Watch the event on the LGA webcast player.

Social Media Apprentice Mulenga Kasoma introduced us to Central London Connection’s project IAG Mobile. They are using smartphone apps as a solution to the problem with young people losing interest in paper based material in the hunt for jobs. This will provide access to support including advice on CVs and interview skills and information on jobs and training in the area.

Looking Local’s Guy Giles demonstrated the range of services available on iPhone apps – impressively demonstrated on screenin. The main project that was funded through the customer led transformation programme was around helping young peiople to ‘kickstart their careers’, but he also showed how Looking Local’s apps can provide an easy way to report anti social behaviour.

Plymouth City Council explained how they have used customer insight to reduce ASB in an area with a high student population. By using ASB data from council and police sources and the findings of household surveys the council has produced heat maps of the type and frequency of ASB incidents. The heat maps have been used by the project’s steering group to identify appropriate interventions to reduce ASB related incidents.

LB Lambeth set out how with partners they are using customer insight to improve services for women who have been a victim of violence and to increase reporting and conviction rates. Over 200 women have engaged in the programme and the world cafe method of engagement has been particularly successful in encouraging women to share their experience of accessing public services.

The session was well attended and started with Kirklees demonstrating their mobile phone solution which has been developed to cut the number of 16 to 18 year olds not in employment, education, or training by 30%. The key to Kirklees Looking Local project has been listening to the needs of young people and involving them in the design of three phone apps: Job Centre plus, Doit.org and the local careers database. The use of smart phone technology has prompted young people to access employment and voluntary opportunities in much greater numbers than more traditional means.

Kensington and Chelsea then shared their experiences of using customer insight to understand incapacity benefit claimants. This was a group that had not previously accessed emplyment services and the project aims to simplify employment services across a sub-region. Key barriers to employment such as access to childcare, not wanting to go to JobCentre Plus, data sharing and duplication of activity across partners have been identified so far through the project.

With both the Lichfield and Central Bedfordshire projects, though their local and regional partners recognised the importance of supporting their businesses, after starting their projects, they quickly realized that in reality, they know relatively little about them.

With businesses of all shapes and sizes, starting (and failing) on a regular basis (an estimated 20% churn rate every year), how do you find out where they are based, what services could help them and why the current range of services has such a low take up rate?

As Rita Booth, Strategic Director at Lichfield District Council explained, their research also identified that the local council was one of the last ports of call for businesses needing advice and support and even worse, it was considered to be the least helpful! Lichfield’s project has focussed on developing robust data on which to provide a more co-ordinated approach to business engagement, ensuring that it is in a position to support the large employers of tomorrow.

For Central Bedfordshire and Helen Shore, the Head of Business Investment & Marketing, the challenge is how to support businesses in reaching a target of 27,000 new jobs within the area. With research showing that many businesses (61%) see the council as poor in terms of business engagement, how could a new authority turn that around? Whilst encountering similar issues to Lichfield in terms of data, Central Bedfordshire has focussed on redesigning their service offer and ensuring that the those officers in contact with businesses, including planning, licensing and business rates, are multiskilled and aware of the support options from across the public sector that are available to businesses. For Helen, promoting and marketing a clear offer to businesses is the critical starting point.

What Lichfield and Central Bedforshire have demonstrated is that the ‘customer intelligence’ on local businesses is significantly behind that of local residents and that businesses are unclear of what the support offer is. However, they also show that there are opportunities for local authorities to ‘pick and mix’ their own approach to supporting local businesses and growing the local economy!