Powys Council Cabinet Member Faces Questions Over Revenue Services Performance

A WHOLE host of questions are being put to a Powys council cabinet member by a senior opposition councillor on the current performance of revenue services.
Each year during debates around the setting of the Powys County Council’s annual budget from January to March – comments are made by councillors pointing out that residents who are struggling with their finances can received help and advice from revenue services around a number of issues including Council Tax.
But a senior councillor says that people are struggling to get in touch with them which is why he’s asking questions.
Cllr Gwynfor Thomas (Conservative – Llansantffraid) said: “I continue to receive representations from constituents who report lengthy delays in obtaining responses to Council Tax, Business Rates and other revenue service enquiries.
“In some cases, residents have had to make repeated contact before receiving a substantive reply.
“Given the importance of these services and the potential impact on residents’ finances and also the finances of the authority it is important that members understand the current level of performance and what measures are being taken to ensure enquiries are handled in a timely manner.”
He poses a number of questions to Cllr Raiff Devlin (Liberal Democrat – Talybont-on-Usk) the cabinet member in charge customers, digital and community services.
Cllr Thomas asks:  “Can the portfolio holder provide details of the current performance of revenue services in responding to enquiries from residents and elected members, including: the average response time to emails and written correspondence during the last 12 months?
“The number of enquiries currently awaiting a response and the age profile of those outstanding enquiries?
“Any service standards or target response times that revenue services operates against and current performance against those targets?
“The number of complaints received relating to delays in responses over the last 12 months?
“What action is being taken to improve response times where residents and members are experiencing significant delays in receiving replies?
A Powys council spokeswoman for said: “The council aims to provide responses to questions at any time within 10 working days of receipt.
“Based on that timeframe, a response to Cllr Thomas’ question is due by  September 9.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​