Agenda item

The Leader of the Council introduced the item and suggested that analysis of the Future Guildford transformation programme was complicated due to the pandemic occurring within the implementation period.  He suggested the difficulty of introducing culture change during a period of remote working.  With reference to the £6-8 million of savings produced by Future Guildford and the difficulties of the pandemic, the Leader of the Council indicated the complexity of assessing the transformation programme.

The Director of Resources advised the meeting that the report submitted to the Committee was intended as the post-implementation review of the core project and the final report on the implementation of the Future Guildford transformation programme.  She summarised the aims of the programme, referred to the information attached as appendices to the report submitted to the Committee, and advised that Future Guildford had ended four months previously with the conclusion of the external consultants’ contract. 

The Director of Resources informed the Committee that aspects of organisational development and training needed to be held face-to-face, rather than remotely.  She indicated that the findings of a recent KPMG internal audit on the governance of Future Guildford had been reported to the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee.  In addition, the Director for Resources indicated to the Committee that a staff survey and customer engagement survey would not be held until operational changes were embedded and a post-pandemic, new normal had arrived.

During the ensuing discussion a number of points and clarifications were made:

·        In reply to a question from a Committee member about identifying issues and concerns, the Director of Resources indicated that there were no plans to do a light-touch survey before holding the staff and customer engagement surveys later in the year. 

·        The Director for Service Delivery confirmed that although there was a focus on advising customers to use other channels to engage with the Council, face-to-face service at the Council’s reception in Millmead remained an option for members of the public.  In reply to further questions and suggestions, the Resources Services Case Manager indicated that improving the ease of use of the Council’s telephone automation service could be reviewed further.

·        In response to a question about significant and continuing cultural resistance to change from some Council staff, the Director of Resources referred to a fear of change and resultant negativity toward Future Guildford by Council staff.  She indicated the benefits of addressing such resistance ahead the changes to working likely to come from the collaboration between Guildford and Waverley Borough Councils.  The Director of Service Delivery indicated that cultural development work with staff had been delayed slightly by the pandemic.

[At this point in the meeting the Lead Councillor for Environment tendered an apology and left.]

·        The Director of Service Delivery confirmed that the Resources Services Case Manager was progressing guidance on the digital and service support for Councillors.

·        A member of the Committee asked for an indication of the timescale for reducing a reported backlog of 2,000 Council Tax cases.  The Director of Resources advised the meeting of staff recruitment and capacity difficulties and indicated that the complexity of Council Tax cases was an issue in the backlog.  She advised the meeting that the aim was to clear the backlog over the next month or two.

·        The Director of Resources confirmed that Future Guildford had ended and implementation of outstanding systems and service changes and improvements was now to be regarded as business as usual.  She suggested further reports could be provided to the Committee on specific services and issues, rather than further updates on the overall transformation programme.

·        In reply to a query about how the Council would track the value delivery of the transformation programme, the Director of Resources informed the meeting that savings would be monitored through the Council’s budget monitoring processes.

·        The Government Digital Service Standard was outlined to the meeting.

·        In response to a question relating to appendix 5 of the report submitted to the Committee, the Resources Services Case Manager offered to provide Committee members with regular performance updates on contacts to customer services.

·        The Chair indicated that while Future Guildford had ended formally, there were a number of issues outstanding that might require a further update to the Committee.  The Director of Resources and the Director of Service Delivery suggested updates might be provided to the Committee on specific services and issues, rather than on the overall transformation programme.  The Chair indicated that some issues might be reviewed by the Corporate Governance and Standards Committee. 

The Committee members agreed the merit in periodically considering the return on investment achieved from the Future Guildford transformation, and the value in scrutinising specific issues and services.

The Chair thanked the Director of Resources and the Director of Service Delivery for attending.