The Commission RESOLVED to take this as the last item on the agenda so that it could move into a closed session for discussion of commercially sensitive information.

Sophie Ellis, Assistant Director of Business Improvement, introduced the report and said that, although further progress had been made since she last attended the Commission, the programme had been frustrated by continuing delays in the delivery of functionality. Commercial negotiations with the supplier are continuing. The contract expires in May 2018 so officers are exploring the best option of ongoing support and hosting for the technology.

In response to questions about the initial timetable, planned completion date and whether much had been achieved, Sophie Ellis said that the initial planned completion date at contract award stage was April 2016 and the final date is not clear at present. In terms of progress made with moving customers towards online transactions, Sophie Ellis said that there were many services now provided online that had not been previously and that this was a significant step forward for the council.

Sophie Ellis said that the increased use of online services by the public had been achieved without publicity and that there had not been a reduction in the provision of telephone or face-to-face support for residents. In terms of equality of access and digital inclusion, Sophie Ellis said that the Council’s strategy was for those channels to remain open and that the website would meet accessibility standards and be easy to use.

In response to a question about the level of savings that had been achieved as a result of the customer contact programme, Sophie Ellis undertook to provide details of this to members of the Commission. ACTION: Assistant Director of Business Improvement.

Members asked for some reassurance that various Apps for reporting streetscene issues could still be used – there had been reports from residents being unable to use these and, when used, not receiving a response from the council. Sophie Ellis said that the council’s policy is definitely to allow these Apps to continue to be used and that following the previous update she had worked with colleagues to ensure this was the case and that there were no technical issues that prevented requests from being received. Sophie Ellis undertook to raise the issue with colleagues to ensure that service requests were being received and responded to. ACTION: Assistant Director of Business Improvement.

The Commission RESOLVED that the public be excluded from the meeting during further consideration of this item on the grounds that it is exempt from disclosure for reasons of commercial confidentiality.

Open/public minute of exempt session

Sophie Ellis outlined the commercial discussions that were being undertaken with the supplier and provided further detail on this and on the options that were being considered for ongoing support and hosting for the technology. She also discussed some of the lessons learned with the Commission and said that there would be a thorough evaluation of this in due course.

In response to a request, Sophie Ellis undertook to provide members of the Commission with the total cost of the customer contact programme to date. ACTION: Assistant Director of Business Improvement