A £750,000 programme to modernise they way Lichfield District Council operates will help deliver services residents expect, the local authority’s chief executive has said.
Simon Fletcher made his comments at a meeting of the cabinet group this week.
The Being a Better Council project is looking to improve the way the authority operates by introducing technology and other methods to improve efficiency and create more digital self-service options for residents.
Mr Fletcher – who took up the role earlier this year – said the challenges facing councils across the country meant change was needed.
He added that the pandemic had accelerated the need to adopt more digital technologies.
“We are not unique in terms of financial constraints as an organisation – like the rest of our sector are living with a level of uncertainty about funding we will receive going forward.
“What we do know is that we have a funding gap that increases as we get towards 2025-26, so we have to do something about that.
“The leader has been very clear that he wants an alternative to cutting services, but this council is also looking for an opportunity to fund our ambitions rather than continually just get by.
“Since Covid-19 there has been a significant change in terms of behaviours of our residents. Clearly, some of that was enforced by lockdown, but our face to face interactions have reduced from 16,0000 a year down to 1,000 a year at the moment.
“Digital interactions are up from 12,000 a year to 45,000 a year – a significant bump in terms of digital take up. Call volumes have increased as well.
“This suggests that there is an appetite from our residents across the district to do things differently as well.”
Simon Fletcher, Lichfield District Council
The chief executive said residents had also been clear that they wanted to see more from the council.
“Every year we consult residents over budget priorities and ask them questions about overall satisfaction, value for money and what they think in terms of trust.
“Those responses are not where we want them to be.
“In January this year, 60% said they felt satisfied with us, but value for money was only 34%. The number who had trust in us was 62%.
“It was only a small sample, but clearly there are things there we need to consider.”
Simon Fletcher, Lichfield District Council
“We struggle to meet the expectations of residents”
Mr Fletcher also told the meeting that change was needed after admitting the council was “struggling to meet the expectations” of residents.
“We have a cohort of officers who work very hard and we do our very best to cope with demand we are facing.
“We’ve got some quality issues, we make mistakes and there are delays in the way we provide our services, and in some instances our performance is poor.
“We are very, very reactive and are fixed on firefighting rather than being proactive thinking about placemaking which the leader of the council is very clear that he wants us to do.
“I need to be able to generate capacity and ability to do that.
“Essentially, we struggle to meet the expectations of our residents.”
Simon Fletcher, Lichfield District Council
The proposed four-year Being a Better Council project was unanimously supported by Lichfield District Council’s cabinet.
Successive Conservative governments have cut local authority budgets by more than 60% during the past 11 years and brought local services to the brink of collapse. So it is hardly surprising that many local residents are dissatisfied with LDC provision.
Why does Simon Fletcher not acknowledge this in his statement – or does he fear retribution in the form of further cuts from this dreadful, bullying Conservative Chumocracy.
Another “Phone Options”and “Look online” system no doubt ? Nothing worse than calling and not being unable to speak directly with someone ? Only to be faced with the terrible music and press option 1 followed by option 2 followed by option 3 then to be told go online lol.
Very good point on forcing callers to hear some pretty nasty noise pollution.
Is silence so hard to bear?
I don’t like to doubt the chief executive’s conclusions, but could the increase in ‘digital interactions’ have something to do with the fact that the Council offices have been closed to the public throughout the pandemic, rather than residents’ desires to do things differently?
Just asking……
I think there is a need to recognise that a local authority chief executive such as Simon Fletcher is legally obliged to be apolitical, as he is required to serve all political perspectives without fear or favour, so has no capacity to speak publicly on behalf of his employer on the merits of national fiscal policies. He and his contemporaries just have to manage the consequences as professionally as possible. (As his statement implies). On the other hand , members of the governing body, i.e. elected councillors are more than able to express their sentiments about the consequences of national policies, as that is their forte, and is mostly dyspeptic.