Issue - meetings

This report presents the final report of the E-Democracy Scrutiny Review at Appendix 1 and asks Executive to approve the review recommendations. Cllr Lisle as Task Group Chair will present the final report.

Resolved:  That the Executive approve the recommendations of the E-Democracy Scrutiny Review Task Group as set out at paragraph 9 of the report.

Reason:   To conclude the Scrutiny Review in line with City of York Council Scrutiny procedures and protocols.

Consideration was given to the final report of the E-Democracy Scrutiny Review, at Annex 1, whose review aim had been to identify the potential for improving public engagement and take up of services through digital means and the Council’s ability to respond.

Members were asked to approve the following review recommendations, which had been agreed by the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Policy and Scrutiny Committee:

i.             To make the delivery of online services a priority to enable ease of access for residents and lead to potential efficiency savings within the Council

ii.            Identify any potential reasons which would lead to the poor take up of My Account by York residents as these could present a risk to the successful rolling out of the new system;

iii.           Carry out market research and public consultation during the My Account design process similar to that carried out for the website redesign;

iv.          Make My Account training sessions available for Members so they fully understand the features and utilisation of the system and are able to pass on this knowledge to residents;

v.           Implement a comprehensive online video tutorial outlining the key functionality of the My Account system;

vi.          Explore the strong integration of My Account so individuals can be “tagged” as a result of issue-based contact with CYC so they can then be signposted to the relevant decision session/committee with which they might have an interest.

vii.         Explore hyperlinking agenda items on CYC’s YouTube channel and the possibility of rolling this out to all webcast uploads for ease of access.

Cllr Lisle, as Task Group Chair presented the report and recommendations highlighting the key risks and proposed member training sessions. In answer to questions he confirmed that, although the Task Group had now completed their work, following the implementation of the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system consideration may be given to undertaking a review of CRM use and experience at a later date.

Resolved: That having considered the final report and its annexes the Executive approve the recommendations from the E-Democracy Scrutiny Review as set out above. ^1.

Reason:   To conclude the Scrutiny Review in line with City of York Council Scrutiny procedures and protocols.