Digital Strategy

Sunderland City Council Digital Strategy

We have created a digital strategy to:

• Improve how you can engage with us online
• Transform access and connectivity across the city
• Provide new, efficient ways of working

The strategy follows some key principles, to make sure it delivers excellent customer service:

• Accessibility
  We know there is not always a one size fits all approach. We will continue to provide and develop a range of ways to contact us to allow choice and convenience. We will make sure we do not exclude or unfairly disadvantage anybody. We will use research to find out why particular channels are or are not used. We will continue to develop channels to improve accessibility.
• Consistency
  However you contact us, your experience should always be the same. We want you to feel reassured when dealing with the council, whether that is in person, by telephone or online.
• High quality
  The way we deal with you any time you contact us should be efficient and courteous. Wherever possible we should meet your needs the first time you contact us. This could be by answering your query when you call or providing the right information on our website that is easy to find.
• Value for money
  The way we interact with you should provide value for money. Providing straightforward and convenient ways of using services online can also offer cost savings.

Making it simple to access information online and use self-serve tools where possible will let us offer more specialist and tailored advice to those who need it.

The strategy focuses on three main themes:

Sunderland is a city where we feel proud, passionate and inspired. We value our people and our people value their city.

Sunderland's smart city vision is one of an engaged collectives of people, places and opportunities. Opportunities to live, learn and earn - to grow as individuals and as successful businesses.

Our smart city plan connects people to places and a decade of social and digital transformation will accelerate city-wide improvements for generations to come.

For more information please visit the Smart Cities website

The City Plan approved by Council in November 2019 is clear about what we need to do to achieve our bold and ambitious vision to create a connected, international city by 2030 with opportunities for all our residents.

How our IT services and systems will underpin this journey is referenced in our IT strategy. Our IT strategy looks at:

• Supporting the delivery of the City Plan and its key priorities
• The changing business needs including the shift to digital, requirements for a more mobile workforce, building more opportunities for external and internal collaboration and compliance
• The developing technologies that can support this including keeping our hardware and software up to date, maintaining security, and looking into new technological advancements

Where we are now

From April 2023 to March 2024, we had an average of 65,000 users visit our website viewing a total of 467,000 pages on an average month. An average user would visit 7 pages every time they interacted with the website.

The number of visitors to our website that used a mobile device in this same period was 71%.

Our website has grown with new digital channels for many of our services. However, we know we have more work to do as some areas of the council have little or no digital offer and there are some inconsistencies across the different sites and systems we use, which we are working to improve.

We have an excellent level of compliance with accessibility standards.

Where we want to be

Our website, content and digital services are being redesigned with customer and service users at the centre of digital change.

We will listen to feedback from all our users and carry out research to ensure our content and services are accessible and usable by all.

We have a personalised account service to tailor customers interactions with us. We will deliver an improved version of our account service to enhance the experience users have of interacting with the Council.

All council services will be available online. Existing services will be redesigned to make them so easy to use they will be chosen over other options.

In 2021, over 75% of visitors to our website used a mobile device or a tablet to access our online content and digital services.

Our website and digital journeys will be redesigned and built to offer a consistent experience regardless of the device you use to interact with the council.

We will redesign and rewrite the content across our website to make it accessible to all residents.

Our digital services will be redesigned to ensure they meet accessibility standards and are intuitive and easy to use.

Our website and digital services will have a consistent design, branding and tone of voice to let you know you are dealing with the council as a trusted website.

Our ambition is to create digital content and services that are so easy to use that residents will prefer to use them over other channels.

However, we will offer assistance to all residents who need support both digitally and by telephone. We also have alternative channels available to anyone who needs more help.

Our priorities for 2024/25 are in line with Future Council Programme's Service Reviews:

• Maximising the development of digital solutions
• Identifying opportunities for digital improvements
• Increasing the digital skills of our workforce and communities
• Increasing the digital reach of our workforce and communities
• Increasing our use of insights to shape what we deliver

Digital services usage and volumes