June 12, 2012 -- Frustrated callers to Birmingham City Council’s call centre are being let down by council departments failing to tackle the problems, an inquiry has found.

The investigation into customer services found that the reason, for example, dumped rubbish was not being collected or a benefit advice appointment could not be made, was due to poor information from council departments.

The same was true of the council’s website which people are increasingly expected to use to book services.

But the report still raised concerns that Service Birmingham, run by private sector firm Capita, is paid on the number of calls it answers rather than the quality of service provided prompting fears that they benefit from people calling back with the same unsolved problems.

Now the council’s new head of scrutiny Coun Carl Rice (Lab, Ladywood) has vowed to continue monitor service delivery from start to finish and ensure that callers are getting good service. The new Labour administration has also vowed to roll out more services, including the ability to report problems such as fly-tipped rubbish or grafitti, via a mobile phone app or text message – and receive a response when the problem is dealt with.

Coun Rice, chairman of the governance and resources committee, said: "I listened in to a few of the calls. It was very revealing to see first hand the services being delivered. It is very easy to blame Service Birmingham, but their operators were taking the right information down.

"We quickly learned that it was not the people answering the phones but the response from council departments."

The council’s contract with Service Birmingham runs until 2020 and therefore it is important the council makes it work, Coun Rice said. The inquiry’s findings and recommendations will be presented to the full council today. They include negotiations to change the charging from call volume to something which includes effectiveness of service.

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.birminghammail.net