Published: Thursday 23 November 2023
Updated: Thursday 23 November 2023
Residents who have given their time over the past year to co-design a new set of Council Service Standards were celebrated at an event in North Kensington earlier this week.
Who was involved?
Seven residents have been working closely with the Council to create the standards which will improve the service residents receive when they contact us. They were invited to a thank you event where they met with Kensington and Chelsea Council Chief Executive, Maxine Holdsworth, Lead Member for Customer Delivery, Cllr Johnny Thalassites, and Lead Member for Communities and Community Safety, Cllr Sarah Addenbrooke, who recognised their input, time and dedication.
Kensington and Chelsea Council is the first Council to co-design organisation-wide Service Standards with its residents which supports our ongoing commitment to becoming a caring and competent Council.
How long has the process taken?
The group has been meeting since summer 2022 and collectively drafted the standards before they were consulted on earlier this year with staff and wider residents.
What are the standards?
The standards are being rolled out across the Council through several face-to-face sessions with different teams. Leaders from across the organisation have also made commitments about how the Service Standards will be embedded, and progress will be monitored.
The Service Standards are segmented into three parts:
- How residents want to feel when they contact the Council
- What the Council needs to do to achieve that
- What staff and services need to do.
They look at ensuring staff listen and deal empathetically with residents’ enquiries, proactively update residents with progress on their enquiry every step of the way and take responsibility.
Views of those involved
Michael Ashe, Chief Executive of Volunteer Centre Kensington and Chelsea, who has helped guide the co-design process said: “I feel hopeful that these service standards will be implemented. We've done a lot of good work and we've overcome some obstacles together. We feel positive about the way the Council received them and the way they've gone up the chain but we are only at the end of the first half of this piece of work.
“Now comes the difficult bit of seeing these Service Standards implemented, seeing if Council staff do accept the responsibility and things do improve. It's now in the hands of the Council. I think they've got the tools and I think they've got the determination to make the change but we will see.”
Demir Timuray, 21, a co-design panel member, said: “I think we should all feel proud. This is our product. We have come together in the space of a year to criticise the Council on what needs to be addressed, what we feel are the gaps are in the system and what can be developed to tailor the system to what residents need.
The fact that these are our words shows that the Council has listened to us. In terms of accountability, the most tangible thing we can do as residents, is follow up what the Council is doing, highlight when we still experience a problem and see if any changes are being made.”
Cllr Johnny Thalassites, Lead Member for Customer Delivery said: “I am so grateful for the time this group of residents have given, the energy they have shown and for their honesty about their personal experiences with the Council which have helped to shape the new standards.
“Residents have done the hard work and now it is over to us to make sure every single person who works at the Council lives and breathes the standards. They are a major part of our culture change and I am committed to bringing them to life and to measuring how we are delivering against them.
“This really is a groundbreaking piece of work, the first of its kind in the country we believe, so thank you once again for leading the way and for working with us on our journey to becoming the best Council for you.”