Council hires call-handlers to ease waiting times

The investment of £122,000 in the coming year’s budget follows what RMBC admits has been “generally poor customer experience”.

Customers facing emergencies have not always been able to quickly make reports — and there has been a significant increase in complaints about contacting the council by phone.

A general shift to digital contact — using email and online forms — has left many who do not use the internet frustrated when trying to ring RMBC.

This frustration has often been directed at council officers answering the calls, leading to an increase in staff reporting concerns about work pressure and stress.

In the six months to October 2021, there were 104,000 digital forms submitted — more than three-quarters by customers serving themselves.

But the cases where people require assistance — including all phone contacts — still number 11,000 a week.

It is hoped the additional cash — equivalent to five full-time roles — will help those who still rely on actually calling the council for help or support.

Scrutiny board member Cllr Ken Wyatt said: “I welcome the investment in call-handlers. I think that’s one of the most frustrating things for people out there.

“I know it boils down to five positions, and obviously won’t be a cure-all, but it certainly is welcome to see that happening.”

Council leader Cllr Chris Read said: “Call-handling, we could talk about all day, couldn’t we? This will help ease the issues.

“There’s lots of other work going on around that to address the challenges we know that we have.”

However, the extra staff budgeted for in 2022/23 will be funded from the Covid Recovery Fund — and will only be in post for 12 months.

The budget papers — approved by full council yesterday (2) — say: “The appointment of an additional five full-time equivalent customer service roles is expected to have a positive impact to the number and speed of calls answered.

“The proposed investment is for one year only, with the additional posts removed after this point.”

The council will continue to press on with the shift to digital after the roles are cut, looking to identify opportunities to “reduce avoidable contact” through phonecalls.