Have your say on digital services
Earlier this year we asked what you think about our online services and information such as our website, social media and requesting, booking or paying for services online, or through our apps. We also wanted to know about your internet use generally, if you have difficulty accessing services online, any improvements we can make to ours or anything else you would like available online.
What's the latest
Thank you to everyone who took part in our consultation, whether filling in a survey or attending one of our focus group sessions.
We spoke to residents, businesses, partners, Youth Council representatives and our staff and Elected Members. We also spoke with representatives of groups who might have more difficulty with getting online or doing things digitally, including people with disabilities and older people.
The consultation feedback has been used to help inform the key themes, high level principles and commitments contained within the strategy.
The new strategy, and information on how it has been developed, was presented to our Cabinet for approval on 12 July 2023. You can read the report and strategy at: Cabinet meeting agenda and minutes - 12 July 2023 (Agenda item 12).
Now that the strategy has been approved, we will work with our partners, customers and communities to implement the strategy.
What we were doing
We were developing a new digital strategy which will support us, our partners and local businesses and communities in the best ways possible over the coming three to five years. The digital strategy sets out our digital goals around:
- improving how people can access our services
- expanding digital access across the county
- providing new, efficient ways of working for our office staff
We were gathering feedback from residents, local businesses, community groups, and partners about how we can improve our digital channels and services to improve their experience of contacting or working with us into the future.
Alongside this, we were working with our staff to assess our current digital approach and vision for the future.
Have your say
The closing date was 5.00pm on Tuesday 31 January 2023.
Background
About our current digital strategy
The current strategy, which was created in 2019, has served us well in the last three years. It has helped us to create more opportunities for residents and staff to access services online and improved their experience of these services. It has enabled us to streamline more services, making them more efficient - particularly important in the current environment of rapidly increasing costs. The strategy has also supported digital inclusion, with more of the county's population being able to get online and access our services quickly and efficiently and of particular importance during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some examples of the progress we have made are included below:
- 72% of customers use our 120 services online as their preferred way of contacting us rather than contacting us by phone or face to face
- 85% of our customers give our online services a four or five star satisfaction rating
- 96% of properties in the county can access superfast broadband
- all 39 of our libraries have free internet access
- since the launch of Reboot (a partnership scheme with Protech City offering low cost computer equipment to registered charities and social enterprises) almost 50 organisations have used it, resulting in more than 200 devices being made available to communities and benefitting thousands of residents
- there are over 300 digital elearning courses available to our staff to improve skills more efficiently
Why we need a new digital strategy
The current strategy is still relevant, however the world around us has significantly changed. The Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit, financial pressures (internal and household) and other challenges mean effective technology and digital ways of working are vital to us all. It is important, therefore, that we refresh our digital strategy so we can continue to build on the successes above, address the challenges faced by all councils, and improve our digital services by creating cost effective and long-term digital solutions that align with our wider plans and needs of our residents, partners, businesses, and communities.
