Forward Thinking

change management

We want our staff to be able to deliver the best possible service to the public. Over the next three years this will mean redirecting resources to front line services. To do this we want to reduce administration costs and use our network of Service Points as ‘one stop shops’ to answer 80% of customer enquiries. One of the ways this will be achieved is by using new technology to re-engineer the way we do things, enabling staff to spend time on what most needs doing rather than what we have always done.
 
The Council has recently reviewed the way it does its business at Headquarters and streamlined its committee structures. This will enable greater cross service working and further reduce duplication in ‘back office’ services such as finance and administration. We are committed to supporting staff to manage and deliver this exciting but challenging agenda.

digital highland

what is digital highland?
 
Digital Highland is one of the Council’s Modernising Government Projects. It aims to modernise the way the Council works and to improve public services in the Highlands. The project has the following goals:

• to improve customer satisfaction by increasing and improving customer access to Council services
• to provide more efficient public services
• to use information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve public services delivered by traditional methods, so that people who are unable or unwilling to use technology are not disadvantaged
• to ensure that Highland is well placed to benefit from the opportunities presented by ICT

sustainable development

Sustainable development is about ensuring a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. We are committed to translating action for sustainable development to the local level.  Critical to any approach to sustainable development are:

• The wise use of economic, human, natural and cultural resources
• A strong commitment to inclusive local decision making and democracy
• Joined up working that translates into a greater collective capacity

The Council met its target to produce a Local Agenda 21 Strategy by building sustainable development into the vision and strategy of the Community Plan for Highland and by establishing a Sustainable Development Select Committee which develops policy, proposes actions and scrutinises progress towards the goal of sustainable Highland communities.