As you know, earlier in 2023, the decision was taken to restrict access to Lagan Emails for Advisors so that in the main Advisors could only see Emails related to their main skillset area (Housing, Revs, DD) and although some tweaks were needed the process seemed to work well. Unfortunately though, due to the decision taken at the end of 2023 by Moray Council Councilors to reduce CC Advisor numbers from 16.5FTE to 12.5FTE this is something I no longer feel is reasonable and therefore I’ve instructed the Support Team to remove Email restrictions to allow all Advisors to see all Emails again. I don’t have a date for this to happen but as soon as I know I will let you know although if the changes are made it’s possible that you’ll spot them before I get a chance to say.

Please be aware that this does not mean that you are expected to tackle Emails you’re not trained to tackle I am simply asking the Support Team to remove restrictions so that once again we can all see the total Email workload so nothing is hidden from any of you.

In general, the new standard for handling Emails is to handle in date receive order (oldest first) based on your main group area (DD, Housing & Revenues). However, I do appreciate that circumstances do crop up that may require us to work outside of the new norm, these may include but are not limited to the following:

• You’ve been asked to work in a different order by the seniors or me (Emma in my absence)
• You’ve picked up multiple Emails from the same customer so are handling all of them at the same time.
• You’ve notified the seniors of a specific reason as to why you’re not handling an Email in date order & they’re happy with that.

More than anything I appreciate how disheartening the Email numbers have been over the last few months and I am doing all I can to try to move some of the unnecessary workload away from us. However, should staff be faced with customers wanting to know who to complain to about length of time taken for their calls/Emails to be answered by Customer Services they should be directed to their local Moray Council Councillor who can be found here Council and Government - Moray Council (at the time of writing this post the find my nearest was down for maintenance but you can still see Councillors based on area/wards).

The new Customer Service mantra for 2024 is quality over quantity, at the end of the day we are all human so please be kind to yourself and do not rush an enquiry to get to the next one as each customer deserves the time needed to resolve their enquiry (yes even the unhappy ones ).

Final word, please remember that if you have any worries that I am 100% here for you all you need to do is drop me a Teams message or an Email and I will get back to you for a chat as quickly as I possibly can.

Kindest regards
Donna / Customer Service Team Leader

Due to staff shortages, there will be no mailvan collection/deliveries from the following areas on Monday the 15th of July:

Buckie Office (Cluny Square), Keith Community HUB, Buckie/Keith Swimming Pools, Keith Grammar/Primary Schools

Contacts from each location, were Emailed on 12/07/2024 to make them aware of potential concerns for Monday.

I have asked for this information, to be shared, on the Staff interchange, however, its likely this will not be posted till 15/07/2024.

Kindest regards
Donna (Customer Service Team Leader) & Emma (Business Support Team Leader)

Following interviews last week. Ellie Reid will be joining the mailroom team from Monday 1 July.

Following Tuesdays Corporate Committee meeting held on 11/06/2024, I wanted to take the opportunity to share the following link with staff:

The main agenda point that I would like to draw staff’s attention to is, item 7 “Performance Report (Governance Strategy and Performance) Period to March 2024” section 5.3 which you’ll see relates to the Contact Centre.

As you will see the report clearly shows how our service has been affected in 2023 compared to 2022. During the meeting, a question was raised by Councillors present, if there were any particular reasons for the apparent channel shift from emails back to calls in 2023, the following reasons were provided: 

• Increased failure demand e.g. customers not happy with the service received are more likely to telephone than Email. 

• Online payment facility failures which forced members of the public to have to telephone to pay for services they would normally have made online.

Please be assured that we are continuing to work with the services to identify areas of improvement and if anyone has any questions regarding this news item, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kindest regards

Donna / Customer Service team Leader

Following a request from Lynne F to be considered for the Advisor role being vacated by Beth at the CC, I can confirm that HR have authorised this move and as a result Lynne will take up this position from Monday the 8th of July.

I would like to take the opportunity to thank you Lynne for your efforts during your time as a Senior, we may be losing a Senior, but we are gaining an exceptionally experienced Advisor.

As a result of current budget restrictions, a hold has been placed on the recruitment of a replacement Senior Advisor to allow for a review of service needs.

Please be assured that the first point of support for CC & Reception Advisors will continue to be the senior mailbox (seniorcsa@moray.gov.uk) should alternative arrangements be required, these will be issued to Advisors via the Teams Daily Update posts.

Kindest regards

Donna / Customer Service Team Leader

The Banking Team have confirmed that they have updated the “Other Methods of Payment” details found at the bottom of the following link

To include a new “Bank Transfer” option which will give customers the Council’s Banking details.

As per guidance on the “Bank Transfer” option, customers must quote an appropriate reference e.g. Ctax Account, NDR Account, Licence Application, Planning Application as the bank details quoted are for the whole Council therefore the likes of “J Smith” are not appropriate.

Kindest regards

Donna / Customer Service Team Leader

Following a recent review of emails sent into Lagan, the following areas of improvement have been identified and are currently being worked on to see how these can be achieved:

Licensing:
• Police Scotland emails at the minute following the script, Advisors forward all Emails from Police Scotland to licensing@moray.gov.uk to ldsadmin@moray.gov.uk. However, following recent discussion with Senior Solicitor Sean Hoath he is currently working with their development team to consider how they can Customer Services out of this loop g Customer Services. Please continue to follow the scripted process and as soon as we have an update we will share on the HUB.
• Emails with attachments at the minute following the script, Advisors forward these emails to ldsadmin@moray.gov.uk who then forward them to the mailroom to match with any licensing applications. Agreement has been reached to change this process and as soon as we have an update we will share on the HUB.

Council Tax/NDR:
• Taxation Manager James Taylor is currently working with ICT on the creation of a customer enquiry Eform that would force customers using the online enquiry route (ctaxweb) to provide a minimal amount of information e.g. name, address before being able to submit their enquiry, although the enquiry would still come to Lagan (lagan.ctaxweb@moray.gov.uk) it would hopefully allow us to answer more enquiries 1st time around, as soon as we have an update we will share on the HUB.

Housing Repairs:
• We have highlighted to Housing service managers that there appears to be a high-level of inconsistency when it comes to Housing staff reporting repairs on behalf of tenants and as a result, we’ve asked Housing Managers to consider if it would be practical for Housing staff to use the same online repair form used by members of the public (Report it - Moray Council) as soon as we have an update we will share on the HUB.

Kindest regards
Donna / Emma / Caroline

Update: Just an update to confirm that I have now received permission from HR to fill Beth’s post so will now be working with HR to move to the next stages of the recruitment process.

Kindest regards/

Donna / CS Team Leader

Following a recent successful interview, Beth has handed in her resignation and will be leaving Customer Services on the 5th of July to join the Social Care Team as a Social Care Assistant. Whilst losing a member of the team is always difficult, however, I hope like me, you will all wish Beth well in her new post.

I will be working with Andy/HR to consider the best way forward for filling the post Beth will vacate. As soon as I have an up-date I will ensure this is shared.

Kindest regards
Donna / Customer Service team Leader