Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Gerrard.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting.

No disclosures were made.

No declarations were made.

To note the updated scrutiny scoping document for the panel, as discussed at the previous meeting of the panel.

Considered and discussed, the scrutiny scope document for the Panel, updated following the previous meeting of the panel.

AGREED that the scrutiny scope document be noted.

A report of the Head of Customer Experience to provide the panel with information related to projects, requested at the previous meeting of the panel.

A report of the Head of Customer Experience to provide the panel with information related to projects, requested at the previous meeting of the panel, was considered.

Key points of discussion:

      i.        It was not clear whether the McKinsey and Company report ‘A global view of how consumer behaviour is changing amid Covid-19’ would be updated. However, a number of reports had been published by McKinsey and Company which may be relevant to the work of the panel. The Head of Customer Experience agreed that she would highlight any relevant reports to the panel.

    ii.        The use of corporate email inboxes was often not an efficient process, as it allowed for free text. A more efficient method of contacting the council was the usage of e-forms with specific fields for residents to populate as this would allow the council to request all relevant information required from the customer in one place.

   iii.        It was requested that the panel received data on the usage of all forms used across the council so that the panel could identify customer needs. The Head of Customer Experience agreed to provide this information. 

AGREED

1.    That the panel notes the content of the report.

2.    That the Head of Customer Experience highlighted any relevant reports by McKinsey and Company to the panel.

3.    That the Head of Customer Experience provided data on the usage of all forms across the council to the next meeting of the panel.

To enable panel members to feed back on the work allocated at the previous meeting.

Members of the panel provided updates on the work allocated at the previous meeting.

Updates were as follows:

AGREED that Councillor Seaton enquires about the rate of ongoing portal usage from customers at the councils she has previously liaised with.

In accordance with the scrutiny scoping document, to review other Local Authority digitalisation and transformation strategies and processes to learn best practice.

The Head of IT and Digital at Coventry City Council will attend to discuss ‘Digital Coventry’ (attached).

In accordance with the scrutiny scoping document, to review other Local Authority digitalisation and transformation strategies and processes to learn best practice, the Head of IT and Digital at Coventry City Council attended the meeting to discuss ‘Digital Coventry’.

The following summarises the discussion:

      i.        It was highlighted that Charnwood had rural areas which may not have the same broadband width as other areas of the borough, and so any services offered would need to consider this. An interactive map was available detailing the superfast connectivity in Charnwood. The Head of IT and Digital at Coventry City Council (CCC) stated that customer experiences of IT should be simple, functional and appealing and that with this formula, broadband width would not be a concern.

    ii.        The Head of Customer Experience stated that a digital skills gap analysis was undertaken in Charnwood in 2020, detailing the highest risks in digital skills exclusion. It was agreed that the report containing this information would be shared with the panel before the next meeting.

   iii.        It was highlighted that it was difficult to incentivise customers to continue to use online portals due to the nature of services being offered. It was suggested that promoting the benefits of online portal usage over other methods of contact, could be advantageous (for example, the facility is available 24/7, often quicker, cheaper for the council). Another incentive would be to ensure service via online portals was good (for example, forms working correctly, quick feedback if required).

   iv.        The Head of IT and Digital (CCC) stated that he would provide statistics on the rate of ongoing portal usage at Coventry City Council.

    v.        It was suggested that the council would need to better understand customers in order to effectively enhance the website offering.

   vi.        The digital offer at Coventry City Council used attractive services to encourage sign up to the portal. For example, customers would have to create an account in order to book a slot at refuse centres or to book activities.

AGREED

1.    That the Head of Customer Experience provides the digital skills gap analysis report before the next meeting of the panel.

2.    That the Head of IT and Digital (CCC) would provide statistics on the rate of ongoing portal usage at Coventry City Council.

Post meeting note:

The Head of IT and Digital (CCC) responded to action 2) providing the following information:

Current number of MyAccounts (our online customer portal accounts) – 246,379

We have 485 online services in total via MyAccount

49 of these services require users to be logged in (primarily due to having a booking or payment).

To enable the panel to discuss concerns with the planning applications process with the Head of Planning and Regeneration and the Head of Customer Experience.

The panel discussed concerns with the planning applications process with the Head of Planning and Regeneration and the Head of Customer Experience.

The Head of Planning and Regeneration demonstrated the online planning applications portal to the panel and the council’s i-Map mapping portal that enables spatial searches of planning applications to be made.

      i.        The Head of Planning and Regeneration stated that that he would share a link to access the portal which could be used by members to identify specific planning applications.

    ii.        It was acknowledged that it was difficult to find specific planning applications using the search functions on the Planning Explorer Portal as the results of searches were not always listed logically. It was highlighted that a new back-office system was currently being implemented and a new customer focussed applications portal would be available by July 2022. It was anticipated that the user experience of the portal would improve following this.

AGREED that the Head of Planning and Regeneration provide the link to access the portal which could be used by members to identify specific planning applications.

Post meeting note: The Head of Planning and Regeneration provided the following link: Cadcorp Web Map Layers (charnwood.gov.uk)

To enable the panel to identify key stakeholders.

The panel discussed key stakeholders for interviewing at a future meeting of the panel.

      i.        The panel felt that there was a requirement to interview further witnesses in order to develop a better understanding of how the recommendations of the panel should be formed.

    ii.        The Head of Customer Experience stated that she would consider suitable stakeholders with the intention of inviting witnesses to a future meeting.

   iii.        It was suggested that the panel liaise with experts in the marketing field to identify ways to encourage website usage and self-service.

AGREED that the Head of Customer Experience considers suitable stakeholders with the intention of inviting witnesses to a future meeting.

To schedule the key tasks in the scrutiny scoping document to be considered at the next meeting of the panel and to consider any work to be allocated to members of the panel in advance of the next meeting. Further scheduled meetings of the panel are:

27th April 2022

30th May 2022

27th June 2022 (to be rescheduled)

25th July 2022 (provisional)

To schedule the key tasks in the scrutiny scoping document to be considered at the next meeting of the panel and to consider any work to be allocated to members of the panel in advance of the next meeting.

No additional work was allocated to members of the panel for the next meeting of the panel.