North Tyneside Council
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North Tyneside Annual Statement 2020 Contents Update from Margie Burdis, Partnership Director 4 About the North Tyneside Partnership 5 Our North Tyneside Plan 2018-20 6 Who is Capita? 6 Improving Customer Service 7 Supporting Members 8 Supporting the Community and Social Value 9 Our People 13 Health and Safety 15 Our Services and Structures 16 Regulatory Services 17 Engineering and Highways 22 Strategic Property 27 Update from Colin MacDonald, Client Manager 32 Cover image shows Forest Hall Public Realm Improvement Scheme (photo courtesy of Kenneth Horn) 4 | Annual Statement 2020 Update from Margie Burdis, Partnership Director Welcome to our Asset services greatly changed for the better over the course of the Partnership. This was due to the efforts Annual Statement, of the team and the very positive relationship between which reflects on the council and Capita. achievements in The second change was our move from Quadrant East 2019/20 and looks to the second floor of Quadrant West to accommodate ahead to 2020/21. the council’s reorganisation of its teams. As you’d expect, it was a big upheaval for us but the I’m pleased to report that the technical services we reaction from our staff to their new environment was deliver for the local authority continued to perform hugely positive. strongly over the past 12 months. In addition, we’ve been supporting some of the Of course, our use of the council’s key priorities such as its improvements to customer service for the benefit of the office was subsequently borough’s residents. limited by Covid-19. I anticipate we’ll have plenty to There has been some great work by the Partnership in say in next year’s Annual support of local communities too. We continued to build on our existing strong relationships, such as with Statement about how we’ve Norham High School and the charity Meadow Well supported the council’s Connected, but we also made new connections such response to the pandemic.” as with veterans’ charity Forward Assist. Our Major Projects team delivered a number of Finally, during 2019/20 I was delighted to accept the high-profile projects across the borough – a highlight role of Partnership Director on a full-time, permanent for me was the Forest Hall Public Realm Improvement basis. I feel extremely fortunate to be responsible for Scheme. Not only was the project delivered with the Partnership and look forward to continue working minimal disruption, there was great engagement with with you. the community at every stage. Many thanks, Over the course of the year, there were two significant Margie Burdis changes for the Partnership. Partnership Director Capita Firstly, asset services were transferred back to the local authority. The Asset team managed the repairs and maintenance budget and was commissioning the council’s new Housing Property and Construction (HPC) team. It made good sense for the council to have responsibility for this whole area of work. Annual Statement 2020 | 5 About the North Tyneside Partnership On November 1, 2012, North Tyneside Council and Capita entered into a 15-year partnership for the delivery of a range of technical services with the aim of delivering cost savings, improving services and safeguarding jobs. The Partnership’s services, 2020/21 commitments which are within the remit of Environment, Housing and • Make the most of opportunities for additional Leisure, consist of: savings and income • Work with the Council to develop a more • Engineering & Highways holistic approach to enforcement • Strategic Property (Asset Maintenance • Provide services shaped to customers’ transferred back to the local authority on needs and support the Council’s Customer 31 January 2020) Service Programme • Planning • Undertake the Year Eight benchmarking • Building Control exercise while ensuring transparency of • Public Protection (Environmental Health, the process Licensing and Trading Standards) • Return to business as usual following the Covid-19 pandemic • Support Norham High School to help improve the life chances of pupils • Contribute to the target to reduce the 2020/21 strategic objectives carbon footprint of the Council • Align services to the Ambition for North • Honour the no compulsory redundancies for Tyneside transferring TUPE staff without prior approval of the Authority • Remain co-located with the authority in Council offices • Invest £1.918million into the Partnership to In addition to these strategic create the platform for growth, service objectives, the Partnership improvements and efficiencies / income will deliver: generation • Continuous service improvements measured • 3 Action Plans and 7 KPIs/PIs relating to the through our performance regime Property Workstream • We will generate five new jobs in year of • 5 Action Plans and 10 KPIs/PIs relating to the which one will be new apprentice position Engineering Workstream and one will be a graduate position • 8 Action Plans and 16 KPIs/PIs relating to the • To provide gross income/savings of Regulatory Services Workstream £6.304million through business case delivery • 8 Action Plans and 4 PIs