Swansea Leader – Issue 34 – January 2005
THE people of Swansea are to receive better services and improved access to their council under exciting new plans.
Swansea Council is linking with a private company, Capgemini, to transform the way it meets customers needs.
Mary Jones, Cabinet member for top performance and service@swansea, said,
“The improvements are expected to generate many millions of pounds in savings and benefits which will be reinvested into front line council services.
“There will be a new emphasis on making it easier for customers to contact the Council and request services,” she added.
Customers will no longer be forced to travel to either County Hall or the Guildhall to meet staff.
And time-consuming telephones calls to the Council will become a thing of the past.
Instead, customers will be able to call a new call centre where highly trained staff will be able to deal with their requests without the need to transfer them between departments. This means customers will be able to speak to one member of staff who will handle any number of issues at the same time.
And for people who prefer to meet council staff face-to-face, a new central contact centre and community-based contact centres, where sufficient demand exists, will allow customers to drop-in and receive the same improved standard of service.
The Council will also extend opening hours so that customers can contact the authority in the evening or Saturday morning. This will make it easier for people who currently find it difficult to contact the Council during traditional office hours.
The internet will offer customers the chance to contact the Council, book sports facilities, theatre tickets or make service requests 24 hours a day.
Cllr Jones said, “All this will be made possible under the Council’s eGovernment programme which aims to provide better services, improve customer access and increase efficiency so that the Council spends its money more effectively.
“The Council will also make major improvements to the way it operates day-to-day that will benefit customers and our staff.”
New IT systems linking council departments and more modern working practices will reduce unnecessary work and waste. It will make the Council more efficient and able to quickly respond to customer needs.
