Scotland’s Improvement Service has announced plans for changes in the management of the national entitlement card (NEC).
The agency, which supports local government in the country, said that its delivery partner for the scheme, Dundee City Council, is to run a fresh procurement for a database and software to support the supply and printing of the card and the management of records.
In addition, the Improvement Service is going to engage with local authority chief executives on issues including the use of a council logo on a card, simplifying the information displayed on the reverse and the role of paper based and digital applications.
The NEC is used by over 2.2 million Scottish residents for access to a range of services.
The plan for a refresh follows a review of the NEC scheme focused on reducing some complexities in how the card is used, and the fact that there are now more than 600 variations in design, dependent on the organisation that has issued the card and how it is used. This incorporates issues such as the information embedded in the electronic chip.
The agency said a number of possibilities to simplify and improve things will be explored through the procurement.
Tough times
“We recognise the extremely tough times being faced by local government and other public bodies as they respond to the current crisis which itself is very dynamic and fluid,” the Improvement Service said.
“We’ll ensure that we take forward this engagement around the NEC Scheme sensitively and sympathetically around these other pressing priorities.”
The plans was revealed shortly after the Improvement Service said it is planning to broaden the functions of its myaccount single sign-in system for public services.
Image by flickrtickr2009 from Wikimedia, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic
