfolk.gov.uk
1.
Introduction
The Cromer office building is now over 20 years old and has had little
work carried out in terms of its layout during that time except for
occasional desk moves for individual teams.
At the present time, there is a need to ensure that every measure is
taken to maximise efficiencies and realise savings and income.
Changes to the office environment will allow such measures to be
achieved whilst at the same time improving the service and office
environment for Members, officers and customers alike.
The three areas of work identified in the report together, will enable
improved working by bringing together the newly created service teams
and creating staff efficiencies by improvements in the way we deal with
customer contacts.
2.
Redesign of the Front Office Reception
2.1
Background
Contact for Council services come in a number of ways – via the
website www.northnorfolk.org, telephone, email, face to face in the
Council offices at Cromer and Fareham, post and also the visits we
make to customers’ homes and / or work premises.
Approximately 51,000 transactions, i.e. circa 200 per day, take place
within the Cromer “Front offices” every year. This includes dealing
visitors for pre-booked appointments and deliveries.
The Cromer reception area was last reviewed in 1999 and since then
there have been a number of changes made and issues identified to
include:
•
The creation of a customer services team who aim to resolve
enquiries for a range of services at first point of contact
•
The closure of the dedicated cash office
•
Introduction of charging for pre-application advice in planning
•
Commitment to fully utilising space within the building
•
Health and safety concerns regarding this area
•
On-going changes around electronic communication
Now is the time to respond to these and create an environment that is
not only fit for purpose today but has the flexibility to complement and
enable changes within the organisation, as required, to meet business
needs in the future.
The Council has recognised the significance of the website and there is
a development programme underway to improve the transactional
capabilities of the website. However, even if we are successful in
encouraging our customers to make more use of the website, there will
always be instances where the type of enquiry and/or level of
reassurance the customer needs is better met through face-to-face
contact.
2.2
Rationale for Change
The Council’s Corporate Plan 2012-2015, commits to making “the
Council more efficient so that we can both deliver our priorities and
offer value for money for local taxpayers”.
We therefore need to create in the front office, a customer service
environment that supports specific organisational priorities and allows
us to work in the most cost effective and efficient way.
Over time, four separate, service based reception areas have evolved
around; Revenues and Benefits, Planning and Environmental Services,
Housing and Corporate Reception. The Housing team has a specific
role and it has been recognised that positive improvements have
recently been made in this area. Staff covering the other three areas
are all part of the Customer Services Team and, to a significant degree,
are multi-skilled and able to resolve most enquiries. However, because
the team is dispersed across the office and thinly spread, it makes it
difficult to retain service knowledge, fully utilise resources and provide
resilience.
In addition, the telephony team are currently located away from the
face-to-face team, making it more challenging to react to peaks in
customer demand in either area.
Officers are considering the needs of three distinct but differing
stakeholder groups, namely: Customers, Officers and Members. The
Customer
Services Team has an historical record of general
customer comments. Additionally, a survey is being undertaken to
gauge customers’ views of the reception area. Teams who have a
front office need within the Council, have
already been asked
regarding their views on future
changes and will
continue to be
involved throughout the various stages of the project. A
Member
survey is also being undertaken at the time of writing. All of these the
findings will be fed into the design brief.
Some of the customer transactions that take place at the main counters
can be of a personal nature and we have received a number of
comments from customers to say that they have felt uncomfortable and
embarrassed as their conversation can be heard by people either in the
queue or sitting alongside. Any redesign needs to take account of this
and provide private areas where such transactions can take place.
Also, the rooms used for some customer transactions, historically
Planning, are too small and officers have to move between the private
room and a back/front office workstation. In addition, the rooms are not
equipped with the technology needed to provide good service to some
customers. The latter issue is set to increase as more and more
Planning applications and associated documents are in electronic
format and it is necessary to consider how best to deal with both initial
applications potentially needing to be scanned and for Planning Agents
who often need access to electronic methods of display etc.
Feedback received from both Members and officers indicates that our
current provision for meeting rooms is inadequate. The lack of rooms
means that the staff canteen is frequently used and although suitable
for some meetings, it is not the most appropriate place for meetings
such as staff appraisals and supplier presentations etc.
The redesign of the reception area will enable a series of meeting
spaces to be created. These will be able to be used for customer
transactions as well as officer meetings. As the level of customers
using face-to-face access decreases over time, the area will be utilised
more by officers. This will allow for space elsewhere in the building to
be freed up.
