Successful app now available for all Councils
Councils across the country are now able to take advantage of a free new app which enables residents to report suspected fraud and environmental issues and is based on Telford & Wrekin Council’s Everyday Telford technology.
This follows the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) agreement to fund the development of the app, which has been done in partnership by Telford & Wrekin Council and Telford-based Bronze Software Labs Ltd.
The new app available to other local authorities is called Council as a Service and follows the success of Everyday Telford.
Everyday Telford was launched in 2013 and allows residents to report issues that they spot around the borough instantly.
Benefits of reporting using the app include:
- Real time reporting
- Adding a photo of the issue is easy
- No need to wait on a busy phone line to report
- Less chance of forgetting to report
- Quicker reporting = quicker response to issue
The easy functionality of the app and the ability to report issues in real time saw efficiency savings of £5,000 made in the first three months alone.
Since October, new functionality within the app now enables members of the public to also report benefit fraud and other compliance issues.
The success of the app now means its availability is being opened up to all councils as ‘Council as a Service’ (CaaS).
Council as a Service will be free to all Councils until 2018, allowing authorities to implement this incredible service and realise savings immediately.
Benefits of the new app to other councils are:
- Fully customisable forms, which allows each council to capture all the information they need to resolve a job at the initial contact
- Functionality to allow councils to create their own forms
- Push notifications to inform a customer when an issue they reported has been resolved
- Branded as individual organisations
- Pre-loaded with a number of fraud, compliance and environmental maintenance forms that councils can customise
Reporting functions currently available through the app include; Pot holes, counterfeit goods, fly tipping, benefit fraud, missed bin collections, street lighting, street cleaning and taxi complaints to name just a few.
By encouraging people to use CaaS to report rather than phoning the Council directly, savings of approximately £5-£8 per transaction will be secured.
Add on to that the potential savings that could come from the fraud reporting tools, for instance recouping fraudulent benefits and reducing the amount being paid out in benefits and the scope increases considerably.
Councils that sign up to CaaS can have the product branded to their own authority and tailor the app to meet the needs of their area and customers.
Councillor Lee Carter, cabinet member for Finance and Service Delivery, said: “Telford & Wrekin Council has worked hard with Bronze Software Labs to create a product that is easy to use and delivers quantifiable results both for those using the app to make reports and for the Council in the form of demonstrable savings.
“We have developed what is ultimately an off-the-shelf product that other local authorities can brand up and use to start making savings in their own areas immediately.
“This project has the potential to deliver a significant return on investment that could realise savings on a national scale.”
Sarah Hall from Bronze Software Labs added: “In these difficult financial times we are aware that all businesses, particularly public sector ones, are trying to save money but also striving to provide a better service.
“This app will do both of those things by allowing a council to facilitate a shift to a digital channel, in turn reducing the manual intervention required to process reports coming in from the public.
“We have developed a fast, reliable, proven service that will engage with the general public and members of staff in a very natural way – straight to their mobile phones.”
The app has been featured in the Local Government Association’s ‘Transforming local public services’ report as a case study and its infrastructure has been identified as the benchmark of good practice for local authority apps.
Councils that are interested in signing up to this free service should go to www.council.services or contact Bronze Software Labs Limited (01952 288215).
