Exhibition Boards

Corporate

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Charter Mark

The quality of Tameside’s customer service was recognised by our receipt of Charter Mark for all services in 2007 - the Government’s prestigious award for customer service excellence, which drives improvement within organisations and focuses attention on customer needs.

• 2007 - first MBC to gain Charter Mark for all services
• Achieved 100% compliance with the Standard
• Built on success of several services over the past five years
• Several services highlighted as areas of best practice
• Invited to assist in the development of the revised standard

What Charter Mark said:

“The Council demonstrates an outstanding commitment to excellent customer service.”

“The overall picture is one of a local authority staff who have realised that the key feature of public service is to serve the public.”

Engaging with Customers

• Residents’ Opinion Survey
  • 1,100 face-to-face interviews in homes, every three years
  • Focus groups to follow up e.g. with BME and disabled people
• Really Important Questions (RIQ) – Annual conference and follow-up work with older people in Tameside
• Listen Here! Disability Network and Conference - getting disabled people and local organisations talking together
• Citizens’ Panel – 2,000 panel members surveyed by post three times per year
• Ask the Panel – Deliberative event with Panel members every two years
• Youth Online Survey – Year 10 pupils surveyed online every two years
• Business Survey – Tameside SMEs surveyed by phone every two-three years
• Employee Survey – All employees surveyed every two years by post or online
• Budget consultation – Annual workshops with local residents

How it works:

• All services have a link officer to champion engagement and provide advice
• Link Officer Group meets quarterly – all services attend
• Details of all engagement entered on online database, based on council website
• Consultation and Engagement Strategy and Toolkit provided for services online
• Share best practice with partners, and work together on corporate consultation and engagement exercises e.g. Residents’ Opinion Survey and Citizens’ Panel

Citizen's Panel

• Panel of 2000 residents, surveyed three times per year
• Committed to engagement - high response rate for postal surveys (around 70%)• Representative of Tameside by gender, age, disability and area
• Boost to BME membership to give robust numbers
• One-third of members refreshed each year
• Newsletter after each survey tells members the results and what the Council will do about them
• Members can also choose to take part in further face-to-face or telephone consultation
• Different Council service areas and partner organisations put questions in each panel questionnaire. Recent topics have included Tameside In Bloom, Public Spaces and Community Safety

Residents' Opinion Survey

• 1,100 face-to-face in-home interviews, every three years
• Topics include corporate issues:
  • Quality of life 
  • Community Strategy priorities
  • Satisfaction with TMBC
  • Contact and communication with TMBC
• First survey in 1995
• Responses tracked over time
• Representative sample of residents within each District Assembly
• Reports at borough and individual District Assembly level
• 2007 to include customer insight section – segmentation exercise
• Results reported to residents, staff, senior managers and Cabinet Deputies
• Individual services address relevant issues
• Follow-up work carried out with relevant groups of residents

Customer First

We realised from customer feedback that we were ‘bolting on’ changes to customer service, when a complete transformation was needed.

They told us:

• They didn’t know who to talk to / where to go
• They waited longer because reception desks were not manned
• They were passed from pillar to post
• Their desire for privacy was not being met

What we did:

• Engagement with customers to investigate issues
• Developed ‘Access to Services’ Strategy
• Directed all customer service queries to eight new ‘One-Stop Shops’ around the borough, all DDA compliant
• Implemented Customer Contact Centre

How did we do it?

• All employees trained in Customer Services via award-winning web technology
• Improvement team reviewed back office systems
• Private interview facilities created at all sites
• Recognised importance of ICS awards, and engaged employees
• Worked with partners to deliver other services from some of our centres:
  • DWP
  • GM Police
  • GM Immigration Unit

Measuring success

• 100% satisfaction with the way the officer dealt with the enquiry
• 99% satisfaction with waiting time
• Charter Mark awarded to Customer First in 2007
• Regularly contacted for best practice advice by other councils

Institute of Customer Services

Employees who feel fulfilled and are focused on meeting customer needs provide better services. Tameside has addressed both issues through ICS awards for staff, supporting and equipping employees to serve our customers.

