Agenda item

The Managing Director introduced the report and updated the panel that the report before them has been to Scrutiny Board for pre-decision scrutiny and that if Councillors have any feedback or comments on the proposals that they should send this to Charlotte Johns, Head of Policy by Tuesday 9 December.

The Managing Director highlighted that the Council had done some targeted work to improve external communications; however the focus in 2015 will be on internal communications including the introductions of employee briefings in their respective teams.

The Managing Director praised the former marketing strategy and corporate logo, but proposed a new logo and branding of ‘City of Wolverhampton’ in order to emphasise our status as a city. The managing director brought attention to the fact Wolverhampton is the only city in the Black Country and 19^th largest city in England by population. The Managing Director also informed the Panel that the editor of the LGC visited the City recently and that it is important that the profile of the city is kept in the eye of the public. Further to this the regeneration programme for the city was starting to take physical shape with block 11 work starting and Sainsbury’s now finished.

The Managing Director also added there was a need for the Council to look professional and throughout the creation of the new corporate logo.  The Leader and Deputy  Leader were keen to keep the coats of arms and keep both the traditional aspect with the new name when creating the logo.

Cllr M Jaspal agreed stated that a strong corporate identity and good brand name breeds confidence in the Council and the City, however he did note that it is important to also focus on small issues such as officers smoking outside the Civic Centre and other Council buildings as well as things such as dirty pavements and weed or grass overgrowing onto pathways, as these all create a negative impact and undermine the Council’s hard work. The Managing Director responded by stating employees have been informed not to smoke close to Council buildings and get one warning before being disciplined, he also told Councillors that extra investment was being put into the cleanliness of the roads and streets of the City.

Cllr Siarkiewicz stated that it is important to get the balance right between the reality and the superficial when it comes to the rebranding and what actually happens and what residents see. The Managing Director replied that the delivery of services is an essential part of the transformation of the Council.  The Managing Director highlighted the investment of money and time to transform customer services including reviewing the time people were left on hold and the introduction of ring back software.  The Managing Director identified that all stages of transformation are important and that it is essential that we try and simplify everything we do as a Council.

Cllr Siarkiewicz commented that it is essential that these messages and programmes are timed correctly as residents hear about cuts to services and cuts financially and may wonder about the money being spent on rebranding.

Cllr Collingswood noted that he welcomed the report and liked the ideas however he did raise the issue that constituents provide him with negative feedback about how their complaints or issues were dealt with by the Council.  He felt that this had also been an issue for himself when chasing up constituents issues and this was endorsed by some other Councillors at the meeting.

Councillors enquired as to the cost implications of the new marketing strategy in terms of corporate branding and printing. The Managing Director informed the panel that the cost implications were minimal, that there will be no more stockpiles of paper, printing will instead be done off of templates. Council staff will also keep their current business cards until they run out when they will be provided with new cards with the new branding, the panel was informed that there is minimal cost associated with signage including the sign at the front of the Civic Centre and main reception which was up for renewal in any case. The Managing Director reminded the panel that this is part of a long term strategy to provide the service we want at front end it is the back office which needs continued investment and improvement.

Councillors enquired as to whether there is a policy on response time to complaints.  the Managing Director informed Councillors that the overall aim is to provide ward by ward data which relies on IT systems that are currently not in place or in their infancy and that the Council must continually improve and adapt its IT provision.

Cllr Potter asked whether staff reductions will affect the delivery.

The Managing Director stated that it was about having the right staff and the right systems in place in order to effectively carry out the Council’s work. The Managing Director highlighted the tremendous progress made by the customer services department over the last three years and praised their work ethic.

The Managing Director also mentioned the need to have more services at the front end of the Council so that residents were enabled to do things for themselves and self- service for their particular needs. There was also a conversation about reaching critical mass on with customer services which will provide a saving in the long term as the team will reach an optimal level of capacity and size. The Managing Director also informed Councillors that an optimisation review is currently taking place which is looking at the quality of response; Sue Handy, Head of Customer Services was praised for moving this forward.