11 February - Finance concluded
There are a few things from the recent Finance meeting that are not yet reported. Two Cabinet Members chose to speak and Resources boss David Leaf went first beginning with the almost mandatory self-deprecating remarks about the length of his speeches. This being the last of the Finance Scrutiny meetings in this civic year, he said, It might be the last opportunity for him to speak before the election. (He may be disappointed to note that there will be another meeting on 25th March.)
• Councillor Leaf said he had not only lobbied government about
the unfair funding formula but also the failure to properly fund Adults’ Social Care.
Oh! That was a let down, that is all the Council Leader
had to say but the Cabinet Member for Education and Corporate Services did her best to flesh out their reports
• Yet another Monitoring Officer is to be recruited. (None of them last long, one
must wonder why.)
• The Contact Centre is now improved to the point it answers 90% of incoming calls.
• Call volumes have dropped by 10% over the past four years.
• All staff will have new laptops by March.
• All analogue phone lines will shortly be retired.
The Chairman asked if any of those changes will result in cost savings or service efficiency improvements
but the Cabinet Member dodged the question. A Council Officer attempted to save
the day. He hoped that something between £700,000 and a million pounds might be
saved over the next three years.
Councillor Stefano Borella (Labour Leader) said that the recruitment of Monitoring Officers is always
challenging and just before an election when the colour of the Council might
change is a particularly difficult time. On the subject of the Contact Centre he
noted that the website included email addresses none of which were ever
monitored. Had all email addresses been withdrawn now? Cabinet Member didn’t
provide a definitive answer but shared Councillor Borella’s concerns. This is
what one might expect from someone who has a permanent excuse responder attached
to her own email address. “I am currently experiencing some technical difficulties and
may not be able to respond quickly to your message.”
Council Leader David Leaf assured us that Councillors will
continue to have
email addresses which can be found on the Council website.
Councillor Chris Ball (Labour, Erith) asked about email response times and was
told they were below target. However Councillor Ball was more interested in
Councillor responses but was told they are not monitored. Maybe I can help; my last
email to a Councillor (as opposed to responding to him/her) was sent on 28th
October last year and I am still awaiting an acknowledgment.
The Leader didn’t think it would be possible to monitor response times as replies
might be made by phone call, letter or personal visit.
Councillor Ball said he acknowledged the difficulties but the fact remains that
he is “absolutely aware that there are Members of the current Council who are not
responding to their emails or in any other way”.