Aside from the provision within Housing, there is currently no area
which allows for self-service via the website and this needs to be
addressed if we are to maximise the benefits offered by technology in
the future.
The Corporate Health and Safety team have carried out an assessment
of the reception area and the current arrangements present a
significant risk to the organisation. Although there has been some
interim action taken, the redesign will address the long term
requirements.
2.3.
Project Objectives
2.3.1 The key objectives for this project are:
•
To provide a customer services environment which is more
focussed on the customers’ needs
•
The creation of one Customer Services team in one central location
to reinforce the new ways of working
•
Create efficiency by bringing together the four separate reception
areas
•
Better utilisation of staff time enabling savings to be made
•
Creation of better areas for private, sensitive and/or complex
customer and officer discussions to take place
•
Full utilisation of the current reception and associated areas to free
up space elsewhere in the building
•
Address the current health and safety issues within this area
2.3.2 Other objectives include:
•
Promote self-service take up
•
Create an environment that demonstrates a ‘one Council’ approach
•
Create an environment which is flexible enough to cope with future
organisational needs and priorities of customer service
2.4.
Options Appraisal
2.4.1 Do nothing
Advantages
•
No disruption for the organisation or our customers
•
No capital outlay
Disadvantages
•
No revenue saving through staff efficiencies
•
No resolution to health and safety issues, putting the Council at
significant risk
•
Remain challenging to react to changes in customer demand as the
Customer Services team (all access channels) would not be
situated together
•
Unable to bring dispersed reception areas together making it
difficult for staff to retain service knowledge, be fully utilised and
provide resilience
•
Unable to fully utilise the area, wasting valuable floor space
•
Unable to provide a comfortable and confidential environment for
some customer enquiries.
•
Unable to create appropriate meeting rooms which are equipped to
offer resources for appropriate discussions and customer resolution
•
Remains difficult to promote self-service making it more challenging
to educate and encourage customers to transact with us in this
(electronic) way
•
The environment will continue to contribute to low staff morale and
sickness levels ultimately affecting the service to for customers
•
The environment will continue to confuse the customer
2.4.2 Cost Implications
•
No capital expenditure
•
2.5
Likely compensation pay-outs as a result of non-compliant work
stations/areas
General Improvement
2.5.1 Essentially this would involve the removal of existing counters to be
replaced by individual desks
Advantages
•
Resolution of health and safety Issues
•
Minimal disruption for the organisation and customers
•
Some small improvements in terms of privacy
Disadvantages
•
No revenue saving as unable to reduce staff numbers
•
Remain challenging to react to changes in customer demand as the
Customer Services team (all access channels) would not be
situated together
•
Unable to bring disperse reception areas together remaining difficult
for staff to retain service knowledge, be fully utilised and provide
resilience
•
Unable to fully utilise the area to best effect
•
Unable to provide a suitable environment for some customer
enquiries continuing to make officers and customers uncomfortable
•
Unable to create additional meeting rooms which will mean that in
some cases unsuitable environments will continue to be used
•
Remains difficult to promote self serve making it more challenging
to educate and encourage customers to transact with us in this
(electronic) way
•
The environment will continue to contribute to low staff morale and
sickness levels ultimately affecting the service to or customers
•
The environment will continue to confuse the customer
2.5.2 Likely Cost
It is anticipated that the cost would be in the region of £20,000 and
would include the following works:
2.6
•
Removal of existing counter arrangements
•
Replacements desks/work stations
•
Re provision of services (IT, electrics etc)
Complete redesign of the Reception Area and associated space
2.6.1 Advantages
•
Improved service to the customer
•
Revenue savings resulting from a reduction in staff
•
Resolution to health and safety issues mitigating any risk to the
Council
•
Customer Services team (various access channels) will be brought
together enabling a better reaction to a change in customer demand
•
Make it easier for Customer Service Advisors to develop skills
across all areas, retain knowledge, be fully utilised and provide
resilience as disperse reception areas will be brought together
•
Improved service to the customer
•
Area will be fully utilised providing better value for money
•
A suitable environment for all customer enquiries will be provided
making it a more pleasant experience for everyone
•
Additional meeting space will be created with the potential to free up
space elsewhere in the building and provide more suitable
environments
•
Potential to generate income from office space made available
•
The environment for customers to self-service will be enhanced
making it easier to educate and encourage customers to transact
with us in this (electronic) way
•
Increase in staff morale resulting in enhanced level of service to or
customers
•
The layout will reduce any confusion for the customer
Disadvantages
•
Significant disruption for the organisation and customer when
works are taking place
2.6.2 Likely Cost
•
2.7
The full cost is unknown at this stage as tenders have not yet been
sought. However, there is a budget within the current capital
programme for customer service improvements which is not yet fully
allocated.
