Promise 1

We will establish a 'First Stop Shop' in the town centre that gives advice and information about all council services.

Progress

Achieved.

Promise 2

We will establish a new contact centre so that all residents can telephone us for information about council services day or night, seven days a week with 95% of telephone calls answered within six rings.

Progress

Achieved.

Promise 3A

So that local people have access to wideranging advice and support, a flagship independent multiagency advice centre will be developed.

Progress

Withdrawn.

Promise 3B

We will develop the use of the old Railway Museum.

Progress

The internal works to the Platform are progressing well as planned.

A raised floor has been constructed in the main hall and work has started on the reconfiguration of the downstairs area for office space, interview rooms, a café and toilet facilities. Electrical and mechanical work is in progress to improve the electrical and heating systems in the building. A railway carriage was successfully placed within the building on 4 October to host a range of positive activites to be determined by young people.  

A Business Plan for Children’s Services including activities for the Platform has been produced along with a range of activities to open the Platform later this year. A management team have been appointed to run the facility. The project remains on target to be handed over to Children's Services on 30 October 2009.

Promise 4

We will make sure that our Housing Benefits service is rated as excellent. By working with claimants more efficiently, new housing benefit claims and notifications of change of circumstances will be processed and completed ahead of Government targets.

Progress

This promise focused on the need to significantly improve the Benefits Service, which at the time the Promise was made, was not meeting the Department for Work and Pensions Performance Standard minimum targets. The service improvements delivered resulted in the service gaining recognition as a '4 star' excellent service in 2006-07 and 2007-08 as assessed under the CPA scheme 2005-09.

Current Government guidelines no longer set specified targets to measure Benefits performance. By conducting benchmarking exercises and using these as a comparison the Benefit Service are able to measure how they are performing against other local authorities. Work is being undertaken to gather this data.

In addition to this we are benchmarking to learn best practice and polices to drive service improvement. Site visits and teleconferences with various local authorities have taken place.

Local targets have been set to achieve clearance of backlogs which was achieved ahead of schedule in July. Performance targets for processing new claims and change of circumstances are set monthly and performance is being met ahead of target.  

A range of stakeholder groups are in place and held regularly to help shape service improvements. These include working private landlords, housing associations, the Housing Department, Citizens Advice Bureau amd Wiltshire Law Centre. Work is ongoing to introduce a customer panel and conduct a survey through the One Stop Shop.

Promise 5A

We will buy goods and services more efficiently to help us to save money.

Progress

Achieved.

Promise 5B

Through good financial management, we will make savings of £11 million across the Council.

Progress

Achieved.

Promise 5C

We will collect 98% of council tax in year.

Progress

In year Council Tax collection in both 2006-07 and 2007-08 reached 98%, but in 2008-09 the collection rate achieved fell slightly to 97.8%. The economic downtown has affected our ability to achieve a higher collection rate. Benchmarking with other local authorities showed that most also showed a small decline in 2008-09.

As at end September 2009 the collection rate for 2009-10 had reached  48.24%, which is 0.23% lower than 2008/9. This may have been affected by the fact that no payments were taken between 29 and 31 August, as these were non working days. Planned work to improve the collection rate includes the referral of court orders to bailiffs.

Promise 6

Your Council will be recognised under the national standard as one of the best in the country for its approach to equalities.

Progress

Significant work has been carried out in revising the Council's Equal Opportunities Policy and Equality Schemes and in developing a new Equality and Diversity Vision and Strategy for SBC. The target for implementation for this piece of work is April 2010. This will form the basis for the development of a shared diversity vision for Swindon in which statutory partners and communities are able to work.

We are continuing to evaluate all our policies and working practices to ensure that we do not adversely effect any equality group. This process has achieved some notable success with recognition by external inspections (e.g. the Care Quality Commission Independence, Wellbeing and Choice Inspection in December 2008), and areas for change have been usefully identified (e.g. recruitment of male care assistants).

In order to achieve Promise 6, we need to complete this process for all new policy, significant projects and developments, and show clear consideration in decision making. The revised policy base will set out the Council's commitment to achieving the Equality Framework for Local Government as the measure of achievement for this promise.

Promise 7

We will reduce sickness absence from the current level of an average of 9.27 days per employee each year to 7.5 days per employee.

Progress

The number of days sickness absence per full time equivalent employee figure is currently being audited and the final figure for 2008-09 will be available very shortly. The data is now allowing the production of detailed, accurate reports for managers and they receive these once a month so that they can monitor and manage departmental progress. Departmental management teams will have sickness absence as a standing item and directors will have to show their group directors that sickness is being dealt with in their areas including highlighting any actions that have been taken.

