THE transition to the Publica group has shown early signs of success for the Coltswold District Council (CDC).

CDC along with Forest of Dean District Council, Cheltenham Borough Council and West Oxfordshire Council joined forces to create the Publica company aimed to help councils provide more efficient and effective services.

The partnership, which came into place in November 2017, was discussed at the council's meeting on Thursday March 15 and CDC members have felt the transformation to Publica has gone well so far.

Publica's 2018/19 business plan aims to do day job really well and make it easier for residents to contact councils. They're other objectives are to transform service delivery, develop publica people, exceed minimum business case financial targets and improve digital capabilities to enable customers to interact in best possible way.

It was also confirmed that the flexible benefit scheme will launch at the beginning of April.

A recent example of how the new system has benefited residents was during the heavy snowfall when the whole organisation was able to provide support for customers phoning in who were able to have their calls answered and dealt with which help when they were unable to get through to an individual council.