It is anticipated that the available funding within the
budget will be sufficient to cover the associated costs for the
redesign.
Recommended Option
The first two options do not allow the organisation to make best use of
its staff and offices and the outstanding issues will not be addressed.
The option that best meets the organisations objectives, highlighted in
this business case, is to redesign the whole reception area, change the
look and feel of the environment and create one coherent team.
2.8
Benefits and Realisation
In view of the stated organisational objectives a redesign of the Cromer
reception will significantly assist the organisation in achieving an
increase in customer satisfaction by ensuring that our customers
experience is consistent and professional. It will also allow the
organisation to work in a more cost effective and efficient way.
2.9
Immediate cashable savings
Significant benefit realisation will be through a reduction in staff,
through more efficient and effective working methods. Due to the
flexibility created through a number of temporary contracts, this will be
achieved within three months of any refurbishment. It is anticipated that
this cashable saving will be in the region of £33,000 per year.
2.10
Future cashable and efficiency savings
Further benefits will be realised over time and will mainly be related to
the Customer Services team working more efficiently and effectively,
better use by the whole organisation of the reception area, along with a
reduction in the number of customer contacts. The latter point will arise
partly as a result of the improved website, the project for which
overlaps with the proposed customer services change. These further
benefits will lead to service quality improvements as well as cashable
savings.
2.11
Planned Improvements
•
Three separate reception areas being brought together – With
the meet and greet facility and the service areas being in close
proximity, customers are far more likely to obtain resolution at the
first point of contact and a lot of Customer Services time will be
saved by the reduction in double handling. This will in turn increase
capacity and further reduce waiting times for customers. This will
also ensure that staff numbers are kept to a minimum providing the
potential for staff savings in the future.
Staff will find it easier to retain service knowledge, be fully utilised
and provide resilience and Team Leaders will be spending less time
conducting refresher training and amending rotas etc.
•
Create appropriate areas for private, sensitive and complex
customer transactions and officer discussions to take place –
This will provide a more comfortable experience for both customers
and officers and will help ensure more effective resolution of the
issues and improve the level of service. The areas will be fully
equipped with the necessary technology to enable a more efficient
and effective way of working.
•
Utilisation of the reception area including the redundant cash
office to create additional meeting rooms and office space This will create space elsewhere in the building ultimately allowing
the newly created service teams to come together and the potential
to generate income from the space that will become available
elsewhere in the building. This includes the move of Electoral
Services, part of the wider office moves project, from the Annex into
the main office, allowing the removal of the Annexe and subsequent
savings.
2.12
•
Creation of new work stations for staff - This will address the
current Health and Safety issues and will also provide a better
working environment for the staff, which should both improve staff
morale and lead to better customer service.
•
Creation of a generic self-serve area - This will assist in the
education of our customers and encourage them to contact us
through the website (the most cost effective access channel)
supporting the desired channel shift and providing the capacity for
further staff savings.
•
Ensuring that the solution is a flexible one - This will provide the
organisation with the ability to change the way we deal with front
office contact as demand changes e.g. the likely need to scan of a
wider range of documents.
