Case Study
High Peak Borough Council streamline their ‘Councillors Initiative Fund’ creating a robust, auditable process, whilst saving time and money.
SR Capture took the time to understand our requirements and deliver a solution to meet the different needs of everyone in the process.
Kerry Towers,
Assistant Policy Officer - Consultation
Summary
- Manual process administration generated hundreds of emails and took weeks of staff time
- Process was slow, time consuming and not easily auditable
- Forms available online, mobile and on paper
- Process now transparent and auditable
- Application, approval and award now possible in desired timescale with minimal manual intervention
Background
Local councillors within High Peak Borough Council are given a fund each year to award to projects benefiting their ward. With 28 wards and 43 councillors, the administrative burden of manually processing potentially hundreds of applications each year was huge.
The council already use Teleform and eForms provided and supported by SR Capture and having worked closely with SR Capture’s staff for many years we identified the need for a better way to manage the application and approval process.
Solution
Rather than trying to automate the existing process, we took the opportunity to redesign and introduce areas such as automated response and reporting to give the council even more benefits.
The main process was broken down into 5 stages; the application, councillor response, management approval, financial authorisation and payment. For each stage a validated eForm (with paper option available) was designed to both collect, and where required, display all the information required to make the correct decisions. For example, a councillor will see the application form and also their available funds whilst a manager will see the application form and all councillors forms associated with the application. Response to, and continuation of, each stage is automated, with reminders given in the event of delays to ensure targeted response times are met.
The administrators of the process have access to reports showing the current situation and providing all the data required for end of year published reports. Each form is archived so the entire process is transparent.
Outcome
Quickly implemented, the solution now automates the entire fund process from application, councillor decision, management approval, finance authorisation and reporting. Electronic forms allow access online or on tablet devices collecting validated details, with paper versions handled where they are still encountered.
Fund awards can be made quickly, benefiting the community, within a process that is accountable and transparent. Skilled staff are now no longer manually dealing with endless forms and emails.