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Annual Report and Accounts 2000-2001 |
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To improve the Agency's business processes
and operations in order to:
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The Agency has in place well-established consultative arrangements to enable it to involve industry, business associations and individual customers in its planning process. These mechanisms range from policy committees on different aspects of radio and local customer panels to one-to-one dialogue between customers and RA field staff. Our customers' views provide important contributions as we develop spectrum strategy, plan licence fee changes, and formulate national and international policy.
Local Customer Panels have been established for all eight local licensing centres and have continued to meet during the year. The Panels have been extremely valuable as a forum for discussing Agency policies and also for obtaining customers' views on local issues. The local offices have now set aside resources in their work programmes to respond to specific needs identified by the Panels.
The Agency continues to strive to expand and improve on delivery of local services. Building on the success of local frequency assignment, the Agency's eight local licensing centres have now taken on responsibility for Private Business Systems data and trunked systems, and Common Base Station trunking.
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90-91-92-93-94-95-96-97-98-99-00 |
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1995 Removal to South Quay
Sadly, we had only four months to enjoy the new building before it was badly damaged by terrorist action in February 1996. However, our facilities management staff swung into action and used all their recently-acquired logistical skills to re-house Agency staff in temporary accommodation so that essential work could resume quickly with as little disruption to our customers as possible. We have now been back in South Quay Three, renamed Wyndham House, since August 1999, and the current view from our office can be seen on the back cover of this Report. |
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TEN YEARS OF THE RA |
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E-business |
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The Agency is committed to achieving the Government's target of enabling customers to conduct their business with the Agency electronically by 2005. We are undertaking a critical review of the Agency's processes, including the handling of customer information, to improve our systems' ability to handle e-commerce activities. The RULES licensing system, operating through the website and firewall, is sufficiently robust to form the backbone of our e-commerce licensing operations, and a recent electronic licensing pilot project has provided us with valuable lessons for conducting our business electronically. The Agency is currently appointing an e-business strategy manager.
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Since April 2000 there has been a continual series of changes to the RULES licensing system to improve its functionality. The nature of the work has changed from addressing issues associated with the implementation in 1999 to adding new features requested by users. The primary aim is for RULES to be the single unified licensing system for the Agency. Realisation of this aim came closer with the integration of the satellite licensing database into RULES, in addition to the test and development, conformity assessment and aeronautical licences which had already been incorporated.
A review of the licence renewal process has been conducted and changes will be implemented in 2001/02 to improve licence renewal documentation, making it clearer to the customer what fees are being requested.
Amateur, CB and Ship Radio licences are issued on behalf of the Agency by an external contractor, the Radio Licensing Centre (RLC) at Bristol. By the end of 2001, we hope to have outsourced aeronautical licensing to the Civil Aviation Authority, thereby providing a quicker and more efficient service to our customers.
The Agency's licensing contractors have agreed performance targets for the issue of new licences, licence renewals and amendments, as follows:
| Applications
for new licences that do not require coordination to be processed within
5 working days
Renewals to be processed within 5 working days Amendments to be processed within 5 working days 100% of correspondence enquiries to be acknowledged within 48 hours Messages left on the answerphone to be dealt with within 24 hours Requests for application forms/information sheets to be actioned within one working day 90% of telephone calls to be answered within 15 seconds and the remainder within 30 seconds. |
The quality of service targets for Coastal Station radio licences (provided that suitable frequencies are available) are:
| 90% of new
applications and amendments to be processed and dispatched within 15 working
days
100% of renewals to be processed and dispatched within 10 working days |
All of these targets were met during 2000-2001.
In an effort to encourage more people to take up amateur radio, the Agency is developing a new amateur radio licence category, the Foundation Licence. The potential licensee will have to pass an examination which tests very basic radio skills. The licence will allow access to the HF frequencies and will encourage people to develop their skills at their own pace before progressing to full Amateur Radio licensee status.
The RA website continued to develop as our primary channel of communication with our customers.
In addition to the daily updating of the site, password-controlled areas were added for committee members to see minutes and working documents, and a revised area on research and a new area on international policy were added. We have also started publishing nearly all our job vacancies, as well as invitations to tender for contracts, on the website.
Hits to the website peaked in February at over 58,000 a week and averaged 35,600 a week throughout the year, an increase of 44% over the previous year.
