Agenda item

Report of the Bi-Borough Director of Corporate Services (to follow)

6.1       The Committee received a report that provided an update on the current level of digital service delivery available to residents and others and how they currently perform. It focused primarily on the website and apps through which residents can engage with the Council and access its services or report issues to them. The report also informed the committee of the direction of travel of the Council’s emerging Digital Strategy. This is put in context with the provision of some benchmarking information and best practice.

6.2       The committee was asked to comment on current service delivery and note the direction of travel for the Council’s emerging Digital Strategy and consider any recommendations for the Cabinet member to consider before the strategy is finalised.

6.3       Matthew Cain, Head of Digital, London Borough of Hackney, addressed the Committee as an expert witness.  He informed Members that he had taken up his current position in January. He had previously worked in a slightly different role at Buckinghamshire County Council for 18 months and prior to this had worked in the private sector.  Whilst working at Buckinghamshire County Council he had delivered a project which saw Members go paperless which had saved £30,000 per annum and in the last year had implemented 27 projects which had saved the Council £985,000.

6.4       Mr Cain provided the following observations of lessons learned in delivering digital transformation. 

·               There is a need for a broad definition of digital:  He considered that it was important to harness the methods and culture of the digital era which was greater than websites or the use of apps particularly as the latter can quickly become obsolete.

·               Taking risks should become a cultural norm: The solutions for Westminster City Council will be different than for other public sector organisations.  He considered that digitally maturing organisations are more comfortable taking risks than their less digitally mature peers.  To make their organisations less risk averse, business leaders have to embrace failure as a pre-requisite for success.  The Council should not worry about developing perfect solutions.

·               Communication must be built around the citizen:  What customers need will start before they contact the Council and end long after.  It can be a challenge for the Council to understand what its customers need and due to the size and range of the local authority and its services these priorities can take time to align within the organisation.

6.5       Mr Cain then highlighted some of the lessons learned whilst working at Buckinghamshire County Council.  Based on his experience working at the BBC and Sky, he set out to digitise the highest volume of transactions across the organisation.  However, whilst this was desirable at the BBC and Sky this was not the case in Buckinghamshire.  The majority of staff did not notice the change and he reflected that to be beneficial changes should be relevant and visible to those working on the front line.

6.6       The Committee discussed the current service delivery and made the following observations:

·               Residents had reported that the website is not user friendly or intuitive at present.  Members considered that this de-incentivises citizens to engage with the Council.

·               The “report it” function has limited functionality.  Residents are frustrated at not being able to upload photographs of issues, it is cumbersome to use on a mobile device as access is gained from the Council’s website rather than an app and feedback is rarely provided on the issue reported.  The latter was also the experience for some Committee members.

·               The Committee noted that there are references on the Council’s website to services that are provided by partners rather than the Council but that links or contact details to these bodies are not included and should be.

·                That the Open Forum Microsite was launched in 2016 in order to host major Council consultations, promote the public open forum meetings with the Leader and Cabinet and to provide a way for people to get involved with local decision making.  This has not been as effective as it could be.  There needs to be greater coordination between the consultations on the Council website and the ward element within the Open Forum micro site in order to engender better engagement from local residents.

6.7       Robin Campbell, Head of Campaigns and Customer Engagement, acknowledged that Westminster’s digital offer including its website has some considerable distance to make up against many other local and central public bodies and to meet the needs of customers.  He advised that there is a desire to improve the design, content and functionality of the Council’s website so that it includes greater capability as well as introducing features that are more mobile responsive.

6.8       Maria Benbow, Commercial and Digital Transformation Director, explained that the front facing capabilities are not fully supported by back-office systems where there is a lack of inter-connectivity and integration.  She explained that the Council has circa 75 microsites/third party platforms and a significant number of these are not linked together.  She advised that transitioning to the next step of the Council’s digital progression starts with classifying and mapping key user journeys which will help the Council to simplify, automate, rationalise or eliminate processes.  This will include a more online transactional experience for users, in line with best practice across sectors.  To achieve the latter the Council has recently procured Microsoft Dynamics to implement a new “My Westminster Account” which will be launched through a phased approach later this year.  Every effort will be utilised to motivate users to adopt online services by creating and registering their new account.  The “My Account” software has already been successfully tried and tested in other local authorities.

