Written by Kevin Rowe, Head of Digital Development, Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) Service, Luton Council
Image showing the Luton 2040 logo Luton Council logo and the Luton CARES values logo. CARES represents our values: Collaborative, Ambitious, Respectful, Empowering and Supportive.
At the end of my last update, I said I’d come back to how the platform we’re building supports the Luton 2040 vision.
Read about our vision – that, by 2040, Luton will be a healthy, fair and sustainable town where everyone can thrive, and no one lives in poverty.
At its core, this work is about making services easier to access and easier for us to deliver in a more joined-up way.
The new digital platform is made up of two parts working together:
- the website on LocalGov Drupal (LGD)
- transactional services through Netcall’s Liberty Create
The website gives people a clear way in and Liberty Create handles what happens next:
- raising requests
- managing cases
- supporting the service journey
- giving us better data to learn from
That combination lets us design around people’s needs, rather than how our systems are set up internally.
How this supports Luton 2040
The Luton 2040 vision is built around a small number of shared priorities.
What we’re building only matters if it helps deliver those priorities in practice.
Population wellbeing
This is where we can use the platform to do more than process transactions.
We’re using data to identify those most in need across the borough, and the platform gives us a way to engage with them in a more proactive and meaningful way.
At the same time, we’re building towards a more complete view of the resident. Starting with complaints, the aim is to give the contact centre better visibility so they can understand context and respond more effectively – but without the burden on the resident of having to create and maintain an ‘account’ with the council.
As more services move across, that picture builds. Instead of siloed interactions, we begin to understand the wider need, by pulling data from individual services as and when required.
Child-friendly town
For families, the challenge is often navigating multiple services that don’t feel connected.
By moving services into a common platform with consistent patterns and clearer journeys, we reduce that fragmentation.
As we expand further into front door and enquiry services, the aim is to make interactions feel joined up rather than service by service, easing the burden on the user.
Net zero town
There’s a direct link here to the services we’re bringing into the platform.
As we move residential waste and street-related services across, we’re improving how issues are reported and resolved. Missed bins, bulky waste and street problems are easier to report and track, and clearer case handling should mean quicker resolution.
Alongside that, moving to digital processes reduces paper and avoids unnecessary travel.
We will need to keep an eye on our use of AI technology though as, while it can help make services more efficient, we’re aware of the climate impact of all those servers!
Empowered community
This is where the change becomes more visible day to day.
As we build out general enquiries and our digital front door, we’re giving residents clearer ways to get in touch, whether that’s through self-service or supported contact.
We’re also building a better picture of demand. Not just what people are asking for, but the patterns behind it. That work will be done jointly with the data team so:
- services can respond more effectively
- residents have a clearer voice in how things improve
It also creates the intriguing opportunity of identifying unmet demand that the council might not be best-placed to meet. In which case, our data can help inform what opportunities there are for community and volunteer organisations and social enterprises to fill the gaps in the future.
Inclusive economy
This is the priority that our work probably has the least impact on. But having said that, reducing friction in how people access services is a big part of enabling participation.
As we move services like complaints, FOI, SARs and member enquiries into the platform, people don’t need to work out who to contact or navigate different systems. They can just get things done.
Clearer entry points through the website, along with simpler transactions behind them, make it easier for residents and businesses to engage.
Building towards real services
What we’re doing is moving away from a mix of separate systems and into something more joined up over time.
We’ve started with the foundations, including the platform, core customer relationship management (CRM – more on what that actually means in a future post) capability and reusable templates.
From there, the pipeline brings services across in stages.
Early work focuses on casework and corporate processes, including:
- complaints
- FOIs
- SARs
- member enquiries
Then, to improve how everyday issues are reported and resolved, we move into operational services such as:
- residential waste
- street cleansing
- environmental work
Alongside that, we’re building out general enquiries and our digital front door. This will make it easier for:
- residents to access services in a consistent way
- us to action efficiently so requests do not drop into a black hole of a group email inbox
Each phase builds on the last, bringing more services across, more data and a more complete picture of resident need.
What this enables
With these pieces coming together, we’re starting to see how it will work in practice:
- cases are routed to the right teams
- staff can see what is happening
- managers can better understand demand and performance
Services are built in a consistent way rather than starting from scratch each time.
This is a change in how we work, not just the systems we use.
Looking ahead
As we prove the capabilities of the platform, more services will want to be part of it. The website and transactions will become more joined up. The data picture will continue to improve.
That’s what supports the longer-term ambition behind Luton 2040.
Progress in sprint 2
Alongside that longer-term direction, sprint 2 has also moved the platform forward in practical terms.
Achievements this sprint included the following:
- completed internal styling
- built a full working example of a CSA case-raising journey
- loaded employee and organisational data so cases can be allocated and reported on properly
- completed the first platform upgrade to version 2026.1, keeping us current and giving us access to the latest capabilities
With these foundations in place, we can start to move from setup into something that reflects real service delivery.
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