• Tameside has been an ICS member since 2004
• We are now an accredited centre for the ICS Professional Awards scheme
• Staff work towards several awards:
  • Communications
  • Solutions
  • Innovations
• We are the first council to deliver the new ICS First Impressions Programme

Leaders who Engage

Tameside Council is focused on transforming services. To continue our rate of improvement we need to transform our culture by developing leaders who achieve results through engaging others.

We are doing this through an intensive Leadership Development Programme:

• Executive Programme:
  • 360° appraisals for senior managers
  • Includes feedback from partners, peers, team members directly managed and other members of the council
  • Includes dedicated coaching and development sessions from the widely-acclaimed Real World Group
• Middle Manager Programme:
  • 360° appraisals for all managers

Both programmes provide feedback on:

• Pride in job / TMBC
• Self Belief
• Motivation to change
• Attitude to learning
• Feeling valued
• Day-to-day management
• Opportunities for development
• Support from colleagues

Tameside Community Strategy 2003-2013

Our Vision

'Tameside is a good place to live, and we want to make it even better. We want it to be a place where people of all ages and backgrounds feel at home and able to get involved in the life of the community, where they can contribute to a prosperous local economy, feel safe and healthy, and take active responsibility for the environment in which they live.'

• 3,000 local people involved in setting the vision
• Priorities reviewed via Citizens’ Panel – 93% agree they are still right:
  1. Supportive Communities
  2. Safe Environment
  3. Healthy Population
  4. Learning Community
  5. Prosperous Society
  6. Attractive Borough

Local people continue to influence the vision for Tameside, delivered via the Local Area Agreement (LAA). We are responding to what they say:

• 96% say support for older people is important:
  • Under Supportive Communities we are enabling older people to live active, satisfying and independent lives.
  • Our LAA is increasing the number of older people to use sub-threshold services
• Crime is falling fast in Tameside:
  • Under Safe Environment we are continuing to improve crime and perceptions of safety.
  • Our LAA is increasing the percentage of people who feel safe outside after dark
• 97% say quality parks and open spaces are important:
  • Under Attractive Borough we are increasing the quality of parks and open spaces
  • Our LAA is increasing even further the number of Green Flag and Green Pennant awards in Tameside

Tameside Strategic Partnership

Structure

• Members from over 70 organisations, from all sectors
• Board members: Public 52%; Private 23%; Voluntary and community 16%; Independent 9%
• Protocol to ensure that two reps from Community Empowerment network sit on all partnership bodies
• Compact agreed for joint working with voluntary and community sector
• Annual conference brings together all members to consider challenges and future direction

Effectiveness

• Rated ‘green’ for last three years; good performance and progress to narrow gaps recognised by GONW
• 78% of Community Strategy indicators improved in 2006/07; 16% sustained performance
• LAA signed in 2007, delivered by all partners: 70% of indicators improving
• Joint engagement activity e.g. Really Important Questions and Listen Here!

Achievements

• We are one of only ten councils to achieve 4 stars and Improving Strongly for CPA 2006. No other North West council achieved the same.

“Tameside Council has delivered significant improvement to services for local people across its priorities… resident satisfaction has risen markedly … value for money remains good … there is continued improvement despite a relatively low cost base.” Audit Commission 2007

• We won the MJ Best Achieving Council award in 2007
• We were the first metropolitan authority to achieve Charter Mark across all services, and did it with 100% compliance
• Tameside In Bloom: Thanks to the efforts of local people we have achieved three wins in three years in the North West competition.
• We have held five Beacons since 2000:
  • Community Safety
  • Accessible Services
  • Quality Environment
  • Community Legal Services
  • Getting Closer to Communities
• We achieved Investors in People in 2000, 2003 and 2006

