Local authorities are ‘wasting’ two million man hours every year due to the hidden costs of delivering digital services, a new report is warning.
The annual National Digital Report from NDL found that the delivery of online services is still ‘slow and inefficient’ with many councils still re-keying data they receive through online services or via CRM systems.
The report also showed 50% of local authorities are re-keying more than half the data they receive via e-forms at a cost of £14m a year. It predicts that this could increase to £45m a year due to councils being only one third along the route to channel shift.
Declan Grogan, managing director of NDL, said: ‘There are some authorities which have embraced innovative digital service creation and delivery and have made real savings, underpinned by the appropriate technology to eliminate manual processes.
‘However, the vast majority of organisations have only implemented in sparsely selected areas and most are papering over the cracks by using manual labour to present allegedly end-to-end services.
‘By investing in technology to support efficient digital service delivery, this will not only improve service delivery to citizens but also save money, preserving it for care, education and supporting the communities in which we all live.’
