Improving Customer Service in Harrow

Jonathan Milbourn – Head of Customer Services

Good to be back!

About Harrow….

● Harrow is the 12 th largest London Borough in terms of size, but 20 th terms of population.

in ● One fifth of the borough is composed of parkland and open spaces ● Harrow has roughly 239,100 residents (an increase of 32,300 since 2001) ● Harrow is the most religiously diverse borough in the country and 4 th highest non-white British population ● Harrow is generally an affluent borough, ranking 27 index of multiple depravation in London, but has some serious pockets of depravation.

th out of 32 in the ● Harrow has the third largest population of millionaires in London

Time is short!

A is for Artificial Intelligence

B is for Benchmarking

Transactions by channel

4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 06 / 0707 / 0808 / 0909 / 1010 / 1111 / 1212 / 1313 / 14 (Q1) OSS Tel EMail Webforms/MHA Web 2.50

2.00

1.50

1.00

0.50

£

C is for Control the website ● Take control of the website!

● Understanding your customers – Use of customer segmentation – Broadband access and usage – What on-line services do customers want/use – Keep checking you’ve got it right ● Web site design – Decide on the purpose of your web site and stick to it – Make it easy for people to find what they need – Minimise the number of ‘clicks’ needed to get there – Make sure the information is easy to understand and up to date

D is for Dynamic design

D is for Dynamic design

D is for Dynamic design

D is for Dynamic design

D is for Dynamic design

E is for Eliminate avoidable contact Avoidable Contact The assessment of whether a contact is avoidable relates only to what caused the customer to make contact ie was it unnecessary.

– the Council didn’t do something – the Council did something wrong – the customer is seeking unnecessary clarification – there is repeat contact with a customer who has to provide the same information a number of times – the customer is progress chasing

E is for Eliminate avoidable contact Benefits Document Received Chasing Progress of Assessment/Query Changes in Circumstances New Claim Response to Assessor Letter Entitlement Query Payment Query Assessor Letter - further info Typical Monthly Volume 792 734 730 721 597 483 448 231 % Avoidable 22 71 6 Comments On occasions Atlas or DWP reports already confirm information we have asked for. Also customers bring in documents that are not needed. For example a tenancy agreement with no changes.

Customers always appear to chase progress whether it be within the SLA or outside the SLA, even if the SLA has been highlighted to them. 3 31 37 37 9 This can happen because a customer is not entitled. For example has no rent liability or does not live in our borough. Also on occasions the process is just a dispute and not a new claim.

Customers often contact us to get us to repeat what is on the letter or contact us because they cannot make our deadlines. However they do have more time than what we have stated. There is also occasions where a delay in scanning on documents means there This is because customers are still not understanding our decision notifications or gandlake cover letters and are asking for clarification. I would say that this is more down to language barrier where weekly award etc does not make sense to everyone.

Customers often contact to find out when the next payment is which is available on MHA. The other aspects of this which customer usually ask is why they have been paid a certain amount, usually after a CIC which is similar to the entitlement query.

Again this is usually down to a cross over in information being asked for and a delay in the documents received being scanned on.

F is for Face-to-Face, over the telephone

F is for Face-to-Face, over the telephone

G is for GIS ● Location data – the concept of place ● GIS = Geographic Information System – The management and use of location based data – Eg lamp posts, customers, crime, fraud, flood zones, roads ● Around 80% of local government / business data has a ‘location’ element ● Location data underpins many decisions and service delivery ● Everything is run from one central server so everybody views the same data

G is for GIS

P U B L I C

Website

My Harrow Web Forms

Find your nearest School Tools MyH Account + many more

I N T E R N A L

Council Systems

Access Harrow

Environment Deeds System Highways Planning + many more Harrow

Spatial

Database LLPG 1000+ datasets

GIS Team

Department Editors

G is for GIS Council Systems

Access Harrow

Environment Deeds System Highways Planning + many more Harrow

Spatial

Database LLPG 1000+ datasets Department Editors

H is for Help from the public

I is for Integration

I is for Integration 6 separate logins Improved Process 1 Single sign on to access systems 3 separate system searches Double keying & system updates Manual hand off to service area Status update only available from service area 2 3 automated searches 3 4 Automatic system updates 5 Automatic hand off (Civica) 6 Status available online (Civica)

