Amongst our busy schedules, it was great to get (most of) the team together for our annual summer event at The Corinium Hotel in Cirencester. The sun was on our side (result), as we spent the afternoon sharing team successes, getting to know the newest members of the Govtech family, celebrating work anniversaries, and of course, participating in Alan’s infamous quiz!
We’ve recently returned from the IRRV Spring Conference 2024 in Milton Keynes and the aptly named theme, 'Facing the Future: Planning for Change', created quite a buzz. We shared many conversations about what’s currently happening within the industry and how the need to be digitally inclusive is more important than ever. Workloads are increasing as budgets tighten, and the pressure to do more with what you have is relentless. But what can be done to break this cycle? Well, we were on hand to share how our customers have used automation to create ‘space’ for a reallocation of resources to their collection and intervention priorities.
It seems a while ago but in the Chancellor’s Spring Budget 2024, there was a section focused on public service productivity, with services tasked to become more digitally inclusive, to explore artificial intelligence (AI) and to use automation to improve productivity. Although local authorities were not specifically mentioned in that part of the Budget, Ministers this week wrote to Chief Executives formally asking councils to produce productivity plans. Amidst some understandable groans, it remains the case that every forecaster is predicting continued pressure on council finances so, to many of us, this seems like déjà vu. Whoever forms a government after the next election will be looking to productivity as a means to increase capacity. As experts in Revenues and Benefits automation, we have a good understanding of how it improves productivity and increases capacity.
The digital age that we live in is ever advancing at an incredible rate. With the introduction of automation, productivity is enhanced, and the bottom line is ultimately maximised. But what happens when, for some reason, data has been entered incorrectly by a claimant and the system is then unable to accurately verify it against the database?
As you may have heard we work a little differently here at Govtech. We like to become one with our customers, forming a partnership where we are seen as an extension of their team. Over the last few months, apart from the everyday automation routine, we’ve worked on other projects with new and existing customers to help them create even more success. Here are a couple of stories where we’ve been delighted to have helped been a part of.
Earlier this month we attended the IRRV Annual Conference and Exhibition 2023 in Telford. Although we support many, if not most of the IRRV expos across the UK, this is by far the largest in our industry. And judging by how busy our stand was, it appears that the majority of local authorities across England and Wales attended – we got to meet our Scottish peers at their own Conference last month.
There has never been a better time, or a greater need, for automation in Council Tax. The end of Covid relief schemes and subsequent cost of living pressures have created a huge collection and recovery challenge for local authorities. Faced with severe financial pressures, the loss of expertise, staffing shortfalls, recruitment difficulties and increasing workloads, many Revenues Services are struggling just to stand still. It’s no surprise that FOUR FIVE SEVEN MORE councils (we've had three more since we posted this blog six weeks ago) have chosen to modernise and speed up collection processes through Govtech automation.
Recently, I completed a week of work experience at Govtech Solutions. I am a student at Pate’s Grammar School going into year 11, and I thought it would be a good idea to do some work experience during the summer. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to do so at Govtech, and it exceeded my expectations.
Automation has been on the local government agenda for several years now and we all have a pretty good understanding of what it is. Or at least we believe we do. But does it have the same meaning to everyone?
I joined Govtech as their project manager almost 10 years ago. I had just completed 24 years of service for a large London Local Authority, and that was me done; I planned to put my work in Local Government firmly in the rear-view mirror. However, there was one company I felt compelled to say a personal goodbye to, and that was Govtech.
In the current economic climate, more pressure than ever before is being put onto Local Authorities to save money and resources and of course automation plays a big part in that.
Our technological world is ever changing and ever advancing, so it’s more important than ever that we keep up to date with the world of data protection so that we can continue to keep our customers data as safe and secure as ever before.