The new service, which launches with an initial workshop on 17 September, will help councils identify the costs of providing access to services through their web, phone and face-to-face channels. In doing so it will also enable them to see whether their ‘costs-to-serve’ are in line with those experienced by other, similar, councils, and to assess whether active channel management – for example encouraging customers to ‘self-serve’ via the web – could save them money. As such it will allow councils to realise benefits from NI 14 activity to support their efficiency, transformation and customer services agendas. Further information on the Channel Value Benchmarking Service and how to subscribe is available on this website.