which are cross-cutting 6 | Annual Statement 2020 Who is ? Capita’s North Tyneside Partnership sits within Regulatory and Place Services which forms part of Capita Local Public Services which, in turn, is in the Government division of Capita plc. Capita Local Public Services is customer management, revenues, benefits, dedicated to making processes smarter, finance, infrastructure support and organisations more efficient and regulatory services, education support and customer experiences better across the back office processing. local government, health and education sector in the UK. Capita Local Public Services can also draw on specialist capabilities, such as HR, Responsible for operating all of Capita’s payroll and procurement from across the major local, public sector partnerships, we wider Capita group, to ensure the very best deliver a wide range of specialist services market knowledge and outcomes are including IT and digital transformation, achieved. Our North Tyneside Plan 2018-20 The Our North Tyneside Plan sets out the overall vision and policy context of the authority and borough. It was developed through the North Tyneside Strategic Partnership who work together with the Authority to deliver an improved future for the borough and its residents. The Our North Tyneside Plan has three key themes: Our People, Our Places and Our Economy. The Partnership’s Annual Service Plan flows from the Our North Tyneside Plan. Annual Statement 2020 | 7 Improving customer service Capita is playing its part in the delivery of the council’s Customer Service Improvement Programme. New Toucan Crossing Around £5.5million is being invested by North Tyneside Council in the borough’s highway network in 2019/20. As part of these improvements, a Toucan crossing will be installed on Hillheads Road to enhance safety for pedestrians and cyclists. Subject to factors such as the weather, work will start w/c August 12 and last up to three weeks. Temporary off-peak traffic signals will be in use during the works. Later this year, Hillheads Road and Marden Road will be resurfaced. If you have any queries, please get in touch - Tel: (0191) 643 6500 Email: [email protected] and put ‘Hillheads Road’ in the subject heading Working here to improve your highways Permit: Above: One of the new street name signs | Inset, top: This poster was erected on site ahead of a new crossing being installed Inset, bottom: The new highways site signage The Partnership has representatives on all four workstreams: Customer Promise, Brilliant Basics, Customer First, Better Never Stops and, where necessary, their related sub-groups. Outcomes to date have included: the introduction of The aim was to mirror the approach applied to new street name signage; new highways site signage; communication of the local authority’s major a best practice drop-in session hosted by Capita engineering projects. during National Customer Service Week; and the application of the council’s brand guidelines to In total, the team was involved in the communications materials produced by Capita, such as posters of 16 schemes – tactics included letter-drops, news and leaflets. releases, posters, flyers on car windscreens, liaison with Nexus and the police, news releases and social In addition, as a trial initiative, Communications media posts. Manager Duncan Bennett, Customer Service Manager Sarah Browne and Communications Officer (Major Thirty-five queries were received from the public, all Projects) Amy Kennedy took responsibility for acknowledged within one working day and a full communicating selected road resurfacing, footway response provided within 10 working days. The improvement and Local Transport Plan schemes. longest time a resident had to wait for a full response Traditionally, these have been communicated by the was four working days. A total of eight compliments service area responsible for the works. were received. 8 | Annual Statement 2020 Supporting members Providing an enhanced service to elected members remains a key Partnership commitment. Customer Service Manager Sarah Browne continues to play an important role in supporting the Partnership’s members engagement. Sarah’s Facts and figures responsibilities include: • Ensuring staff follow the Partnership’s Members 13 ward walkabouts Service Standards by Customer Service Manager • Quality checking officers’ draft responses to members’ enquiries prior to upload onto the 17 site visits Members’ Enquiries (MEs) System by Customer Service Manager • Acting as a key contact/escalation point within the Partnership for elected members and internal stakeholders 3 Guides for Elected Members • Attending ward walkabouts with elected members Parking Restrictions, Traffic Management and Trading Standards • Taking ownership of issues that might otherwise fall between services areas within the Partnership • Undertaking site visits and meeting residents who 12 Members Updates have raised a query with members to establish improved understanding of the issue 7 road resurfacing Sarah also obtains information for inclusion in the programme updates bi-annual ward briefings and takes away actions arising from the sessions.