A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Council and councillors

Agenda item

MYACCOUNT

To receive a presentation on MyAccount from Andy Nix, Head of IT and Customer Services.

Minutes:

An introduction to MyAccount was given by the Strategic Director for Resources who highlighted the following points:

 

·         The new MyAccount system would be launched in early 2020. The system had been set up in response to customer demands to access more services online and to offer a system which allowed incidents and issues to be reported straight away.

·         Officers wanted to produce a system that was better than the majority of other Councils’ online account systems and to do so with a much smaller in-house budget.

·         Some of the benefits of the new online system included:

-       It could be accessed outside of normal office hours

-       A reference number would be given so progress could be tracked

-       Once an account was set up proactive information could be received

-       Further functionality such as integrated payments could be added

-       It had been designed to enhance the existing customer services channels

 

Following a screen demonstration from Andy Nix, Head of IT and CST, and further discussion, the following points were noted:

 

·         The level of engagement by residents with the new system would be carefully monitored so that other customer service channels could be reviewed. However it was the Council’s intention to always have multiple channels available as it recognised that some residents would not be able to access online services or may prefer to speak directly to someone either in person or by telephone.

·         Mr Nix confirmed that the site had been laid out so that it would meet the Government’s accessibility standards by September 2020. Members commented however that certain aspects, such as white font on pastel coloured icons, made it less accessible.

·         Members questioned whether MyAccount would overlap with ‘fix my street’ for reporting potholes.

·         At the moment, photos could not be uploaded on MyAccount when reporting a pothole however for other workflows, such as applying for a new bus pass, they could be.

·         Officers wanted to encourage customers to register as a user but guest access was available.

·         Users needed to be reminded that although they could go back and forth between pages, once they reached the final page and a reference number was created they could no longer go back to amend anything.

·         Members felt that better pictures could be used for the safeguarding icons as it was not very clear what they represented.

·         Greater consideration needed to be given to the language used so that it better reflected the words and language that residents would use.

·         MyAccount would be embedded at the end of a website page so that the entry point would be after having read a lot of information on the subject. However, if residents already had an account they could miss some of this information so Members recommended that signposting to the particular website page should also be included.

·         The Council would like to encourage people to use the online service, especially for more transactional services.

·       A benefit of being registered for the site was that tailored information e.g. councillors’ names, wards, bin dates etc. could be included.

·         Fixed reminders had not been built in yet to the site’s functionality, unless it was the same date for everyone. Members commented that reminders for blue badges and bus passes would be very useful for residents.

·         For those registered on the site, tailored information included planning applications local to the resident’s postcode.

·         Members would like registered users to have the option of emailing their ward councillors directly through MyAccount, rather than clicking through to mod.gov.

·         Response times and standards needed to be made very clear on the site and there should be close monitoring, once the system was live, of whether teams were delivering on these timeframes.

·         The fact an enquiry was logged on MyAccount meant officers could build dashboards and monitor service standards. 

·         Members requested a MyAccount+ that could be used by Parish Councillors and Members giving them access to additional services.

·         Training on the MyAccount system would be given to library staff and the front desk customer service assistants at the Council so that they could assist residents to use this portal.

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the Committee NOTED the demonstration of the MyAccount system.