The Central HR attendance officer role to support managers has been extended to April 2010 and the Sickness Absence Policy has been amended to remove management discretion upon whether or not staff needed to attend sickness monitoring meetings when they met sickness triggers.

Sickness Absence Clinics in directorates have taken place to discuss business practices and identify improvement in the management of sickness specific to business areas. Senior Support on sickness sessions have taken place with directors to identify issues in business areas and develop internal department support for improvement in management of sickness.

Promise 8

We will respond to 100% of customer complaints within 10 working days. Councillors will review complaints received about Council services so that they are more aware of areas that need improvement.

Progress

Over the last six months, performance for responding to complaints within 10 days was: March 91%, April 93%, May 86%, June 90%, July 95%, August 92%.

All services, excluding Adult Social Care, now manage and track customer feedback using the Council's customer relationship management system, Lagan, which has moved from ProActive. Services were transferred to Lagan in four phases: the first phase going live at the end of April 2009 and the final phase at the end of August 2009. Lagan training was provided to all affected staff together with training on how to manage complaints effectively.

We have introduced procedures to chase up complaints on the fifth and eighth day after receiving them to ensure all customers receive a response within our target of 10 days. Further effort is required to ensure all customers receive a response to their complaint within the target. We are introducing improved monthly reporting to senior managers and councillors in October. This will raise awareness and is expected to lead to further improvements.

Promise 9

We will improve our website (www.swindon.gov.uk) to provide comprehensive Internet access to Council services. By the end of 2005 all council forms will be available for download on the Website. By the end of 2006 you will be able to be complete those forms online.

Progress

Achieved.

Promise 10

By 2006 we will establish a forum for young people to voice their opinion so that we can prioritise their needs.

Progress

Achieved.

Promise 11

We will invest an average of £250,000 per year to make council buildings accessible to all. This figure does not include schools, which are addressed separately.

Progress

Access improvements are prioritised through carrying out a rolling programme of access audits which take into account key barriers to accessing and using a building. These include entrances, toilet provision, lighting and movement within a building. An annual programme of works is compiled based on the access audits and also whether other works are being carried out to a building, meaning access improvements can be carried out more efficiently as part of a wider programme of works.

Works carried out in 2008-09 included providing disabled toilets at Whitworth Road cemetery, improving the disabled parking bays at the Link, ramp replacement at an elderly people's home and improving the entrance to the gym at the Oasis. Works programmed for the current year include improvements at John Moulton Hall in Penhill, Upper Stratton Library and the Arts Centre, and replacing a platform lift at Lawn Community Centre.

Promise 12

We will keep residents informed about Council services through the council newspaper ‘Swindon News’ which will be delivered six times a year to every home in the Borough. We will hold regular public meetings, consultations and introduce 'suggestion boxes' around the  borough to encourage you to feedback on our performance.

Progress

Achieved.

Promise 13

We will continue to provide quality housing to those who need it and, by 2008, we will ensure that all of Swindon’s council house tenants who want it will have central heating and double-glazing (subject to listed buildings  consent). All council owned houses will exceed the Government’s standard for decent homes. Through good estate management we will ensure that all tenants fulfil their responsibility to maintain their homes and gardens to a good standard.

Progress

Achieved.

Promise 14A

We must attract and retain high quality staff. The Council will be a leading employer with a modern and flexible workforce that can adapt to changing priorities and deliver results.

Progress

Part of this promise was achieved when Investors in People (IiP) recognition for the whole organisation was achieved. Work on continuing to ensure that Swindon Borough Council is viewed as an Employer of Choice continues through delivery of the agreed HR Strategy - A Great Place to Work. Key focus over the last six months has included: ensuring that our values and behaviours framework is implemented through our appraisal process and council-wide projects; continued development and training on ensuring that we manage our contracts as effectively as possible; continued success of our recently launched apprenticeship scheme, with over 22 apprentices recruited; further benefits launched through our staff benefits scheme; and additional staff supporting Equalities and IiP.

Promise 14B

The Council and all its services will be accredited under the Investors in People Standard by 2006.

Progress

Achieved.

Promise 15

By 2006-07 we will allocate at least 75% of the grant aid budget through three-year agreements and service level agreements with the voluntary and community sector and monitor the outcomes to make sure they achieve the aims of the Community Strategy. We will explore with community and voluntary groups options for other sources of funding.

Progress

Achieved.