Bexley Council's communication strategy is set to be reviewed, following a recent meeting of the Finance & Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
During the meeting, Councillor Nicola Taylor proposed that the council's communication strategy be added to the committee's work programme. This suggestion was accepted and will be considered for future discussion.
Concerns were raised about ensuring that increased digital services do not reduce support for elderly residents or those less digitally included. Councillor David Leaf, Leader and Cabinet Member for Resources and Transformation, emphasised a nuanced approach, ensuring appropriate and sufficient channels of communication for people to meet their needs.
He highlighted engagement with specific communities, such as the deaf community, to ensure strategies and services take into account people with particular needs, which may be quite bespoke and niche, but incredibly important for some of the most vulnerable people in our borough.
Councillor Leaf assured members that face-to-face services would be maintained and that the community hub model would offer further support. Councillor Newton added that we don't want to make sure people are left behind
and that the council engages with groups like Age UK to refine services. Councillor Taylor expressed gratitude for the consideration of residents who do not use digital means, particularly in relation to services for vulnerable people, and suggested the possibility of establishing call hubs
across the borough for vulnerable residents.
The council is enhancing automation and navigation and improving its website to make it easier for residents to find information online. This includes the potential for AI-enabled web chat functionality for selected services and the migration to new telephony platforms. The agenda for the meeting can be found here, and the public reports pack is available here.
