Agenda item

Annette Reeves – Finance Manager, Control Accounting, and Paul Richards –Head of Green Spaces, Sport & Culture, provided evidence as part of the Committee’s review into payment modernisation across key resident services, focussing on the ways that residents and customers currently pay for services within Hillingdon.

Alongside the report set out in the committee papers, Ms Reeves tabled additional documents which included an updated Appendix A, which set out payment details for the libraries within Hillingdon, as well as the Battle of Britain Bunker. In addition, the tabled document included details of emerging technologies such as a Capita Smart Mobile app and Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) service, alongside a case study of Enfield Council’s use of a Public Service Virtual Agent. It was pointed out that Enfield were not yet able to use the virtual agent to take payments.

It was highlighted that the Council was currently using an income management system provided by Capita, which processed all income. The contract with Capita was due to expire in April 2020. At that point, officers would review potential alternate providers. However, it was highlighted that the current maintenance cost of £16k per annum under the existing contract was small in comparison to the more costly initial set up. There would therefore likely be a significant cost and time implication to the introducing a new provider.

Mr Richards updated the Committee on how areas under his remit took payments.

It was confirmed that sites such as the adult learning centres or Breakspear Crematorium had a computer based point of sale system that was linked to the Capita income management system.  In addition, sites such as golf courses allowed for payments to be made through electronic tills with pre-programmed buttons, alongside card payments via chip and pin.

Golf courses did not provide residents with the ability to pay by cheque, and cash was often preferred, particularly for pay and play green fees. In addition to the playing fees, the three Council-run courses had small shops on site, which sold golf equipment, as well as snacks and drinks.

At the Council’s garden centres, cash was the most popular payment method, though paying through card readers was available.

The Crematorium functioned as a hub for payments from cemeteries, and for burial and grave monuments, and allowed for payment by cheque from funeral directors and the public at large. 

Library payments were currently cash only. Payments included library fines, refreshments, stationary, reading glasses, and room hire. New electronic point of sale technology, previously trialled within the Registrars department, was to be introduced to libraries. The new system would be able to sync with the existing library management system, and talks were ongoing with the relevant IT departments on how to progress the matter.

IT colleagues were also reviewing the feasibility of introducing payments via PayPal, though officers were mindful that a cash option should be retained.

The Committee asked a number of questions, including:

Were cash payments the most expensive payment option for the Council to process?

Broadly, cash payments were most time intensive and therefore expensive for officers to process. This included the time taken to collect cash form the various sites. Card payments were comparatively quicker and cheaper to process, though it was recognised that some card providers charged more premium processing charges.

Regarding the Enfield case study, how long did it take to achieve good results?

The exact timeframe was unknown, but from the pilot to correctly determining 98% of resident user requests was approximately 1 year.

Were there any systems or changes processes that officers recommended be considering in the future?

A single payment service provider such as Capita, that covered the processing of all income, was felt to be easier for both residents and Council staff. However Capita could not provide every solution Systems such as Pay.Net were felt to be cumbersome and therefore not recommended. Electronic Point of Sale systems were now available and were felt to be very good. Suggestions by central government for payment modernisation were felt to be too late, and still required agreement with payment providers.

It was agreed that Cllr Mathers would submit a Member Enquiry requesting detail of the implementation cost of purchasing the CAPITA modules in 2010, as referenced on page 21 of the committee agenda.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.