Agenda item

To consider the report of the Director, Jo Yelland.

Agreed:

RECOMMENDED that Council:-

(1)  approves the adoption of the Digital Customer Strategy 2023-2025 together with the intended outcomes and priority actions proposed; and

(2)  notes that a detailed delivery plan will be produced to enable the Council to monitor progress towards the achievement of the ten goals set out in the Strategy. The implementation plan is likely to require additional resources and would be brought back through the Council’s governance process in 2024.

Reason for Decision: As set out in the report.

The Executive received the report on the draft Digital Customer Strategy 2023-2025, which explained its importance for the Council and provided feedback on the public consultation that took place between July and September 2023. The report also provided insights from independent research on how well the Council understood and met the needs of its customers including those facing digital exclusion.

The Director presented the report and made particular reference to:-

·         the Digital Customer Strategy set out the Council’s vision in putting the customer first by improving the customer experience and meeting customer needs through the improvement to services;

·         the public consultation had received very positive feedback, which included an online survey and supported by proactive work from a range of Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSE) partners who had engaged with their clients on the themes of the strategy;

·         information had also been made available in libraries across the city to attain the views of those who aren't already digitally engaged with the Council;

·         work had been commissioned by Red Quadrant, on digital inclusion in the city to identify areas where people were already facing potential digital exclusion; and

·         the Council would continue to work proactively with its partners to reduce digital exclusion in the communities identified as the most vulnerable in the city.

Members noted the detailed analysis outlined in the report on the customer experience and the large volume of work that was underway on developing an action plan to address issues raised and implement required improvements. A detailed implementation plan setting out delivery expectations and any additional resources would accompany the action plan in early 2024.

Councillor M. Mitchell, as an opposition group leader, spoke on this item and suggested lowering the level of jargon to provide a better understanding of the content. He also suggested a briefing for all Members to attend, to provide further understanding on the strategy and address any likely impacts on customers.

Councillor Moore, as an opposition group leader, spoke on this item and raised the following points:-

·         the Strategy showed that areas of digital exclusion were correlated in high deprivation areas and referred to the importance of understanding the extent of digital inequality and the impact on Council services. Should the Council be asking what the impact of inequality on people’s lives was, and how the Council could support people in order to reduce demand on its services?

·         the digital inclusion work being delivered through the Council’s Community Grants Programme was a concern, in respect of the work with Wellbeing Exeter, and given that the Grants Programme had been cancelled and Wellbeing Exeter funding was coming to an end, how would this be delivered?

·         on what basis had the Director decided that there was no direct carbon or environmental implications in the recommendations, and could the analysis that led to this conclusion be made available and, did Strata data services run on 100% renewable energy?

·         the checking and monitoring of progress was welcomed, but there were no scheduled reporting dates or processes available. Would an indicative budget be made available before it is presented to Council?

The Portfolio Holder for Communities & Homelessness Prevention advised that the statement made about the cancellation of both the Community Grants Programme and Wellbeing Exeter were incorrect and that no decisions had yet been made on these matters.

During the discussion the following points were made:-

·         bringing digital systems forward was important. Educating people especially for those who can't use digital at present would provide better services and improve people’s ability to connect with the wider community through increased use of digital technologies;

·         the report was welcomed and provided an impressive use of data to support the aims and objectives of the Strategy;

·         the report was well researched and provided a lot of evidence for 24/7 services and building trust for the use of quality digital services, which meets the needs of customers and ensuring customers who could be excluded by digital processes were being considered;

·         thanks were given to the Director for continuing the digital transformation work that commenced in 2019 and enabled the Council to switch almost overnight to home working with no disruption to services. This next customer focussed phase was a welcome continuation of that work;

·         it was good to see that the report recognised the benefit of more customer self-service through digital channels to improve efficiency but also to free up officer time to assist those with more complex needs. The survey showed that 49% of respondents to the consultation had preferred speaking to an officer to resolve their issues, whilst 47% had preferred having a choice of options. It was important, to offer a choice of channels for residents in dealing with the Council;

·         digitisation would also improve the customer experience by having all the relevant information about a customer in one place, meaning customers wouldn’t have to repeat their details to different departments and resolve issues faster; and

·         the feedback from St. Petrock’s and the YMCA was welcomed and their offer to hold further focus groups with their clients as the strategy was implemented was very helpful. The Director would also follow this up in due course.

The Leader in responding to points and questions raised, advised that a Members’ briefing could be arranged at the appropriate time and that detailed questions would be responded to outside of the meeting.

The Director advised in response to the question on an indicative budget being made available prior to a Council decision on the Strategy that there were too many uncertainties and variables at this time to provide any reliable estimate of costs for the full delivery of the Strategy. She advised that work was underway on business cases for future infrastructure requirements alongside housekeeping work with staff on data storage which would all have an impact on future costs. Reliable cost estimates and business cases would be bought forward as the work developed.

RECOMMENDED that Council:-

(1)  approves the adoption of the Digital Customer Strategy 2023-2025 together with the intended outcomes and priority actions proposed; and

(2)  notes that a detailed delivery plan will be produced to enable the Council to monitor progress towards the achievement of the ten goals set out in the Strategy. The implementation plan is likely to require additional resources and would be brought back through the Council’s governance process in 2024.