Sheenagh Reynolds, Assistant Director Digital at the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), gave this presentation at our Really Useful Day for Suppliers, 29 November 2013, in London.
The presentation was about the context for the Local Digital Campaign: where local government is at the moment, how many of its transactions are online, challenges facing local government and the work of the Local Digital campaign.
3. It’s diverse in tasks…
(but 53% are requests for information)
Most popular council digtial services
(SOCIT M, Better Connected 2013)
0
2000000
Council Tax
Rubbish and recycling
Planning
Libraries
4000000
Libraries
Housing
Environmental Health
Rubbish and recycling
6000000
Schools/youth
Highways
Parking
Rubbish and recycling
8000000
Rubbish and recycling
Parking
Council tax
Housing
10000000
Job vacancies
Libraries
Leisure facilities
Parking
12000000
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4. It’s diverse in quality…
by service and authority
Task
`
Achieving
standard
2013
Pay parking fine
72%
Find out how to apply for housing
68%
Find out opening times for council tip
64%
Apply for older persons bus pass
64%
Apply for a council job
58%
Reserve a library book
53%
Find out about getting help at home
47%
Find out about my councillor
47%
Find opening times for local swimming pool
44%
Find help in starting new business
41%
Report pothole
40%
Dispose of old bed
34%
Find out about free nursery place
34%
Object to a planning application
32%
Rating of council websites
4*
3*
2*
1*
Source: SOCITM Better Connected survey of UK
councils, 2013
4
5. And like central government…
struggles for take up with a few exceptions
75% school admissions
online 2013
5
6. (familiar) challenges facing local
government digital
•Budget reductions, rationing, channel shift, managing
demand
•Lack of Leadership
•Service managers not engaged
•Lack of focus on the customer
•Diminished in-house capacity
•Inflexible supplier arrangements/vender lock in
•Difficulty of engaging suppliers, existing and new with
the new agenda
•Complex joint working arrangements – health, police,
other councils, private sector suppliers, community
organisations
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7. In our new localist world, so what?
•It’s all “government” - the public (understandably) don’t
understand the complex delivery landscape
• Delivery of many central and local services mutually dependent
•Councils are key providers of Assisted Digital and Digital
Inclusion
•Councils are key parts of the local digital economy; and big
buyers of digital services
•Demand in local government to learn more about GDS, GOV.UK
•For little effort we can help accelerate the pace of digital
transformation
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8. Under development - Central Links
Discovery days – to engage local government with central government
transformation and to identify blockers where central government can help local
digital transformation
Hot Topics – develop digital role for Heads of Service in local government. Based
on GDS Service Manager programme. Includes sessions on Procurement, User
Needs, Agile approach, Performance Dashboards and ID Assurance.
Ask Local – informal consultation events for central government with local
government
Share Local – events to re-use and share GDS/Local Authority assets
Local Inclusion – working together on Digital Inclusion and assisted digital
8
10. Outcomes by March 2015
Supported public service transformation; providing
better services for less
Developed digital capacity within local government and
central government
Provided extra economies of scale for central
innovations
10
11. Local Digital Campaign
•Campaign: Working with UKAuthority to amplify our messages to local
government and the wider sector. Dedicated media channel to promote
development of excellent local digital services and promote the activities of all
members of the fledgling Local Government Digital Alliance
•Audience: The Campaign will engage chief executives, senior management and
digital leads across the UK’s 433 councils – including heads of customer service,
transformation and the major service heads, finance and procurement, technology
and digital teams. Police, fire, health and related central government teams will
also be invited to participate.
•Government/Supplier partnership: The campaign is funded through DCLG
resource and matched funding from the supplier community. A specific aim is to
create a representative but ‘vendor neutral’ space by engaging with ten of the large
and ten SME key players in the sector
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12. Sheenagh Reynolds MBE
Assistant Director Digital
Department for Communities and Local
Government
Sheenagh.Reynolds@communities.gsi.gov.uk
@sheenagh
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sheenagh