Kent County Council has eliminated paper-based processing of permit applications and increased renewal rates to 38%.
The local authority like many other councils across the UK has the challenge of providing residents and business owners with a solution to apply for and manage their permit and licence applications. The council processed on average over 5000 applications each year using a mixture of paper-based and online forms. Council staff managed applications primarily via three separate spreadsheets, relying on staff from multiple council departments to update and manage them. Application information was often difficult to find as it required manual cross-referencing and gave no ability to see the status of a licence when carrying out inspections.
A spokesperson for Kent County Council said: “Prior to StarGo being introduced, processing licences via email and post and inputting data onto spreadsheets was time-consuming and antiquated.”
A single solution was needed to consolidate these council services to solve these processing issues. The main objectives of the project were to:
- Replace paper-based licence applications with a digital system
- Move cash collection to the point an application was made
- Allow customers to access their account to apply/renew licences 24 hours a day 7 days a week
- Increase revenue from highway licensing
- Have a complete end to end software solution for managing highways licences
Kent County Council invested in StarGo, a cloud-based end-to-end permit and licensing solution from StarTraq. Already a huge success in Cardiff County Council, where they managed to achieve a 42% revenue increase within the first year, StarGo offers a single solution to digitise the application, management and payment of a permit and licence application. StarGo is made up of three main components: an online customer portal to apply, manage and pay for licence applications, a comprehensive back-office to manage applications and a mobile application so Inspectors can check the validity of a permit whilst out in the field via their smartphone or tablet. All licence information is uploaded via an API to the DfT Street Manager system.
The KCC spokesperson added: “Since implementing StarGo we have been delighted with the results we have achieved so far. With all the information now in one system, managing and approving applications is easier than ever and has improved staff efficiency and revenues dramatically.”
To find out more about the StarGo solution please visit www.startraq.com or contact the team on 01295 273 000 or sales@startraq.com.