Issue - meetings

Report RES13005

In considering Reception areas across the Civic Centre site, the Chairman raised concerns around the design of the new North Block Reception area which helped customers with housing and social care queries.  This area had a high number of customers and it was important to ensure customers were able to discuss issues in private where appropriate.  There was also a need for the right security measures to be put in place for customers and staff.  The Chief Executive advised Members that there was an emphasis on channel shift to more web-based services which should reduce the demand for on site Reception facilities, but that changes would be made to the design of the North Block Reception area to meet customer need where appropriate.

The Chairman also highlighted the Evidence Drop-off Point for Housing Benefit claimants and noted the potential to offer document handling and scanning services at libraries across the Borough.  The Chief Executive confirmed that work was being undertaken to investigate additional services that could be offered in a community setting into the future.

The Chairman noted that Bromley would be one of four London Boroughs trialling the introduction of a benefit cap from 1^st April 2013 before the measure was rolled out nationally by Autumn 2013.  This limit would prevent households on benefits receiving more in income than the average household, initially set by the Department for Work and Pensions at £500 a week or £26k a year for households with children, and was likely to increase the use of the North Block Reception area and Evidence Drop-off Point for Housing Benefit claimants in the long term.  The Chief Executive confirmed that work was being undertaken with the Department for Work and Pensions and Jobcentre Plus to meet this increased level of need and that support would be provided by these organisations during the period of the pilot scheme.  Staff were working to contact Bromley residents who were likely to be impacted by the change in benefits.  There were also plans to utilise the Lodge House on the Civic Centre site to provide an improved level of customer service to customers who needed assistance with benefit-related queries following the launch of the pilot scheme.

In considering the five corporate work streams that had been introduced to secure further financial savings, the Chief Executive confirmed that work was continuing on baseline reviews and to identify which Local Authority services could be considered statutory or non-statutory.  The transformational agenda remained at the heart of service delivery and work was being undertaken to consider how services could best be delivered into the future and to identify opportunities for sustainable income and economic growth.  Organisational change was being progressed to accommodate these areas of work and ensure the Local Authority was well-placed to continue to deliver high quality services into the future.

RESOLVED that matters arising be noted.