Hampshire County Council

Executive Member, Policy & Resources Item 9

11 April 2002

Customer Service and Performance Review

Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

Contact: Andrew Smith Ext: 7826

1. Summary

1.1 The following decisions are sought:

1. That approval be given to the development of National Performance
Indicators as part of the County Council's Strategic Asset Management
Plan as part of the Best Value Review of Property Services

2. That the responses of schools to the Service Level Agreement for Property Services be noted and the approach to service developments be approved


3. That the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services reviews the department's organisational arrangements to focus on the implications of the buy-back arrangements and report further for approval as necessary.

2. Reason

2.1 To meet the requirements of the DETLR in producing a Strategic Asset
Management Plan.

3. Other options considered and rejected

3.1 None.

4. Conflicts of interest declared by the decision-maker or a member for
officer consulted

4.1 Not applicable

5. Dispensation granted by the Standards Committee

5.1 Not applicable

6. Reason(s) for the matter being deal with if urgent

6.1 Not applicable

Approved by: ..................................... Date of decision: ...................

Councillor T K Thornber

EMP&R0402Q

Contact: Karen Murray Ext: 7876

1. Summary

1.1 An integral part of the Property Management service is the development and improvement of communications and customer services. The purpose of this report is to review performance in service delivery, provide an update on new customer initiatives and report on the outcome of the recent Service Level Agreement Consultation with schools.

2. Service Level Agreement (SLA)

2.1 The department has a Service Level Agreement for the provision of Property Management Services to all community schools. The arrangement relates to almost £5m per annum of delegated budgets. High levels of buy-back remain strategically very important to the County Council and the department was keen to maintain the 100% buy-back achieved in 1999. This maintains the benefits of an aggregated budget and integrated revenue and capital programmes.

2.2 It is very pleasing to report that once again all community schools have signed the SLA, which will run for five years from1 April. In addition six foundation schools (former grant maintained), including three secondarys have opted to buy-back, thus improving the department's performance from three years ago.

2.3 Improved response times to enquiries and complaints together with new services relating to Health and Safety auditing and fire risk assessments have been included in the SLA. The department has also established a target to improve the percentage of schools rating the service they receive as good or better by 2% per annum.

3. Performance Information

3.1 The department has several well established indicators by which to measure customer satisfaction and to identify the need for new service developments and improvements. There are also a number of output based indicators which help to measure the impact and scope of the property management service. The indicators are attached as appendix 1.

3.2 Complaints are an important source of information and are continuously monitored and reviewed by the management team. Since last April just over half have related to service delivery issues, with the balance being concerned with poor contractor performance and building defects. The number of complaints has declined over the last 12 months by around 10% in spite of more rigorous recording. On average the department receives over 10 compliments a month, occasionally these outnumber the complaints.

3.3 At the completion of every project clients complete a feedback summary giving their view on the department's and contractor's performance. Since April 289 projects have been completed and the department's service has been rated as either good or excellent by 86% of customers. This represents an improvement of 1% from the previous year. Appendix 2 provides further detail about this feedback.

4. Sample telephone Survey of Primary Schools

4.1 During December, in agreement with the Primary Headteachers Conference it was agreed to undertake a small (10%) random telephone survey. The survey was designed to focus on 3 key objectives:

· gauge understanding of the Property Management Service

· review service performance and confirm areas of good practice

· identify broad priorities for future service development

4.2 The overall opinion of the service was that high quality professional expertise is delivered by hardworking and approachable staff. The regular dialogue through management partnership meetings was valued as was the prompt response to enquiries and emergencies. A number of common themes for service improvement emerged including:

· to keep improving communication and follow-up

· improving timescales for progressing projects (particularly school funded schemes)

· improve supervision of projects on site and monitor completion and snagging

· continuity of personnel/one point of contact

4.3 Communication can always be improved and this will be a focus over the next twelve months. Existing communication processes have been audited and improvements identified. In addition a development programme aimed at `putting the customer first' is being delivered to all staff. The department's workforce plan identifies the need to develop customer relationship skills and to ensure these feature highly in future recruitment plans. Increasing customer expectations, together with very high volumes of work, put more of a premium on the presence of excellent interpersonal and communication skills.