The trend away from paper and towards electronic provision of information was confirmed again; the number of hard copy publications sent out by the Agency's document distribution service for the year was 131,662, which represented an 18% reduction from the previous year and 50% less than in 1997/98.
During the year a major revision of the RA website was developed to make it easier to use and more logical in its structure. The changes were agreed with representatives from business units within the Agency and incorporated the desire expressed in the IS Strategy for the RA website to become a portal for all aspects of spectrum management. The new site was developed with three principles in mind:
This final point is in line with the principle of the UKOnline government web portal - that a citizen should be able to find the information he needs easily without needing to know what department publishes it.
The re-launch of the website in March 2001 has attracted appreciation from users, and the site will continue to develop in line with customers' requirements and changing business priorities. We welcome links to the site and requests for links to other sites.
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| (please click on picture to view larger version) |
The Agency is committed to meeting its customers in person whenever possible to answer questions and address concerns. The Agency had a presence at 20 events during the year, including stands at the London and Southampton boat shows, amateur radio rallies and the Sound Broadcasting Show.
In addition the Agency continued its annual series of roadshows in autumn 2000, putting on ten events around the country. These events include presentations by the Chief Executive and Directors, and are aimed at giving customers the chance to hear about the Agency's current and planned work. Customers have the opportunity to ask questions and to talk informally with the presenters and the Agency's local staff. The roadshows will be held again in 2001 - for details and registration see the website at www.radio.gov.uk
During 2000/01 the Agency embarked on a project piloting the use of the Excellence Model total quality scheme. This initiative aims to respond to the challenge set by the Civil Service Reform and Modernising Government agendas to improve business performance through the use of such schemes.
The Excellence Model has provided us with a diagnostic framework for continuous improvement that helps the organisation to measure performance, identify strengths and areas for improvement. Three of our business units have begun the study; Technology Sectors Unit is looking at ways to encourage innovation in the design of radio-based products, and our local offices in Leeds and Haydock are looking at improvements in business processes leading to increased customer satisfaction.
This project will continue throughout the financial year 2001/02 and we will use our findings to seek benchmarking opportunities with other organisations.
The Spectrum Quality Management project, which started in July 2000, is due for completion by April 2002. This is a key operational system that will enable the Agency to provide a better interference and enforcement service to its customers. The system will enable staff to gain better access to essential Agency data and will introduce controlled business processes that will make it easier to track the progress of all interference investigations and enforcement work.
SMAG is chaired by Dr. John Forrest and its purpose is to provide independent strategic advice on spectrum management policy issues to the responsible DTI Minister and the Radio- communications Agency. This year, SMAG has continued to examine a number of key spectrum issues and to consult widely with users. Major issues explored and discussed have been: congestion in the 2.4GHz ISM band, future planning of 5GHz, implications of digital switch-over, the 28GHz auction and the development of Home Area Networks. SMAG has continued to maintain its relationship with the European Commission and its interest in preparations for the next World Radio Conference in 2003. More information on SMAG's work can be found on its website at: www.smag.radio.gov.uk
Quality of Service Targets are reviewed annually to take into account performance achieved and customers' views.
