Service Transformation Agreement requirement to halve ‘avoidable contact’ with citizens will focus attention on t-government initiatives.

The Society of IT Management (Socitm) has welcomed plans, announced with last week’s Comprehensive Spending Review, that it says will breathe new life into the Government’s ICT-facilitated transformational government programme.

The Service Transformation Agreement published by the Treasury forms part of the Government's new performance framework and sets out a vision for building services around the citizen. The document draws heavily on ideas set out in last December’s report Service transformation - a better service for citizens and businesses, a better deal for taxpayers, authored by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown’s special adviser Sir David Varney.

The STA sets all government departments and local government the objective of halving ‘avoidable contact’ with citizens by 2011. Councils will be expected to step up their efforts to cut out unnecessary and replicated contact with citizens and businesses and transform cumbersome and complicated processes, which, says the STA, are ‘as frustrating and costly for government as they are for staff and the customer’. Each unnecessary contact removed, says the STA, saves money and therefore provides greater value for money for the taxpayer.

Councils will be expected to report on their progress with this measure quarterly from a baseline that is to be established by April 2008. Data on the number of contacts it takes customers to complete key services representing the bulk of local authority service delivery will be collected through the local government National Indicator Set.

A Local Government Delivery Council (LGDC) has been established and will be responsible for leadership on service transformation on behalf of local government. This includes facilitating support for councils in implementing the STA, and developing mechanisms by which progress at the local government level will be monitored and evaluated.

‘We welcome the fact that the Service Transformation Agreement fully acknowledges the role of local government in transforming public services’ says Rose Crozier, President of Socitm, speaking at the Society’s annual conference in Belfast. ‘We are delighted that local government has been named as the lead on transformation for face-to-face services, and we welcome the establishment of the Local Government Delivery Council (LGDC). Socitm is seeking a meeting with the LGDC at an early stage to work out how it can best support delivery of the STA within local government.

Glyn Evans, who leads for Socitm on transformation, is a member of the LGDC and heads up at Birmingham City Council the largest transformation programme in local government says that the clear and simple target for reducing ‘avoidable contact’ is very helpful. Together with the 3% efficiency goal it will concentrate councils’ minds on making best use of technology to shift initial customer contact from face to face to the less expensive phone and web channels and find more efficient ways to process and track enquiries once made. “What is most important, however, is that we focus our efforts on driving up the levels of customer satisfaction with the services we provide. That is the real end game.”

Socitm will be developing a package of activity to help councils get to grips with what exactly will be required of them as a result of the STA, particularly in terms of measuring and then reducing ‘avoidable contact’.  .

Vicky Sargent or Peter Coates, Socitm Press Office
Tel: 0845 094 5641 email: vicky.sargent@socitm.gov.uk or peter.coates@socitm.gov.uk

Notes to editors 

The Service Transformation Agreement can be downloaded from the Treasury website at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/B/9/pbr_csr07_service.pdf