Decision details

BT Lancashire Services Governance and Performance Monitoring

Decision status: Recommendations approved

Is Key decision?: No

Decisions:

Gabby Nelson, Head of Core Business Systems, presented a report providing an update on the Service Governance and Performance Monitoring of the County Council's strategic partnership with BT Lancashire Services.  The report covered April 2017 to February 2018.

 

Further information providing a more comprehensive measurement of service delivery was provided at Appendix 'A'. 

 

The Payroll and Recruitment Service had been restructured in February 2018, providing more integration and flexibility.  The restructure had enabled a recurring saving of £174k per annum with effect from 2018/19.  It was reported that all contractual and non-contractual performance targets had been met between April 2018 and February 2018. 

 

It was reported that, in 2017, 99.7% of the Disclosure and Barring Service

forms had been processed within 48 hours, which was well ahead of the 75% key performance indicators.  A new system for Disclosure and Barring Checks would be implemented from July 2018 which would reduce application processing time by 50%, negate errors and improve security.

 

The Improved Management Information and Reduction of Overpayments enabled more robust and detailed monitoring of service activity, specifically around overpayments and payments on account.  As a result of this, both the volumes and values of overpayments were forecast to reduce by around 30% from 2016/17 to 2017/18.

 

The Committee noted that 86% of County Council staff felt the Recruitment Service exceeded expectations or was good.

 

In relation to Information and Communications Technology Services, it was reported that all contractual performance targets were being met. 

 

The Committee noted that the County Council had not been affected by the global cybercrime ransomware attack in May 2017, largely due to the significant investments in Security Systems and products, the effective security measures put in place by ICT services to protect the County Council's network and services, and through the co-ordinated response by staff as details of the attack began to emerge.  A letter from NHS England had been received thanking County Council for their assistance with the cyber attack, which was set out at Appendix 'B' with the agenda papers.

 

It was reported that the new ICT portal was simpler to use and that incidents/requests submitted through the portal were prioritised with dedicated resource ready to respond within 30 minutes.  Customer satisfaction had significantly improved and users no longer needed to wait in a telephony queue.  Over 95% of customers had rated the service as excellent or good, as opposed to around 50% over the past three years.

 

On the whole, the Asset Management System was running successfully, although there had been issues with the Highways Asset Management System (HAMS).  It was reported that there was a re-education programme ongoing for HAMS.

 

The new On Line Schools Admissions system had been very successful and the primary school offers had been sent out within the time agreed.  Implementation for the Early Help Module & Education, Health and Care Plans was planned for December 2018.  This would enable the County Council to deliver a complex, fully integrated system for children's services as we would have a strong suite of children-related systems, once these went live.

 

The new Condeco room booking system had been in place since August 2017 and had proved successful.  The Committee noted that the facility for meetings room bookings to be cancelled automatically by the system if they had not started within 15 minutes, had increased the availability of rooms for meetings.

 

The secure email pilot commenced in January 2018 andthe collaboration workspace would be piloted in April 2018.  Both solutions would significantly improve data protection compliance.

 

Partnership working was being taken forward in the sharing of data and shared/agile working.  The Committee noted that data could be shared with the NHS and it was planned to include electronic hospital discharges that would provide real time information on patients that had been discharged from hospital but who may need social care.  The Lancashire Patient Record Exchange Services initiative would allow the sharing of information between different areas of the NHS and various North West organisations, including Lancashire County Council.  This meant that, within the social care system, officers would be able to view health summaries from the Clinical Commissioning Groups.  It was reported that the 5 Health Trusts all had different systems so it would take up to 12 months for the project to be amalgamated into the Digital Discharge to Social Care Project. 

 

A proposal for electronic interaction between Lancashire Constabulary and Lancashire County Council in relation to information exchange, had been approved and was due to be implemented from December 2018. 

 

The County Council was moving towards an agile workforce; over 60% of the workforce were now using a laptop, allowing them to work from any location with a Wi-Fi connection.  The target was for 80% of the workforce to have a laptop by 2020.

 

In relation to financial benefits, the Committee noted that significant progress had been made in delivering the required savings.  Details of the savings were provided to the Committee and it was noted that work continued on this.

 

BT Lancashire Services Staffing Update

 

Mark Mayer, Chief Executive, BT Lancashire Services, reported that feedback from the staff events which took place in February (separate, service-focussed events for both the Revenue and Benefits Service (West Lancashire) and the Payroll and Recruitment Service) had been positive.  We needed to make sure staff were more pro-active, supportive and innovative.

 

The Committee noted that the West Lancashire Borough Council health and safety team had undertaken an external audit of the Revenue and Benefits Service, which had resulted in a pass mark of 73%; a much improved score from 57.5% in 2016.

 

In relation to new technology, the importance of always following processes properly and always providing data accuracy had been emphasised to staff.  It was also essential for Managers to be involved in between users and senior sponsors.

 

Resolved:  That the Cabinet Committee note the report and that a further report will be presented in 6 months time.

 

 

 

 

Report author: Gabby Nelson

Date of decision: 18/04/2018

Decided at meeting: 18/04/2018 - Cabinet Committee on Performance Improvement

Accompanying Documents: