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.