Case studies

When a major incident occurs, for example a flood or a terrorist attack, a range of public and private sector organisations in the location affected, must work together in order to protect human life, support the continuity of everyday activity, restore disrupted services and uphold the rule of law.

The forms included e-payment functionality and integration to back-office systems.

In support of Reading Borough Council's Digital Strategy, which aims to encourage more people to do their council business online as well as to promote greater digital inclusion, Reading has developed a digital volunteering scheme.

Recognising contact handled by its Revenues and Benefits service was mainly phone or face-to-face, and related to basic account enquiries or changes of circumstances, Newcastle-under-Lyme developed a customer portal for council tax and business rates, providing greater convenience for residents and reducing costs.

Test Valley Council replaced its existing CRM system with an online Citizen Access tool for council tax, allowing residents to view account details, submit changes of address, apply for or cancel a single person discount, set up a direct debit or sign up for e-billing.

Partners Christchurch and East Dorset Councils identified licencing as an area of high demand and volume, with the majority of the process being handled offline.

The research underlined how a nuanced approach is required and led to the production of a channel shift toolkit. The research findings underpin the borough's channel shift implementation strategy.

Breckland Council in Norfolk and South Holland District Council in Lincolnshire have a shared management model and have jointly launched a comprehensive transformation programme that includes an important work stream on digitalisation.

Southampton City Council is developing its website to fully tap the local population's capacity for online self-service.

Newcastle faces a tough financial future. In order to meet its targets for reducing costs, the council recognised that it had to deliver solutions that would promote greater customer self-service, enable its workforce to operate more effectively, and promote closer collaboration with partners and community groups.