Audit Committee
Agenda
7.30pm, Wednesday 11 February 2015
Bulbourne Room, Civic Centre, Hemel Hempstead
The Councillors listed below are requested to attend the above meeting, on the day
and at the time and place stated, to consider the business set out in this agenda.
Adshead
Doole
Douris
Elliot
Harris
Taylor (Chairman)
W Wyatt-Lowe
Substitute Members: Councillors Anderson, N Hollinghurst, Marshall, McKay and
Townsend.
For further information, please contact Jim Doyle on Tel: 01442 228222, Email:
jim.doyle@dacorum.gov.uk Information about the Council can be found on our
website: www.dacorum.gov.uk
PART I
Item
Page
1.
Apologies for Absence
2
2.
Declarations of Interest
2
3.
Minutes and Actions
2
4.
Public Participation
2
5.
CSC – Update response
3
6.
2013/14 Annual Audit Letter
7
7.
2013/14 Annual Report on the Certification of Claims and Returns
7
8.
2014/15 Audit Plan
7
9.
Internal Audit Progress Report
7
10.
Internal Audit Reports
7
11.
Exclusion of the Public
7
Appendix A - Work Programme 2014-15
8
1
1.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
To receive any apologies for absence
2.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
To receive any declarations of interest
A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a personal interest in a
matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered
(i)
must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest
becomes apparent
and, if the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest, or a personal
interest which is also prejudicial
(ii)
may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter (and must
withdraw to the public seating area) unless they have been granted a
dispensation.
A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is
not registered in the Members’ Register of Interests, or is not the subject of a
pending notification, must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28
days of the disclosure.
Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal and prejudicial interests are defined in
Part 2 of the Code of Conduct For Members
[If a member is in any doubt as to whether they have an interest which should
be declared they should seek the advice of the Monitoring Officer before the
start of the meeting]
3.
MINUTES AND ACTIONS
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 17 December 2014 and consider
the actions.
4.
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
An opportunity for members of the public to make statements and ask
questions in accordance with the rules as to Public Participation
2
5.
CSC – UPDATE
To consider progress addressing the issues raised by the audit of the Customer
Service Centre.
Document Description
This paper responds to a request by the
Audit Committee held on 16 December
2014 for an update on progress addressing
the issues raised by the audit of the
Customer Service Centre
Owner
Date
Mark
Housden,
Commercial
Contracts and
Supplier
Relationship
Lead Officer
2nd February
2015
Audit Recommendation 2: Exit Plan
Completed. The exit plan has been provided and will be reviewed at the
second anniversary of the contract.
Audit Recommendation 3: Review of KPIs
The current KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) within the Contract reporting
method for the Customer Service Centre (CSC) have been in place for some
time and prior to the contract with Northgate. The KPIs for the contract were
based on the existing KPIs reported by the then in-house management team.
These were reviewed by Davies Hickman Partners in 2012.
A review of these KPIs has identified that they are now not the most
appropriate measures to allow the council to drive improvements in the
service or measure the effectiveness of channel shift. There is a risk that the
level of service provided to customers may be inadequate, and that the
Council is unable to take action.
The objective of the KPIs is to improve performance and ensure that
acceptable levels of service are being provided. They should also drive
innovation and inform strategic decision making.
The review has identified a number of problems in how the KPIs are
calculated and established that they now do not reflect the customers’
experience of waiting to be answered by a CSC adviser. In addition there
have also been a number of changes to the system and ways of working that
have an impact on the measurement of performance of the CSC.
The contract allows for the KPIs, Service Levels and Service Thresholds/KPI
weightings to be revised throughout the term of the contract, and allows for
new KPIs and Service Levels to be introduced. It is proposed to introduce a
number of new KPIs more appropriate to the service being delivered.
3
It is proposed that a new set of KPIs are put in place. These will give a clearer
indication of the customer experience. The figures will no longer include the
calls being handled through the automated systems and will focus
management on ensuring the service is improved over the remainder of the
contract.
This will reflect more accurately the customers’ experience and will focus
management on ensuring the service is improved over the remainder of the
contract.
This will also act as a driver to
 reduce the number of calls and visitors to CSC advisers
 make improvements to automated systems to ensure they are
customer friendly, and
 promote channel shift.