Scrutiny

• Local people are engaged and empowered in transforming services
• Holding service providers and decision-makers to account
• The key to local democracy
• Engages people through innovative approaches to communication and consultation
• Reviews involve diverse sections of the local population
• Champions the needs of some of the most marginalised, disadvantaged and unheard
• Involves people in improving services by being responsive to the needs of participants
• Contributed to transforming services through the engagement and empowerment of local people by making recommendations which lead to the further involvement of local people

Scrutiny of the NHS:

• Working with the local MP and the Tameside Hospital Action Group, Scrutiny has involved local people in openly holding the local Hospital Trust to account for the implementation of its Improvement Plan

Review of Teenage Pregnancy:

• Young mothers engaged and helped to design consultation with young people
• Young mums received training on how to facilitate discussion groups at the event
• Scrutiny supported project to train young parents as peer educators that has now successfully delivered peer education in schools
• Young people involved in the ongoing monitoring by scrutiny members of the efforts being made to tackle teenage pregnancy

Domestic Violence:

• In 2006, scrutiny officers visited the local Women’s Refuge to conduct confidential interviews with victims of domestic violence
• Agencies brought together to engage local people
• Worked with partners from the Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership and the Domestic Violence Unit at Greater Manchester Police
• Accessed the views of victims of domestic violence through feedback surveys and interviews
• Subsequent scrutiny report sought to improve the already good provision for victims of domestic violence

Making Equality and Diversity Work in Tameside

Key Documents

• Race, Disability and Gender Equality Schemes: Key actions to meet the Race, Disability and Gender Equality Duty & achieve race, disability and gender equality
• Corporate Equality Plan: Ties together the different equality strands and outlines Tameside's joined up approach to equality and diversity
• Equality Impact Assessment Toolkit: Informs individuals across the authority how to systematically assess policies, strategies and functions for their impact on equality and diversity (used in combination with Equality Impact Assessment training scheme)

Key People

• Member Lead: Cabinet Secretary for Co-ordination Services and Lifelong Learning is an active member lead for equality and diversity
• Executive Team: Receives six-monthly updates on equality and diversity progress
• Executive Support Team: Receives quarterly updates on equality and diversity progress
• The Equality Champions Group: Representatives from every Service Area with responsibility for facilitating equality and diversity across the authority

Performance

Leadership

• Strong performance culture in the council and across the Tameside Strategic Partnership
• Performance is an essential element of community leadership
• Measuring and monitoring progress is key to achieving our plans and strategies
• Improving the quality of life of local people is the central aim of everything we do
• Engagement and empowerment of local people is the basis of the achievement cycle as it identifies what people want and need
• The cycle starts and ends with the engagement of local people

Business Planning

• System to monitor individuals, teams and departments key actions each year
• Our Business Plan actions link to:
  • Community Strategy themes
  • Consultation
  • Equalities

Local Area Agreement

• Tameside’s LAA is based on the Community Strategy
• Overarching aim is to reduce inequalities
• Focuses on issues of greatest importance to local people
• Supports the community in improving their quality of life
• Series of targets focusing on the empowerment of citizens and their involvement in the community

Examples of LAA targets

• Feel informed about what is being done to tackle anti-social behaviour
• Feel they can influence decisions affecting their local area
• People from different backgrounds get on well together
• Participation in volunteering/community activities
• Improving parks and open spaces (Green Pennants)
• Volunteering amongst older people in Denton South and Smallshaw

T3SC Engaging Local Communities

BME Development worker:
A proactive and targeted approach involving outreach to communities and local groups

Tameside Older People’s Advisory Group (TOPAG):
Regular visits to groups by network representatives and community networkers help make sure that older people can have their say without having to attend lots of meetings

Neighbourhood work: 
Community development work in local areas (Denton South, Droylsden, Micklehurst) help ensure there are lots of different opportunities for local communities to get involved and identify issues important to them

Community Events:
Regular community events keep the networks in touch with local communities and enable people who may not want to attend meetings to put their views forward in a more informal setting

