Councillors Clarence Barrett (Cabinet Member for Financial Management, ICT (Client) and Transformation) and Melvin Wallace (Cabinet Member for Culture and Community Engagement) introduced the report.

The report before Cabinet outlined the Council’s strategic approach in respect of its customer experience.

It explained that over the next 6 years new infrastructure such as Crossrail would arrive, social change such as an increasing population and welfare reform would continue, along with reductions in local government funding that would change the way the Council functions.

The Council recognised that it needed to adapt to these external challenges by create new and improved ways of accessing, supporting and delivering services. The Customer Experience Strategy set out how the Council would improve to create a positive customer experience.

Reasons for the decision:

The Council is positive about creating a positive customer experience and having a strategy which demonstrates that intent. An overarching strategy would create direction and expectations for all future service improvement work. This would ensure that customer improvements were proactively undertaken and cross cutting across the organisation. Delivery of the strategy would allow customers to self-serve and create easier access. A move to more digital provision (when appropriate) would deliver efficiencies for the Council.

Other options considered:

Without an overarching strategy council services could make improvements but this would be on an ad-hoc basis. These may not be effectively joined up in the best interests of the customer or as efficiently and effectively implemented. Having an overarching strategy creates a model that can be delivered across the council and with all services, partners and contractors.

Cabinet approved the Customer Experience Strategy