Currently we are working with Northgate to verify the data we have and using
this to establish a baseline for the new KPIs to establish realistic but
achievable targets. A variation to the contract is necessary to implement the
new KPIs and link them to the service credits.
The other KPIs will not be altered with the exception of a new set of figures
focussed on channel shift. This will report on the use of automated systems
and will be used to inform channel shift.
A full report will be taken to Finance and Resources Scrutiny Committee in
March
Audit Recommendation 4: Data Verification
Completed. This is being used to inform the data review in support of
recommendation 3
Audit Recommendation 5: Feedback from Services
The quarterly feedback from Group Managers was successfully undertaken
and completed in October 2014. The next survey is now underway and due to
be completed by end of February. Departments are engaging fully and the
exercise to listen to calls and monitor face to face interactions is proving
valuable. This allows departmental staff to see how CSC deal with their
customers and also to identify how processes in back offices may be
improved.
Audit Recommendation 6: Customer Feedback
We already collect a range of statistics on residents and how they use the
website through Google Analytics.
This includes unique visits, page views, average time on the page and bounce
rate. This gives an overall understanding of how many people access the web
as well as an understanding of which pages are more popular and which are
4
more accessible.
Through the use of MOSAIC (which we hold a license for) research data we
are also able to analyse and assess the communications preferences for
residents and to assess who wants to use online services and why.
Northgate have also collected some statistics from face to face visits asking
about the likelihood that residents may go online.
The Future
The channel shift of residents away from the CSC and onto a digital platform
is a key priority for the DBC. However in order to deliver this vision we need a
comprehensive approach that addresses the culture, technological and
business issues involved in major change.
Over the last three months we have been working to develop a detailed
strategy and implementation plan (Digital Dacorum), which sets out how we
can deliver this change.
The Digital Dacorum plan involves 11 projects covering technical
development as well as major re-engineering of business processes and
practices. It also includes a project to look at ways to seek feedback and
engage and encourage residents online.
In December the Digital Dacorum strategy and plan was approved by CMT
and we are seeking approval from Members at the Customer Focus Project
Board in January.
Next Steps
Once approved the programme (of 11 projects) would launch in February with
detailed time-lines being developed and agreed ready for full implementation
in March.
As part of strategy we have identified a number of measures and these will be
launched in March to enable us to measure the success of the project. This
includes regular surveys looking at the resident online experience including:
-
how satisfied are you with your digital experience
how easy to use was the website
how would you rate:
o the design
o the usability
o quality of content
o having the services you want
Audit Recommendation 8: Failure Demand Data
This is ongoing. Failure demand has been used by the Customer Focus
Project to identify reasons for avoidable contact for improvements. This will be
5
enhanced as the Customer Relationship Management system (CRM)
becomes operational across all services and begins to gather in depth data.
Revs & Bens is now operational and work is in hand to integrate Flare
(regulatory and waste services).
Data has also been used to analyse activities during the busiest period at the
end of year, to identify possible mitigations.
Northgate continue to gathering information from customers on the reason for
contact and choice of channel.
6
6.
2013/14 ANNUAL AUDIT LETTER
To consider the key issues arising from the audit.
See accompanying booklet
7.
2013/14 ANNUAL REPORT ON THE CERTIFICATION OF CLAIMS AND
RETURNS
To consider a summary of the external audit certification work on Dacorum
Borough Council’s 2013/14 claims and returns.
See accompanying booklet
8.
2014/15 AUDIT PLAN
To consider the External Audit Plan.
See accompanying booklet
9.
INTERNAL AUDIT PROGRESS REPORT
See accompanying booklet
10.
INTERNAL AUDIT REPORTS
1. Accounts Receivable Final Report;
2. Treasury Management Final Report;
3. Main Accounting Final Report
See accompanying booklet
11.
EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
To consider passing a resolution in the following terms:
That, under s.100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 Schedule 12A Part 1
as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation)
Order 2006 the public be excluded during the items in Part 2 of the Agenda for
this meeting, because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be
transacted, that, if members of the public were present during those items,
there would be disclosure to them of exempt information relating to…...
7
APPENDIX A
AUDIT COMMITTEE: Work Programme 2014-15
MEETING
DATE
7 April 2015
DEADLINE
TO
MONITORING
OFFICER
DEADLINE
TO
MEMBER
SUPPORT
16 March
2015
20 March
2015
ITEMS:
8
WHO RESPONSIBLE