T3SC - The Voluntary and Community Sector in Tameside

• Over 1000 groups are engaged in all aspects of community life, such as:
  • Health and social care
  • Sport and leisure
  • Community arts and theatre
  • Community support and local activities
• Is worth over £2.8million a year to the local economy
• Volunteer time contributes around £0.8 million to the local economy
• Volunteer Centre delivers hundreds more volunteers and hundreds more opportunities
• Promotes the needs and interests of local people
• Provides vital services that touch the lives of everybody
• Enables communities to take control and support each other
• Empowers groups to make a difference and improve our towns
• Celebrates mutual support, cooperation and the fight for social justice

T3SC - Tameside Voice - Tameside's Community Empowerment Network

• Tameside Voice is a Tameside wide Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) forum
• Tameside Voice embraces the diversity of Tameside communities through a wide range of member networks and forums

Voice Networks

• Enable community involvement in partnership working, decision making and improving local services
• Provide an accountable and transparent structure for representation of VCS and local communities on the TSP
• Build capacity and skills of community representatives
• Have an active membership of over 500 voluntary and community groups
• Provide a means of building a strong and cohesive voice for the VCS
• Underpinned by outreach and community development work in local neighbourhoods to ensure engagement of marginalised groups

T3SC - Tameside Third Sector Coalition

Building the Capacity of Tameside's Voluntary and Community Sector

• The Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) for Tameside
• Promotes and enhances partnership working across Tameside
• Highlights the strengths and values of the VCS
• Celebrates the diversity of Tameside’s communities
• Empowers the VCS through information and practical support
• Promotes VCS involvement in the planning and delivery of services

Gets Results

• 188 groups supported
• Helped local groups to access £349,000
• 800 VCOs informed of Tameside services via paper and electronic news
• Developed and supported eight VCS networks
• Elected VCS representatives for partnership meetings

www.tameside.gov.uk

You said

• A fully accessible website, easy to use for people with disabilities
• Transactional services on-line out of normal office hours
• Easy to use and intuitive website
• Look and feel that represented the area

We have

• Designed the website with highest levels of website accessibility (“Bobby” and “AAA”)
• Final design agreed through an on-line public vote
• Put all council services on-line (since 2003)

Outcomes

• Leading council for attracting local market share
• 1.95 Million unique visitors (2006/7)
  • 320,000 on-line transactions
  • 6000 completed satisfaction surveys
  • 75% of people rate the site highly and would re-visit
  • 38% of all transactions outside normal working hours
  • Real savings achieved through channel shift
  • Reducing avoidable contact

Disseminating Good Practice

Our Key Messages

• Involving Citizens
• Strong Partnerships
• Innovative consultation mechanisms
• Engaging all sectors of the community

Sharing Good Practice

• Mentoring Online
• Virtual online learning visits
• Interactive video streaming whereby you can choose to watch different information videos. Key people are interviewed by both staff and members of the community. Videos are particular events or activities
• FAQ section which will have links into the video streaming above.
• Learning visits question area. People who still have unanswered questions can leave those questions in a Learning Visit Forum. These questions will be answered and published for anyone logging onto this area
• Knowledge Creation and Transfer Panel – NWIN
• Themed Open Days

Resourcing the Dissemination Plan

• Partnership Approach
• Training and Event Organisation
• Practical Advice

Citizen Empowerment / Online Free School Meals

Objectives:

• Free School Meals available on the same day
• Application online, face-to-face or by phone
• Signposting to related benefits
• Take Up Campaign promotes channel shift
• Customer journey simplified whilst back office savings are made
• Working with: Phase II ESD – Toolkit Customer profile project
• Working with Cabinet Office Customer journey mapping approach
• Working with Government Connect re-citizen authentication

“Working with its central government partners Tameside has managed through the Free School Project to epitomise what citizen empowerment is all about. Whilst this is a simple transaction it has had to deal with many of the complex barriers and challenges that we will meet time and time again as we transform government services, but it has shown that these need not stand in the way of better services for citizens or better value for money for the tax payer” 
Ian Watmore, Head of Prime Minister's Delivery Unit