Citizens in Carlisle will now be able to access all of the council’s services through a series of electronic forms and real time access to Housing Benefits, Council Tax, Non Domestic Rates and Capita CRM as well as central government services. The Council is one of the first to allow access between the customer and the Government Gateway.

John Nutley, Head of Information Systems at Carlisle City Council said: ‘By linking with the Government Gateway the customer experience is now of a single view of public sector services rather than a disparate one. Carlisle citizens now have single access to multiple agencies as well as their own local council which places us at the forefront of councils in the UK.’

In addition to an improved customer service, the e-citizen solution will allow the council to service customers in a more effective way. Each electronic form received means one less call that needs to be dealt with by their customer services unit. Driving the usage of online services is key for the Council and they have identified the cost saving associated with this.

Deane Greenouff, Business Manager at Capita Software Services said: “We are pleased to implement Capita’s e-citizen software allowing Carlisle County Council access to the Government Gateway. This will simplify the Government Connect registration process, reducing time and costs as well as improving customer service and accessibility.’

Capita was recently awarded status approval for their e-citizen solution by the E-Delivery Team (EDT) through its Government Gateway Alliance Programme (GGAP). This is part of the Cabinet Office e-Delivery Team’s ongoing commitment to work in partnership with key IT suppliers in delivering the Government Gateway and related services across the Public Sector.

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