To gain authorisation to draw up to £490,000 from the council’s corporate reserves in the 2022/23 financial year to enable the commissioning and award, following a compliant tendering process of a contract to support the development and delivery of a digital and customer services strategy to accelerate the council’s digital transformation journey.

That:

a)    The Cabinet member for finance, corporate services and planning approves the agreed approach to digital and customer services transformation which is outlined in the report;

b)    The Cabinet member for finance, corporate services and planning approves expenditure up to the value of £490,000 from the council’s corporate revenue reserves to fund all necessary steps of the digital and customer services transformation approach;

c)    The Cabinet member for finance, corporate services and planning authorises the Director for Resources and Assurance to take all steps necessary, including entering into necessary agreements and procuring and awarding any relevant contracts up to the value of £490,000, to deliver the approach to digital transformation as outlined in the report.

1.             Do Nothing.  This is not recommended because the customer journey in engaging with the council is currently fragmented and delivered in a variety of ways across all teams in the council.  The digital infrastructure for both customers and staff is outdated and many systems are not currently integrated which does not allow for a smooth and streamlined process when contacting the council or sourcing information.  There are a number of different touch points across the council which do not allow for easily obtainable performance data during the customer journey and information sharing.