Improvement And Efficiency Sub-committee Of The Policy And Resources Committee - 17/12/2009

At a MEETING of the IMPROVEMENT AND EFFICIENCY SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE held at Dundee on 17th December, 2009.

APPENDIX

Present:-

BAILIES

COUNCILLORS

Councillor Ken GUILD, Convener, in the Chair.

Unless marked thus * all items stand delegated.

I SUBSTITUTES

It was reported that for the purpose of this meeting, Councillor Bidwell would substitute for Councillor Keenan.

II PROGRESS WITH PRIORITY PROJECTS IN THE COUNCIL PLAN

There was submitted Report No 513-2009 by the Assistant Chief Executive reporting on progress with the priority projects included in the Council Plan 2007/2011.

The Sub-Committee:-

(i) noted the content of the report including the appendices which detailed progress made on the priority projects included in the Council Plan 2007/2011; and

(ii) agreed that as part of the commitment to Public Performance Reporting, the information on progress be added to the copy of the Council Plan which appeared on the Council website and that copies of the report be made available to partner organisations, local groups and members of the public on request.

III CASH IN YOUR IDEAS EMPLOYEE SUGGESTION SCHEME

There was submitted Report No 589-2009 by the Assistant Chief Executive and Head of Public Relations reporting the outcome of the 'Cash In Your Ideas' suggestion scheme and recommending cash awards to employees whose ideas would be implemented or investigated in detail.

The Sub-Committee:-

(i) noted the excellent response from staff to the 'Cash In Your Ideas' employees suggestion scheme;

(ii) agreed that 18 awards of 100 (some shared) be made to employees whose money saving ideas would be implemented or investigated in detail, subject to the agreement of the Board of Dundee Leisure on matters which would affect them;

(iii) agreed that the top award of 500 be made to Steven Ball and Douglas Fairfield from Waste Management for ideas about the disposal of waste mattresses which would generate income from scrap metal and reduce landfill costs, resulting in estimated initial savings of around 40,000 per annum. These savings would potentially be significantly higher once the impact on the maintenance of expensive shredding machines was fully investigated over the next few months;

(iv) agreed that a personal letter of thanks be sent by the Chief Executive to all those who submitted ideas; and

(v) remitted the Assistant Chief Executive and Head of Public Relations to bring forward proposals for similar exercise in the future.

IV IMPROVING SERVICES THROUGH LISTENING TO CUSTOMERS AND SERVICE USERS

There was submitted Report No 598-2009 by the Assistant Chief Executive presenting a summary of the customer satisfaction research carried out by Council departments over the past year and highlighting some of the improvements which had been made to services as a result of feedback from users.

The Sub-Committee:-

(i) noted the content of the report and agreed that similar reports be submitted annually;

(ii) agreed to encourage departments to maintain their efforts to listen to customers and to identify any further customers who should be consulted with a view to achieving service improvements; and

(iii) noted that two departments were participating in a national pilot project to measure customer satisfaction and encouraged all departments to make use of any good practice guidance which emerged from the pilot project once the results had been disseminated.

V LEAN SERVICE REVIEWS

There was submitted Report No 609-2009 by the Assistant Chief Executive updating the Sub‑Committee on progress with the six Lean Service reviews agreed at the conclusion of the Efficiency Diagnostic Study and advising on further reviews that had been included on the programme.

The Sub-Committee agreed that the projects and progress in the Lean Service Programme as set out in Section 4 of the report be noted.

VI KEY QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS 2009/2010 - PERFORMANCE REPORT FOR SIX MONTHS TO 30TH SEPTEMBER, 2009

There was submitted Report No 541-2009 by the Director of Finance advising the Sub-Committee of the performance of Dundee City Council for the six months to 30th September, 2009 as defined by the Key Quarterly Performance Indicators.

The Sub-Committee noted that performance levels for the first six months of the financial year had generally been maintained or improved.

The Sub-Committee further agreed that all Chief Officers review the content of Appendix 1 as it related to their service and consider if there were any indicators for which performance could be improved over the remainder of the 2009/2010 financial year.

Ken GUILD, Convener.