Issue - meetings

To receive and consider report 113/07 of the Strategic Director and Monitoring Officer. 

Introduction and Report Summary

This report proposes the adoption of a Payments Strategy for the Vale. 

The 2007/08 agreed budget proposals (service prioritisation plan number 52X) requests the provision of better payment alternatives for cash payment facilities.  The attached Payments Strategy shows there are opportunities for the Vale to use alternative payment solutions that have the potential to increase customer access and in some cases bring immediate cost benefits.  The strategy compliments the Council’s Access to Services Strategy and is based on extensive research and examination of the options. 

A number of milestones are set out that can move the Vale to this position, and it is recommended that each be implemented on its merits only where the business case for each milestone can prove that customer access will increase and costs be reduced.

 It is your officers’ view that the opportunity for immediate cost reduction is limited, and that encouraging customers to use electronic payment methods will likely have to be implemented in parallel before users migrate in sufficient numbers to enable reduced transaction costs to be secured.

The Contact Officer for this report is Helen Bishop, Deputy Director Organisational Development & Support, 01235 540372.

Recommendations

(a)              that the Executive approve in principle that the draft strategy to implement the payments  policy  be recommended to Council;

(b)              that the following policy which underpins the payments  strategy is recommended for adoption by Council:

“The Council will adopt and implement a Payments Strategy which will deliver the following policy:

·        Cost effective channels will be developed and marketed to encourage as many customers as possible to self-serve or use our call centre services

·        Customer service will be, as far as is practicable, coordinated and process managed to ensure a quality consistent service

·        Opportunities will be taken through process and workflow re-design to create cashable and non-cashable efficiencies

·        The Council will continue to develop access channels which reflect the changing preferences of our customers” 

(Time: 3.31pm to 3.33pm)

The Executive received and considered report 113/07 of the Strategic Director and Monitoring Officer, which proposed the adoption of a Payments Strategy for the Vale.  The 2007/08 agreed budget statement had requested the provision of better payment alternatives for cash payment facilities.  The draft strategy showed there were opportunities for the Vale to use alternative payment solutions that had the potential to increase customer access and in some cases bring immediate cost benefits.  The strategy complemented the Council’s Access to Services Strategy and was based on extensive research and examination of options.  It set out milestones to move the Council forward and recommended that each milestone was implemented on its merits, only where the business case for each milestone could prove that customer access would increase and costs would be reduced. 

It was believed that the opportunity for immediate cost reduction was limited, and that encouraging customers to use electronic payment methods would likely have to be implemented in parallel before users migrated in sufficient numbers to enable reduced transaction costs to be secured. 

Further to the report, the Executive noted that there were no staff comments to report. 

R E C O M M E N D E D     (by seven votes to nil)

(a)              that the draft Payments Strategy be approved in principle to implement the payments policy;

(b)              that the following policy which underpins the payments strategy be adopted:

“The Council will adopt and implement a Payments Strategy which will deliver the following policy:

·        Cost effective channels will be developed and marketed to encourage as many customers as possible to self-serve or use our call centre services

·        Customer service will be, as far as is practicable, coordinated and process managed to ensure a quality consistent service

·        Opportunities will be taken through process and workflow re-design to create cashable and non-cashable efficiencies

·        The Council will continue to develop access channels which reflect the changing preferences of our customers”