The Organisation and Communities Scrutiny Panel noted the Customer Services Performance, the Digital Strategy, the Electoral Services annual report 2024 and the Freedom of Information Monitoring Report.

Customer Services Performance

The Customer Services team reported that they have been very busy. In addition to their 'business as usual' activities, the team completed a number of projects and made progress on their Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).

The Customer Services team received around 1 million contacts from residents in the 2024/25 financial year. These included 430,000 calls to their contact centre. The average wait to answer these calls was just over 6 minutes.

Some of our performance metrics have worsened in telephony services versus last year. This is due to the contribution we have made as a team to our MTFS, which has led to us reducing our staffing in order to make cashable savings while continuing to handle more contacts. These savings have been achieved. This year, we will focus on efficiency in the contact centre through digital opportunities (see below) with the aim of bringing performance back in line with our expectations without increasing staffing.

— Customer Services Performance

The Customer Services team completed the following projects in 2024/25:

• Extended the opening hours of their contact centre to 8am - 6pm.
• Began to use WhatsApp in the contact centre, which will be used for services like reporting repairs.
• Upgraded their Avaya¹ telephony system.
• Achieved a Silver rating from the United Kingdom Contact Centre Forum.
• Procured and installed a new Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) for the Telecare service. This was necessary as part of the transition to the analogue telephone network switch-off, which will mean that the old ARC will no longer be compatible.
• Entered into a 3 year contract with Bromley Council to monitor their Telecare service and a short-term contract to manage Bexley Council's Telecare response service.
• Began a consultation on the transition of the Telecare team into the ATEC (Assistive Technology Enabled Care) monitoring and response service. The transition to the ATEC service will involve significant changes for the Telecare team, as they will be responsible for monitoring and responding to data from medical equipment, such as blood pressure monitors, in addition to their existing responsibilities.
• Took over responsibility for the Responsive Repairs service from an external provider.
• Procured a new system for the interpretation and translation team.

The Customer Services team outlined their priorities for 2025/26:

• Refreshing the Customer Service Strategy.
• Continuing to implement the Avaya upgrade.
• Embedding the Monitoring and Response team in the ATEC service.
• Completing the digital switchover.

Digital Strategy

The meeting considered the performance of the Council's Digital Strategy, which was launched in November 2020.

Councillor Williams noted that this was the final year of the current digital strategy, and that a new strategy would be published in the spring of 2025.

The strategy set out the following 6 workstreams:

1. Providing new online services for residents and providing support for residents who cannot access online services.
2. Providing better tools for council staff.
3. Improving the Council's use of data.
4. Modernising the Council's ICT infrastructure.
5. Building the digital capability of residents and staff.
6. Supporting innovation across the borough.

The meeting focused on workstreams 1-5, as workstream 6 is primarily led by Digital Greenwich. The meeting heard that the Council had met most of the goals set out in the strategy and had even undertaken some activities that were not envisaged when the strategy was first published.

New online services for residents

The meeting heard about a number of new online services that have been launched for residents:

• Council tax online: Residents can now create an online council tax account which they can use to manage their council tax.
• New website: The Council's website was relaunched in 2024 to make it easier to use and navigate.
• Greenwich Community Directory: A new version of the Greenwich Community Directory was launched in summer 2024, which contains information about local community support services and advice.
• Commercial waste collections: Businesses can now get an instant quote for commercial waste collections through the Council's website.
• Housing Support Finder: A new Housing Support Finder tool was launched in August 2024, which provides residents with information about the availability of social housing and alternative housing options.
• Repairs programme: The Council is making progress on its four year Repairs Transformation Programme, which aims to improve residents' experience of reporting and receiving repairs.
• Assistive technology enabled care: The Council is preparing to launch a new assistive technology service in April 2025.
• Greenwich Supports Strategy: The Council has been working on a new Greenwich Supports Strategy, which will aim to prevent residents from falling into poverty.

Better tools for staff

The meeting also heard about a number of new tools that have been developed for use by council staff:

• Street services: In March 2024, the Council launched a new rostering product for use by the Streets and Waste service.
• Temporary accommodation cost reduction programme: The Council launched a programme to reduce the cost of temporary accommodation in September 2023. This included the creation of a new data tool to help the Council find the most cost-effective temporary accommodation for residents.
• Intranet: The Council is making a number of improvements to its intranet, such as by updating guidance and policies on topics like flexible working.
• Rethinking recruitment: The Council is procuring a new Applicant Tracking System.
• Adult social care transformation: The Council is working on a project to bring about wholescale change to adult social care.

Get better with data

The meeting heard about a number of projects that have been delivered as part of the 'Get better with data' workstream:

• Temporary accommodation cost reduction: In order to improve the Council's management of temporary accommodation, the data team extracted data from the Council's temporary accommodation system, which allowed them to build a new dashboard that highlighted key trends and costs.
• Corporate dashboard: The Council has developed a new corporate dashboard to track progress against the goals set out in its Our Greenwich corporate plan.
• HR process automation: The Council has developed a system for tracking new starter appointments and managing the recruitment team's workload.
• Financial system assessment & procurement: The Council has begun a procurement process to replace its financial system.
• Parking dashboards: The data team has integrated the Council's parking system with other council systems, allowing them to provide the parking service with data to improve its performance.

Modernise our infrastructure

The meeting also heard about a number of projects that have been delivered as part of the 'Modernise our infrastructure' workstream:

• Hosting: The Council has continued to reduce the amount of data it stores on its servers, which has had the effect of reducing the Council's carbon footprint.
• Network improvements: The Council has improved the speed and cost-effectiveness of its internet connection.
• Review of staff devices: The Council has reclaimed many of the smartphones that it previously provided to staff, saving the Council £250,000. Staff who require a smartphone for work are now encouraged to use their own devices under the Council's Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scheme.
• PSTN switch off: The Council is preparing for the PSTN switch off, which will require the analogue telephone network to be switched off by the end of 2025.
  

Improve our digital capability

The meeting also heard about a number of projects that have been delivered as part of the 'Improve our digital capability' workstream:

• Devices: The Council has refreshed the IT facilities at the Clockhouse Community Centre and has gifted 5 laptops to the Woolwich Common Community Centre.
• Retired devices: The Council has wiped and recycled or reused nearly 1,300 corporate mobile phones that are out of service.
• Digital champions: The Council has delivered digital skills training to residents at the Woolwich Common Community Centre and Clockhouse Community Centre.
• Digital training: The Council provided digital training to residents during Get Online Week in 2024.
• Corporate training: The Council launched cyber awareness training for staff in March 2024.
• Policy and guidance: The Council has created new policies and guidance for staff on using their own devices for work and on using Artificial Intelligence tools.

Digital investment

The meeting heard that the Council has invested significantly in digital transformation in recent years, with an aim to improve resident outcomes and generate savings. The meeting heard that the investment is forecast to generate £17.7m by 2025/26, one year later than originally planned.

Electoral Services annual report 2024

The meeting received a report on the activities of the Electoral Services team in 2024. The report noted that 2024 was an extremely busy year for the Electoral Services team, due to the number of electoral events that took place. These included:

• The Mayor of London and London Assembly elections in May 2024.
• A General Election in July 2024.
• 4 Royal Borough of Greenwich Council by-elections.
• A neighbourhood plan referendum.

The report noted that the team successfully implemented a number of changes to electoral law, including a requirement for voters to show photographic identification at polling stations.

Freedom of Information Monitoring Report

The meeting considered a report on the Council's performance in responding to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and requests made under the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR). The meeting heard that the Council received 1,675 FOI and EIR requests in 2022, 89% of which were answered within the statutory timescale of 20 working days. The number of requests received in 2023 increased to 1,921. The Council answered 77% of these within the statutory timescale.

The report noted that the Council is committed to transparency and has implemented a range of measures to ensure that it complies with FOI and EIR legislation. These include providing training to staff and publishing information proactively on its website.