4.4 The number of small and medium scale school funded projects has increased hugely over the last twelve months. This trend is set to continue with further increases in the amount of capital delegation planned over the next two years. The department has over 350 such projects in the office and is having to develop and review its resourcing and procurement arrangements in order to cope with this volume of projects. Given the current recruitment difficulties it is unlikely that additional staffing will provide the answer. More effective and timely communication is also essential.

4.5 The need for increased on-site supervision has been recognised with the appointment of additional contract supervisors. The impact of their post will be reviewed with customers over the next twelve months.

5. New Initiatives

5.1 Property Matters

Property Matters is a Newsletter for Primary Schools containing articles on programmes of work, health and safety, the department's performance and general advice. It has been very well received by schools with positive feedback being provided at the department's termly joint meeting with the Primary Headteachers' Conference. The third issue is currently being prepared.

5.2 Health and Safety Auditing

This is a new service being offered to schools as part of the new SLA. The service, which has been designed in consultation with schools, has the objective of improving performance and understanding of Headteachers' responsibilities for building related health and safety matters. The service, which has already commenced with secondary schools, comprises an appointment between a health and safety specialist and the school, an on-site review and follow-up action plan. Progress will be monitored at the regular management partnership meetings.

5.3 Communication of Major Programmes

Over the last year the department has been introducing proactive

communication arrangements for the major landlord programmes such as

SCOLA re-cladding, Ballard replacements and external redecoration.

Customers are invited as a group, to attend an early presentation which covers

key events, procurement arrangements, programme accountabilities, future

communications and outcomes. The presentations are followed-up by ongoing

communication prior to key events. Customers have responded very

positively to the approach which will be developed over the next year.

6. Strategic Asset Management and Key Performance Indicators

6.1 It is now a requirement of the Department of Environment, Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DETLR) that Councils prepare a Strategic Asset Management plan (SAMP). This document, together with the complementary capital strategy was, following a dry-run, submitted to the DETLR last July. The plan was assessed as being good (the highest assessment). It is a requirement of the process that local and national performance information be reported to the Council. Five National Indicators have been established and these will form part of the SAMP in future, the next update will be produced by the end of July. The table below summarises the indicators:

Key Performance Indicators

	Indicator	Comment
1.	% gross internal floor area and maintenance backlog by the four prescribed condition categories	Already provided as part of SAMP.
2.	Internal rate of return for retail, industrial and agricultural investment property.	Limited relevance, but requirement to provide by 31/07/02 will be met.
3.	Annual management costs per sq.m.	Will be met by 31/07/02 and helpful Best Value benchmarking data.
4.	Revenue running cost per sq.m. (repairs, fuel, water and rates)	Fuel and water will be consumption rather than cost based. Information currently collected. Will be met by 31/07/02.
5.	Measure the reliability of cost and time estimates	Applies to all new projects over £50,000. Information already available for larger projects. Will be met by 31/07/02.

6.2 The Best Value Review of Property Services is in the plan for 2003/04 and some of the above indicators will be helpful when benchmarking against other authorities. These are the first National Indicators.

7. Conclusions

7.1 While the response to the SLA with schools has been excellent it must nevertheless be seen as a platform on which to build further service improvements. The challenge of satisfying over 500 schools with growing expectation and in an area that relies so heavily on the construction industry for the delivery of successful outcomes is considerable. The department is currently developing its improvement plan which will build on its successes and set out short- and medium-term developments. The recently approved Workforce Plan also addressed the important implications of achieving significant `buy back'. It is proposed to continue to evolve management arrangements in property management to focus on key customer groups.

Recommendations

It is recommended that:

1. The development of National Performance Indicators as part of the Council's Strategic Asset Management Plan be approved and developed as part of the Best Value Review of Property Services.

2. The responses of Schools to the Service Level Agreement for Property Services be noted and the approach to service developments be endorsed.

3. The Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services review the department's organisational arrangements to focus on the implications of the buy-back arrangements and report further for approval as necessary.

Section 100D - Local Government Act 1972 - Background Papers:

The following documents disclose facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and has been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB the list excludes:

1. Published works.

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

File Location

None.

EMP&R0402Q

Appendix 1

Strategy for the Built Estate - Performance Indicators for April to January 2002

EMP&R0402Q

CONTRACT PERFORMANCE FEEDBACK SUMMARY Appendix 2

Property Services

Client Feedback Received Between 1^st April 2001 and 31^st March 2002

These charts are based on the results of 306 client feedback forms received between 1^st April 2001 and 31^st March 2002 for Property Services - all clients