Clackmannanshire Council Online

Consultation to Put Customers First

The Council is to carry out a community consultation on the development of more responsive, effective and accessible local services which put the customer first.

At a Council meeting today (11 August) it was agreed that a change of focus in local service delivery was needed to help provide better service performance and improved customer satisfaction, enhanced service user and community relationships and more effective service contributions to meeting outcomes.

This approach envisages an integrated public sector presence in local areas where Council, and potentially other public services, could offer a single point of access for service users which might include:

• information, advice and sign-posting to other service providers
• general customer service eg library services, reporting faults
• support for applying for services eg filling in forms
• direct access to certain services eg environmental health, housing
• single point of contact/link person to guide a service user and co-ordinate access to a range of services eg community events or family support
• a system of triage to assess needs for specialist services and provide referrals
• opportunities for community learning, engagement and development/volunteering

It is proposed that a local service offering should be available directly in Alloa (town centre and Alloa South & East), Sauchie, Tullibody, Menstrie, Alva, Tillicoultry, Dollar and Clackmannan, with other areas being served on an outreach basis.

The Council meeting agreed that a public consultation on the vision and approach will be carried out between August and October to seek views on the model proposed, and to understand if there are any additional requirements communities would like to see incorporated into a new way of working.

The consultation exercise will include a number of ways for residents to give their views:

• online on ClacksWeb
• suggestion boxes in local offices
• public meetings in each of the communities led by local members from the Administration supported by officers
• drop-in sessions in each of the communities with local members and officers on hand to answer questions or receive feedback
• staff and partner engagement

Council Leader Cllr Bobby McGill said: "This Administration is determined to do our best to provide services to our local communities that meet their needs, and we feel a new approach is required to deliver that. We know that a one size fits all approach won't provide the best outcomes for the residents of Clackmannanshire, so that's why we'll be going out to those communities to ask for their views. I'd encourage everyone to make sure their views are heard, either by responding to the online survey, filling out a form in one of our local offices or coming along to one of the public meetings or drop in sessions."

Consultation opens on 12 August and runs until 17 October. Further details of the meetings and drop in sessions will be detailed soon. The results will be reported back to a Council meeting in November.