Agenda item

Councillor Catrin M S Davies presented the report upon the Update on Clic. The following information was highlighted within the report:-

•         Customer Services

•         IT developments

•         Corporatisation benefits and Strategy

•         Statistics on the Clic System

Most of the Members stated that the Clic system worked well, however, it would improve if all services would respond to queries in a timely manner. Councillor Carl Worrall stated that system did not work for him as it had taken months to resolve several issues in his Ward. Councillor Caryl Roberts stated that Corporate Lead Officers were either Steve Jobs or Rodney Trotter when using this system; and that it was not acceptable that a reminder should be sent to them if the issue/query had not been resolved within two weeks, as it should have been addressed sooner. She stated that she had no issues with the front-line employees on Clic and welcomed this CRM system.

Concerns were also raised by Councillor Roberts that all Members were informed following the first meeting after the election by the Chief Executive that Members should only contact the Corporate Lead Officers or himself. She stated that she had collated information from Members from other Local Authorities on this issue and that they were allowed to contact officers on all levels direct. She stated that all Members and all Officers should be working together for their communities and as Team Ceredigion. The Corporate Lead Officer- Clic, ICT & Customer Services stated that the Rodney Trotter comment was unfair as officers were working hard in the background to address the backlog.

In response the Chief Executive stated that he was very disappointed with the comments of Councillors in relation to this matter and their unprofessionalism in relation to Corporate Lead Officers in a public forum and expected an apology by the end of the meeting, all Members and Officers should be polite and courteous to each other.  All Members could contact the CLO direct to contact officers in their service if a response had not been received in an appropriate timeline. This process had been agreed following the last administration whereby Members had been vocally abusive to junior employees, which was totally unacceptable. The Clic system had been created in order that all queries/issues were logged and addressed accordingly, if Members were dissatisfied with the delay in dealing with the issue they must then contact a CLO  so that senior officers follow up any concerns on their behalf.   The principle was simple, stated the CEO – log a request for service on Clic; contact a CLO, Corporate Director or CEO if there was an unreasonable delay in actioning the request.  If you required information and it was not a request for service please e-mail Senior and middle officers for advice.  He also stated that there were 750 less employed in the Council to provide over 120 services, therefore this has had an impact on capacity to deal immediately with every enquiry.  However, his and every other senior officer door was always open to members and to note this had always been the message.

The Leader stated he welcomed the comments on the need to improve the Clic system, however, the Rodney Trotter comment was not acceptable. Councillor Caryl Roberts stated that her comment had been taken out of context, but however, stood by her statement in relation to being able to contact all officers direct as Councillors in recent administrations had been able to do so.

It was AGREED -

(i) to note the report for information; and

(ii) that Members received training on My account and how to drop a pin to a map to ascertain an exact location of an issue, would be arranged in due course