The Finance and Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the customer experience strategy, the people strategy, and the work programme. The committee noted the progress made on the customer experience strategy and the people strategy, and agreed to set up a task and finish group on the new Procurement Act regulations. Councillor Stefano Borella, Leader of the Labour Group / Shadow Cabinet Member for Corporate Policy and Budget, enquired whether Councillor David Leaf, Cabinet Member for Resources, would continue to attend the committee meetings once he is elected as leader of the council.

Customer Experience Strategy Update

The committee reviewed the six-month update on the Customer Experience Strategy, which was launched in April 2024. The report highlighted improvements in customer satisfaction scores across all measured areas, which the council attributed to efforts to listen to customer feedback and drive meaningful change.

The report also included benchmarking data from the Local Authority Customer Services Working Group, which showed that the Bexley Contact Centre has improved its call answering performance and maintains a consistently strong performance despite operating with one of the smallest contact centres in terms of full time equivalent (FTE) resource when compared with other London and national authorities.

According to the report, a restructuring of the complaints team in April 2025, along with enhancements to the council's website, have contributed to a reduction in formal complaints. The team is also working on implementing a new Complaints Handling Code, which is targeted for April 2026.

The report also detailed the council's plans for customer transformation, which includes implementing a sector standard operating model for streamlining customer contact. This model includes proactive communications and outreach, digital self-service, and a central contact centre.

Councillor Hall asked how the customer experience strategy links into the customer transformation. Councillor Leaf responded that the customer experience strategy was started to improve customer experience, promote channel shift, and use more modern ways of working, while maintaining face-to-face and telephone contact where necessary. He added that the customer experience transformation spreads more widely across the organisation, and that there is a lot of work going on in back office areas as well, using technology to try to bring all of that together.

Councillor Howard Jackson noted that overall complaint numbers are going down, and asked for more information on what changes have contributed towards those numbers coming down, and if the council has done any trend analysis on what is driving the complaints. Richard Edwards, Head of Customer Service & Business Support, responded that the council has specific people within the team that support different directorates directly, so they have an ownership of an area. He added that the complaints team will work directly with the service for the first two-day period before formally acknowledging the complaint, when often a lot of the complaints are actually service requests.

Councillor Rags Sandhu referred to page 33 of the Customer Experience Report, which shows the different methods that people have contacted the council with, and asked if it would be possible to have an indication of the length of the telephone calls. Richard Edwards responded that the council does not have a specific length of calls for those people, because they have selected that telephone is the main way that they would contact the council.

Councillor Stefano Borella asked how the council quantifies savings made with the customer experience transformation. Councillor Leaf responded that some of the transformation is about improving services, and therefore it is not always easy to quantify in pounds, shillings and pence how a bit of AI and a bit of tech will help improve. He added that the transformation programme numbers will be published in due course as that work progresses.

Councillor Frazer Brooks asked about the number of people who responded to the survey. Richard Edwards responded that the council is working with community networks to try and help increase the response rates, and that there has been a slight improvement on last time, but the council is trying to continue that work to ensure it gets better coverage.

People Strategy Update

The committee received an update on the People Strategy, which was launched in July 2024. The strategy sets the direction for the council in investing in its workforce and delivering on its vision to attract, develop and retain the highest quality, diverse staff to ensure the long-term sustainability of the council.

The report outlined six strategic priorities:

• Efficient, Innovative and Local Recruitment
• Recognising Commitment and Excellence
• Supporting Mental Health and Wellbeing
• Creating a Fair and Inclusive Environment
• Growing Our Own Diverse Leaders and Managers
• Working Together and Communicating Better

The report highlighted a number of key activities that have been undertaken to deliver the strategy, including the implementation of a new Recruitment and HR Hub, the relaunch of the Stars Awards, and the delivery of Mental Health First Aid training to staff.

Councillor Cheryl Bacon asked about the staff recognition awards. Councillor Leaf responded that the awards were part of the feedback the council received when it did the previous survey as it developed the strategy. He added that the citations that were read out were very powerful, the testimony about the work they've done, the improvements they've delivered in their service areas, but also for those working on the front line.

Councillor Larry Ferguson asked if the council has any figures in terms of the allegations of bullying, harassment, discrimination, etc. Lorraine Barlow, Head of Human Resources and Organisational Development, responded that the council does not have significantly high numbers in terms of those reports, but that some reports from a particular directorate where levels did seem to be higher than others were received in the previous survey. She added that the action that the council put in place in that respect was what they called listening circles in that particular directorate where they gave staff the opportunity to come and speak to others, other facilitators in those listening circles.

Councillor Stefano Borella stated that he was at the Star Wars Award and thought it was great to hear those stories, certainly from the Erith Family Hub, and that the council needs to do that. He added that the long service awards and the Friday message are all good because the morale was not good in this building a couple of years ago, and that at least those steps are starting to do that. He also stated that he thinks that the document lacks a one council approach and asked how the council can get that one council approach, and if it is something that the council needs to look at including more in the strategy. Lorraine Barlow responded that a lot of the activities that are part of the Culture Transformation Programme are merging with some of the people strategy priorities, and that the dual focus within the Culture Programme is really bringing the senior leadership group together.

Councillor Peter Reader referred to page 46 of the People Strategy and asked what sort of placements or service areas the students would place with, if they get actual choice where they actually work with the council, if the council has any system of follow-up to keep in contact with these students to see if their interest lingers on after they've left, and how long they actually get to actually work for the council. Lorraine Barlow responded that the council does try to take account in terms of what people's aspirations are around future careers, but that quite often, at that more sort of junior level, those individuals are individual forward and she came for a week in terms of our department.

Cabinet Member Update

Councillor Leaf provided an update on the budget and the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). He stated that work is underway, and that the council awaits the outcome of the fair funding review and the budget from the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He added that the borough and the country are going to be hit harder with higher taxes, and that the economic indicators are showing inflation higher for longer, which is a big concern when thinking about forecasting and budget planning.

Councillor Leaf also stated that work is underway with the Household Support Fund, and that the council is looking at how it can deploy the remaining amounts it has, particularly mindful of winter pressures. He added that the council is still awaiting further details of the future terms and conditions and budgets for the Crisis and Resilience Fund which is the replacement for the Household Support Fund.

Councillor Stefano Borella stated that he is sure that Councillor Leaf will celebrate if the council gets some good news from the fair funding review, and that he will thank the Labour government for that. He also stated that the inflation rate is much lower than it was under Liz Truss, and that interest rates are a lot lower. He then asked if Councillor Leaf is going to grace the committee with his presence moving forward, and if he is going to be the lead responsible for finance and corporate services.

Councillor Leaf responded that Margaret Thatcher inspired many people, and that the council has been making robust and firm representations to the government on funding issues. He added that he is always happy and has an open door policy, and that if Councillor Stefano Borella is feeling lonely at any time and wants to discuss how terrible he's feeling about the performance of his government he's always welcome to come and see him.

Work Programme

The committee agreed to add a task and finish group about the Procurement Act to the work programme. Councillor Howard Jackson asked for an update on the subgroup that's reported to end in October. The response was that there is no update, but that the council is actively working on putting that back on the rails again.