To say that the past year has been tumultuous for local authorities is a vast understatement. That’s why now, more than ever, we must celebrate the successes of councils .
The start of the pandemic saw many of our customers take on exponential digital change in order to provide a consistent line of critical communication with citizens, but also to provide emergency services such as food parcels for the vulnerable who are self-isolating, as well as booking systems for public areas to ensure that social distancing rules can be adhered to.
That’s why we were delighted to see the work of several Granicus customers recognised at this year’s MJ Local Government Achievement awards, which were founded to celebrate the best in local public services.
It was especially encouraging to see Aberdeen City Council take home the top award for Local Authority of the Year. Its entry highlighted many of the ways its Digital First Programme has enriched the lives of residents in the area. Granicus’ govService and govDelivery platforms are among the key platforms that help to underpin Aberdeen’s Digital First programme by providing communications, self-service, and end-to-end processing amongst other capabilities.
In January 2019, Aberdeen City Council became the first local authority in Scotland to launch both school admissions and placing requests as a fully online process for all school types.
The govService platform enables customers to self-serve in areas including enrollments for P1 pupils; request placement for all mainstream schools and additional support needs (ASN) schools; application management; waiting list updates; and correspondence with the Council. More than 450 applications were made on the first day of launching and more than 2,500 applications within the first month. This end-to-end digital process, which provides assurance on compliance with legislative requirements, is the first of its kind in Scotland and a symbol of the innovation taking place in all areas of Aberdeen City Council.
To all of our customers who were nominated, highly commended, and awarded in at this year’s ‘virtual’ ceremony, congratulations. We’re proud to work with you and to help your messages and services reach the right people.
We hope that the upwards trajectory of digital change that has been brought about as a result of increased demand on services, will continue to grow and that our local authority customers continue to feel confident leaning on us as a partner for support with this.
Find out more about how customers up and down the UK are using Granicus solutions to improve interaction with citizens.