6.9       Maria Benbow thanked the Committee for their feedback on the current service delivery which will be reflected upon when developing new services.

6.10    The Committee then discussed the Council’s emerging digital transformation strategy and put forward suggestions on the digital end-to-end services, processes and platforms that it believed would enhance the customer experience.  This included:

·               A more intuitive “Report It” tool so that non-compliance/breaches of Planning, Parking, Licensing and Noise conditions or rules can be addressed.

·               A “notify me” tool where residents are informed about Planning and Licensing applications submitted in their vicinity which they can then make representations on.

·               Ensuring that links on the Council’s website remain static so that they can be accessed at a later date from an email notification.

·               Developing more online transactional opportunities for users which, in addition to improving the range of tasks available to users, can also generate income for the Council.

6.11    Maria Benbow advised that the Council was already working with the Environmental Health Noise team to provide a digital solution for people to report noise issues.  In response of comments on Planning and Licensing, the Council intended to map the customer journey to understand the current user experience and the touch points including the interconnectivity or lack thereof.  This will involve consultation with a cross section of stakeholders.  The Council will also look at payment opportunities and the best solutions on the market.  She agreed with the principle of ensuring that links on the Council’s website remain static.

6.12    Officers were asked how digital services would be prioritised as part of the development of the digital strategy; Whether this will be based on what users want or where the most savings can be delivered?  They were also asked whether there is a risk that improving the digital experience will result in much greater reporting of issues which the Council may struggle to react to.  John Quinn, Bi-borough Director of Corporate Services, explained that while the main focus of the strategy will be to improve the customer journey, the need to bridge the £18 million budget gap for 2018-2019 and reduce costs will influence priorities.

6.13    A feasibility study will run until the end of the summer.  Each directorate had been asked to second a “Champion” to support the project as the Council’s staff are some of the best placed to identify where the current limitations are.

6.14    John Quinn explained that Members will naturally have their views on the priorities for the strategy which will be submitted to the Cabinet for decision in September. 

6.15    The Committee noted that the perceived barriers to success such as apathy, resistance to change and the ability to deliver the supporting mechanisms to facilitate the change can be overcome with strong organisational leadership.  In response to questions, John Quinn explained that while support for aspects of the digital transformation both at member and officer level was not universal (such as the use of Amazon Alexa - a voice activated personal assistant that can answer phone queries) the Council was working to overcome this through education and developing the right level of skills and experience.

6.16   RESOLVED:

1.         Members noted that there are raised expectations from residents and councillors for improved, enhanced and consistent digital end-to-end Council services, processes and platforms which are easy and quick to use and provide a more holistic customer service approach. 

2.         The committee acknowledged the importance of improving the ‘Report It’ function and delivering an enhanced use of automated web forms to support customers.  It also highlighted the importance of residents receiving feedback on issues that they have reported. 

3.         The Committee welcomed the examples of new digital solutions being developed in conjunction with the Council’s Noise, Planning and Licensing Services but stressed that these should be developed in consultation with councillors and residents. 

4.         The Committee considered that where there are references on the Council’s website to services that are provided by partners rather than the Council, such as the NHS, police and Transport for London, the website should include signposts to these bodies.

5.         It was recognised that there is an opportunity to develop further the Open Forum micro site to improve engagement with local people.

6.         The Committee also recognised the need for strong organisational leadership and sponsorship at member and officer level to enable the successful delivery of the digital transformation.

6.17     ACTIONS:

1.    Provide the committee with the plan for the delivery of the ‘My Account’ programme including key milestones.  (Action for: Maria Benbow, Commercial and Digital Transformation Director)

2.    Following the completion of the feasibility phase of the programme in August, the Committee would like to consider and provide feedback on the outline business case and design solutions prior to these being considered by Cabinet in September.  (Action for: Maria Benbow, Commercial and Digital Transformation Director/Muge Dindjer, Scrutiny Manager)