Agenda item

This report presents Members with further information on the eDemocracy Scrutiny Review.

Consideration was given to a report which updated the Group on work undertaken on a scrutiny topic proposed by James Alexander to examine the expansion of local democracy using digital means.

Members were reminded of the aim of the review ‘to identify the potential for improving public engagement and take up of services through digital means and the Councils ability to respond’.

It was noted that the Group, at their last meeting, had considered the City of York Council’s current position regarding online services, digital infrastructure and the resource to enable the function, together with best practice by other authorities.

Paula Wilkinson, the Council’s Web Content Manager, gave a presentation on the Council website content, following recent improvements, including consultation undertaken and the reskinning of some ‘plug-in’ areas of the site to provide more continuity for customers.

This was followed by a second presentation from Tim Burnett, from Connection Point Technology and Dave Atkinson, the Council’s Project Manager for the new Customer Management System (CRM) , who provided a web demonstration of the new system (copy of both presentations attached to the online agenda).

Members also noted that a review of the content on the Democratic Services pages on the Modgov site was required in order to simplify them and provide focussed content in line with changes made elsewhere on the website.

Members went on to questioned various aspects of the new CRM system and Officers confirmed that;

·                    One of the objects of the new system was to make the site more transactional and provide improved self service

·                    ‘Quick step’ templates would be available together with service related text to assist operators on web chats

·                    Service Cloud hosting the site was highly secure and well tested and used by other Local Authorities

Following further discussion Members confirmed that further information was required on:

·               Council website usage, including figures before and following the launch of the new website to provide a baseline of information

·               Methods of public consultation

·               Methods of encouraging the uptake of ‘My Account’ by residents

·               The use of demand management to meet residents expectations

Members also questioned the possibility of GIS/Local View maps including details of traffic restrictions etc to inform residents of matters of importance in their locality.

Resolved:   (i)     That Officers, in consultation with the Task Group, prepare a short online survey in order to gain residents views on the website, with hard copies being circulated at the forthcoming round of Ward Committee meetings.

      (ii)        That the questionnaire seeks residents views and  comments in respect of;

·                   their interaction with the Council’s website and

·                   the sort of services residents wished to be able to view online

(iii)      That Officers compile information on the following to circulate to Members, prior to the next meeting:

·                   website hits/return visitors together with the uptake of services and trends

·                   details of resident feedback/customer complaints

·                   CRM Project Plan, timescales and prioritisation list 

Reason:   To enable the Task Group to identify the priorities for action in the short and longer term in line with review objective (iv), and conclude their work on this review.