Trading Standards Teams Reap the Benefits of Specialized Case Management Software
Local council teams are being challenged to reduce costs whilst the newest Audit Commission report* urges departments to act immediately to “minimize the impact on front line services”. With these additional pressures Trading Standards teams are already taking on board larger volumes of inspections, visits, duties and inquiries than ever due to the Consumer Protection Act 2008, meaning they are highly likely to find cost reduction difficult.
It is not all bad news, expertise is available to help councils through this challenging period. Many council teams are turning to computer software in the search to save money and reform client service. There is now up-to
-date case management software (with optional Time Recording), which has been produced to save on bills whilst amending service delivery. A few IT firms have produced up to 20% capacity gains and this allows Trading Standards teams to:
Deal with a heavier workload – paper work is automatically populated with frequently used info for example: trader names, addresses and individual document numbers. Together with a shared database of customized document templates, administrative work is kept to a minimum, allowing professionals to manage front-line work.
Respond more quickly to new issues and inquiries - secure sharing of documents such as inspection reports, notification letters, emails, contacts database and calendar helps to improve responsiveness and resilience, never mind who is in the office. An sophisticated search facility lets staff to pinpoint vital information in a speedier fashion.
Quickly update and distribute advisory information – one, centralized library for standard advisory documents enables quick implementation of changes in accordance with updated legislation and distribution with the least possible administrative work.
Stay on top of key dates – integrated diary management ensures that key events such as visits, notifications and key enforcement aren’t overlooked, even if staff members are absent suddenly. Support off-site working – secure remote access to central files means that team members have access to appropriate information at the touch of a button no matter where they are.
Understand your personels’ workload – manage balancing work with decision taking with the help of detailed management reports, which also deliver important information when reporting to performance managers, other departments or external organizations.
Specialist local council case management systems have helped many pressurized teams to manage heavy workloads at the same time improving responsiveness, governing threats and risks and reducing stress.
View a Case Study about case management systems
*Surviving the Crunch: Local finances in the recession and beyond, Local Government report, March 2010