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Tendring District Council has completed a programme to transform the way it delivers services to the community.
There were four strands to the project - IT, customer services, office transformation and people - which together have shaped the way the council will work in the future.
Some of the big changes visible to the public are:
- Closure and sale of the Weeley office site - the site is now closed, and is proposed to be used for a housing development including council homes
- A single reception centre for housing, benefits and revenues and other enquiries at our Pier Avenue offices.
- The MyTendring self-service portal for people to update their circumstances remotely, or in reception, without having to wait to speak to someone
- Refurbishment of offices to modernise and improve them
- Supporting staff to work more flexibly, including remotely 'in the field' or from home
For more details on each of the project strands, click on the headings below.
Altogether, the transformation project has helped the council to run more efficiently for the benefit of taxpayers.
Customer Services
One of the driving forces behind the transformation project is improving our customer service to residents and businesses.
Some of the key changes happening in this area are:
- Creation of a single customer services team as a point of contact
- Introduction of an online self-service portal where people can change their details and make enquiries - once, for all council services - from their home, or any other mobile device
Visit My Tendring to see what you can do, and create an account. - Revamped reception area with a self-serve area - again, a single point of contact, based in Pier Avenue, Clacton
IT Transformation
The IT aspect of the transformation project has four key strands:
- Network redesign - as offices are changed and teams moved, we are improving the Council's voice/data network to better support modern working practices and further enhance security.
- Cloud migration - moving the council from a physical storage system to a cloud-based system, allowing a 'pay-as-you-go' financial arrangement instead of regular investment in costly equipment with additional benefits in terms of flexibility and resilience.
- Customer service portal - working with the new customer service team to create a portal where residents and customers can create their own secure self-service accounts to update their own information and see balance of accounts and the like remotely. Click here to access the MyTendring portal.
- Leisure and tourism app - to promote and crowdfund for events such as the Clacton Airshow.
Download Love Tendring for free from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store for Android.
This work modernises the council's IT and allow staff to work more flexibly, including remotely from partner offices or from home.
Further Digital Transformation projects are being drawn up to take forward in the near future, including additional MyTendring and LoveTendring services.
People
The overall transformation project will have an impact on those who work at the council, in many different respects. The people element of the programme is there to make sure transformation is carried out with staff, not to them.
This will take place in several ways:
- Where people work in the future - perhaps from a new office, or maybe from home or remotely
- Training - especially in the new customer service portal, but also, for example, for managers whose team may now work remotely
- New office spaces - working with staff on choices over furniture, for example
Office Transformation
Tendring District Council owns a number of buildings and sites, some of which are ageing and cost a lot to repair. By streamlining the estate, the council can save money not only from selling off sites which are no longer needed, but also through reducing maintenance costs by spending some up-front investment. Upgrades to buildings being kept also reduce carbon emissions and energy costs.
The key pieces of work taking place are:
- Demolition of Westleigh House and converting the site into a car park - completed.
- Revamping Pier Avenue, including the creation of a new reception area as part of the customer service changes - completed.
- Refurbishment of Barnes House, including adding in a new internal connection to the neighbouring Pier Avenue office - completed.
- Building new office space at the Northbourne Road Depot - completed.
- Refurbishing Clacton Town Hall to create more flexible office space - completed.
- Closing the Weeley site - with teams re-locating to other offices. The site will then be sold - the site is now closed, with an ambition to build housing on it.
As a reminder, as part of the project the Housing Reception is now located at the Pier Avenue offices in Clacton.