153
Councillor Warnes (in respect of his spouse’s employment by Colne Housing) declared a non-pecuniary interest in the following item pursuant to the provisions of Meetings General Procedure Rule 7(5).
The Board received a report from the Commercial Manager and the Commercial Transition Manager providing an update on the operational businesses. Graham Lewis, Commercial Manager, presented the report and provided an update on the services.
It was reported that Helpline had reached an agreement with the North Essex Clinical Commissioning Group and the East of England Ambulance Trust to launch a pilot lifting service and it was anticipated that this service would go live in early April. This was an excellent opportunity for Helpline to try and develop further commercial opportunities. Negotiations were also continuing with Colchester Borough Homes over the terms of the Service Level Agreement, with a view to rationalising the agreement and, where possible, delivering shared services. In response to questions from members of the Board, it was confirmed that Helpline was also in discussions with other Housing Associations, but a number of these already used other national providers.
Members of the Board also explored how Helpline was using new technology and encouraging channel shift. For example there would be some value in Helpline engaging with a partner who could encourage customers to channel shift, or incur a one off cost to get customers online. Whilst the value of such an approach was understood, officers explained that this would be resource intensive and would need further development with partners. There was also some concern about how Helpline could ensure that such arrangements were appropriately managed. Helpline staff continued to look at new technology but many of the new devices coming to market would be difficult for Helpline customers to use as they were not adapted for use by the elderly or those with visual or audio impairments. Helpline’s website was reviewed regularly to ensure its accessibility.
In terms of Bereavement Services, a regular meeting with Funeral Directors was being established. This would be chaired by the Portfolio Holder and would provide an opportunity to ensure that Bereavement Services and the Funeral Directors understood each other and worked effectively together.
A brochure promoting Charter Hall events and other ticketed events would be launched shortly. This would be a soft launch initially to gauge reaction but would be followed by a more high profile launch in September. There was still a need to promote events through formats such as brochures and leaflets, alongside digital methods. The service was also looking at joint marketing with the Mercury Theatre as a first step towards greater collaboration with them.
Members of the Board sought further information about the performance of Leisure World. It was confirmed that income had fallen below target due to a shortfall in sales of Lifestyle memberships, following the opening of David Lloyd and some budget gyms. However, customers were now beginning to return and income was now back on target.
In response to queries from the Board as to how commercial ideas were taken forward and the pace at which this happened, Ian Vipond, Strategic Director, Commercial and Place, explained that the proposals for the reorganisation of the structure of the Council including the establishment of a Council owned trading company would put a greater emphasis on a commercial approach in future. The report on the lessons to be learnt from the work to create a shared service for Building Control highlighted the need for leadership from all of the organisations involved and for honesty about long term intentions at an early stage. It was better to start projects on a smaller scale and develop them further as time went on, rather than be too ambitious at the outset. In terms of some of the commercial opportunities that had been highlighted by members of the Board, he did not consider that the conditions were right to develop these proposals further at this stage.
RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.