Worcestershire authorities appoint Civica

to run shared customer services

Local partnership to sustain and improve services while saving up to
2.6m
CUSTOMER services for three Worcestershire councils will be jointly run by
Civica as part of a new deal which will save up to 2.6million.
Worcestershire County Council, Malvern Hills District Council and
Worcester City Council have signed an 8.5 year agreement with Civica, a
market leader in specialist systems and business process outsourcing, to
manage their customer contact centres, telephone and email services.
These were previously provided by their own staff through the
Worcestershire Hub Shared Service (WHSS).
The Worcestershire Hub deals with about 23,000 direct calls, 4,500
switchboard calls, 5,000 online enquires and 6,000 visits in person each
month for the three councils through two main offices in Worcester and
Malvern, part-time services in Upton and Tenbury and a central call centre.
As a result of the partnership, which began on 1 May, Civica will use its
expertise to increase the use of online services by customers through the
three councils websites and to target those most in need of face-to-face
help. They will also introduce new processes and use IT to achieve savings
and deliver service improvements.
More than 50 staff have been transferred to Civica as part of the
agreement.
Peter Bishop, Strategic Commissioner Service Transformation, at
Worcestershire County Council, said: We have a strong track record
in Worcestershire in delivering improved services while reducing the cost
of providing them. By working with Civica we can ensure a continued and
more efficient service to residents while securing major savings for the
three partner councils.
Ivor Pumfrey, Head of Community Services at Malvern Hills
District Council, said: "WHSS provides a wide range of services to a
large and diverse population. The new partnership will ensure we deliver a
quality service to customers through whichever way they choose to
contact us and provide greater long-term resilience to sustain these key
services.
Helen Frances, Strategy and Transformation Service Manager at
Worcester City Council, said: People and their demands are changing.
The partnership is designed for our specific needs in Worcestershire, and
in particular will improve services for benefits and council tax enquiries
which are the areas of highest demand.
Simon Downing, Civica chief executive, added: There is growing
pressure on all organisations to think and act differently. As a strong and
stable partner for local government with a successful track record, Civica

is helping the three authorities to maintain and improve services through a

combination of specialist expertise, efficiency and innovation.
Civica already delivers revenues and benefits services successfully in
South Worcestershire in a separate shared service partnership with
Wychavon District Council, Worcester City Council and Malvern Hills
District Council. In addition to maintaining high service levels with
significantly reduced costs, the company has created a centre of
excellence in Pershore to provide outsourced and on-demand services for
other organisations which has delivered expertise and resources for 18
councils across the country. The new partnership will also build on this
foundation to deliver economies of scale for the Worcestershire Hub.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
About Civica:
Civica (www.civica.co.uk) is a market leader in specialist systems and business
process services. Through experienced people who understand service delivery,
the Group provides software, IT services and outsourcing to help customers
transform the way they work. Drawing on a unique combination of people,
technology and business process expertise, Civica supplies more than 3,000
organisations in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Canada and the USA.