Council uses social media to interact with residents » Local Government » 24dash.com

Barnet Council is entering the world of social media as part of efforts to modernise the way it works and better connect with residents.

The council now has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Friendfeed, as well as its own YouTube channel, which are being used to invite comments from residents, and provide a platform for people to raise issues with their local areas. The council is keen to start having online two-way conversations with residents that will be able to make a real difference to the areas in which they live.

At the same time, moves to modernise the day-to-day working methods of council staff are going from strength to strength.

Ongoing investment in IT infrastructure which commenced in 2005 has now enabled the council to make hundreds of officers more flexible and mobile, through the Modernising the Way We Work (MWW) programme. Increased efficiency has been achieved through MWW, which has formed part of a change programme which has seen the council deliver over £60 million of savings in the last four years.

The next stage is a large-scale rollout of 'tablet' PCs for officers. Around 350 have already been provided to staff to enable mobile working, and a further 1,400 will be distributed over the next 12 months.

Handheld technology has been provided to many street-based staff  while the introduction of Citrix technology has enabled 1,456 office-based staff to access council systems from their home computers, enabling home working and a more flexible and responsive service for customers.

Councillor Mike Freer, Leader of the Council, said: "Barnet has been a trailblazer in the introduction of new technology to modernise the way we work, and this innovation and creativity is essential in the rapidly changing, technology-led world in which we live.

"Our increased online presence is key in an environment which sees millions of people communicating with each other through social media and I hope many of our residents choose to interact with us through these platforms. We intend to use this presence to create a real two-way conversation with residents that enhances the services we provide."