Northgate-is - News Item 966

Citizen services in Melton Borough Council improve in record time

A partnership between Melton Borough Council and Northgate Public Services has led to the rapid improvement of services for local citizens, at a time when hard pressed local authorities are faced with increased demand for quality public services.
 
Northgate’s citizen relationship management solution was installed in just twelve weeks, faster than the standard time of four to five months for such systems. The partnership enables Melton Borough Council to provide better and faster services. Council staff benefit from seamless integration with back office systems that grant them with access to all the information they require. As a result, citizens can get reliable answers to their queries on council tax and benefits at the first point of contact.

The innovative solution has proven vital to the rural area of Melton. Citizens now have better services available to them with a reduced need to travel. Council staff also benefit from a simple interface, an easy to learn system and speeded up transactions. The user friendly nature of the system has allowed Melton to empower non-specialist advisors, freeing up specialist staff. 

Melton Borough Council has been working with Northgate since 1992, using Northgate systems in revenues and benefits and housing, providing the highest quality service to its citizens in the most cost-efficient way. 

Jill Simpson, Customer Services Manager, Melton Borough Council said: “The implementation went extremely smoothly. This solution gives us an easy to use platform for handling citizen queries reliably at the first point of contact. Northgate staff ensured that the system went live on time and without problems.”

Russell Osborne, Managing Director of Citizen Solutions at Northgate Public Services said today: “We are very proud of the work we are doing with Melton Borough Council. Whilst the Council gains from the quick implementation of the service, it is the local citizens that benefit from better and faster services. Every member of our local communities should enjoy high quality public services, especially those considered most vulnerable, and that is what Melton has achieved.”

For more information
Fellows’ Associates
Kathy Sutton   +44(0)20 7324 6221; +44(0)7966 890401
Konstantinos Makrygiannis +44(0)20 7324 6222; +44(0)7949 421356
 
Notes to editors

1. Northgate Public Services is an innovative provider of transformation and improvement services to the public sector. It is committed to high quality public services that place individuals and their communities at their heart. Its knowledge and understanding of people’s needs are core to its business, as too, is its depth and breadth across public services.

2. Northgate’s task is to enhance public value through the intelligent use of people and technology; to understand why and what change is necessary; to provide new thinking leading to improved performance; and to link company rewards with positive outcomes for the communities for whom it works. It supports transformation through sustainable performance partnerships.

3. In the UK, Northgate works with ninety five per cent of local authorities, every police force, and a large number of health organisations, housing associations, utilities and transport companies. Founded in 1969, the company has nearly 8,000 employees.

4. ‘Front Office’ is Northgate’s leading citizen-relationship management system, helping public sector bodies to improve transactions with customers, track the progress of queries, and review performance and other management information.