Agenda item

Consider joint report by Executive Director, Corporate Improvement & Economy; Service Director HR & Communications; and Service Director Customer & Communities.  (Copy attached.)

14.1     With reference to paragraph 8 of the Minute of 24 February 2021, there had been circulated copies of a joint report by Executive Director Corporate Improvement and Economy, Service Director HR and Communications, and Service Director Customer and Communities, which set out both the challenges and opportunities facing both SBC’s Customer Advice and Support Service (CASS) and Live Borders in aligning services with rapidly changing customer needs and expectations and proposed service redesign options for community engagement as part of the wider developing Place Making arrangements.  The report had been drafted jointly with Live Borders as the Council’s Strategic Partner in the delivery of Culture and Sport services.  The report recognised that both organisations faced many of the same challenges in terms of how services were developed and sustained at a time of unprecedented change and also recognised the interconnectedness of both current service delivery arrangements and future redesign opportunities.  The report was rooted in both the Fit for 2024 Programme as agreed by Council in February 2019 and the Live Borders Strategy (2019-23).  It also followed on from, and built on, previous reports to Council in both December 2020 and February 2021 and set out the case for redesigning service delivery arrangements across 7 interconnected areas of services delivered by both Live Borders and SBC, namely Customer Access Arrangements, Registrars, Museums & Galleries, Sport, Library Services, Public Halls and Community Centres.  The case for service redesign was built around 8 shared redesign principles:-

(a)        Community Engagement and Participation

(b)        Meeting customer needs and expectations

(c)        Improving and simplifying services and service access

(d)        Sustainability

(e)        Equality of access

(f)         Alignment with local and national strategy

(g)        Making the most of investment – including external Place-Based funding opportunities

(h)        Sustainable recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic

14.2     The report recognised that both Live Borders and the Council were on a continuing journey of modernising services and opportunities for service redesign intended to build upon and evolve a multi-channel approach to service delivery including:-

(a)        Face-to-face – continue to provide sustainable service arrangements through focussing investment and footfall into fewer flexible and multi-purpose facilities.

(b)        Digital – continue to increase and improve the range of services and information available online

(c)        Telephone – continue to develop, improve and simplify telephone services

A series of indicative service redesign opportunities across the 7 in-scope services were set out in the report, although these were not exhaustive and the report did not seek to make any recommendations on the opportunities.  Instead, the opportunities were brought forward as a starting point for engagement with communities and recognising that there was unlikely to be a “one-size-fits-all” model in terms of face-to-face services.  In line with previous decisions of Council, engagements with communities would begin through the Place Making approach in Autumn 2021 and subject to the Place Making Gateway review report to August Council.  Engagement would include service users and other key stakeholders relating to the 7 in-scope services.

14.3     The report recognised the opportunities that new Place-Based funding represented to communities in shaping and developing local facilities and services and, where appropriate, to take on the management and ownership of local assets.  The flexible approach which the report proposed was intended to enable communities to move at a pace that enabled them to align proposals with funding rounds wherever possible and appropriate.  Given both the unique circumstances of each community and the developing timescales of the Place Making approach it was proposed that the engagement moved at a pace which was agreed with each community and that recommendations for changes to service design were brought from communities to Council as and when individual communities were ready to seek agreement around their proposals for service redesign and to enable any associated applications for place-based funding to be developed.  Members noted the challenges faced but acknowledged that doing nothing was not an option.  The need for transparency was highlighted and that agreement on the delivery of services would inform the estate requirements. 

DECISION

AGREED:-

(a)     the redesign principles and case for change set out in the report;

(b)     that the indicative service redesign themes and opportunities as set out in the report be used as a catalyst for engagement with communities; and

(c)     that engagement with communities on service redesign began as part of the Place Making approach at the earliest opportunity and that:

         (i)      engagement move at a pace agreed with each community; and

(ii)     proposals from communities were brought back to Council for agreement as and when communities were ready to do so.