Productivity Plan update - March 2026

2) How we plan to take advantage of technology and make better use of data to improve decision making, service design and use of resource

The council’s digital transformation programme enhances digital capability and modernises our core platforms, with a clear focus on delivering more accessible, efficient and resilient services, and is informed by user insight, data, and national best practice, supporting improved decision making across the organisation.

Integrating our Customer Experience and Digital Strategies alongside a focus on innovation, will support the creation of seamless, modern services designed around customer needs bringing together user insights, data and technology. A new CRM system has been introduced to streamline customer interactions, centralise information, and support more data‑driven decision‑making.

The transition to a modern telephony solution integrated with Microsoft Teams, enables seamless communication across multiple channels, including SMS, social media, telephone, and email. This upgrade will streamline customer interactions, enhance the overall resident experience, and provide opportunities for real-time feedback to continuously improve service delivery.

We have reviewed and modernised our webforms for requesting assets and services. The updated forms support secure payments and allow residents to upload documents or images as evidence, while seamless CRM integration automatically creates and routes cases to the appropriate teams, reducing processing time and improving overall user experience.

The council has modernised its Geographic Information System (GIS) and street‑cleaning operations by replacing paper-based processes with an integrated, mobile‑first ESRI platform. Service requests from residents and the Contact Centre now feed directly into GIS, allowing operatives to manage tasks in real time, capture photos and provide immediate updates. GIS has evolved from static maps to an interactive suite of web apps, dashboards and story maps, making spatial data more accessible and useful for staff and the public. These improvements have increased efficiency, strengthened transparency and enabled faster, more reliable services for residents. The council is also exploring how to modernise and digitise local plan engagement using GIS and other technology.

The new Financial Planning Analysis (FPA) system that has been introduced and a financial services team restructure has strengthened financial management support, enabling improved forecasting, monitoring, planning, and reporting capabilities and clearer budget analysis for in year and longer-term revenue budget and capital forecasting.

The council is eager to embrace innovation and keep track of new technological advancements. A newly implemented AI policy sets out how AI should be used within the council and we are exploring how AI can further improve efficiency through automation, smarter reporting and resident engagement while maintaining strong safeguards and cyber-security.

Cyber security has been a key priority for the council, with a strong focus on building a resilient, well‑governed digital environment that protects the organisation while supporting efficient operations. This work has centred on strengthening security frameworks, reinforcing governance arrangements and maintaining continuous assurance to reduce operational and cyber risks. This ensures that the data we rely on is protected, robust and secure.

3) Our plans to reduce any wasteful spend within our organisation and systems

We utilise a robust budget setting and monitoring process guided by our Council Plan priorities through our priority-based budget approach. This includes detailed budget reviews and challenge to identify spending and services that could be reduced, refocused or are no longer required. The new Enterprise Resource Programme (ERP) has both improved financial reporting and streamlined processes across Finance, Payroll and HR systems.

Through our continuous improvement function, we systematically review services, analyse performance, redesign processes, and drive efficiency, customer experience, compliance, and digital transformation across the organisation. This ensures that resources are used effectively, duplication is removed, and investment is focused where it delivers the greatest value. Planning and budgeting in this way means that funding is focused on what we are trying to achieve, the impact on our customers and making services more effective.

The council keeps its office space under review, investing where necessary but also seeking improved efficiency, reduced costs and a lower carbon footprint. The council has cut vehicle emissions from bin lorries by up to 98% by switching from diesel to a low carbon biofuel. An additional £22,000 has been spent on services instead of energy bills thanks to solar panels on our buildings that have generated enough zero-emission electricity to earn £15,000 and cut bills by £7,000. The council has commenced a project to install solar panels across community centres to save money on energy bills and cut carbon.

The council seeks opportunities for economies of scale and efficiency by delivering services in an innovative way, for example, through shared licensing service with Hart District Council, and the Joint Waste Contract with Hart for waste collection across both council areas. Contracts are managed through agreed governance boards, operational and management performance and subject to formal contract controls and KPIs to ensure expected benefits are delivered.

Our community safety partnership, the Safer North Hampshire Community Safety Partnership, is shared with Hart District Council and Rushmoor Borough Council, underpinned by strong collaborative working across the councils with a joint crime and disorder overview and scrutiny committee, shared intelligence and collaborative priority setting across Integrated Care Board, local authority and constabulary borders.