Brighton and Hove City Council Digital Housing Case Study

Council cohort support

A crucial output from the LGA digital housing programme was the connected support network that was created between the councils who were all delivering identical projects under similar circumstances. The support structure that was established allowed Brighton to utilise key learning points experienced by the cohort.

For instance, one council was able to inform Brighton about the impact of launching the homeless triage without the choice pixelating module. Both councils had procured the same supplier who implored both teams to launch without the module. The other council did launch without the module causing extensive system issues. This council utilised the network to warn Brighton to hold the supplier to account and avoid this oversight. This interaction ensured Brighton could apply pressure for delivered outputs in a phased model with payments scheduled at the end of each phase sprint to incentivise delivery.

Using additional digital solutions to accommodate the channel shift 

A key action taken forward as part of the project is to implement an appointment system at the housing centre. The walk-in system currently operated in the customer service centre is quite chaotic resulting in repeat visits. The aim of this online appointment system will increase safety, supply reliable track and trace data and allow for the efficient use of officer time to assist with customer queries. Engagement will be divided by face to face bookings and pre-booked appointments to ensure digital inclusivity for those lacking the access or ability to use the new system. The initiative will cut down wasted time and supply more clarity to the end user.

In-depth user and staff guidance

The project team inspired by the video walkthroughs created by SDS and Exeter City Council have taken the initiative to develop further guides for both customers and staff.

The training portal has multimedia tutorials and guides for staff to engage with and rely upon if dealing with issues at any given stage of the application process, so they are confident when dealing with user queries on new digital service. The training guides cover over 40 different areas of the process and are continually being updated and improved as feedback is received.

The following are video guides for customers and staff:

• Customer Guide to Sussex Homemove
• Training Portal for Staff

Challenges

Legacy migration to new systems

Contention centred around the legacy housing system and how the new forms were not compatible to deliver statutory duties at the early stages of the project. Addressing these issues caused the project outcomes to be delayed as ensuring the foundations were in order before integrating the new products was essential.  

Brighton and Hove CC are aligned with Adur, Chichester, Mid Sussex and Worthing Councils through the Sussex Homemove Partnership to share operational costs, collaborative learning and the joint functionality of the housing systems with their respective datasets. All members of Sussex Homemove will benefit from the implementation of the learning gained through the LGA digital programme.

Although through the joint partnership there was substantial risk associated with creating new forms and migrating them into new systems used by all five partners. Due to the size and scale of operations, the partnered authorities were able to launch the forms ahead of Brighton. This however resulted in several data cleansing and system integration issues.

For these smaller organisations the additional case work required them to revert to the labour-intensive processes putting additional strain on staff workload. Due to the increased case load received by Brighton in comparison to partners this issue was exacerbated considerably (400 cases are typically received per quarter compared to partners 300 annually). Careful project management was required to ensure staff morale was maintained to continue processing the documents ahead of the form launch.

Supplier delays

The supplier Home Connections struggled to deliver products on time that were compatible with the old housing system ensuring seamless transition from new to old. The delays have incurred additional costs to the council who have had to simultaneously pay the old system administrator whilst paying for the Home Connections work. This unforeseen cost has demonstrated the value in planning risk mitigation particularly when overhauling back office systems and fully understanding the scope and implications when overseeing data migrations.

Getting procurement right

The project team has learnt a critical lesson when conducting a procurement process to identify partners and developers that need to be relied upon. The resourcing and capability of the supplier came under scrutiny as they failed to deliver to deadlines as work had been outsourced internationally. As a result, the council recognised the importance of investigating that product demonstrations are reflective of what would be delivered in a live environment.

Moreover, ensuring procurement and digital colleagues are extensively involved from an early stage is vital. As the bid from the supplier seemed to undervalue the financial element of the contract only to bill additional charges as the project progressed. Having additional expertise from the onset could have added a level of scrutiny to increase the quality of candidate.

The current process relies on a hard copy form that is manually processed by the admin team then assessed by a housing officer. An online form will help reduce the paperwork and the resource intensive process.

As the new system is rolled out over the coming months, 9000 people on the housing register will be notified about the migration to the new system. Over an 18-month period from April 19 to September 20, the council webpage focused on applications to join the housing register had over 29,966 unique views from users indicating a consistent rate of people channel shifting to the online routes into housing assistance.

Screen capture technology has been used to create online training for staff as the system is rolled out. Customers will also benefit from this work as video guides will be put in place to answer common queries when filling in the forms.

Currently, pending user testing acceptance the projected savings from the project over the next 3 years from pre-covid-19 customer interactions the council can expect to save over £114,620. This includes complete channel shift from face to face appointments, reduced administrative time spent on processing applications and the impact of the booking appointment system with the remote scanning tool. The savings have been measured fiscally and translate into time resource for officers to reprioritise workloads alleviated through the digital offer.  

Key Tools and Approaches

The team attempted to pursue an agile project management approach, but it proved quite difficult to align approaches across two organisations with Home Connections practicing the traditional waterfall approach causing an inherent conflict with the council seeking to deliver in iterative sprints. Using the agile approach was key and making sure this lined up with partners was crucial.

Assessment on replicating an existing digital asset from Kent

The inspiration to use the existing video guides from Kent home choices was something that paid off for the team to save officer time through endless training queries. It also gives customers with an alternative before going straight to the council telephone line or office.