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Agenda item

To report on the project's developments since it started in 2016

Decision:

To accept the report

 

Minutes:

A report was submitted to the Committee, following a discussion held at the Scrutiny Working Group (10/05/21), outlining the efforts made since 2016 to increase the interactive provision on the website and to make it easier to contact the Council about a number of matters 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It was noted that there was a significant increase in the number of residents using the service, which was positive and confirmed the value of the investment. It was reiterated that the service continued to develop and collaborate with Services and consulted with other Authorities in an attempt to improve the provision. The possibility of establishing an internal system to support the provision was noted, and although the project itself could not claim any direct savings, it had assisted in making savings in Services e.g. Galw Gwynedd to save £23,000 by developing an internal system.

 

It was highlighted that the pandemic had led to the introduction of on-line services in fields where there were previously none, and this had led to an increase in requests for on-line services generally. Reference was made to future developments that included establishing a web-chat function, sharing school admission details, maritime forms along with further requests to submit, e.g. Housing waiting list, recycling equipment, crematorium slots for undertakers, foster carer applications. It was considered that this should be welcomed and posed another challenge to prioritise all the requests in a way that brought benefits to our customers and the services in question.

 

The Cabinet Member reiterated that the Cabinet was fully supportive of the project and was proud of the good work being undertaken. She noted that the option to use technology for 24 hour contact was beneficial and that Gwynedd was breaking new ground in offering the service bilingually.

 

Gratitude was expressed for the report.

 

During the ensuing discussion, the following observations were made by members:

·         The service was undertaking excellent work - it was certainly the way forward

·         The perseverance and enthusiasm of the Team should be congratulated

·         There was a need to review the 'draw attention to potholes' steps - too complex

·         A good experience needed to be ensured if a 'web-chat' was to be introduced - it had to be ensured that back-office staff had up-to-date information and carefully considered which Services were suitable to offer. Needed to avoid a frustrating and impersonal situation for the customer.

·         Needed to ensure that a Powys postcode was accepted in 'Where I Live' - some of these postcodes were relevant to Gwynedd residents

 

In response to a question on responding to poor feedback and whether those comments had a pattern, should it be a technical matter, it was noted that the Website Team would deal with the matter with support from the IT Service. If one of the other Council Services received poor feedback, then the response would be likely to vary from Service to Service but that every attempt would be made to ensure a response.  In terms of a pattern to comments, it was noted that the Project Team was examining analysis software to undertake this work.

 

In response to a question on the time-scale of responding to comments, it was noted that the Project Team would work with Services to agree on a time-scale, while insisting that a response period was set in order to ensure regulation of the situation.

 

In response to a question on completing an application on behalf of someone else and having to submit personal bank details as a result, attention was drawn to the fact there was a specific box to input a different address, but that the request for bank details remained. It was agreed to look into this.

 

In response to a concern that the on-line service put jobs in Galw Gwynedd at risk, although the service had saved £23,000 for Galw Gwynedd, it was noted that this had not led to any redundancies. It was added that saving administrative time had been the greatest advantage by releasing time to achieve other work such as referring a resource to 'chat'. It was reiterated that discussions had been held with Galw Gwynedd staff and that they were committed to the project.

 

In response to a suggestion that the service could be offered to wider sectors, it was stated that the possibility was desirable albeit premature - needed to develop the standard before sharing further.

 

RESOLVED:

 

To accept the report

 

Supporting documents: