6:00pm to 6:30pm
Verbal update and presentation
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member for Economic Growth and the Assistant Director – Customers, Commissioning and Change attended to provide a progress update on the development of a Digital Strategy and the review of the PPP contract.
Digital Strategy
The Assistant Director informed Members that the Digital Strategy had 3 aims:
· to enable Chesterfield to be a digital borough by providing council services digitally;
· to increase digital skills in Chesterfield;
· to reduce digital exclusion in Chesterfield.
Outline business cases were being developed for a number of projects that would enable the delivery of the 3 aims however the review of the PPP contract needed to be completed in order to understand the cost implications of delivering the Digital Strategy. The strategy had not yet been received by Cabinet therefore the proposals within the strategy were still subject to further investigations and formal approval.
The Cabinet Member advised that part of the strategy would see the CSC transformed into a “one-stop shop” where each member of staff could deal with all enquiries. This would be supported by an improved IT system that enabled all information to be in one place and easily accessible. Further improvements to Council IT systems were also discussed including a Webchat pop-up on the website so customers could speak to someone directly.
To address digital exclusion, particularly following the introduction of UC where all applications must be completed online, staff in the CSC had been trained up to provide digital support to customers to enable them to use computers and a computer had been made available for use by the public in the CSC. In addition, staff within Arvato were undertaking digital apprenticeships to enhance their knowledge and provide better services to customers. It was hoped that the roll out of UC would be a catalyst to getting more customers familiar with transacting online.
The Council website had been reviewed and moved from a 1-2 star rating to a 4 star rating. However there were still areas on the website that needed improvements and the website satisfaction surveys highlighted that 24% of users were unhappy with their online experience.
Timescales for implementing the Digital Strategy were being worked out and it was anticipated that it would be delivered in parts depending on the investment needed. The Assistant Director and Cabinet Member advised that they would report back to scrutiny when they had a clearer forecast of the costings associated with delivering the strategy.
Members welcomed the suggestion of creating a “one-stop” shop with all services to customers being available under one roof. The Chair also noted that the Customer, Community and Organisational Scrutiny Committee received an update in November on the council’s preparations for the introduction of Universal Credit which contained information that would be useful to all Members.
Members asked whether there would be changes to the resourcing of customer services and the Assistant Director replied that the demand for customer advisors would reduce enabling them to focus on the most vulnerable customers and spend more time with them. Members also raised concerns about their experiences at other authorities where generic customer service posts had not worked largely due to an inadequate structure being in place. The Assistant Director advised that generic posts relied on a core infrastructure including a joined up IT system which would be included in the strategy.
PPP Contractual Review
The Assistant Director provided a summary of the progress on the review of the PPP contract. All the service reviews had been completed and the different options for the future of the contract had been reviewed. The possibility of bringing some services back in house had been considered against the affordability and level of workforce development required. The Assistant Director and Cabinet Member agreed to come back to scrutiny in January when the position with Arvato was clearer.
The Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and the Assistant Director for providing the updates and responding to their questions.
RESOLVED –
1. Than an update on the PPP Contractual Review be brought to the Overview and Performance Scrutiny Forum on 16 January, 2018.
2. That an update on the Digital Strategy be brought to the Overview and Performance Scrutiny Forum on 8 May, 2018.