Our residents should be able to expect us to not only answer individual questions or give help on the spot, but also to understand and meet their needs thoroughly, regardless of which channel they come to us, or which part of the council they contact. 

As we modernise the council, we have a responsibility to break down boundaries to create an experience that is matched across the board - providing the widest possible range of channels, to equal quality. 

The aim of this workstream is for the council to have simple, highly usable services that make sense across all our core offerings. The benefits to the council of building more cost-efficient ways to serve residents, as well as removing the need for residents to tell different areas of the council the same information, will be enormous. 

This work will be split into three areas of activity. 

1. Build and simplify customer services channels 

We will:

• explore how to introduce new channels, including text and online chat, as well as video support for residents 

• make sure every core service is accessible via phone, text, email, and chat, as well as online

• make sure that there are no dead ends in our services, and that needs are met across all channels 

• explore the introduction of notifications for residents e.g. reminders, information about appointments, progress updates and more 

• consider opening our contact centre for extended hours, to meet demand

2. Join up resident data

We will: 

• join up our customer data so that when someone tells the council something, every service which needs to know is notified (while making sure that we're compliant with GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) 

• make sure customer records are accurate and have no duplications 

• change our processes so we can offer multiple services in a single contact 

• bring together some of our core support systems, so we can be fully informed whenever we are in contact with a resident 

3. Introduce open performance data

We will: 

• introduce ways of tracking outcomes for all customer services channels 

• review and re-publish our customer services standards, bringing them in line with our current ambitions 

• publish our performance data openly, ensuring we can be accountable to the public and the rest of the council 

• make our performance clear to residents when they contact us, so that they know the service levels for the channel they are using 

Benefits of this strategy

This strategy aims to bring the following benefits: 

• improved customer services, indicated by customer satisfaction 

• happier and more productive staff

• reduced failure to meet demands across the council caused by double contact and black holes in service ensuring the council as a whole works better to serve residents

• reduced officer time for lines of business spent on back-office processing through better systems and some automation.