Council looks to provide more services online

Members of the City Council's Executive are being asked to back a move towards providing more services electronically.

"More and more people are now accessing their services electronically, via the website and through social media," said Cllr Rob Hannaford, Lead Councillor for Housing and Customer Access.

"Whilst there will always be the need to provide face to face support for some issues, we feel that people would find it more convenient to do things for themselves online at a time that is convenient to them,” he added.

A survey by the Society of Information Technology Management revealed that an average face-to-face enquiry costs £7.40 to deal with compared to 32 pence on the website.

Over recent years there has been a noticeable shift from face-to-face interactions to website, emails, text messages and social media.

A report going before the City Council's Executive on 9 December recommends investing money to upgrade its electronic service delivery and introduce an online Customer Portal where services can be accessed and staff can support customers by telephone if they run into difficulties. Doing so would save the Council around £1m over a six year period.

The City Council is also looking at a digital solution for answering telephone calls. Help would also be available - as it currently is - for people accessing the Council’s services through the computers in the Customer Service Centre.

"This is about improving the services that we offer our customers and at the same time reducing costs," said Cllr Hannaford.

"People will still be able to come into the Civic Centre and talk to us face to face but we have to face the fact that times have changed and a significant number of people are now happy to interact with the Council electronically."

Moving to a Channel Shift approach would have a positive impact on the environment - in terms of a reduction in travel to access City Council services, allow people to access services around the clock and not just during office hours, as well as offering opportunities to those using smart phones or tablets.

The Council is also looking into how it can working jointly with other Councils in implementing Channel Shift, building on the shared ICT Company recently set up.