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IEG 2001-2

Vision

Continuing the approach taken by the Council in its first IEG Statement, our e-government vision is not primarily about new technology but about customer needs. We want to develop services and information that are readily accessible, available when and where the customer wants, and of the highest possible standard.

Our commitment to e-government continues to be championed at the highest level and is being driven forward across the Council through our corporate planning process. Since the publication of IEG1, the Council has made changes to its Vision and Corporate Priorities, for the following reasons:

• the draft community strategy for the district - the Calderdale Futures Plan - was published in November 2001, and we have been analysing community views and feedback to inform the final plan (December 2002) ; and
• we identified the need to update and refine these our corporate priorities in order to focus on driving improvements in selected areas, and to underpin our three-year Corporate Plan.

Calderdale Council - Vision 2002 and beyond

The Council aims to make Calderdale a clean, safe, attractive and thriving area for individuals and families to enjoy as residents, workers or visitors.

Our updated Vision takes account of a number national trends, which are reflected locally:

• a growing interest in both the physical and natural environment;
• increasing expectations and support for modern customer service; and
• a concern to achieve improved community cohesion.

This updated Vision for the Council is reflected directly in seven corporate priorities. These are set out below. The first four build directly on their predecessors, but with some shifts in emphasis to take account of initial community feedback on the Futures Plan, and the above trends.

Calderdale's Corporate Priorities: 2002 and beyond

1. To improve the educational achievement of all young people and promote widespread participation in learning.
2. To support and protect vulnerable children, young people and adults and promote independent and healthy living.
3. To create safer communities with lower crime levels, less fear of crime and safer roads.
4. To promote sustainable economic growth, respect local heritage and improve our towns, villages and neighbourhoods.
5. To secure a clean and attractive built and natural environment.
6. To continually improve customer service.
7. To support our diverse communities, building dialogue, understanding and a capacity to work and live together.

Priority Five has been added to reflect the growing public concern that the Council has recognised for an environment and 'streetscene' that is clean, attractive and free of litter.

Priority Six recognises the Council's new commitment to modern and, where appropriate, electronic customer service - providing all our services in a way that local people find accessible, efficient and responsive. This new priority is illustrated by the launch in March 2002 of our Customer First initiative in Todmorden, providing access to all Council services in a single visit through trained Customer First advisers. It also reflects our strong commitment to meeting the Government's electronic service delivery targets.

Priority Seven similarly recognises a commitment that has been endorsed by the Council in 2002 - that of striving to achieve community cohesion, understanding and harmony - across Calderdale's diverse communities of race and faith. This priority also embraces a commitment to social inclusion - investing in the capacity of communities themselves to support each other and work together.

The Council is committed to developing its e-government strategy to achieve more effective customer focused service delivery by 2006. In so doing we are also demonstrating our commitment to delivering services to citizens which reflect the seven critical tests as set out in e-gov@local:

Joined up in ways that make sense to the Customer

The Council is taking action with respect to joining up services for the customer - our Customer First initiative is a prime example. A full evaluation of this project is in train alongside a household survey of Calderdale residents to provide robust data on customer behaviours and preferences. Together these research projects will inform the future customer relations strategy and drive the e-government developments that will support it.

Through the integral deployment of Customer Relationship Management software into the relevant 'back-office' systems, improved service delivery will be achieved. The Council is currently also developing its own A to Z of Council services facility in a manner entirely related to the needs of the customer. This involves offering information about our services through our ISB3 project in three languages and making effective use of the latest technology.

Accessible to the Customer

The Council is developing an even wider range of options available to the customer when taking up Council Services. This includes technological developments such as an enhanced 'self service' website, with the long-term vision being to offer a full 24/7 operation. It also involves reshaping the Council's service delivery to reflect the needs of the customer - improved asset management, additional opening hours, Customer First operation are examples. The location of our face-to-face 'Customer First' in a town centre community college provides added value in terms of accessibility to a range of other public service, learning and leisure facilities.

Although at an early stage, the feasibility of operating 'Customer First' by phone is currently being explored.

Joint Delivery of Services

The Council has a proven track record of successful partnership and multi-agency working in service delivery. One example is an integrated approach to the provision of children and family services and with both local and regional partners. As outlined throughout the statement, the Council is already engaged in a range of initiatives to take forward the use of Information and Communication Technology ( ICT) and electronic communication to develop and strengthen partnership working further. The Council has also identified partnerships in areas where further development could support more effective customer delivery. This approach is reflected in our recent joint ISB5 bid with West Yorkshire Police, for the development of an extranet facility, to offer joint information provision. An increasing range of agencies are working jointly with us at our Customer First in Todmorden, from the Inland Revenue to Citizens Advice Bureau and Victim Support.

Services delivered or supported electronically

The Council has a strong corporate IT service base. The service has a track record of delivering major projects to time, budget and quality, including both in-house and bought in applications such as Oracle CRM. The current level of development and expertise in the "back room" systems architecture is a particular strength. We now have a formal partnering arrangement with Oracle that has provided significant support to help the Council to identify how to take forward the e-government agenda. In particular, the corporate Solution Value Analysis undertaken by Oracle consultants has helped the Council identify priorities for improving customer-focus and, implementing more effective ways of working.

The Council acknowledges the need to invest to save in terms of the resources that will be needed to achieve the e-government targets for 2005. Costings for the additional skills and expertise that are needed, as well as the further development of current hardware and software infrastructures, are set out in this statement. However, there is the potential to make significant savings as well as to provide improved customer focused services.

The Council's e-government approach is underpinned by an ongoing analysis of what we need to start doing, what we need to stop doing and what we need to do differently. This approach to the management of change is also supported by the Council's Improvement Plan. One aspect of "doing things differently" has been to identify the further development of corporate management information functions that can underpin a range of service and partnership developments. Ongoing developments include the Geographical Information System (GIS), the Local Land and Property Gazetteer and electronic registration.

Seamless Service Delivery

The Council also recognises that implementation of the e-government agenda will lead to significant changes to current working practices. Decisions have already been made to refocus the work of the corporate IT Service to provide more support for e-government implementation and to focus less on traditional development work. The development of electronic service delivery and electronic communications is already leading to more home working, hot-desking and rationalisation of current administrative and support structures.

The need for new technology skill sets, project management expertise and approaches to customer service and customer care have already been identified. Support, training and consultancy strategies are being developed to address these needs. The outcomes of this training and development needs analysis will be an important strand in the Council's e-government plans and will cross reference to the corporate training plan.

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