Ministers have approved quality of service targets for 2001/02 as follows:
| LICENSING TARGETS | ||
| CATEGORY A | CATEGORY B | CATEGORY C |
| Licences that involve no frequency assignment, site clearance or international coordination: | Licences that involve frequency assignment but no site clearance or international coordination: | Licences that require frequency assignment and site clearance and/or international coordination: |
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| 100% of licence applications for new or varied services to be awarded or rejected (with explanation) within five working days. | 90% of licence applications for new or varied services to be awarded or rejected (with explanation) within 15 working days; and the remainder to be awarded or rejected within 25 working days or an explanation of the delay to be given. | 90% of licence applications for new or varied services to be awarded or rejected (with explanation) within 40 working days; and the remainder to be awarded or rejected within 60 working days or an explanation of the delay to be given. |
Revisions to 2000/01 targetsThe Agency is maintaining its existing range of quality of service targets for 2001/02, and is adding a new interference target designed to provide information to customers on the resolution of interference problems. |
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TARGETS |
ACHIEVEMENTS |
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Volume of cases |
2000/01 |
1999/00 |
1998/99 |
1997/98 |
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| LICENCE CATEGORY A 1 | ||||||
| Applications & amendments |
100% in 5 days |
29,406 |
99% |
99% |
100% |
100% |
| LICENCE CATEGORY B | ||||||
| Applications & amendments |
>= 90% in 15 days |
26,110 |
100% |
98% |
99% |
97% |
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remainder in 25 days |
0% |
1% |
1% |
1% |
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| LICENCE CATEGORY C 2 | ||||||
| Applications & amendments |
>= 90% in 40 days |
4,741 |
78% |
34% |
91% |
86% |
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remainder in 60 days |
22% |
65% |
7% |
14% |
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| LICENCE RENEWALS (Cat D) | ||||||
| Category A |
100% in 5 days |
target discontinued |
100% |
100% |
100% |
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| Categories B & C |
100% in 10 days |
90% |
94% |
98% |
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| ENFORCEMENT | ||||||
| Safety of life |
100% in 24 hours |
360 |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
| Business services |
98% in 5 days |
1,167 |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
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remainder in 10 days (for 2000/01) |
0% |
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| Domestic TV & radio |
98% in 1 month |
3,288 |
100% |
100% |
100% |
100% |
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remainder in 2 months (from 1998/99) |
0% |
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| CHIEF EXECUTIVES CORRESPONDENCE3 | ||||||
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100% in 10 days |
15 |
87% |
92% |
100% |
89% |
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| ENQUIRIES | ||||||
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95% in 30 seconds |
56,349 |
96% |
96% |
95% |
92% |
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in 30 seconds |
97% |
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| PROMPT PAYMENT | ||||||
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100% in 30 days |
10,911 |
100% |
100% |
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97.5% in 30 days |
99% |
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remainder in 60 days |
1% |
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95% in 30 days |
96% |
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| 1. | A small dip in performance, primarily in radio paging, in the first half of 2000/01. |
| 2. | The licensing of non-58 GHz fixed links was affected by problems with the FiLSM system. Improvements have been made and the assignment backlog has been cleared. |
| 3. | The Chief Executive's target is to respond within ten working days to all letters from Members of Parliament delegated to him by Ministers for reply and to all complaints addressed to him about the Agency's services. |
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STANDARD |
PERFORMANCE |
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To respond to all letters, except for formal complaints, within 15 working days. |
The standard was met in 99% of cases. |
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To see callers within ten minutes of their appointment time. |
Met in 100% of cases. |
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To provide information and a telephone enquiry point |
The Agency makes all its information (annual reports, information sheets, consultative documents, technical specifications) available free of charge on request. They are also accessible on its website. The Agency has a published telephone number and address for enquiries. The enquiry point is manned during office hours and there is a 24-hour automatic call handling system. During the year Enquiry Officers dealt with 56,349 enquiries (6.3% down on last year) and succeeded in meeting their target of answering 95% of all calls within 30 seconds of the caller electing to speak to an operator. |
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To consult users and report on findings |
RA consults widely on policy issues as the need arises, including on spectrum strategy and licence fees. It hosts various committees with Agency staff, consultants and industry representatives, to maintain an ongoing dialogue. Publications are available free of charge both in hard copy and on the Agency website, and services are available through our network of local offices. RA also holds public roadshows each year, at which the Chief Executive and Directors are available for discussion and questioning by our customers, both private and commercial. Local customer panels also act as a two-way flow of communication between the Agency at local level and its customers. |
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To have a formal complaints procedure |
The Agency has a formal complaints procedure, details of which are published in hard copy and on its web site. If Agency staff cannot resolve the issue, the complaint can be referred upwards to the Chief Executive and the Agency Steering Board. |
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To make services accessible |
In addition to making publications available in hard copy and electronically, the Agency makes its services accessible through its network of local offices. It also provides access for people with impaired hearing through the DTI's text telephone service. |
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Planning for RA's move from Waterloo to London
Docklands began in 1993 and culminated in a smoothly successful move over
the weekend beginning Friday 13th October 1995, to our new home, the top
six floors of South Quay Three. The removal was a pathfinder Private Finance
Initiative project, with the landlord procuring all the fitting-out work
on RA's behalf. Property Holdings, part of DETR, negotiated the lease,
which represented excellent value for money with the rent agreed for a
15-year period. 
