Applying for free school meals or applying for a car-parking permit are just a few of the things which Swansea residents are being encouraged to do online to save themselves time and trouble.
Applying for free school meals or applying for a car-parking permit are just a few of the things which Swansea residents are being encouraged to do online to save themselves time and trouble.
Swansea Council has dramatically upgraded and streamlined its website and business processes to ensure that people can deal with them efficiently online.
Now the authority wants to raise awareness of the host of things which people can get online to do at a time that suits them, saving them a trip or time spent waiting in a call queue.
Clive Lloyd, Cabinet Member for Transformation and Performance said:
“Between April last year and March this year, there were over a 100 thousand calls just to the Environment call centre alone, that’s without taking into account all the other calls relating to other Council business.
“The call handling and Contact Centre staff are efficient and professional but if you want to deal with the Council outside of working hours there are a host of things you can do quickly and easily online.”
Cllr Lloyd said the local authority was in the middle of a drive to raise awareness of just what Swansea Council customers can do online.
He continued: “Every month for example, a huge 750 people on average come through the doors of the Contact Centre in the Civic Centre just apply for or renew their parking permits, which can easily be done online, along with a host of other things.
“Just a few of these include reporting fly-tipping, reporting a street light problem, applying for free school meals, reporting a dog-fouling issue…all of these things and a lot more can be done via our website.”
Swansea Council is hoping more people will deal with them digitally and have coined the hashtag #doitonline in a bid to raise awareness, as well as a dedicated webpage www.swansea.gov.uk/doitonline.
Alongside the push to get people to deal with them online , the Council is pulling out all the stops to help people get online.
Cllr Lloyd said: “Across the UK 20 percent of the population lack basic online skills, and ¾ of them are vulnerable, poor, disabled or older. We also know that lack of online ability costs people more so we have laid on free courses and drop in sessions which people at convenient locations in the city.”
The ‘Get Swansea Online’ campaign is designed too ensure that people aren’t missing out on the benefits of being online, such as job-hunting, keeping up with friends or shopping for bargains.
More details about courses and sessions can be found at www.swansea.gov.uk/getswanseaonline or call 01792 470171
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