Agenda item

To consider the report of the Borough Transformation Manager and Deputy Director of Housing and Inclusion.

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Transformation Manager and Deputy Director of Housing & Inclusion as contained on pages 17 to 37 of the Book of Reports that detailed the Annual Review 2016/17 of the ICT and Revenues and Benefits Council services delivered by BT Lancashire Services as part of the partnership agreement with Lancashire County Council.

The Chairman welcomed the representatives from BT Lancashire Services (BTLS).

The meeting was attended by Mr Mark Orford (Director of ICT Services) and Ms Claire Hall (Director of Transactional Services) who provided an overview of the work that had been undertaken over the previous 12 months under the shared services agreement.

In his introduction, the Director of ICT Services referred to the financial benefits to the Council that, in 2016/17, had delivered direct savings of £56k and a combined ICT and Revenue and Benefits added Value of £645k.  Mr Orford then went on to outline the support and provision of the service currently delivered.  He highlighted the key achievements in the service and the projects that had been completed and briefly outlined some of the service plans, improvements and priority projects undertaken in the year. 

The Director of Transactional Services provided an overview of key activity in the Revenues and Benefits service during 2016/17 highlighting details as set down in the report.  Reference was made to the improvements to the service during the period and the targets that had been met or been exceeded as well as the service plans and the key challenges.

The presentation of the BT Lancashire Services Annual Report 2016/17 concluded with the challenges going forward and the planned activity for each of the Services for 2017/18, referencing particularly the planned ServiceNow Customer Relation Management system for the Council and the 3C Logic telephony solution for the Contact Centre.

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the:

·         digital agenda (automated payments) – roll-out of tablet/hand held devices;

·         Feris Campaign (Fraud Error Reduction Incentive Scheme) – opportunity to opt-in;

·         procurement of ICT services (challenges to the traditional delivery of the revenue service) –  industry trend of “cloud” computing;

·         introduction of CMR – resource implications; service provision;

·         closure of Ormskirk Magistrates’ Court – impact on West Lancashire residents;

·         Universal Credit (UC) (full implementation December 2017) – on-line application access; support for benefit applicants; preparation /awareness of the implementation; 

·         changes in revenues / benefits service – impact on personnel and the role of DWP;

·         Member support – dedicated support service/ technical training.

The Directors of ICT and Transactional Services responded to questions and provided clarification on the issues raised, referring to detail as set down in their Annual Report.  They also responded to queries on the on-going work related to the full introduction of the UC system by December 2017 and the Service Now initiative.

The Borough Transformation and Deputy Director of Housing and Inclusion also provided additional clarification in relation to staff retention, redeployment, the development of seconded staff and future training events for Members.

RESOLVED:          A  That, the BT Lancashire Services Annual Review

  2016/17, attached at Appendix A, be noted.

B  That, in consultation with the Borough Transformation Manager and Deputy Director of Housing and Inclusion, BT Lancashire Services provide a report, to the January meeting of the Committee, on progress in relation to the ‘Service Now’ initiative.