(a) Apologies for Absence
(b) Announcements
To consider any announcements by:
(i) the Chairman of the Council;
(ii) the Leader of the Council; and
(iii) any other Cabinet Member.
(c) Quality Parish Status –Accreditation – Epping Upland and North Weald Bassett Parish Councils
Epping Upland have met all the relevant criteria to be reaccredited for quality parish status. North Weald Bassett Parish Council have met all the relevant criteria to be accredited for quality parish status.
Canon John Brown, Chairman of the Essex County Accreditation Panel will say a few words on quality status and together with the Chairman of the Council will make presentations to: (a) Councillor Ann Pegrum, Vice-Chairman of Epping Upland Parish Council or Councillor Penny Smith, Chairman of Epping Upland Parish Council and Mrs Val Evans the Clerk of Epping Upland Parish Council; and (b) Councillor Cyril Hawkins, Chairman or Councillor Brian Eldridge, Vice-Chairman of North Weald Bassett Parish Council and Mrs Sue De Luca, Clerk of the North Weald Bassett Parish Council.
(d) Customer Service Excellence Award – Housing Directorate
Following a detailed written submission and a rigorous assessment process undertaken by an external assessor, the whole of the Housing Directorate has been awarded the Government Standard for Customer Service Excellence in the public sector.
Customer Service Excellence replaces the former Charter Mark Award, which has been held by the Housing Directorate for the past six years.
To obtain the Customer Service Excellence Award, organisations must meet 57 separate assessment criteria. They must demonstrate that they: engage and consult with their customers; measure customer satisfaction with the service; provide information and easy access to services; co-operate with other providers, partners and communities; have service delivery standards; deal effectively with problems; achieve timely service delivery, and have a positive organisational culture.
The Chairman of the Council will present the Customer Service Excellence Award to Councillor David Stallan, Housing Portfolio Holder and Alan Hall, Director of Housing.
Minutes:
(a) Announcements by the Chairman of the Council
(i) Attendance at Events
The Chairman reported on her attendance at the Commemoration of the bombing of Spriggs Oak, Epping in 1940 when eight women had been killed.
The Chairman also reported on her attendance together with other Councillors at a speed meeting event with Youth Councillors.
Councillor Mrs Grigg advised that she had attended the unveiling and dedication of the Battle of Britain Memorial Wall at North Weald Airfield.
(ii) Flowers from the Meeting
The Chairman advised that the flowers from the meeting would be sent to St Clare Hospice.
(b) Announcements by the Leader of the Council
There were no announcements by the Leader under this heading.
(c) Announcements by Portfolio Holders
There were no announcements by Portfolio Holders under this heading.
(d) Quality Parish Status – Accreditation – Epping Upland and North Weald Bassett Parish Councils
The Chairman introduced Canon John Brown, the Chairman of the Essex County Accreditation Panel and invited him to say a few words on Quality Parish Status prior to making presentations to representatives of Epping Upland and North Weald Bassett Parish Councils.
Canon Brown reported that there were currently 695 quality Parish Councils nationally of which 223 had been re-accredited. 43 Parish/Town Councils in Essex had been awarded quality status and 22 had been re-accredited for the latest standard. The meeting noted that there were currently seven quality Parish Councils in the Epping Forest District.
Canon Brown suggested that both North Weald Bassett and Epping Upland Parish Councils were well placed to deliver the power of wellbeing, a role already being undertaken by 10 local Councils in Essex.
Canon Brown congratulated North Weald Bassett Parish Council for meeting the criteria for accreditation. He advised that the relocation of the Parish Office to the Library had made the Parish Council more accessible and had increased community involvement. He pointed out that the Parish had 4,681 electors and the Parish Council maintained 11 notice boards and managed three halls. He praised the Parish Council for the clear way in which members’ interests were recorded, their monthly newsletter and other publications, the rota for Councillors’ Saturday surgeries, their Citizen of the Year Award, the delivery of their annual report to all households in the Parish, the Annual Remembrance Service at the Norwegian Memorial, the funding of local organisations, the management of allotments and a cemetery and for participating in the Essex Apprenticeship Scheme.
Canon Brown congratulated Epping Upland Parish Council for achieving the standard for re-accreditation. He praised the Parish Council for their newsletter which set out clearly the responsibilities of all Parish Councillors, for individual Councillor input into the magazine “the Uplander”, for the clear and well presented annual report, special leaflets in relation to housing development, new Councillor induction arrangements, the high level of attendance of Councillors at meetings, the management of allotments, the provision of a Millennium Wildlife Garden, the maintenance of the village green and involvement in the Gypsy and Traveller consultation process.
The Chairman of the Council, Canon Brown, Councillor Ann Pegrum, Vice?Chairman and Mrs Val Evans, Clerk of Epping Upland Parish Council moved to the well of the Chamber for the formal presentation and photographs.
The Chairman of the Council, Canon Brown, Councillor Cyril Hawkins, Chairman and Mrs Sue De Luca, Clerk of the North Weald Bassett Parish Council moved to the well of the Chamber for the formal presentation and photographs.
(e) Customer Service Excellence Award – Housing Directorate
The Council noted that following a detailed written submission and a rigorous assessment process undertaken by an external assessor, the whole of the Council’s Housing Directorate had been awarded the Government Standard for Customer Service Excellence in the public sector. Members noted that Customer Service Excellence replaced the former Charter Mark Award, which had been held by the Housing Directorate for the past six years.
In order to obtain the Customer Service Excellence Award, organisations had to meet 57 separate assessment criteria. They had to demonstrate that they engaged and consulted with their customers; measured customer satisfaction with the service; provided information and easy access to services; co?operated with other providers, partners and communities; had service delivery standards; dealt effectively with problems; achieved timely service delivery, and had a positive organisation culture.
The Chairman drew attention to the independent external assessor’s overall conclusion – “the Housing Directorate was found to have a deep understanding and commitment to Customer Service Excellence. The commitment was found from Senior Management levels through to operational and front line staff”.
The Chairman made a presentation to Councillor David Stallan, Housing Portfolio Holder and Alan Hall, Director of Housing following which photographs were taken.