Agenda item

Cabinet Member – Councillor Menna Jones

To consider a report on the above.

To accept the report and to note the observations.

The Corporate Director and the Ffordd Gwynedd Adviser were welcomed to the meeting.

The report of the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support was submitted, presenting the conclusions of the Ffordd Gwynedd Working Group Review based on the responses received to a questionnaire which was circulated to the heads in order to:

·         get an overview of how the Ffordd Gwynedd principles have embedded within the departments; and

·         enable the development of a Ffordd Gwynedd plan that would ensure appropriate support for the coming three years. 

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. 

Individual members submitted the following observations:

·         The new Tidying Teams were thanked for their commendable work.

·         It was noted that there was a desire to see Ffordd Gwynedd working, but that the officers' enthusiasm about how things were going at the moment could not be shared. 

·         It was stated that understanding the true needs of the customer was central to the report, but if Ffordd Gwynedd was not concerned with that, it served no purpose.

·         It was suggested that the report was too general, woolly and vague, e.g. there were several references to 'considerable progress', 'room for improvement', etc. but no accompanying definition.  Similarly, there was a reference to, e.g. 'some departments/teams', and it was suggested that the departments that succeeded or underachieved should be named, internally within the Council.  The report also stated that teams were working innovatively, but it would be beneficial to know which teams were doing that, and what the good practice was.

·         Despite accepting that there was a long way to go, it was suggested that Ffordd Gwynedd, as an ideal, was something to aim for, and the vision was congratulated.

·         It was noted that the lack of response from some staff/departments to enquiries from elected members and members of the public was a major problem, and that this needed to be prioritised in the short term, Ffordd Gwynedd or not, naming and shaming those who transgressed.

·         It was emphasised that if Ffordd Gwynedd was to work, everyone needed to buy into the culture, and disappointment was expressed that it had not been possible to bring the workforce on board with this, especially on the Highways side.

·         It was noted that the principles of Ffordd Gwynedd should be shared with external companies that carried out contracts for the Council.

In response to the observations and questions from members, the Corporate Director noted: 

·         That he was very disappointed to hear some of the comments, but fully accepted that the members wanted more details, and was more than happy to share the information.  He also accepted the point about highlighting where efforts needed to be focused.

·         That he and the Chief Executive were working together on a piece of work regarding the lack of prompt response to enquiries from some services, and that steps had already been taken, with the situation now having improved in a number of services where there had been problems in the past.  He asked members to get in touch if they had any examples of a lack of response.  In response to a further comment regarding this matter, the Director noted that he suspected that the evidence suggested that there was a link between a lack of response to enquiries and a lack of commitment to the principles of Ffordd Gwynedd.  In response to a further question regarding the need to monitor the performance of the departments, the Director explained that it was expected that members and the public received acknowledgement of any enquiry within seven days at the latest.  The Director was asked to share that document with the members.

·         In terms of getting everyone to buy into Ffordd Gwynedd, the Director noted that the Council had not seen the development it would have wished to see across the departments.  However, the concept had taken root in some services, with much of that due to the guidance given by heads and managers.  He emphasised that it was necessary to secure the commitment to embed the mindset and the culture, and it was necessary to invest time in the recommended actions in order to identify the false steps that existed within some systems and ensure long-term benefit. 

·         That the concept rooted in the early days of Ffordd Gwynedd regarded any review of the system or service as something that looked at the service in its entirety.  Although there was still room for departmental reviews, however, there had now been a shift towards undertaking an increasing number of less intensive reviews, which addressed individual systems in turn.

·         That the role of the two Ffordd Gwynedd Advisers had been key in introducing the new techniques to managers in terms of reviewing services, focusing on workflow and providing advice on how to deal with obstacles.  As time progressed, and as Ffordd Gwynedd became further embedded, it was expected that all of this would become a natural part of the managers' work.

RESOLVED to accept the report and to note the observations.