current pilots in t-gov/take-up/channel management

Esd toolkit (IDeA) are a brilliant lot, they are the e/t gov community of local authorities and they are keen to find out answers to the real problems that councils experience trying to implement "transformational government".

Not only did they spearhead the take-up campaign and undertook an extensive study of take-up of online services, they have piloted with 13 councils on "customer profiling" against the LGSL (local government services list) to understand demand issues, take-up, channel migration etc. The first report ought to be out but I haven't been able to locate it yet. More about the pilot on: http://www.esd.org.uk/esdtoolkit/News/NewsDetail.aspx?Item=368

The LAs included in the pilot are: Chorley, Ealing, East Northamptonshire, Enfield, Havering, Lancashire, Lewisham, Luton, Mendip, North East Derbyshire, Redbridge, Waltham Forest, & Wokingham.

The backdrop to this pilot matches the policy environment of my research 100%: LG White Paper, Lyons "place-shaping", Varney/transformation, CSR07 etc.

Note: I need to get my hands on it!

On the new performance framework, NI 14 - reducing avoidable contact (http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/543055)

Since the CLG are sponsoring this study on customer profiling, they seem to accept that there is an interest in trying to understand channel migration issues. It doesn't take an economist to figure out that the web is a far more cost effective delivery channel - indeed some parts of the CLG seem to be thinking in these lines. It is therefore bizarre why the NI 14 "reducing avoidable contact" (part of the 198 indicators in the new performance management framework for LAs) is solely focusing on "getting it right first time" and reducing "failure demand". SOCITIM rightly point out in their response to the draft handbook of the NIs that every contact where an alternative web (self) service option exists should be an avoidable contact, and the indicator should therefore include an element of channel management (which is doesn't). Anyone who has read the "Transformational Government - enabled by technology" strategy would agree that maximising the use of the web channel should be at the heart of LAs efforts to be more efficient.

If there was just a tad more "joined up" thinking inside the department, we'd be better off with more coherent targets...