Agenda item

(Technology & Support Services Portfolio Holder) To consider the attached report (C-042-2014/15).

(1)        That the results of the public and Member consultation exercises be noted; and

(2)        That, with regard to the outcome of the consultation exercises and as recommended by the Joint Consultative Committee, the current Christmas/New Year arrangements be continued for a further three years from 2015/16 to 2017/18.

The Portfolio Holder for Technology and Support Services presented a report on the closure of the Civic Offices over the Christmas and New Year period.

The Portfolio Holder reminded the Cabinet that consultation with both staff and the Management Board about access to services over the Christmas/New Year period had taken place. This indicated the most efficient way to meet this demand was by signposting services rather than opening the whole office, due to the lower demand for services over this period. All essential services were covered either by the out-of-hours contact centre or specific staff on call over the period. The Management Board also supported the continuation of the arrangements for the next five years. However, the Joint Consultative Committee were proposing that these arrangements be continued for a period of three years before being reviewed again.

When this issue was previously considered by the Cabinet in March 2014, a public consultation with Members and Residents on the closure of the Civic Offices over the holiday period was agreed. These consultation exercises were now complete and in summary, 209 residents had responded to the consultation with:

• 99% of these stated they had not been inconvenienced by the Civic Office closure;
• 82% said they were aware of available services over the Christmas period;
• 46% of respondents tended to use the Council’s website to find out about services; and
• 45% would use the website to find out information about services over the Christmas

Period.

Only three members had responded to their consultation survey. One member indicated that they had received a complaint regarding the Civic Office closure, although the comments did not indicate whether this was a recent or older complaint. All respondents were aware of available services during this period and one had been inconvenienced, but again the comments did not indicate whether this was a recent issue.

The Cabinet accepted the outcome of the consultation exercises, and felt that they had been merited despite the poor level of response from both residents and Members. It was acknowledged that the Christmas closure of the Civic Offices was appreciated by the staff and the results of the consultation indicated that the public were not inconvenienced unduly by the closure. However, it was felt that adequate external notices should be displayed to inform the public that the Civic Offices were closed during this period, and that this arrangement should be reviewed again in the future. The Portfolio Holder reassured the Cabinet that this would happen, and that the external Security Guards would also be briefed before the closure period.

Report:

(1)        That the results of the public and Member consultation exercises be noted; and

(2)        That, with regard to the outcome of the consultation exercises and as recommended by the Joint Consultative Committee, the current Christmas/New Year arrangements be continued for a further three years from 2015/16 to 2017/18.

Reasons for Decision:

To recognise the strong support amongst staff for the closure of the Civic Offices during the Christmas and New Year period, and that this closure did not currently unduly inconvenience the public.

Other Options Considered and Rejected:

To not continue with the current arrangements. However, the public were not unduly inconvenienced by the closure of the Civic Offices during the festive period, and it was a popular measure with the staff.