RESIDENTS wishing to get in touch with Thurrock Council could soon find themselves speaking to a machine.

The Conservative-run administration's cabinet has approved finding a contractor to provide a voice automation system to deal with residents' queries.

The technology enables machines to understand and respond to human voice commands.

Cabinet members were told it will vastly improve the current system which result in residents spending long spells trying to get through to the council to no avail.

The council says staff will still be on hand to deal with involved issues. It is not clear how many staff might lose their jobs but a report to cabinet said "one-off redundancy costs incurred as a result of implementing the business case plans and subsequent release of staff will be met from the transformation budget."

The scheme is part of a £1.125 million budget reduction target to be met by 2026/27.

Speaking the cabinet meet Cllr Deborah Arnold, councillor responsible for transformational change, communications and governance, said: "The voice operated software we are all likely to be familiar with as many companies like banks and utility suppliers operate this way for us to pay our bills for example.

"These are not complex systems and to be honest I'd say the council is a bit behind the curve in using them.

"The more complex part of this project is the customer relationship management system. The council currently has more than 300 pathways for residents to battle through to get resolution of a query, often having to knock on several doors and keep repeating themselves until they find the right one.

"This system will slimline that experience and aim to get residents to the right door first time."

Cabinet member Cllr Adam Carter backed the scheme, saying: "I welcome this streamlining. Only within the last week I've dealt with a resident whose tried to call a particular department and they haven't been able to get through for an hour-and-a-half.

"They've had to go elsewhere. They should have been getting a resolution to their query straight away so I'm can only welcome this."

A report to cabinet said: "Voice automation is a technology that understand, process and respond to human language – whether spoken or typed and is tried and tested across councils, and the wider public and private sector.

" Customer Relationship Management software allows processes to be streamlined and better management of relationships with residents throughout their entire interaction with the Council."