The challenge
Bracknell Forest Council (BFS) serves a population of over 125,000, growing faster than England’s average. Its digital team is focused on delivering better, more accessible services to all citizens across the Council, including its out-of-hours handling service.
Serving almost a million residents, the Berkshire Emergency Duty Service (EDS) team responds to crisis welfare and safety situations when everyone else has gone home. To support this hardworking team, BFC needed a holistic solution with a person-based view to handle multiple case types with specific workflows. The solution also needed to keep data secure while replacing manual processes to reduce errors and offer effective reporting.
More automated self-service
Moving away from a case-based siloed system, the EDS solution would need to offer more automated self-service, helping release the team from routine admin tasks so they could focus their energies where needed most.
EDS is the Berkshire out-of-hours service and the primary contact for the public and professionals with concerns about a child or vulnerable adult’s welfare and safety outside regular office hours. It’s also an out-of-hours Appropriate Adult Service responding to vulnerable adults, children and young people in police custody. When everyone has gone home, these professionally qualified social workers work under pressure in a fast-paced emergency service. Dealing with people in distress, they support the homeless, children who need protection and those having a mental health crisis. Cases are often very time-consuming, emotional and complex. Each situation must be carefully assessed, a solution recommended and/or a referral made.
Fit for purpose digital transformation
Digital transformation within Councils has become continuous and multi-faceted. As with the EDS service, the BFC digital team considers each stakeholder and need within a service, meeting requirements for :
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Accessibility in supporting vulnerable citizens
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The ability to self-serve in every design
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Legal compliance, e.g. preventing data breaches in external data sharing
They turned to Liberty Create, our low-code platform and Liberty Converse, our omnichannel contact centre, to meet these challenges.
“Providing easily manageable systems for our residents to access our services is our priority. As with all technology, advances in this area are constant and we are working to ensure our systems are providing the latest capabilities.”
John Harrison
Executive Member for Culture, Delivery and Public Protection, Bracknell Forest Council