Warwickshire council officers asked to produce a new data over concerns about a digital divide

Officers dealing with complaints and other customer contact at Warwickshire County Council have been requested to produce a new strand of data over concerns about the digital divide.

Councillor Sarah Boad (Lib Dem, Leamington North) asked for a breakdown of how people get in touch with the authority, particularly those who do not engage with internet-based services.

“I am picking up more and more about the digital divide,” she said.

“Residents who are not on the internet are, I think, getting more and more disadvantaged because the systems don’t compute for people who are not on the internet.

“What proportion of these contacts are actually coming in by phone, and are residents who can only contact us by phone disadvantaged in any way because they don’t fit into a nice, neat system?”

Council officers did not have those figures as part of the annual customer feedback report that was being discussed by the county’s resources and fire and rescue committee but strategic director for resources Rob Powell moved to reassure councillors that other methods were being complemented by, not replaced with, online routes.

“We are very much looking at channel match, not channel shift. We need a range of ways to contact and engage with the council,” said Mr Powell.

“People can contact the contact centre or walk through our doors and go into a library, we have many places in the county where you can get face-to-face or telephone support.

“Many people don’t want that, they want digital and they want better digital, which we are building and catering for. We also have the new digital inclusion project where, through the libraries, we offer devices that you can even borrow now with support from library staff.

“It is a library and information service so there is that additional offer there for anyone who is digitally excluded with the take-up positive.

“We are trying to cater for people’s preferences without forcing them down the wrong type of contact.”

The report acknowledged that “some service areas also receive communications from customers directly which are not always logged on the Contact Us system, such as emails or postal letters”.