Agenda item

This report presents options for a second phase of the easy@york programme, which will extend the reach of the current York Customer Centre  (YCC), and sets out a revised analysis of the benefits and savings of the first phase.

RESOLVED: (i)         That the claimed benefits of Phase 1 of easy@york be noted.

                        (ii)        That Option 3 (commence Phase 2 with an extended scope) be agreed, as set out in paragraph 127 of the report, subject to further work to analyse what is needed for Hungate and to deliver proposals to build this into the programme.

REASON:      In order to deliver more improvements and efficiencies with an expanded scope for the project.

                        (iii)       That Officers be asked to review further the extension of the project to include the Warden Call and Electoral Registration models, as resources become available.

REASON:      In order to extend the scope still further, subject to available resources.

                        (iii)       That regular, robust and transparent financial performance reports be provided on the savings achieved by the Phase 1 and Phase 2 projects compared to the target outcomes identified in the report.

REASON:      To ensure that a rigorous monitoring system is put in place, in view of the Council’s substantial investment in this programme, which is expected to be self-financing.

Members considered a report which presented options for a second phase of the easy@york programme, extending the reach of the current York Customer Centre (YCC), together with a revised analysis of the benefits and savings of the first phase.

In respect of Phase 1, the York Customer Centre (YCC) had gone live with new processes and systems in February 2007.  There were now 112 users of the systems across 12 different teams and the current processes formed a solid basis for moving forward.  A full analysis of the benefits from Phase 1 was attached as Annex 1 to the report.  Briefly, these included:

• 99% of customers satisfied with the service
• Over £29k savings already re-invested into the handling of service requests, due to a 29% reduction in switchboard type requests
• Customer complaints reduced by 91%
• 11% of York Pride Action Line (YPAL) requests coming through the self-service e-form route
• 93% student council tax applications made via self service
• 40k electronic payments made, saving £64k processing costs
• on track for 500 online planning applications
• 70% of all Council Tax Service requests fully automated.

Key lessons learnt from Phase 1, which would inform Phase 2 of the programme, were set out in paragraphs 16 to 22 of the report.

With regard to moving the programme forward into Phase 2, Members were asked to consider the following options:

Option 1 – end easy@york after Phase 1 in May 2008.  This would have a detrimental impact on the CPA and the Council’s reputation with customers and would threaten the viability of the move to Hungate.

Option 2 – commence Phase 2 with a recommended scope of: Housing Management & Housing Repairs; Adult Social Services, Advice, Information & Referral; Corporate Recruitment & HR Processes; Improvement of Neighbourhood Services; Licensing; Mobile Working for easy processes; Parking.  This would deliver customer service improvements and support the move to Hungate.

Option 3 – commence Phase 2 with an extended scope from that outlined in Option 2, to include two out of the following: design and provision of face to face contact in Hungate; revisiting the Highways Service; Warden Call.  This was the recommended option, with a third programme scheme to deliver out of scope face to face contact in Hungate and Highways (but not Warden Call), as it would give capacity to deliver more improvements and efficiencies.

In response to the comments made by the speaker on this item (Minute    refers), Officers noted that the overall customer satisfaction on Phase 1 was high and had not been over-stated.  Web-based contact would supplement rather than replace face to face contact for services such as Advice and Information in Housing and Adult Social Services.

Having noted the comments of the Shadow Executive, it was

RESOLVED: (i)         That the claimed benefits of Phase 1 of easy@york be noted.

                        (ii)        That Option 3 (commence Phase 2 with an extended scope) be agreed, as set out in paragraph 127 of the report, subject to further work to analyse what is needed for Hungate and to deliver proposals to build this into the programme.¹

REASON:      In order to deliver more improvements and efficiencies with an expanded scope for the project.

                        (iii)       That Officers be asked to review further the extension of the project to include the Warden Call and Electoral Registration models, as resources become available.²

REASON:      In order to extend the scope still further, subject to available resources.

                        (iii)       That regular, robust and transparent financial performance reports be provided on the savings achieved by the Phase 1 and Phase 2 projects compared to the target outcomes identified in the report.³

REASON:      To ensure that a rigorous monitoring system is put in place, in view of the Council’s substantial investment in this programme, which is expected to be self-financing.