Scope
The area included in the scope has an impact to a certain degree on
the whole organisation but it specifically includes the front office
requirements of the following services: Environmental Health, Planning,
Housing, Revenues and Benefits. Identified constraints to the project
include:
•
•
•
•
2.13
The existing structure of the building
The area identified within the scope
Staff resource
Available budget
Resource Requirements
Staffing resource for this project will largely be found in existing staff
resource with the exception of some temporary project management
support. There will be specific staff resource implications for:
•
•
•
•
Finance – throughout the project but specifically with tendering and
procurement
Property Services – throughout the project providing project
assurance, developing the specification, evaluating tenders and
liaising with the contractors and/or suppliers
IT – liaising with contractors and/or suppliers and providing the
necessary infrastructure
Customer Services – throughout the project but specifically with
contribution to the specification and internal and external
communications
•
2.14
Environmental Services, Planning and Revenues and Benefits staff implications for contribution to the specification
Project Organisation, Programme and Timetable
A project team has been established as follows and will report to the
Customer Service Improvement Programme Board:
Project Sponsor
Project Manager
IT
Client Users
Asset Management
Finance
Additional client
users
Nick Baker
Trevor Nelson
Terry Rayner
Estelle Packham(Customer Services)
Duncan Ellis (Head of Assets and Leisure)
To be advised
Steve Hems (Environmental Services)
Lisa Grice (Housing)
Lorraine Gray (Planning)
Liz Codling (Revenues and Benefits)
Tony Turner (Property Services)
Zoe Bloomfield (Customer Services)
Ben Rowe (Customer Services)
The proposed implementation timetable is outlined below:
Task
Scope Project
Outline Project Proposal
Identify Project Board
Obtain Project Management Resource
Prepare Business Case
Complete specification for Design
phase
Agree Business Case with CLT
Cabinet approval of Business Case
Identify
Interior
Design
Service
providers
Evaluate potential provider submissions
Appoint Interior Design Service provider
Complete and Agree Interior Design
Complete Tender for Build Phase
Identify potential suppliers for Build
phase
Issue tender documents for Build phase
Tenders returned
Tenders evaluation
Detailed Implementation Plan
Build phase (timing to be determined)
Programmed Date
March 2012
April 2012
April 2012
August 2012
August - September 2012
September – October 2012
1 October 2012
3 December 2012
November/December 2012
December/January 2012/13
January 2013
February 2013
February 2013
February 2013
March 2013
April 2013
April/May 2013
May/June 2013
July/August 2013
2.15
Risks
At present the Council is at financial, legal and reputational risk
because of significant health and safety issues relating to a majority of
the work stations within the main reception area at Cromer. A detailed
analysis of the risks associated with the reception refurbishment will be
included within the implementation plan but in summary they include:
3
•
Reputational Risk due to disruption to staff and customers
•
Failure to deliver an effective solution within the budget constraints
•
Staff resource issues
•
Implementation delays
•
Failure to realise benefits
Removal of the Annexe Building
3.1 Background
The annexe building was initially assembled and rented during
2005/2006 to accommodate Victory Housing Trust. After Victory’s
move to North Walsham in 2009, the Annexe was purchased and used
predominantly for disaster recovery and training, with Electoral
Services moving into the unit during 2010. The showers were
constructed in 2010 to support the Council’s health agenda.
As part of the office move proposals the Electoral Services function will
be moving back into the main building and therefore the majority of the
space previously required within the annexe will no longer be needed.
The annexe itself is in a poor state of repair with the front section
(entrance, auditor office, kitchen and toilets) being considered life
expired. The rear section has an estimated remaining life of 10 years,
although maintenance and repair costs could increase significantly.
3.2
Costs
There are a number of revenue costs associated with the annexe, the
most substantial of which relates to non-domestic rates (NNDR)
charges of nearly £10,200 per annum. There are also general costs
associated with repairs and maintenance and servicing of alarms, air
conditioning and sewer pumps which total nearly £3,700. Furthermore
there are cleaning and electricity costs which are estimated at £7,500,
which means the total annual revenue cost for the building is around
£21,400.
Year 0
2012/13
£
Costs:
Revenue:
Removal of existing structure
Relocation of showers
Re-instatement of car parking
Year 1
2013/14
£
Year 2
2014/15
£
Year 3
2015/16
£
Year 4
2016/17
£
Year 5
2017/18
£
Total
14,000
7,500
10,000
31,500
0
0
0
0
0
31,500
0
0
0
(10,191)
(3,700)
(7,500)
(10,191)
(3,700)
(7,500)
(10,191)
(3,700)
(7,500)
(10,191)
(3,700)
(7,500)
(10,191)
(3,700)
(7,500)
0
(21,391)
(21,391)
(21,391)
(21,391)
(21,391)
(106,955)
31,500
(21,391)
(21,391)
(21,391)
(21,391)
(21,391)
(75,455)
Income/savings
NNDR saving
R&M/alarm/servicing savings
Electricity/cleansing savings
Total Revenue
Costs/(Savings)
3.3
Proposals
It is proposed that the annexe be demolished, the services capped and
the car park re-instated. The cost of these works is estimated to be in
the region of £31,500, but this would in turn lead to anticipated ongoing annual revenue savings of £21,400 as highlighted above. The
total saving over the next 5 years is forecast to be just over £75,000 as
can be seen from the table above.
