WIREDGOV

A south London borough has saved over £400,000 in running costs over the last three years by encouraging its residents to pay, report and request things online rather than picking up the telephone or visiting the council offices.  

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames has invested in its website (www.kingston.gov.uk) and Customer Relationship (CRM) technology so it can offer online services more akin to commercial companies than local councils.  

The approach is paying dividends.  In April 2015, online self-service transactions exceeded 50% for the first time, meaning that more people are choosing the website over all other forms of contact put together.  Just three years ago, only 15% of transactions with the council were carried out online.  This is delivering significant savings as online transaction are far more cost-effective to process than telephone, email or face-to-face.

Residents in Kingston can use their council website to do dozens of things including: reporting a pothole, requesting a Building Control inspection, applying for a council tax discount and paying for a garden waste collection service.  

The responsive design website works well on all screen sizes, so residents can transact at times and in places that suit them.  A third of visitors to the council website are now made from people using tablets or smartphones.

Councillor Gaj Wallooppillai, Deputy Leader at Kingston Council, said: 

“Online self-service is quickly becoming the preferred choice for our residents when contacting their council.  It’s convenient for them and cost-effective for us.  We recognise that not everyone wants to deal with their council via a website, so we will retain high quality telephone and face-to-face channels for those who want or need them.  But any councils that are not seriously exploring channel shift as a way of saving money and protecting frontline services is missing a trick.”

Kingston Council is continually exploring new ways of making online self-service a more attractive and convenient option for its residents.  The next priority is a full roll-out of webchat, following a successful trial.

Notes to Editors

The channel shift figures quoted in this press release exclude Penalty Charge Notice and Council Tax payments.  Online self-service or automated telephone line are the only payment options for these two services, so inclusion would misrepresent the facts.  Including Penalty Charge Notice and Council Tax Payments would see online self-service account for just under 70% of all transactions.