Following a Full Cabinet meeting on Wednesday 17 July, the decision has been made by Havant Borough Council to employ local staff going forward to provide its Customer Services function, ensuring a flexible and adaptable solution to residents' needs.
Currently procured via a third party, the new, internally run Customer Services team will work closely with other council teams to provide relevant, timely support to residents wishing to access the wide range of services the council provides. The team is expected to employ approximately 12 staff to meet local need.
Councillor Paul Gray - Cabinet Lead for Commercial at Havant Borough Council – said "I'm delighted to say that by committing to bringing the Customer Services team in-house, we can help ensure residents can easily ask the questions that matter to them and access the right services first time.
For a long time now - in fact as far back as the 1990's when the fashion in business became to outsource everything - I have been convinced of the need to provide more localised services in many instances. Residents, quite rightly, don't want to discuss a problem in their street with someone hundreds of miles away who doesn't know the local area.
This is a victory for everyone who feels that local government has, over the years, become too distant and detached. We are committed to rectifying mistakes from the past, made under previous administrations."
The commitment to invest was one of several service-level decisions made at Full Cabinet, with others including a commitment to exit the existing contract for IT and to extend the current arrangement for both the Revenue & Benefits and Land Charge services.
For more information on the meeting, click here.