inform-residents-newsletter-summer-2017 (3)

04 | Inform Summer 2017 In brief The Council has recently embarked on ‘Project Citizen’. This exciting project combines meeting the needs of our service users, with the need to relocate staff to more suitable office accommodation and progressing the Council’s ambition of expanding the use of information technology to do business. Two premises have been identified for the relocation of staff, namely the former Public Services Centre at 16 High Street, Omagh and County Buildings on East Bridge Street in Enniskillen, both of which will include a ground floor customer service reception and self-service area for the public, with office accommodation on the remaining floors. The Council’s Planning, Building Control and Licensing services are already operating from 16 High Street, Omagh, while the Planning department and Regional Property Certificates service operate from County Buildings in Enniskillen. The accommodation review dovetails neatly with other transformations in service delivery, including the Council’s Customer Service Strategy which seeks to provide high quality service standards and a ‘customer first’ approach, alongside the Council’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) strategy which promotes a ‘Digital Agenda’, with technology being used to enable improved customer experiences through online transactions and channel choice. Refurbishment work is progressing well, with an expected date for being fully operational at the High Street premises in Omagh from 1 September 2017 and the Enniskillen accommodation being fully functioning in early 2018. Further details on services to be delivered from these two new locations will be published in the local press and on the Council’s website and social media platforms nearer the time. Performance Improvement By the end of June each year, the Council is required to publish Improvement Objectives setting out what it will do in the year ahead to demonstrate continuous improvement. The Improvement Objectives 2017/18 and associated actions have been agreed following an 8-week public consultation earlier this year. The 2017/18 agreed Improvement Objectives are: Improvement Objective 1: We will seek to contribute positively to environmental wellbeing. Improvement Objective 2: We will seek to improve local services for people and communities through a more efficient and innovative approach to service delivery. Improvement Objective 3: We will seek to further develop and grow our local economy. The Council will publish an Improvement Report by 30 September 2017, setting out its performance against its Improvement Objectives and the statutory performance indicators which have been set. Further information on the three objectives and associated actions is available from our website. Alternatively, telephone 0300 303 1777 . Project Citizen – bringing services closer to You Your Rates Rates are a levy on your property. The rates income collected by Land and Property Services (LPS) from domestic and business properties provides funding for services at a local level i.e. Fermanagh and Omagh District Council area (the District Rate set by the Council) and at a regional (Northern Ireland) level set by Central Government. Regional rates (Central Government) help fund services such as water, sewerage, roads, education and housing. The Regional Rate for Northern Ireland was set on 27 April 2017, representing an increase of 1.6% on the previous year’s Regional Rate. The Council receives a number of grants which reduce the burden on the ratepayer, resulting in an amount of £31,268,725 to be raised via District Rates in 2017-18, which represents an increase of 2.95% on the previous year’s District Rate. A significant amount of the increase (£858k) is the additional costs associated with: • Waste collection which has been impacted by a new legislative requirement requiring separate collection arrangements for food waste; and • Employment costs arising from a 1% cost of living increase, introduction of the Living Wage Foundation minimum wage of £8.45 per hour and the apprenticeship levy of 0.5% which applies for the first time in 2017- 18. The overall impact on the non- domestic ratepayer is an increase of 2.13% and 2.21% on the domestic ratepayer. The Executive set aside up to £30 million to phase in the impact of rate convergence over a four year period ending in 2018- 2019. Discount this year is 40% and Fermanagh ratepayers will avail of this relief which will be applied as a discount to the rates bills in 2017-18. County Buildings, Enniskillen High Street, Omagh