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Organisation and Communities Scrutiny Panel - Thursday, 20th November, 2025 6.30 pm

November 20, 2025 View on council website

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Summary

The Organisation and Communities Scrutiny Panel were scheduled to meet to discuss member's casework performance, customer service performance, and to commission future reports. The meeting was scheduled to be held in Committee Rooms 4 & 5, Town Hall, Wellington Street, Woolwich and was open to the press and public. Councillor Joshua Ayodele, Chair of Organisation and Communities Scrutiny Panel, was scheduled to chair the meeting.

Customer Services Performance

The panel was scheduled to discuss the customer services performance report. The report included performance figures across the last 2 years for:

The report stated that demand continues to be a challenge, and that work is underway to bring in digital channels for customers to self-serve. It also noted that the Customer Service restructure completed in December 2023 has now been fully embedded.

The report stated that overall contact volumes rose by 9%, largely due to the introduction of Responsive Repairs calls into the daytime operation. It also stated that there has been some decline in performance metrics compared with the previous year, which is largely linked to the Contact Centre operating with a higher-than-normal vacancy level to support the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS).1

The panel was also scheduled to note that the opening hours of the Corporate Contact Centre have been extended to 8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Members Casework Performance and Review Monitoring

The panel was scheduled to consider an update on the performance of the Member's casework management process. The report stated that engaging with people in the community and understanding their concerns is a vital responsibility of a Council Member, and that casework plays a crucial role in helping Members support, advocate for, and address the issues faced by individuals.

The report also stated that casework management is dependent upon effective ways of managing information between Members, Members support officers, and Directorate Officers as information owners, and that the Royal Borough of Greenwich uses a CRM2 called Dynamics.

The report included the following statistics:

Year 2023 2024 2025 2025 forecast
Resources 153 120 121 145
Place and Growth 866 788 675 810
Legal and Democratic 37 182 148 178
Housing 2844 2368 2000 2400
CEC 2524 2429 2698 3240
Adults 104 99 99 119
Children 112 124 91 110
Other 29 8 0 0
Total 6669 6118 5834 7002
Total Parent Records 5226 4920 4483 5380

The report stated that casework requests have increased in 2025 and are predicted to be about 14% higher than in 2024. It also stated that Communities and Environment and Housing continue to have the highest percentage of casework (46% and 34% respectively in 2025).

The report also included a benchmarking exercise that was carried out in March 2024, which compared the performance, processes and practices of Royal Borough of Greenwich with other authorities.

Commissioning of Future Reports

The panel was asked to note the work items that are scheduled to be presented to the meeting of the Organisation and Communities Scrutiny Panel taking place on 22 January 2026, which include:

  • Legal Services Performance
  • Human Resources Performance

The panel was asked to consider the scope of forthcoming reports and specify any detailed requirements.

Other Matters

The agenda also included:

  • Apologies for Absence
  • Urgent Business
  • Declarations of Interest
  • Minutes from the meeting held on 25th of September 2025.

  1. The Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) is a document that sets out the council's financial plans for the next 3-5 years. It is updated annually and is used to inform the council's budget decisions. 

  2. CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, and is a system for managing a company's interactions with current and potential customers. 

Attendees

Profile image for CouncillorJoshua Ayodele
Councillor Joshua Ayodele  Chair of Organisation and Communities Scrutiny Panel •  Labour and Co-operative •  Woolwich Arsenal
Profile image for CouncillorPeter Baker
Councillor Peter Baker  Labour and Co-operative •  Abbey Wood
Profile image for CouncillorJo van den Broek
Councillor Jo van den Broek  Labour and Co-operative •  Charlton Village and Riverside
Profile image for CouncillorCathy Dowse
Councillor Cathy Dowse  Labour and Co-operative •  Mottingham, Coldharbour and New Eltham
Profile image for CouncillorAsli Mohammed
Councillor Asli Mohammed  Labour and Co-operative •  Woolwich Dockyard
Profile image for CouncillorRaja Zeeshan
Councillor Raja Zeeshan  Labour •  Shooters Hill
Profile image for CouncillorMatt Hartley
Councillor Matt Hartley  Leader of the Opposition •  Conservative •  Mottingham, Coldharbour and New Eltham
Profile image for CouncillorLakshan Saldin
Councillor Lakshan Saldin  Independent •  Charlton Hornfair
Profile image for CouncillorDenise Hyland
Councillor Denise Hyland  Cabinet Member Finance, Resources and Social Value •  Labour and Co-operative •  Abbey Wood

Topics

No topics have been identified for this meeting yet.

Meeting Documents

Agenda

Agenda frontsheet 20th-Nov-2025 18.30 Organisation and Communities Scrutiny Panel.pdf

Reports Pack

Public reports pack 20th-Nov-2025 18.30 Organisation and Communities Scrutiny Panel.pdf

Additional Documents

3. Declarations of Interest.pdf
3.1 Outside Body Membership.pdf
5.0 Members Casework.pdf
6.0 Customer Services Performance and Review Monitoring.pdf
7. Commissioning of Future Reports.pdf
Minutes of Previous Meeting.pdf