Middlesbrough is the fifth most deprived local authority area in England. Unsurprisingly, the challenges of the last couple of years have hit hard – not just for the Council, but for the thousands of residents who live within the authority’s 20 wards, eight of which are ranked in the top 10 most deprived wards in England.

The task of engaging meaningfully with customers during an unprecedented pandemic, quickly followed by an unforgiving cost-of-living crisis, has been considerable – particularly when you consider the local economic backdrop pre-2020.

The need to act proactively, to be innovative and forward-thinking, was vital. Council tax collection rates had continued to fall year on year and in 2020 its rates had dropped by 2.94% for charge payers of pension age and 19.04% for those of working age, compared to 2013.

Middlesbrough took the initiative, embarking on a six-month pilot with Voicescape – a customer engagement business that provides technical solutions to local authorities and social landlords - that has ultimately led to a three-year contract. Collectively, they created a ward-based approach to customer engagement that was aligned with the individual needs of residents.

Through the tried-and-tested Voicescape Collections solution, the Revenues & Benefits team could proactively engage with residents through bespoke automated messaging, harnessing the power of behavioural insights, data science, and digital communication to remove inefficient manual processes.

Mark Symmonds, Support Services Manager, Revenues and Benefits, said: “Voicescape has given staff more control over how they engage with customers and our engagement rates are higher as a result. Staff are happier covering the Voicescape line because they know the customer has chosen to connect to discuss their outstanding payments, so the conversation is far more productive.”

As with anything, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The cumulative total of Council Tax collected using Voicescape Collections during the first year of a three-year contract (2021/22 financial period) was £967,564.05 from 8,877 customers – increasing the engagement rate with residents in council tax arrears by 59%. This equates to an average of around £204 per resident. What’s more, this ward-based approach has not only created major efficiencies by eliminating costly and wasteful outbound calling activities, and driving inbound calls from residents, but it has helped to improve the wellbeing of vulnerable residents, while improving the wellbeing of staff, who are able to work more productively with customers who have chosen to connect with them.

In terms of the bigger picture, the use of Voicescape’s digital technology will free up human resources for services in need, while increasing income for the local authority to support other service delivery – a vital ambition as the Council continues to face the current economic headwinds.

If you would like to find out more about Voicescape Collections, visit https://www.voicescape.com/sectors/local-authority-support