20th December 2007, 07/451
Transforming for award!
Performance improvement is what West Lancashire District Council
does best. Now this has been recognised following news that we have
been short-listed for a prestigious award.
The council is one of six finalists in the crème-de-la-crème
national Local Government Chronicle Awards 2008 in the
'Transformational Government' category.
Sponsored by Northgate Information Solutions, the accolade
recognises how the use of technology has transformed service
delivery, helping it to become customer focused while also
demonstrating best value.
It's a real coup for West Lancashire to be named in the final
stages because it shows that the Council's innovative
'Organisational Re-engineering' programme - which it used as a case
study for the awards - is working well!
For this initiative, the Council has focused on improving services
for local people by reorganising Council services using technology
to provide better services, improved access and cost savings. This
has been done utilising special software packages, using the
website for online forms and developing a wide range of access
channels under the banner of 'click, call or come in'.
So far, it has been a fantastic success. For example, customers now
have far greater accessibility to Council Tax services than ever
before because many enquiries can be dealt with in the front office
environment. It has speeded up service delivery for customers
because Customer Service Advisors are now able to complete
electronic forms, which can be passed without delay, electronically
to the back office for processing by experts. Previously, customers
would have to complete forms and send them back to the Council to
be processed.
Cllr Adrian Owens, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Performance
Management, said: "I'm delighted that we have been shortlisted for
this prestigious award because it recognises all the work that we
are doing to provide excellent services which secures value for
money. Our truly individual way of working that combines the
re-engineering of services with the use of technology to provide
better services, improved access and cost savings is proving to be
a recipe for success and is ultimately benefiting the customer
experience."
The council won't find out whether it has won until March 2008 when
the winner will be announced.
Related information
> Council
news
> Contact
us