Govtech blog

In November 2008, as I approached my 50th birthday, I moved my family from Essex and escaped to the countryside of Gloucestershire with the desire to discover a completely new lifestyle.

Once settled in my new home I decided to start looking for a job, and in the Spring of 2009 came across an on-line advertisement for an ‘IDCS Operator’ for Govtech Solutions Ltd, based in Cirencester.

A YEAR TO FEEL PROUD ABOUT 

Without a doubt, 2022 was a challenging year for the UK. The pandemic, that seemed to have lasted forever, was slowly coming to an end and there was hope that everything might return to normal. But unforeseen events, like the Russian invasion of Ukraine, had a shocking impact on the global economy and, consequently, on everyone's day-to-day life. Energy costs reached previously unheard-of heights and exacerbated inflation.

The largest event on the Revenues & Benefits calendar, the 2022 IRRV Annual Conference & Exhibition in Telford, held at the beginning of October was as usual well attended, vibrant and informative with many brilliant speakers delivering their thoughts on most important topics impacting local authorities. We’d like to thank the Institute for organising such a valuable event.

Monday September 12th was a very special day for Govtech this year, as two of our colleagues, Catherine and Andrew, said ‘I do’ in front of their family, friends and co-workers and united in marriage.

What unusual property do the words Flour, Tern and Thirsty have in common? Take out one letter and they each spell a Number!

The answer seems obvious once you know it, doesn’t it? Alan, our Client Service Manager & DPO, put us through our paces with his quiz once again when we met for our annual summer outing. This year, our traditional BBQ was replaced by a pizza party at a Cirencester venue which we have visited before on several occasions: the Corinium Hotel. After a few rather miserable rainy days, even the weather was kind to us, and that Friday afternoon turned out to be unexpectedly sunny and warm which allowed us to enjoy al fresco dining.

After an extremely thorough due diligence process, including hours spent speaking with existing Govtech customers such as Salford City Council, Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council and Plymouth City Council, we’re delighted that Leeds City Council, the second largest local authority in the UK, has selected Govtech to deliver end-to-end automation in Revenues for up to 4 years under G-Cloud.

Last January, after Christmas and New Year celebrations were curtailed again, we saw off the peak in Omicron infections without these translating into mass hospitalisations. Finally, we could hope for a gradual return to some sort of normality, including being able to fly off somewhere for a summer holiday. What a difference 6 months makes!

We’re delighted to announce that, after a 4-year interlude, the City of Wolverhampton Council has chosen Govtech once again to deliver digital process automation for Council Tax and Benefits. In the intervening period, Wolverhampton separately helped Govtech initially to design, and was the first to deploy, Govtech’s Universal Credit Digital Service (UCDS). Now, in a decision which reverses the switch to a competitive offering, Wolverhampton will re-adopt the full suite of Govtech digital process automation services in Revenues & Benefits.

What are your expectations and aspirations for automation in Revenues & Benefits? Who set these expectations? Are your aspirations high enough? Are you worried that using automation will mean losing control? We want to shatter some myths.

Its always a busy year end so we’re delighted that our customers have taken time out from annual billing, and even more rebates, to renew or extend our digital process automation services. We’re fortunate to have a strong and loyal customer base, so we’d like to express our thanks to the following councils, who have once again chosen to remain a part of the Govtech family:

Once again, another challenge, another burden faces Revenues teams as the Government look to local authorities to administer the £150 Council Tax energy rebate. As soon as we heard the news, we asked our customers to join a discovery call to see how automation can help them; it became apparent very quickly that it could. So, we delved deeper into what we could do for them (and non-Govtech customers) to overcome this latest challenge.

Let’s explore the issues…