"Extremely positive" review of OneVale project

Review of OneVale Project

The Wales Audit Office has welcomed the progress of a £14m project aimed at revolutionising the work of the Vale of Glamorgan Council.

 

Based around the imaginative use of latest technology, the council's OneVale programme has, at its heart, a contact centre, which has already been established and is dealing with a number of service areas.

 

The contact centre, Contact OneVale, will help simplify access to all council services and help resolve enquiries more efficiently than ever before. It is expected that a single contact number will be introduced early in 2008.

 

The programme further envisages the setting up of a series of one-stop shops for the public in libraries across the Vale.

 

Reviewing the progress to date, the Audit Office refers to "significant efficiency savings" that have already been achieved and "many examples of good practice" in terms of project management.

 

OneVale Programme Director Huw Isaac said: "The challenging OneVale programme is much more than opening a contact centre, it’s about looking in depth at the way we work, and how we buy products and services and store and share information.

 

"The council commissioned the Audit Office review to seek an independent assessment of whether OneVale was achieving its objectives and making the savings it set out to deliver, and we are delighted that it is extremely positive.

 

"This bodes well for the future of OneVale, which is still in a comparatively early stage. As it is rolled out, we will ensure that it is managed with the same rigour.

 

"As part of the programme, the council is also updating and improving its wide range of practices and systems and this will continue to deliver significant efficiency savings.

 

"The aim is for a radical transition from a council run along broadly traditional lines to one which can achieve excellence in service delivery and customer focus, and to step up from being one of the best performing councils in Wales to one of the best in Britain."


27/07/2007