It should be easy for people to communicate with us
We want to make sure our online services are easy to use and designed with input from you, our residents, so that the services we offer are the services you need.
We will increase the number of customers who make contact or request services online and reduce the number of those who contact us in more traditional and expensive ways, such as by telephone or in person.
We will engage with our residents and help build confidence in areas from basic computer literacy through to the professional skills which are needed to access the jobs of the future.
These services will deliver improved value for money for the council and encourage and enable greater independence for our residents.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council is committed to delivering the best outcomes for the citizens of the East Riding. We want to make our customers the focus of everything we do. We will listen to understand what our residents and businesses need and respond appropriately to put in place affordable services which are easy to use and access.
The ways that customers can contact the council has evolved over recent years reflecting innovations in technology and changing customer expectations. We want our digital services to become the contact method of choice for customers and will do this by providing convenient and easy ways of accessing our services and making every contact count.
Download East Riding of Yorkshire Council Customer Strategy 2022-2026 (pdf 2.7mb)
Accessing information and completing council services is increasingly happening via a host of different contact channels and we need to ensure that customers can access the same information or services in multiple different ways.
The Council's Customer Strategy aims to 'put customers at the centre of everything we do, improving and delivering the best service we can.' The Access East Riding programme was developed to deliver the Customer Strategy and help us to use the Council's resources more effectively, whilst ensuring that those customers who require more help and support to use online services are not left behind.
Whilst digital technology has become a lifeline for many people during the Coronavirus pandemic, there remain many who are unable to access the benefits and choice it can bring, which has further exposed the “digital divide”, ie, the links between digital exclusion and social and economic disadvantage.
This includes some who are clinically vulnerable to Coronavirus, such as people aged over 70 – this group are also more likely to have limited or no internet access or low levels of digital skills.
Now that the world has shifted to relying on technology as the norm, rather than the exception, there is a risk that these people and others facing similar challenges will become even more digitally excluded.
The ‘Community Digital Champions’ project is enabling community-led digital training to improve resident access to online services.
The project is being run in partnership with the Smile Foundation as well other partners within the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) Health and Wellbeing Alliance network.
Good computer and digital skills are essential for most jobs, for study or for everyday work and life situations. The council’s Adult Learning and Employability team provide a full range of computer and digital skills training for adults across the East Riding.
The Your Life Your Way programme is transforming the way adult social care services are designed and delivered in East Riding of Yorkshire.
The Your Life, Your Way website provides access to social care in the East Riding, as well as support and guidance on how to remain independent for longer.