Issue - meetings

The Cabinet considered the proposal to terminate the contract with the current Customer Services provider and the development of an updated Customer Services Strategy. The Cabinet Member for Transformation and Commissioning explained that the Council had entered the contract with Civica in 2015 along with Malvern Hills District Council and Worcester City Council. Civica had delivered a successful service and helped to deliver planned savings. However, the volume of calls had fallen by 50% and the District Councils had either left or were in the process of leaving the agreement; this meant the Council was planning to look at the customer services strategy and take the service through the commissioning cycle. All customer service contact centres would be looked at across the Council.

A large volume of contacts were moving to a digital platform but there were still a reasonably high proportion of the public who preferred to speak to someone on the phone as opposed to conducting all their business via email. All contacts were important to the Council so it was necessary to have a customer service provider which was fit for the future and the commissioning cycle allowed the Council to identify what was needed and ensure the best provider was in place.

RESOLVED that Cabinet:

(a)    approved serving of the required 12 months’ notice for termination 'by convenience' of the Council's contract with Civica Ltd for the provision of the Customer Service Contact Centre;

(b)    delegated to the Director of Commercial and Commissioning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Transformation and Commissioning, the authority to approve the terms of exit from this contract; and

(c)    delegated to the Director of Commercial and Commissioning, in consultation with the Cabinet Member with Responsibility for Transformation and Commissioning, the development of an updated Customer Services Strategy and the recommissioning of Customer Services, to support the objectives of the Council’s Organisational Redesign Programme.