Success for South Dublin County Council at Chambers Ireland 9th Annual Excellence in Local Governmen

09/11/2012

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Success for South Dublin County Council at Chambers Ireland 9^th Annual Excellence in Local Government Awards

South Dublin County Council won top honours in two categories at the Chambers Ireland 9th Annual Excellence in Local Government Awards which were held in Dublin last night. In accepting the awards, the Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Cllr. Cathal King commented “I am delighted that South Dublin County Council’s ongoing efforts to improve the quality of life for our residents and communities   have been recognised with these prestigious awards”

South Dublin County Council was successful in the following categories:

 Best Library Service

·South Dublin County Library Service – ‘Ready2Read’ – Promoting Early Literacy Development

 Outstanding Customer Service

· South Dublin County Council – Choice Based Letting Scheme – Empowering the Customer

County Manager, Philomena Poole said “I would like to acknowledge all those involved in these initiatives for their innovation and commitment to customer service excellence. Both these projects reflect the elected and staff member’s commitment to pushing the boundaries and delivering real citizen centred services using creative thinking and modern technology”.

Note to Editor- Background Information

Best Library Service

South Dublin County Library Service – ‘Ready2Read’ – Promoting Early Literacy Development

The Ready2Read project, developed and delivered by South Dublin Libraries,  involves hands-on training for parents in helping their children develop pre-literacy skills which prepare them for formal learning in school and which also underpin their journey to becoming independent readers. Pre-Literacy or early literacy encompasses those elements which children need to absorb about reading and writing before they can actually read and write themselves. Learning is accomplished through fun workshops which involve reading, nursery rhymes, songs, a group activity and a series of practical tips to demonstrate each of the pre literacy skills.

The Ready2Read programme was developed in October 2011 by Librarian Barbara Coughlan, and piloted with three and four year olds and their parents in two selected pre-schools in Whitechurch and Kiltipper and in Clondalkin Library. The County Childcare Committee was approached and immediately came on board as supporters of the project. Parents and children enthusiastically embraced the sessions with 100% attendance at each session. Experience gained during the pilot phase led to the programme being delivered in one hour per week over four weeks with the last training session held in the local library where parents and their children join the library and begin using the library service.

Following the success of the pilot phase and the positive feedback from parents and crèche workers, it was decided in conjunction with the County Childcare Committee to offer the programme to all crèches and pre-schools in the South Dublin area. Training materials were prepared and training videos demonstrating each of the skills were developed.

In order to speed up the rollout of the programme and to ensure its ongoing sustainability, training is being cascaded to all South Dublin childcare workers and to library staff working with young children so that they in turn can enrich their work through delivering the programme themselves. They can also train others in its delivery. In addition, the South Dublin mobile library service now supports the programme, visiting crèches and pre school facilities with block loans and holding storytelling sessions.

Outstanding Customer Service

South Dublin County Council – Choice Based Letting Scheme – Empowering the Customer

The Choice Based Letting Scheme is a new on-line allocation approach first introduced in the country by South Dublin County Council which empowers the housing applicant to make decisions over where they live and tenure choice.  Consequently, it has lead to more sustainable communities particularly in low demand areas and also the more effective use of social housing properties. Since the introduction of the scheme in November 2011, 7890 applicants have expressed interest in the 106 properties (Council, Voluntary and Leased) advertised on the Councils Website under this scheme.  This website advertised all the housing options available to the housing applicant - voluntary housing, private properties leased by the council and the council owned properties - on a week to week basis in accordance with the Councils adopted Allocations Scheme.  This new approach allows the applicant time to make a considered decision to bid for the property of their choice to meet their needs. 

South Dublin County Council has a citizen charter which aims at serving the customer better by “providing choice, where feasible, in service delivery including payment methods, location of contact points, opening hours and delivery times. In meeting this objective, South Dublin County Council uses available and emerging technologies to increase choices for customers.

This scheme empowers the Housing applicant to make their choice of property and tenure, as opposed to the traditional approach.  It also eliminates the likelihood of an applicant being penalized for refusing offers as they have the information and time to consider their options.

The positive impact on the Community is particularly evident in the more “hard to let areas” by significantly reducing re-let times, in terms of eliminating the adverse affects of long-term void properties which commonly attract anti-social behaviour, littering and vandalism.     

This scheme has also addressed issues experienced by the Housing Administration within the Council and Voluntary Housing Associations.  The traditional system was perceived as bureaucratic and based on offer rather than CHOICE.  The council had a hard to let property vacant for 16 months under the traditional scheme but when advertised on Choice Based Letting Scheme – it was tenanted within one month. 

The Local library services serve as an IT gateway for free internet services.  In this way, it was an opportunity to showcase the significant investment made by the Council and services available within the library service and consequently increase library membership as well as considering the Digital Divide. 

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