Visit our devolution and LGR hub for the latest information, support and resources
Councils are continually looking to innovate in order to deal with increasing demand and pressure to the services that they run on behalf of local residents. The past few years has seen digital service delivery becoming more and more relevant in increasing resident accessibility to services and delivering efficiencies. In March 2018, the LGA funded five councils to reuse the digital assets and learning from the Kent Home Choice Partnership project.
In March 2018, the LGA funded five councils to reuse the digital assets and learning from the Kent Home Choice Partnership project. This was to support local government respond to the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 and scale up across other councils the resources and assets developed under a previously successful LGA digital programme.
Through this programme the LGA harnessed the expertise of Smarter Digital Service (SDS), an arm’s length body of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, who developed the Kent Home Choice Partnership. The team at SDS developed and delivered a support programme with the LGA and the digital housing cohort – this included:
- 7 workshops – guiding the cohort through the agile project management process
- Offer of hosted visits to Tunbridge Wells District Council to demonstrate the online forms
- Offer of onsite visits from the LGA and SDS to the councils.
- 1 to 1 support and monitoring phone calls to discuss specific issues, challenges, developments and guidance.
- Group conference calls for the cohort to enable action learning sets on common issues, challenges and progress.
The participating councils have progressed with their projects at various stages of delivery. This case study series explores key points of learning, outcomes, challenges, the realisation of benefits, impact and how the mainstreaming of digital assets has been delivered.
Each project aimed to deliver the following:
- A homelessness triage service – to digitise initial assessments providing eligibility for assistance, to signpost the customer to alternative advice and support available to them.
- An online housing application pre-assessment form – comprising of key questions, to give early indication of acceptance onto the housing register.
- A redesigned online housing application form – a simplified version of the current form that would be ‘intelligent’ pulling the relevant information for the customer’s circumstances and housing need.