Workshop session two (14.00 - 15.00)

a. North East Derbyshire
Chair - Becca Singh
Local Authority lead - Rachael Pope, Customer Services Manager, North East Derbyshire County Council

North East Derbyshire District Council hosts a shared customer service function that provides front office access to their own services as well as services for Chesterfield Borough Council and Rykneld Homes Ltd. The single customer services team operate a telephone call centre, two reception points (one in each of the councils), a one stop shop in Dronfield and also deal with web, email and SMS contacts.

New ways of working have been developed as part of a wider cultural change including developing a multi skilled approach involving customer advocates or ‘doers’ who understand the ‘single customer view’ providing proactive help, advice and championing change. These multi skilled teams have also provided savings via economies of scale and improved service delivery through flexible working patterns that match resources to peak demand. Great care has been taken to ensure that they have the right blend of business skills; technical expertise and customer service professionalism to keep customers at the heart of service delivery.

Within a year of establishing the teams first call query resolution reached 90 percent, call waiting and abandoned call rates had fallen dramatically whilst web page views have risen 710 percent. The authorities have also gained substantial efficiencies from a combined management structure, shared investment in technology and overheads (approaching £300,000 in 2006/07).

b. Essex County Council and Post Office Ltd
Chair - Paul Conneely
Local Authority lead - David Guy and Graham Simmons, Essex County Council

In response to the closure of at least 30 post offices in Essex the County Council is working collaboratively to reopen a number of these post offices as they are seen as an important community resource. To date, Essex County Council have re-established three post offices in Buckhurst Hill, Henham and Little Hallingbury, with a further four planned to be opened by the summer of 2009 and seven by the end of 2009.and they have set aside £1.5million pounds to keep local post offices open and help them identify new opportunities to become self-sufficient.

There are a number of organisations working together on this initiative including the County Council, Post Office Ltd, the District, Borough and Parish councils, the PCT for health services, the Police and voluntary and community organisations. Already these reopened sites have been identified as being helpful in assisting Police and Health Services in maintaining contact with local communities.

As well as re-opening the post offices, additional services are being offered at these sites including touch screen service points, through which customers will be able to access services such as banking, make payments for housing, parking fines and council tax. The project hopes to increase the number of people accessing community information and increase the uptake of local services. It aims to improve the lives of the local communities by decreasing the distances traveled to access services and provide a community hub for older people, preventing social exclusion.

c. Kent Gateway
Chair - Rhian Gladman
Local Authority lead - Jane Kendal, Gateway Delivery Manager, Kent County Council

The Kent Gateway program is a joint venture between Kent County Council and 12 district councils. This Kent County Council initiative is an innovative example of three-tier and multi-agency working. The Gateway principle is that the customers should help determine the location and services provided in an area.

To date five Gateways have been built with a further 10 planned, including three mobile Gateways in 2011/2012. In an innovative approach the Tenterden Gateway has combined public and voluntary service provision within the remaining town Post Office.

Each Gateway offers customers a mix of services, delivered by a range of partners including county and district councils, the NHS and the voluntary sector. The Gateways provide more central locations, retail opening hours and the convenience of accessing multiple services or benefits concurrently. Staff are trained to be multi-skilled and are therefore more empowered to assist customers.

d. Achieving cross organisation transformation: the cultural dimension
Chair: Jo Causon, Chief Executive, Institute of Customer Service
IDeA Lead: Joan Munro, National Adviser Workforce Strategy
Local authority leads: Frank Barnes, Walsall Council and Sharon Nanan-Sen, General Manager Adult and Community Services, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

The majority of transformation projects stall because of organisational or people issues, not technical problems. Many transformations fail to fully achieve their objectives because the workforce is reluctant to fully embrace new ways of working.

When the transformation involves partner organisations, with different organisational cultures, it is even more challenging to achieve success.

This interactive session will discuss how you can most effectively encourage your workforces to embrace new ways of working, speed up the transition processes and tackle cultural issues effectively.

e. Beacon Scheme - Strategic Commissioning
Chair - John Rylance
Local Authority lead - Ian Lewis, London Borough of Hackney and Cath Attlee, Westminster City Council

Strategic Commissioning has transformed the design and delivery of services to better meet the need of citizens. Four councils (Wakefield, Devon, Westminster and Hackney) have been awarded Beacon Status for their use of Strategic Commissioning to improve outcomes.

Each of the beacons have shown they can access excellent information through working with a number of local statutory partners. This enables them to develop strategic commissioning plans over the short, medium and longer terms. They give clear direction to the work of the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) and its thematic partnerships in turning their Local Area Agreements into reality. The workshop will show:

This 'open space' workshop will allow delegates to consider various issues relating to strategic commissioning of services in a free-flowing session where ideas and stories can be exchanged and challenged.