The Electoral Services team is moving back into the main office as part
of the office moves. It is recommended that the IT training room be
relocated to meeting room 2 and, as part of the Council’s disaster
recovery plans, an emergency room has already been established in
Fakenham in conjunction with Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Borough
Council.
The existing showers in the Annexe are well used by members of staff
who cycle to work and/or exercise at lunchtimes and this supports the
Council’s Staff Welfare and Health and Wellbeing agenda. The
showers could be relocated within the main office adjacent to the toilets
in part of the area currently occupied by Building Control. This location
is recommended as it would make the plumbing straightforward as the
services are already all in place for the toilets, the cost has been
estimated by the Property Manager to be £7,500 and this is included
within the £31,500 mentioned above.
3.4
Summary
It is therefore recommended that the Annexe is disposed of to realise
the £75,000 estimated 5 years saving. The reinstatement of the car
park will provide additional car parking capacity which will help with any
future tenants that the Council may be able to attract to use the main
office building. The relocation of the showers will also support the
Council’s health and staff welfare agenda. The IT training room is
being relocated to meeting room 2, with the Disaster Recovery suite
already relocated to Fakenham.
4 Office Moves
It is planned to undertake significant internal office moves over the
coming months. Primarily, this is to respond to the changes to service
groupings following the Senior Management restructure and the need
to relocate staff in these new teams together to enable efficient and
effective working.
In addition, even with staff moving into the main office from the
Annexe, we know that enough space for around 30 desks could be
made available for rent to other public sector organisations. At this
stage, officers are approaching potential users, although none have
been confirmed at this stage. Clearly, if this could be achieved,
subsequent income would offset the overhead costs of the building.
We also intend to use the moves as an opportunity to rationalise office
furniture and other resources such as printers which will provide
further, albeit relatively small, savings.
We recognise that any office move can cause disruption and clearly,
we would wish to minimise this as far as possible and maintain service
levels for customers. Managers have had initial discussions with the
Properties team who are overseeing the process and further detailed
consultation will take place as the teams move together.
Due to the need for the Corporate IT Team to provide additional
support for the Revenues and Benefits Shared Service project, most of
the required office moves have been put back for some weeks, as IT
infrastructure support is also needed for these moves. It is anticipated
that the majority of the office moves will therefore take place early in
2013.
In terms of cost, there will inevitably be some expenditure required to
facilitate the office moves although this will be minor. There will also be
some potential costs involved if the Property Services team are
required to complete office moves and cannot respond to maintenance
issues. It is anticipated however, that these can be kept within existing
budgets.
5
Financial Implications and Risk
5.1
The costs of the Front Office Reception refurbishment are unknown at
this stage as tenders have not been sought and clearly, it would be
unwise to specify a price before seeking tenders. However, significant
Capital Reserve exists within the Customer Service Improvement
budget and it is anticipated that the cost will fall well within this amount.
5.2
The £31,500 to remove the Annexe represents quite clearly, an “Invest
to Save” project and will be funded from the Restructuring and "Invest
to Save" earmarked reserve.
The risks associated with procurement of works and their delivery on
time will be managed by the appointment of appropriate professional
support.
5.3
The reputational risks around changes to the customer services area
will be managed by ensuring that alternative front office provision is
maintained throughout the period of any works.
The risk identified around cost overruns against budget will be
managed by letting appropriate contracts for work and ensuring that
best value is achieved throughout the procurement process.
6
Sustainability
6.1
There are no major sustainability issues arising directly from the report.
However, the removal of the Annexe will significantly improve energy
consumption levels at the Cromer office site.
6.2
Furthermore, the refurbishment of the reception area and the office
moves will enable improved use of printers and other IT equipment.
7
Equality and Diversity
The refurbishment of the Front Reception area will provide better
access to services to all sections of the community.
8
Section 17 Crime and Disorder considerations
There are no anticipated impacts on Crime and Disorder arising from
this report.
9
Conclusion
The three areas of work detailed above, if approved, will allow
efficiencies to be realised through better staff and buildings resource
use. In addition, they will support the change agenda required to
deliver the Council’s Corporate Plan and will significantly improve
customer interaction with the Council.