The report of the Executive Director of Health is attached.

Contact: Rachel Robinson (01743) 258918

The Committee received the report of the Executive Director for Health which provided an update on the progress made by the Customer Journey Programme, one of the key transformation areas identified to deliver the outcomes set out in the Shropshire Plan.

The Service Director for Strategy introduced and amplified the report.  He gave Members an overview and provided some context of what they were trying to achieve and how they were trying to do it. He explained that the customer journey project looked at the way in which the Council connected with its customers and aimed to improve this interaction by ensuring they received the appropriate services, via suitable channels be that in person, digitally or over the telephone. 

In terms of the digital approach, the aim was to have a ‘digital first’, but ‘digital by choice’ approach and he explained how that was being achieved.  It was hoped to have more digital contact in order to free up resources for those most vulnerable customers or those with additional needs.

He referred to their delivery partner, Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) who were supporting the creation of a refreshed customer strategy enabling better use of new and emerging technologies by providing specific skills and expertise that were not currently available inhouse.  He discussed the IT solutions being developed which would allow service provision 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and he touched on the development of five community and family hubs which would provide a physical space where residents could access Wi-Fi connectivity and computers, as well as staff who could assist with those requiring face to face support, and it was hoped to roll this out across the County.

The Service Director for Strategy referred to the project management governance and controls and the new Digital Delivery Unit (DDU), the mechanism by which this project was being delivered.

Members applauded the ‘digital by choice’ approach but wished to ensure that other routes were not obstructive.  In response, the Service Director for Strategy confirmed that they were consistent in the application of the customer strategy which stated that the Council was ‘digital first’, but ‘digital by choice’ so the other methods were not purposely made more difficult and the goal was to make the digital solutions ultra efficient.  He explained that the performance of all of the solutions were monitored and the customers asked for their views and a significant uptake had been noted following the launch of some of the digital solutions.  This also led to a reduction in call waiting times for other people.

A query was raised as to whether there was any feedback from those accessing face to face services about how easy or otherwise it was to contact the right person in the right department as this was felt to be a possible weakness.  In response, the Service Director for Strategy explained as it was an iterative roll out, they were finding that there was still some contact details on line which go direct to a service, but that was because they had not had the capacity to bring those into the end solution and centralise them and that was part of the goal of the project.

Concern was raised about the role of AI and customers speaking to robots.  The Service Director for Strategy gave assurances that customers could drop out of a call and speak to a person at any time, whether or not they got what they needed, and this was reiterated by the Head of Service for Automation and Technology.  It was also confirmed that AI was not being used as a decision maker, but as an enabler for the information that was already available. The Head of Policy and Governance assured the Committee that internal audit had been involved in the development of the AI policy and the roll out of the technologies, and it was included in the internal audit plan for 2025/26. 

The Head of Service for Automation and Technology updated members in relation to AI Governance and referred to the EU AI Act that had been passed and which introduced a tiered framework based on the type of technologies being used.  Currently, the Council were only using chatbots and voice automation which was deemed as being a limited low-level risk which was monitored very carefully.  He reassured the Committee that at the moment, there was no ambition for the Council to make AI take decisions, it was being used purely to automate a simple transaction.  In conclusion, he stated that the Council were trying to introduce technology where it made sense to do so.

RESOLVED:

To note the contents of the report and the ambitions of the customer digital programme, progress to date and the plans for the future.