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IRRV East Midlands Association

IRRV East Midlands Association. Kevin Stewart Revenues Manager – Watford and Three Rivers Shared Services 9 January 2012. Watford and Three Rivers Shared Services. Setting the scene Both in Hertfordshire 2 very diverse Councils Watford has an elected mayor

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IRRV East Midlands Association

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  1. IRRV East Midlands Association Kevin Stewart Revenues Manager – Watford and Three Rivers Shared Services 9 January 2012

  2. Watford and Three Rivers Shared Services • Setting the scene • Both in Hertfordshire • 2 very diverse Councils • Watford has an elected mayor • Three Rivers has a Committee System • Same number of Council Tax properties (about 36k) BUT • More higher banded in Three Rivers • Difference in businesses eg Harlequin

  3. The project • Three Councils originally involved • Dacorum pulled out • Savings - £1.6m • HR issues – eg leave, car parking • Where staff based • Harmonisation of staff

  4. Revenues Shared Services • Based at Watford Town Hall • Went live in April 2010 • Watford converted to Academy from Civica in January 2010 • No recovery took place until July 2010 • Big culture change • Staff harmonisation and goodwill excellent

  5. What I found • Arrived in January 2010 • 2 Councils – very different systems • Little harmonisation • But fully respecting independence of both Councils • Willing staff – mainly established but within their own Councils • Different procedures • Suffering performance and collection rates

  6. The task • Show direction with such a big challenge • Roll up the sleeves and lead from the front • Enthuse • Introduce consistency • Publicise performance – good or bad • Benchmark

  7. What we did • Working on harmonising processes and procedures • One joint write off policy agreed • Set Recovery timetable • Harmonising wherever possible use of Academy and network • Standardising use of letters - PARIS • Communicating – with all staff including outside of shared services

  8. It’s a long haul • Big challenge BUT • Staff still on board • Regular overtime – documents outstanding are reducing • Write offs done for first time in three years • Making best use of resources for reviews – eg Datatank countywide provider for SPD review • Giving individual staff tasks compatable with their skills

  9. Results to date • Improving collection rates (as at 31 Dec 2011): • Council Tax • Three Rivers 88.1% (last year for December 2010 - 87.7%) • Watford - 82.1% (last year for December 2010 - 80.4%) • NDR • Three Rivers 89.2% (last year for December 2010 - 87.3%) • Watford - 86.2% (last year for December 2010 - 87.2%) but £1.5m received already in Jan 2012

  10. But its just not about.... • Collection rates • We continue to monitor other performance • Amount of documents to process • Number of payers paying by DD • Bringing consistency to monitoring • Benchmarking • Chair of a new benchmarking club for Revenues

  11. The future • With the correct drive and support it can be done • Must build on improvements to date • Recognition for staff and service • Ensure staff are on board – train and retrain • Keep communicating • We need to think outside the box – we cannot in the current financial climate deliver services as we have done

  12. Potential barriers • Legislative changes • Benefits • Universal Credit • Localised Benefits • Finance will get worse first • Other factors

  13. Thanks for listening • I do not have all the answers but any questions • Tel: 01923 278134 • Email: kevin.stewart@watford.gov.uk or kevin.stewart@threerivers.gov.uk

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