WIGAN Council is celebrating after winning its second 2016 Digital Council of the Year award.

It added the national Digital Leaders 100 Award title to its Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Award success at a packed London Hilton hotel on Wednesday.

Crowned the leading council in the country for delivering services digitally and promoting the huge opportunities that digital technology can bring to residents and businesses, it overcame tough competition from Edinburgh, Birmingham and Leeds city councils and six other local authorities.

With the award winners decided by an online public vote, along with expert judges’ opinions, the council won for its pioneering digital strategy which aims to make the borough a truly digital borough by 2020.

This strategy focuses on a wide range of ways to harness the power of digital technology for the benefit of the borough, improve customer services for residents and play a significant contribution to the £60 million savings the council has to make over the next four years.

This includes increasing digital connectivity to boost digital business, grow digital skills and tackle digital exclusion so that residents can have increased life opportunities.

Alison McKenzie-Folan, the council’s deputy chief executive, said: “This national award is testament to the exceptional work on the digital agenda that has been achieved.

“Along with our partners in the private and public sector and the wider community, the council recognised early on the power digital has to improve the potential and growth of the borough and transform the way we deliver public services.

“We have embedded the digital agenda in everything we do.

“This has not only improved customer satisfaction and self-reliance, through MyAccount, but will play a significant part in saving taxpayers money and meeting our budget targets.

“Digital plays a central role to The Deal and we will build on the great work so far on the digital strategy until we become a truly digital borough.”

The council’s emphasis on digital technology has transformed the way residents access council services, with more than one in five residents now using the MyAccount online self-service portal.

This can be used to access council services such as council tax, benefits, housing rents, registrars, waste services and environmental reporting.

New applications such as the Report It app have also enabled residents to report environmental issues quickly and easily online or through their smartphones.

This saves the council money, with digital channels being faster and cheaper to run than telephone-based customer services.

The council has also put a lot of emphasis on partnership working with digital champions, including Joining Communities, Wigan STEAM, Abram Ward Community Cooperative, as well as a wide range of community groups, charities and private sector organisations.

People of all ages and backgrounds have learned new digital skills through Get Online training courses delivered across libraries, resulting in 98 per cent of learners using their new skills.

So far 8,165 residents have accessed these courses.

The council has also pioneered more complex areas of data sharing to ensure that services are being delivered in a joined-up way with health partners.

This has been particularly successful in working with people in the borough who have most involvement with public services.

For example a project which helps public sector partners work more effectively together by sharing digital information when dealing with troubled families and people with complex dependencies is benefiting from the approach.

An initial £500,000 has also been committed for digital projects across communities, schools and businesses.

More than 500 digital pioneers and influencers from both the public, private and non-profit sectors attended the Digital Leaders 100 Awards ceremony