The Watford 2020 Programme manager to provide an update.

The scrutiny committee received a report of the Watford 2020 Programme Manager which provided the latest progress on the council’s transformation programme.

The Watford 2020 Programme Manager highlighted some of the key headlines from the update.  He reminded councillors that the programme had moved into its final six months and was due to end in March 2020.  He advised that Firmstep forms had been tested by councillors at Member Development Group, by officers at various types of meetings and by the public in the Customer Service Centre.

The Customer Management System replacement had been flagged as ‘red’.  There had been issues in connecting the front and back office links.  It was noted that this work was progressing.  The Watford 2020 Programme Manager informed the scrutiny committee that the pest control process was one of the most complex processes that the team had been building because of the need for it to integrate with several other systems in order to work.

The Watford 2020 Programme Manager advised that the online modules required for Revenues and Benefits had now been tested and were working as expected.  It was anticipated that this function would go live from 11 November.

The Watford 2020 Programme Manager then provided the scrutiny committee with a demonstration of one of the key online Firmstep reporting tools, ‘Report It’. This tool would allow customers to report an issue on the street or in a park online by using a map.  The tool integrated with different internal systems to allow different parts of the council to deliver the service for customers. The list of reporting topics was not set and could be added to as other options arose.  There was some final testing to be carried out and the team was aiming for it to go live on 5 November. It was explained that a second iteration of the tool would be produced in a couple of months with additional functionality and following feedback from customers.

In response to a question from the Chair, the Watford 2020 Programme Manager explained that the council’s website and the online forms were fully responsive to mobile devices including phones.  As part of the second iteration of the form it would be added to the Members’ Portal.  It was hoped this would happen by the end of this year.

Following a question about publicising the various forms, the Watford 2020 Programme Manager advised that there would be a soft launch on 5 November.  Once everything was in place, including the feedback loop and it had been fully tested there would be a bigger launch probably in the spring.  The publicity would include through social media, on-street advertising and other formats.  It would be fully discussed with the Communications Team.

The Watford 2020 Programme Manager responded to a councillor’s question about cost savings as a result of the programme.  He explained that saving funds was not the only point of the programme.  It was also about improving processes for customers and allowing customers to transact with the council outside of the usual office hours. The programme changes also cut out the duplication of processes, where officers had to transfer information from one system to another.  It was envisaged that it would also result in fewer visits to the Customer Service Centre.  The overall benefits of the programme would be tracked through to 2023.  He emphasised that the new online forms including ‘Report It’ would not lead to other contact channels being closed.  However with the new forms the information was relayed direct to the service that needed the information. 

RESOLVED –

that the Watford 2020 update be noted.