Councils let digital delivery standards slip

Socitm reports highlights poor online service from many local councils

Local councils are still failing to embrace digital delivery as a cheaper, faster and more convenient method of providing services, according to public sector IT group Socitm.

Fewer councils achieved Socitm's top rating for their web sites in 2010 than the previous year, while nearly one in five visits to council sites ended in failure, Socitm reports.

"Any public service organisation that is not fully integrating the potential of web delivery in financial and customer service strategies is likely to be under-performing in both areas," said Jos Creese, president of Socitm.

Nevertheless, there had been areas of modest improvements.

The number of council web sites achieving a three-star rating was up from 106 to 131, and there was a slight increase in overall customer satisfaction, Socitm reported.

But overall Socitm said that 68 per cent of councils failed to achieve more than two stars, indicating that insufficient attention was being given to web delivery.

"At a time when government is seeking to make online access to public services the default channel, it is more important than ever that the need of consumers be placed at the heart of this process. That means starting from what works for consumers, rather than what works for providers," said Christine Farnish, chair of campaign group Consumer Focus, who wrote the report's introduction.

Socitm's Better Connected 2011 is based on analysis of 433 council web sites, focusing on aspects such as leisure, business, council tax and social care services. The site reviewers rate the sites on the basis of tests, based on usability tools from the RNIB, technical benchmarking tools from SiteMorse and several other metrics to analyse the councils' online capabilities.