J is for Journey mapping

J is for Journey mapping

K is for Know when to stop adding and redesign

L is for Lean Reviews Planning ● ● ● ● Writing out to customers isn’t the best way to communicate Customers are happy if you grant planning permission before the 56 th day Having different codes for the same thing is confusing for staff Reject 50% then 35% Concessionary Travel ● ● ● ● Sorting the inbound post is not a specialist role Work can be distributed to all trained staff Post, post, post - there are other methods of communicating with customers Wednesday is not the only day that you are allowed to post out on

M is for Maintain the LLPG ●

LLPG

= Local Land and Property Gazetteer – Spatial database of all land and property within Harrow – Maintained centrally by LLPG Custodian ●

THE

corporate address database for Harrow – “Logical Glue” between systems – Enhances integration and service delivery ● Integrated into over 15+ systems

Corporate GIS Members Portal CRM Planning Public Realm MyHarrow Council Tax LLPG Web Forms Electoral Services SNT Waste Collector Adults & Social Care Housing School Distance Tool EMS

N is for Networking

O is for One stop service

Mrs E is an older person whose husband is her carer. Her Husband passes away and she contacts the Council through a Golden Number to register the death Mrs E continues to live independently, supported by a personal carer, enhanced benefits and a tele-care package.

Access Harrow calls her to ensure the support is meeting her needs The Access Harrow contact centre book the appointment with the Registrar and enquire about her wider support needs.

The Advisor changes her council tax details for single person allowance and recognises that her change in circumstances will trigger a benefits change so sets up a F2F appointment for the same day. The Advisor pre-screens for the Reablement service and warm transfers her to a social worker. Mrs E is advised of her appointment date and starts collecting the financial evidence needed. Mrs E only needs to produce some updated documents as Access Harrow already holds information. Following her Assessment, Mrs E receives a package of support in her Home to enable her to remain independent Mrs E visits Access Harrow and the advisor has a file with information about her current position. The advisor recognises that she has a disability so arranges for an assisted bin collection which takes place immediately.

Mrs E receives a letter advising that her benefits have been reassessed and she will be getting an enhanced benefit. She also notices that her assisted rubbish collection has commenced. Mrs E continues to receive support from the Reablement team and begins to regain her independence Access Harrow initiate a review of Mrs E’s benefits and council tax payments and advise her of the outcome They also arrange for assisted rubbish collections and a mobility assessment

O is for One stop service Council Tax Business Rates Housing Benefits Council Tax Benefits Housing Resident Services Housing Repairs Waste & Recycling Environmental Health School Admissions Parking Building Control Planning (including vetting & validation) Adult Social Care Community Alarms Concessionary Travel Electoral Services Registration Services Nationality Checking/Citizenship Accounts Payable/Receivable Switchboard

P is for Pro-active messaging

Q is for Queue calls effectively

R is for Resolution at first point of contact ● Why the focus?

– vs speed of answer ● What do we mean by this?

– An enquiry resolved needing only one call from the customer. It could either be resolved by the agent at the point of contact or by a subsequent action (e.g. collect bin) How do we achieve it?

– Access to all necessary systems and information – Comprehensive training – Empowering staff – Continuous challenge of ‘hand-off’ points – Absorbing additional responsibilities such as processing ● What do we resolve at FPC?

– 91% of enquiries

R is for Resolution at first point of contact

S is for Single online account ● We had reached a point where to expand the on line services we offer, we needed to know who we are communicating with ● Upon registering, a secure PIN is sent to the customer’s registered address, similar to online banking ● We can now authenticate who we are communicating with electronically, and can now offer an expanded range of personalised services ● Different services require higher levels of authentication

S is for Single online account – Revenues and Benefits – Landlord account – Planning – Libraries – Alerts – Electoral Registration – Members and Neighbourhood Champions – Streets – Local Information – Waste and recycling

S is for Single online account 99% of landlord enquiries are now via the MyHarrow account 35% decrease in ‘simple’ Council Tax queries 20% annual decrease in ‘simple’ rent enquiries 19% of Annual Canvass forms completed via the MyHarrow account The busiest time is the first Monday of the month The current monthly log-ins save us the equivalent of 11.5 FTE That’s a £305,000 annual saving!

