Councils struggle towards egovernment targets

Most local authorities expect to meet government targets for web-based public services but much of the work is rudimentary, slow and lacking direction, according to two reports.

An Audit Commission report and the annual survey of local government user group Socitm both reveal concerns about progress towards the 2005 deadline.

The Commission says 78 per cent of councils will have all services delivered electronically on time.

But it says most have only just started the process with more than half of the necessary work started in the last year.

Many local authority egovernment champions complain of understaffing and difficulties in changing a conservative culture.

'The biggest challenge is to move from talk to action,' according to one head of IT.

'Perhaps the greatest risk is that technology will be sidelined as many do not understand its potential and the benefits that it can bring,' said the report.

The Commission also says accountability is unclear in some projects: 'We found a lack of clear activity and outcome measures - only 5 per cent of councils cited local targets being used to measure success.'

Some 40 per cent of council chief executives think the egovernment agenda is too broad to tackle alone and 61 per cent think it is too costly.

'There is a huge gap in understanding and knowledge about what people want and how things should be done. More research is needed on how to connect with people before we start trying to find solutions,' said one council official.

Peter Thomas, director of performance development for the Audit Commission said: 'Some councils are struggling to understand how egovernment fits with other priorities, and so for some it feels marginal to improving core services.'

One third of projects are focussed on developing websites but only four councils can boast genuinely transactional services, says Socitm's report 'Better Connected 2002.'

'Many authorities have been busy in adding transactions to their sites but this does not make them "transactional" and therefore in our view, fit for egovernment,' said Socitm's Martin Greenwood.

Only 41 per cent of sites receiving queries by email actually responded, compared to last year's figure of 60 per cent. Only 34 per cent of local authorities replied within 10 days, down from 53 per cent last year.

'The report provides clear evidence that the overall rate of improvement has not yet accelerated,' said Greenwood. 'If anything it has slowed down from last year.'

Socitm found the best sites were as good as any in the private sector. Westminster City, Camden, Tameside and Hertfordshire County Council were rated as the top local authority web sites.

E-envoy Andrew Pinder said: 'It is encouraging that the best local authority websites now perform as well as the best private sector sites. But we still have a long way to go. Local authorities need to redouble efforts to meet customer expectations.'