Cornwall Council in £27m switch to online services

Logging in for more council services was approved by the authority's Cabinet

Cornwall Council is pressing ahead with a £27m plan to put more services online.

There were a "number of interactions in this council where there is no need for personal involvement", said Richard Pears, cabinet member for customers.

But people would still be able to come into an office and meet staff if required, he added.

The Digital Future Strategy, approved by the cabinet, will include a business partner to lead the programme.

However, some councillors highlighted the council's previous attempt to form a joint venture with BT, which failed and ended in a legal dispute.

Cabinet member David Harris said the council "could not afford" any missteps with the level of investment required, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) reported.

Mr Pears said: "This is about using the technology that we have, it is very, very different."

He told councillors that Cornwall's tech sector would grow "faster than anywhere else in the South West".

He said: "We could be the UK's silicon valley, this is what we want for Cornwall and we must play our part.

"We are the largest employer in the county, if we don't show we are leading on this, how can we expect anyone else to?"

Councillor Tim Dwelly said the council had recently removed a lot of telephone contact numbers from its website.

And that while councillors were able to contact officers directly, this was not easy for members of the public.

Mr Pears said the council had "got rid" of its analogue phone system for staff.

This made sense as staff were no longer sat at their desks "waiting for the phone to ring", with more staff working from home as well as in council offices.