Issue - meetings

Councillor Josephine Hawkins reported that she had held the Corporate Portfolio for 6 months. She briefed Members on the various areas covered by her Portfolio, focussing in particular on the following:

•                Charities

•                Children Champion

•        Community Grants

•        Complaints Procedure/ Ombudsman Matters

•        Communications & Marketing

•        Contact Centre

•        Democratic Services

•        Elections

•        Equalities

•        Human Resources

•        Post & Payments

Councillor Hawkins, in her presentation to Members and responses to Member questions, highlighted the following:

(i)            Charities – Although a number of charities fell within her Portfolio, these were not executive functions and she kept a watching brief only on each.

In specific terms, it was noted that the Citizens Advice Bureau received a grant of £80,000 per annum from the Council, in addition to accommodation. It also received assistance from the Frimley Fuel Allotments Charity.

(ii)           Contact Centre – A new telephony system was being introduced with a ‘Golden Number’. All calls would go through this single number and thereafter be routed to the most appropriate Customer Services Advisor to resolve. Contact Centre staff were learning new skills to enable them to take on further responsibilities. Members would still be able to contact specific officers directly.

New technologies were being investigated for postal processes including hybrid mail, when all correspondence is sent electronically to an external company which could send out post at a significantly reduced cost. There were further options to be explored on e-mails and scanning.

The usage of the Contact Centre had been significantly expanded with Surrey Police and more recently, The Department of Works and Pensions Job Centres Plus having a notable presence.

The Executive Head of Corporate was asked to circulate to Members the contact centre data referred to during the Portfolio Holder’s presentation.

(iii)          Democratic and Electoral Services – A new Committee Management System, Modern.Gov, had been introduced allowing Members to use IPads, markedly reducing the number of hard copy issues of agendas and papers.

Democratic and Electoral Services had been integrated and the transition to Individual Electoral Registration had been completed. The next election would be in May 2016, for the Surrey Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC). The previous election, which had incorporated National, Borough and Parish elections, had proved a great success, with staff from all areas of the Council being involved.

In the PCC elections, the Electoral Commission would prescribe the format of the voting sheets. It had not, as yet, proposed any electronic voting or automated counting processes.

The Local Government Boundary Commission would commence a review of the Borough in 2016, looking first at the number of Councillors, then reviewing Ward Boundaries on the basis of their findings.

A Council-wide proposal would be developed by June 2016, with the Commission making any decisions in July 2016. Any changes would then be implemented from May 2019.

(iv)         Media and Marketing – A new website had gone live recently, with 200,000 visitors per Quarter. Electronic payment of bills had increased by 11%, with 4,901 transactions between July  ...  view the full minutes text for item 22