Issue - meetings

[To approve Phase 2 of the delivery of the Council’s Digital Transformation Programme.]

1.    That the implementation of future phases of the Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2017-18 to 2019-20 be approved.

2.    That the allocation of projected capital resources totalling £3.0 million for the delivery of the next phase, Phase 2, of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2017-18 be approved.

3.    That the allocation of additional capital resources totalling £1.0 million for the further rollout of the ICT capital programme during 2017-18 be approved.

Councillor Andrew Johnson presented the Digital Transformation Programme 2017-20 report. He sought approval for Phase 2 of the delivery of the Council’s Digital Transformation Programme. He added the Council had made wonderful progress with phase 1 and that this was evidenced as the Council had won an MJ Award for the services provided by the Council to customers. He went on to provide an overview of the programmes to be delivered as part of phase 2 and highlighted the cost savings that would be provided to the Council. He emphasised that the Council had opted for digital by choice.

Councillor Andrew Johnson proposed the recommendations and Councillor Peter Bilson seconded the recommendations.

Resolved:

1. That the implementation of future phases of the Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2017-18 to 2019-20 be approved.
2. That the allocation of projected capital resources totalling £3.0 million for the delivery of the next phase, Phase 2, of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2017-18 be approved.
3. That the allocation of additional capital resources totalling £1.0 million for the further rollout of the ICT capital programme during 2017-18 be approved.

[To consider the ICT and Digital Strategy 2017 to 2022 and the underpinning Digital Transformation Programme to deliver the Strategy.]

That Council be recommended to approve:

1. The implementation of future phases of the Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2017-18 to 2019-20.

2. The allocation of projected capital resources totalling £3.0 million for the delivery of the next phase, Phase 2, of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2017-18.

3. The allocation of additional capital resources totalling £1.0 million for the further rollout of the ICT capital programme during 2017-18.

1. That it be noted that future phases of the Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2018-19 and 2019-20, is anticipated to have a total projected capital cost of £11.0 million and will be subject to Council approval.

2. That it be noted that future funding for the ICT capital programme over the period 2018-19 and 2019-20, is anticipated to have a total projected capital cost of £5.0 million and will be subject to Council approval.

3. That it be noted that the Digital Transformation Programme will build internal capability to support continuous improvement of digital services once the programme itself has been completed.

4. That it be noted that Scrutiny Board have been asked to review the contents of this report and provide feedback to Cabinet ahead of making these decisions to implement future phases of the Digital Transformation Programme.

Councillor Andrew Johnson sought Cabinet endorsement to recommend that Council approve Phase 2 of the delivery of the Council’s Digital Transformation Programme and to reprofile and increase the ICT capital programme for 2017-18. The Programme would achieve savings for the Council and ensure that employees work in a more agile and efficient way. Scrutiny Board had carried out pre-decision scrutiny of the Programme and had recommended that it be carefully monitored and that they receive six-monthly updates on the delivery progress.

Councillor Johnson recorded his thanks to the Digital Transformation Director and his team for the work undertaken to develop the strategy.

Resolved:

That Council be recommended to approve:

1. The implementation of future phases of the Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2017-18 to 2019-20.

2. The allocation of projected capital resources totalling £3.0 million for the delivery of the next phase, Phase 2, of the City of Wolverhampton Council’s Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2017-18.

3. The allocation of additional capital resources totalling £1.0 million for the further rollout of the ICT capital programme during 2017-18.

4. That it be noted that future phases of the Digital Transformation Programme over the period 2018-19 and 2019-20, was anticipated to have a total projected capital cost of £11.0 million and would be subject to Council approval.

5. That it be noted that future funding for the ICT capital programme over the period 2018-19 and 2019-20, was anticipated to have a total projected capital cost of £5.0 million and would be subject to Council approval.

6. That it be noted that the Digital Transformation Programme would build internal capability to support continuous improvement of digital services once the programme itself had been completed.

7. That it be noted that Scrutiny Board had been asked to review the contents of this report and provide feedback to Cabinet ahead of making these decisions to implement future phases of the Digital Transformation Programme.

A report was submitted requesting Scrutiny to review the contents of the report and provide feedback to Cabinet ahead of any decision to implement future phases of the Digital Transformation Programme.

The Cabinet Member for Resources introduced the report and highlighted the fact that Customer experience was the most important element and that in most organisations when customers rang into a customer contact centre at busy times they got left on hold. During the next phases of the Digital Transformation Programme at the City Council, customers would now have the option to be rung back.

It was confirmed that the programme would be looking to save money as the Council now had less staff and needed to find better and smarter ways of providing services. One important area where improvements would be made was by enabling different software programmes to talk to each other.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the Council was still focused on digital by design which meant that all channels are available still for the public to contact the Council. It was accepted that there would still be customers who wanted to visit or phone the Council but that there would also be an increase in digital functionality for members of the public who wanted to use self-service. The public needed to be brought along with the Council in a trusted way.

Some concerns in relation to staffing had been raised and it was confirmed that any member of staff in customer services who wanted to stay with the Council would be able to stay with the Council and that employees would be used more smartly and effectively.

The Digital Transformation Programme Director provided an overview of the programme which was not new but a continuation of the first phase which had now been delivered. The first phase had included the introduction of technology platforms and created a ‘my account’ to enable people to do self-service online. Services had been taken up over a full 24hour period with almost £2 million in payment transactions carried out outside of normal office hours.

The next phase of the programme would be looking to accelerate and deliver more digital services as there was a big requirement for more payment services to be available online. This will also helpe to bring revenue in quickly for the Council. Other services would also help to enhance the customer experience such as the ability to contact parents in real time when schools are closed in bad weather, or streets are being gritted etc.

Councillors considered the report and queried how many my account registrations would be needed to be advantageous to the Council. Councillors also sought reassurance form Officers that registration would not be compulsory.

It was agreed that the current number of 16000 registrations was relativly low but that the number of available transactions was still quite limited therefore when new services became available take-up would be expected to increase. Officers stated that they would like to see in the region of 50,000  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5