A quarter of councils have no strategic plan to bring services online - report
Three-quarters of councils believe lack of IT investment is undermining service delivery
One in four (24 per cent) local government organisations has no strategic plan to bring services online, according to a survey of IT decision makers in local government by IT services provider Eduserv, a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity.
Despite the local government services not being covered under the government's Digital by Default strategy, many local authorities such as Camden Council are attempting to save money and improve services through their own digital strategies.
Eduserv's research did show that local authorities supported the use of IT to improve and deliver services (79 per cent), however, over three-quarters (77 per cent) of those responsible for delivering services said that a shortfall in investment is making it hard to do their job properly.
Andrew Hawkins, Eduserv's local government director, suggested that councils were playing catch-up in delivering services that meet the expectations of digital users.
"While it is disappointing that so many councils feel their current services are being undermined by a lack of investment in IT, it's encouraging that they recognise this and want to use IT to improve future service delivery," he said.
Less than half of the councils surveyed (48 per cent) felt that the focus of IT should be on cutting costs, and Hawkins believes this is encouraging.
"While in many cases moving services online or to the cloud can have financial benefits for the organisation, it is important that this isn't the key driver - the main priority should be on improving services for residents," he said.
"Most councils seem to recognise this and now is the time for council leaders to deploy greater resources for an effective strategy to deliver the changes needed," he added.