Major overhaul of regulatory arm of council underway
"This is the most important programme of quality improvement that has been
undertaken by council for many years. It is vital that Auckland City Council
upgrades our customer experience in the regulatory area and makes available top
quality systems. It is a major area of interface with business." CEO, David
Rankin.
Successfully balancing the twin demands of 'community guardianship' and 'customer service' is at the core of a thorough revamp of
Auckland City Council's regulatory system.
"Auckland City Council recognises that there have been
significant issues for businesses interfacing with our regulatory teams," says
group manager Jenny Oxley. "People have told us they need consistency and
certainty. They've told us they want to know what they have to do to meet
consent requirements and how long will it take. We've set out with a
comprehensive programme to deliver, over time, to these needs."
Every aspect of Auckland City Council's core regulatory
processes is being reviewed and improved as part of the five year programme.
The overhaul of regulatory procedures, guidelines, computerisation and customer
service reflects the council's drive to enhance its customer services, while
ensuring that quality standards are achieved on the ground. For the 300,000
plus regulatory contacts customers have each year with Auckland City Council,
these changes will become more and more evident as improvements come on stream.
Areas of focus are:
- Regulatory IT
systems. Auckland City Council's computerisation of regulatory consenting,
licensing and monitoring. "We bringing in new IT systems to help us do
a good job. This includes a specialist local government property system, improved electronic
document management, and a new customer relationship management system to
support both property and customer-related transactions. A pilot has been
undertaken, and a major systems implementation is expected in late 2008, after
months of involvement from IT experts and Deloitte overseeing.
- A pre-lodgement
programme for complex consents. The option to pre-lodge resource and
building consents began in July 2008. Through this process, Auckland City
Council is "putting the right people in the room, ensuring requirements are
clear and issues are identified up front", says Jenny. "If there's information
missing in an application, or an opportunity to streamline the approach, this
will be identified early on." Case managers are put in charge of a single,
complex consent. They are accountable for managing and tracking the consent,
ensuring applications are not unduly held up, and for communicating clearly with
customers along the way . Staff are also being given more clarity on decision
making, allowing applications to maintain their momentum and not 'go on hold'. "We want staff to take action to get a resolution," she says,
"So we're giving them the tools to do so." The council has also introduced an
account management service for frequent customers, to support them in managing
the regulatory requirements of their development portfolios.
- Guidelines and
decision-making criteria clarified. Where relevant, guidelines and practice
notes that the council uses to assess applications against regulations are being
published on the web. "Our intent is to be as clear as possible in
communicating the criteria council staff work to in making their decisions ,"
says Jenny. "The practice notes are guidelines to aid consistent interpretation
of different rules, such as the Building Code or fire regulations. Once on the
web, they will ensure that applicants and the council are working to the same
rules. Our decision-making will be transparent."
- Accessible customer
information. Auckland City Council is already making available more
information to applicants on its website. For example: Building
and developing in Auckland city makes
available a wide range of regulatory and property-related information, advice
and forms. Customers will be given improved access to property files, which
they can now order on CD. Accredited consultants whose work the council
approves and accepts, are also listed on the website - with more to come.
- Staff training and
a customer service excellence programme. The concurrent, and most demanding
leg of the overhaul is a staff training and customer service excellence
programme encouraging staff members in the regulatory area to 'put the customer
first'. "Our staff are proud of what they do, but they have high volumes of
work. We need to ensure that they can have pride not only in their technical
competence, but also in the customer experience they provide," says Jenny.
- Regulatory Advisory Board. A Regulatory Advisory Board has been
established comprising experts from the sector to provide customer feedback or
advice to council.
Ms Oxley says we will start to see the results of the changes from December.
"Businesses will begin feeling the results because their interaction with
council, their understanding of compliance requirements and consenting and
inspections processes will be easier."
Published October 2008
