MEDWAY CONSERVATIVES PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Medway Conservatives See Council Becoming Even More Accessible to the Public
Medway Conservative Portfolio Holders were delighted at the latest Cabinet Meeting to welcome the overwhelmingly positive results presented in the Council Plan Performance Monitoring Report. In particular, the transformation of the Council’s ways of working, and the adoption of digital improvements, have streamlined services to ensure that we are making it quicker and easier for Medway residents to access our services.
The Conservative Group are working hard to ensure that we are, as both a Group and a Council, able to reach, engage with, and assist more people than before through increased accessibility. A redesign of the Council’s website estate will soon see the launch of a new medway.gov.uk, which will be both more responsive, working smoothly across a broader range of devices, from smartphones to televisions. The redesign will make the site further accessible still, by making it easier to find the online pages members of the Public are looking for. This is a consistent aim of the Conservative led Council, which is focused on making the public experience as positive and straightforward as possible.
Further examples of this successful new way of working also include the redesigning of the way parents research school places for their children, resulting in 98% of applications now being done online. This has served to reduce reliance on the paper-based brochures previously posted to schools, and has led to a reduction of 3,000 letters, and related print saving of £12,000. With our e-newsletters gaining increasing popularity, and approximately 50% of our audiences reporting that they now hear about our events and news digitally, the Conservative Group is proud to be leading a forward-thinking Council, committed to community engagement.
Councillor Adrian Gulvin, portfolio holder for Resources, also said;
‘I am very pleased to bring forward the Council Plan Monitoring Report, which should be seen as a real celebration of the excellent results that we continue to achieve.
The digital transformation of our ways of working is changing the way that Medway residents interact with the Council - making access quicker, easier, and more convenient for members of the public as they go about their day. I am also extremely proud of the print savings that the Council has been able to achieve. Savings of over £12,000 mean that public money can be better spent in other areas to benefit Medway’s communities, whilst reduced paper wastage also decreases the negative environmental impact of printing.’
ENDS
For further information please contact: Naomi Collison, Political Assistant to the Conservative Group at Medway Council on 01634 332515 or [email protected]