Agenda item

The Executive Member for Corporate Services and the Executive Member for Community Engagement jointly submitted a report that invited Members of Overview and Scrutiny Committee to put forward their views and inform policy direction in respect of the Council’s approach to Digital Exclusion.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy said some words of introduction in respect to the presentations. He said that the topic of digital inclusion had come up at meetings since the Autumn of 2021 and in particular, as the Corporate Plan had made its way through Council. He mentioned the theme in the Corporate Plan of digital by default and said that he hoped that the discussions and debate would lead to some ideas and thoughts that could be fed back to the Executive.

Mr Michael Francis, Head of Customer and Digital Inclusion at Hertfordshire County Council, gave a presentation in respect of digital by default and ways the County had been supporting communities with digital inclusion. Members asked a number of questions following the presentation and Mr Francis responded.

Ms Cindy Withey, Dacorum Community Voluntary Service and Community Action Dacorum gave a presentation in respect of the Hertfordshire wide digital inclusion project aimed at addressing difficulties experienced by communities in Hertfordshire in terms of digital poverty and its detrimental impact on the health of residents. She talked about the funding and success of the project and the four main barriers that had been identified by their project. Members asked a number of questions and Ms Withey responded.

Councillor Kemp commented on areas where people may struggle to interact with the digital world. He touched on the risks of scams and the groups of people who chose not to engage with the digital world for reasons of trust or for whom it would be unwise to do so. He emphasised the importance of catering for these residents and he cited two cases where he had been contacted by residents who had been unable to contact the Council by phone in the last month.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy invited Councillor Kemp to share the details of those incidents with him. He talked about the impact of the pandemic and said that there were now fewer numbers of staff to take calls. Members were advised that call answer rates had been under pressure for a while and more phone calls were being received and the queries being raised were now taking longer to resolve.

The Executive Member for Corporate Services acknowledged the observations of Councillor Kemp. He said that the staffing issue was a matter of concern and the matter was being addressed by the Head of Service. He talked about the difficulties of recruiting staff trained in call centre etiquette and reassured Members that everything that could be done was being done.

The Executive Member for Corporate Services said that the objective was to encourage as many people as possible to interact digitally with the Council and purchase services. He said that the Council would always provide a service to those who could not use digital media.

The Executive Member for Corporate Services said that the Council would always be available for those residents who preferred not to interact with the Authority by digital means. Councillor Curtis commented that it would be helpful to have metrics which would provide a snapshot of the requests that were being submitted online.

The Head of Communications, Strategy and Policy said that the Council was looking to consolidate the multiple systems that were relied upon by customer services when answering queries from the public. He said that the chances of a single system being out of action were quite high, resulting in significant frustration for customers. Members were advised that Officers were looking to resolve on going telephony issues.

Councillor Goldspink proposed and Councillor R Buckmaster seconded a motion that a policy objective should be that, whilst the Council was encouraging as many people as possible to use online services, the Council should permanently make allowances and arrangements for people who were not able to access digital services and that the Executive should be advised of this.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

Councillor Wyllie proposed and Councillor R Buckmaster seconded a motion that that Officers look into the potential for maximising the number of digital interactions and maximising the use of e-accounts. The Head of Service provide metrics detailing online activities and

a conversation be had regarding phone systems going forward and that Officers progress the introduction of a centralised CRM system.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that (A) the Executive be advised that there should be a policy objective that, whilst the Council was encouraging as many people as possible to use online services, the Council should permanently make allowance and arrangements for people who were not able to access digital services; and

(B)   Officers look into the potential for maximising the number of digital interactions and maximising the use of e-accounts. The Head of Service provide metrics detailing online activities and a conversation be had regarding phone systems going forward and Officers progress the introduction of a centralised CRM system.