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Email14.26 End of public Dragons Den - there are other times when Dragons den events happen, but less public.
14:23 Dragons Back... they say yes! Smiling faces and applause. Dragons liked the way the idea wanted to support people using the service and reducing costs. Proviso - check compatibility with existing kit.
14:18 Dragons go off to count their pennies. Will they say yes to £660 pounds worth of tech to speed up mediation meetings.
14.14 Dragons questions. Are people - complainants want things recorded to be able to hold the council to account.
14.06 Customer Relations Team or Children's Specialist Services. We deal with the process of complaints, comments and compliments for social work teams.
We manage meetings to bring together all the people involved in the complaint to give them a chance to resolve things. These informal mediation meetings can resolve a complaint, saving the council money. Without them a paid investigator will be brought in, costing between £1000 and £5000 per complaint.
Our admin team is stretched thin, we can't recruit more, we come in earlier to get admin out of the way, leaving room for more mediation meetings.
We need £660 to buy an electronic recording system which generates and electronic file which we can send to complainants. Also purchase and digital pen to transcribe everything directly to a digital file.
All ou staff want to do is improve the service they can give. It also give complainants the confidence that everything they say is recorded.
So far this year we have saved £150,000.00 for the council.
14.03 The Dragons are back - delighted to support the team to improve such an important service, liking the mix of worthy and the fun. So a full £1000. Will also put you in contact with library services - centre for children - which may be able to help get more for the money.
13.56 Dragons head of to chew this over, Anna Hobday on the Institute of Customer service awards. Different people who work directly with customers can coach each other in doing this well.
13:52 Dragons come back: What about fun things - not just worthy things. Are these books you can get in the library - no specialist books. How man people come through the service: 20 or more clients per day.
13:45 Pitch from the Looked after Children mental health services or LAC CAMHS South team.
Presenting Shakuntla Sian and Kate Hopkins. They want to cheer up their reception area - something which can't be funded because it is directly related to care. They also want to make a library available so that young people and carers can take away self help books. This will support the face to face therapy.
They have done a survey of children and young people who want to find fresh images and magazines and books int he waiting room. They however decided that play stations would probably get in the way of encouraging people into their appointments.
We think these improvements will show respect to some of the most vulnerable people in the city.
13:43 Lucy Kenny on the Dragons' Den. The purpose of the Dragons' Den allows team to find some extra funding for change which can't be funded locally. Teams make a business case live in front of the audience. Dragons this time: Andy Albon, Nikki Thomas-Taper, Bella Jones, Richard Billingham.
13:37 Raffaela Goodby - it's the relationships we forge that are the lifeblood of Birmingham City Council - meet a stranger, they may be able to help you improve what you do.
Please do the staff survey - it's your chance to say how things are going, deadline is October 9th.
13:31 Sammy Williams tells us that the toilets are outside on the grass - laughter. Andy Albon - who is head the Human Resources Director for Birmingham City Council welcomes the people who've joined the BEST Leaders Autumn event for the afternoon (people only spend either the morning or afternoon here).
Andy acknowledges that being a BEST leader can be difficult and challenging. The programme will evolve and develop - os ideas for what next welcome.
The afternoon Dragons den and other events will start in a little while, in the meantime people are talking to each other, swapping ideas, learning from progress made by others.
If you want to know what BEST is then please watch this video:
Check back here for live updates from our guest blogger: Nick Booth.
You can also follow our twitter feed @birminghambest
10.57 Dragons back: We will support a pilot project to buy two pens for the Intake and assessment unit.
10:52 Sinead and Marie - Programme Officers of the BEST team talk about local workshops/forums for best leaders, to make it quicker and easier for Best leaders to connect with each other. Starting on December 9th 2009.
10.51 Dragons head off to think it through.
10.49 Dragons a little sceptical about the technology, reassured that mid-ranged technology is working well. Still a wary response. How is security accounted for, should the pen be lost with confidential information about young people: "Encryption included and we would be using them inside the homes where the children live"
10.43 What are the costs including maintenance: "typically about £130.00 each and expected to run 18 months to 2 years". Any other departments using them? Can it help speed up uploading content to online forms etc. "Works like voice recognition but for handwriting". How many hours can you save: "We could save about 40% of our time." What's the benefit of using pen rather than a laptop - "With a laptop with a young person it takes away eye contact - the pen makes it less formal" Social workers already using them with house visits.
10.32 Intake and Assessment Unit which supports young people would like 7 digipens to make sure that the notes they make about the young people can be clearly read by the young people. Also a rap from the young people they work with.
10.30 Dragons happy to offer the full £1000 as long as - work done by end of financial year, perhaps some volunteers to help and pictures as it goes a long. You may also be able to get help from other parts of the city.
10.26 Anna Hogday from Customer First offering the chance for people to coach each other within the council on the institute for Customer Service
10.25 Dragons go off to consider the pitch from YOT.
10.06 - Dragons Den: First into the Den pitching for a £1000 is The West Youth Offending Team: (No it's not X Factor)
In our area of the council we have a winning mentality. We really do give 100 per cent. Our team is friendly and approachable. More than 40 members of the team.
We have no communal dining area for the team, the staff are raring to go to decorate the outside area and clean up the building.
This investment would mean
Better Communication, Environmentally friendly, Team cohesion, no more Tired eyes gone (gets us away from our computers for a while, Extra referrals through informal chat, Raise self esteem.
09:57 Raffaela Goodby talks to the BEST leaders: BEST Awards from Municipal Journal and CIPD - the key to this is how everyone in the room has put in hard work to improve services.
Local Government Challenge coming up - there's the opportunity to run a council for the day. Strong development opportunity for your team.
We have seen the scores for trust among staff in the city council rise over the last three years.
St Basil's St Basil's and Age Concern are two charities we are supporting today.
You said the chance to connect with people really helps your work.
09:50 Sammy Williams does a little bit of house keeping. Opening thoughts from Councillor Alan Rudge:
Take advantage of you opportunity to connect with other people working in the council. Don't lose the human touch, we have lost it in too many things. Are we not here to create something which makes the public's life better? Today is a chance for you to give use your views of BEST - what works what doesn't work. Help us move it forward. You, the staff are in control of it now.
Tell people what works or doesn't work for you in the BEST programme This is an opportunity to connect with other people doing different jobs for the council across the city. Thank
09:25: The Marquee filling up in anticipation of the first session of Dragons den - two teams pitching ideas for investment, all under the shadow of the wonderful recently restored Aston Hall.
