Issue - meetings

Report by the Chief Operating Officer.

14.1     The Head of Strategy & Engagement IT&D introduced the report. It was outlined how the use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software technology and virtual assistants can increase efficiency, accuracy and productivity. The Corporate Management Team (CMT) has approved the proof of concept work on a virtual assistant Chatbot for the Blue Badge application process, which is one of the top five pages accessed on the Council’s website. The application process has a lot of repetitive steps which are suitable for automation.

14.2     CMT has also approved the business case for a software platform to enable other teams across the organisation to use process automation RPA technology on a service needs basis. There is a four stage plan for the development of new automated processes. A number of candidates for automated processes have been identified by services, including an application within the Social Services team for payments.

14.3     The Committee thanked officers for a very interesting report and discussed various aspects of the use of automated systems. It was confirmed that the intention is to use these systems to make better use of the resources we have now and to improve efficiency. The guiding principle is to use automated systems such as virtual assistants in situations where they work well, thereby freeing up human resources for the processes that people do best.

14.4     The Committee observed that it was important to retain the facility to be able to speak to someone where people need to access a service that way or need help at that point in the process. It was clarified that the automated applications are service led and are designed in conjunction with services so they will be tailored to their needs. They are not intended to take away the option of being able to speak to someone or to make them impersonal. There will always be ‘hand off’ points in the automated processes where it will be possible to speak to a human operator. By automating some processes, the intention is to give staff more time to deal with the more complicated enquiries. The use of virtual assistants is intended to enhance residents’ experience by allowing them to search across different sources of information.

14.5     The Committee commented that the use of office automation is a welcome development and area that scrutiny should continue to keep an overview of. There are clear advantages and the ability to bring together various sources of information on one place is very useful.

14.6     The Committee RESOLVED to note the update on the Council’s work to utilise automation to ease demand and increase efficiencies to support the Core Offer.