1,630 text alerts are sent out every month 65 accounts are opened every day 50% annual decrease in ‘simple’ Housing Benefit payment queries There are 15 alerts available 17,247 changes to the electoral register via the MHA 15 people log into their account every hour!

S is for Single online account 2013 – Employee portal – Leasehold services – School Admissions – Business account – Electronic invoice delivery – Instant self-service access – Expansion of Revs and Bens 2014 – Housing repairs – Track all service requests – Planning/Building Control portal – Adult Social Care – personalised budgets and suppliers portal – Consultation and communications – Mobile app

S is for Single online account ● Annual Canvass – Fully Electronic – Residents sent activation codes for MHA rather than the traditional canvass form – To access their canvass details, residents log in and retrieve – ‘Changes’ made via MHA, – ‘No Changes’ encouraged to open MHA – No return envelopes included – No text or telephone services (for no changes) ● 18,000 forms completed

T is for Training ●

Understand the job

●

Ask the right questions

●

How to solve the problem

●

Sell online services

U is for Understand your customers

Socio-demographic classification

● Segments all UK households and postcodes ● Over 900 data variables ● 46% Census data, 54% other data ● Validated & updated annually 11 Lifestyle Groups 61 Lifestyle Types 243 Lifestyle Segments

U is for Understand your customers

U is for Understand your customers Segment A - Extremely wealthy professionals - 10.3% of households ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Late/middle aged, married couples Teenage children Expensive, detached houses Luxury cars Very high incomes, investments Top professions, senior managers Well educated ● ● ● Waste & Recycling Environmental services Pays council tax via direct debit ● Preferred Communication Channel - Web

U is for Understand your customers Segment D - Young professionals on high salaries - 9.5% of households ● ● ● ● ● ● Young singles & co-habitees Work in City Private rented flats High income Professional occupations High levels of smoking/drinking ● ● Council Tax summons Parking Permit ● Preferred Communication Channel - Web

U is for Understand your customers Segment F - Suburban Asian families on moderate incomes - 23.9% of households ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● Families with children Suburban, semis or terraces Asian background Middle income Multi-person households English not first language Jobseekers allowance Non-smokers, non-drinkers ● ● Planning Schools admissions service ● Preferred Communication Channel – Telephone

V is for Veto telephone numbers online

W is for Workforce management

W is for Workforce management

X is for eXtract savings ● Since 2006/7 Costs ↑ by 76%, Transactions ↑ by 504% ● For services migrating to Access Harrow – immediate saving of 30% ● Savings of £375k (15 FTE’s) pa delivered via channel migration ● £1.3 million (30%) savings in MTFS for 2013-16

Y is for Yippee for good results!

Year

2008/9 2009/10 2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 (P6)

Unique visits per month Transactions per month Total Account Holders Monthly Account Users

68,250 72,513 73,774 77,918 115,764 161,014 1,350 2,826 4,950 12,863 22,724 27,449 N/A N/A 3,875 12,710 32,921 40,031 N/A N/A 1,619 4,740 10,412 11,444*

* Equates to 11.5 FTE or £305k per annum

Y is for Yippee for good results!

● % Calls Answered ● % Calls Answered < 30 seconds ● Average Speed to Answer ● Average Wait Time (F2F) ● % Customers seen <10 minutes ● % Web Forms answered <24 hours ● % Emails answered <48 hours - 96% - 90% - 29 secs 4’ 42” - 81% - 99% - 96%

Y is for Yippee for good results!

● Avoidable Contact ● Resolution at First Contact ● Customer Satisfaction with OSS ● Reputation tracker ● % self serve enquiries ● Cost per enquiry - 18% - 91% - 95% - +30% - 67% £0.68

Z is for Zero face to face 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 OSS monthly reduction 1,700 Expected monthly volume OSS annual staff reduction Remaining Staff 9,400 4 FTE 20 FTE 1,700 7,700 4 FTE 16 FTE 3,500 2,200 8 FTE 12 FTE 1,700 500 4 FTE 4 FTE

How do we support residents to make the change?

Customer Services Strategy Increase customer satisfaction…. ● ● ● ● One stop service - where appropriate Focus on resolution at the first point of contact Understand our customers and respond to their needs Eliminate avoidable contacts …..whilst reducing costs ● ● ● ● Make each contact as efficient as possible Build the website to handle all services and migrate Make self-service the only option where appropriate Reduce face-to-face contact to a minimum