Digital switch as more residents deal with Calderdale Council online

Demand as a whole for Calderdale Council’s customer services continues to grow but by far the largest number of interactions is now done online.

Cabinet member for Resources, Performance and Business Change, Coun Jane Scullion (Lab, Luddenden Foot) reported to full council that by the end of December last year Calderdale had received more than two million visits to the council’s website.

In all 273,000 people had accessed services online, 173,000 had contacted the council by telephone and 41,000 people had received face-to-face support.

With more customers moving online, she said the number of calls coming through to the council’s contact centre had reduced by 9.94 per cent – 19,069 less – compared to the previous year.

“However, there was a peak in calls over the Christmas and New Year period when waste and recycling collections were off schedule at times.

“The team worked really hard to ensure that wait times and call answer rates were maintained,” she said.

Councillor Scullion said online transactions with the council were now up 7.9 per cent compared with the same period the previous year, with online payments made to the council now standing at almost £6 million.

“A push on digital services has resulted in encouraging increases in the number of customers signing up for waste day email reminders, direct debit and paperless billing,” she said.

The council was disappointed the Government had decided Universal Support which provided support to people on Universal Credit would not be contracted to local authorities next year with Citizens Advice Bureau nationally being awarded the contract for 2019-20.

“We are working closely with the CAB team to ensure a smooth handover and to minimise impact on customers, wherever possible,” she reported.