MALVERN Hills District Council is one of three authories which will have its customer services jointly run as part of a new deal expected to save up to £2.6million.
Worcestershire County Council and Worcester City Council make up the trio which have signed an eight-and-a-half year agreement with Civica, a market leader in specialist systems, to manage the customer contact centres, telephone and email services.
They were previously provided by their own staff through the Worcestershire Hub Shared Services (WHSS).
Ivor Pumfrey, head of community services at MHDC, said: “WHSS provides a wide range of services to a large and diverse population.
“The new partnership will ensure we deliver a quality service to customers through whichever way they choose to contact us and provide a greater long-term resilience to sustain these key services.”
Civica will look to increase the use of online services by customers through the three councils’ websites and will introduce new processes and use IT to achieve savings and improvements.
More than 50 members of staff have been transferred to Civica as part of the agreement.
Simon Downing, Civica chief executive, added: “There is growing pressure on all organisations to think and act differently.
“As a strong and stable partner for local government with a successful track record, Civica is helping the three authorities to maintain and improve services through a combination of specialist expertise, efficiency and innovation.”
