Established Service Contacts

What is it?

A list of appropriate people with their contact details who can be contacted to raise an enquiry about a specific service area, e.g. StreetScene Officer. Ideally you will have access to Officers who can ensure that any issues you raise are routed to the correct Officers who are able to deal with your enquiries. A good Case management system will help with this. The established Service Contacts may also be the source for providing Service Level information about what is happening in your Ward.

Why bother with it?

Councillors often need to speak to officers to resolve enquiries or research an issue but don't know who the best person to call or email is. They may call an officer who they know will help them regardless of what grade they are/business area they work in which is not the most effective use of a Councillor or Officer's time

Where can I find out more about it?

A good start point is the Democratic Services department in your own Council. It's important that Councillors make Officers aware if they are unable to establish the appropriate contacts or indeed if they feel that are not getting the information they need.

It may not just be that you are not getting all of the information you need, it may be that you get too much and have to spend valuable time filtering it out, or that it is the wrong sort, for example, you are not told of important issues such as performance failure. To fulfil their role effectively within the Ward Councillors need consistent, good quality, information in a format that they can readily and easily access. Councillors can also be expected to be involved in the flow of information to ensure that they are able to assist in what information is fed back to the public and how this is managed.