City of York Council’s e-government transformational programme, called easy@york, has been nominated in the Local Government IT Excellence Awards.
As a result of easy@york, almost a quarter (22 per cent) of requests for council services are now done online, with customers also able to pay for services through the website.
Increased efficiency has resulted in significant savings to the council, while customers are reaping the benefits of a new customer contact centre.
Tracey Carter, easy@york programme director, said: “This programme of work has made a real difference to the quality of customer services that we now deliver and we are excited to be recognised at a national level for our achievements.
“We have already started a second phase of the programme which will build on our achievements, improve delivery of more services, make them easy and convenient to access and make them even more efficient.”
Improvements made under the initiative include the creation of a new-look website and the introduction of interactive web forms, which enable customers to contact the council seven days a week, 24 hours a day.
A new customer contact centre has also considerably improved the handling of requests, with 94 per cent of calls answered within 20 seconds and 99 per cent of customers satisfied with the service they receive.
More than 91 per cent of calls regarding end-of-year council tax bills were answered in 2008, compared to only 23 per cent the previous year.
A total of 50,000 payments have been made over the web and phone since easy@york was introduced and the new-look website receives 1.5 million hits a year.
The new technology is also proving a hit with younger residents, with 93 per cent of student council tax exemptions registered through self-service methods.
City of York councillor Roger Moore, Liberal Democrat spokesman for corporate services, said: “I’m delighted that the hard work put in by officers, and the quality of the service, has been recognised, and I wish officers every success in the finals.
“The impact of this service has been tremendous, and we expect the second phase to continue to expand the options as to how residents can communicate with the council.”
Members of the easy@york team will be attending the finals on October 13, in Wales, where the winners will be announced.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Nicola Fifield
Quelle/Source: The Press, 03.10.2008
