Government websites lack quality

gallery

Despite spending £208 million on websites each year, government websites remain text heavy and hard to navigate, a National Audit Office (NAO) report has found.

Site traffic has risen since the last report in 2002, but quality has improved only slightly, the report found.

"Progress has been made by departments and agencies in getting more information on the web," said the head of NAO Sir John Bourn. "When I last reported on this subject in 2002 I reported weaknesses in information across government on the cost and usage of its websites. Today's report highlights that little improvement has been made in these areas."

The study found that a third of departments and agencies have little knowledge about how much their online services cost them, and a majority of departments have little information on web traffic.

"Departments need to focus on understanding the cost effectiveness of their websites and who uses them and why, so that they can better meet the needs of citizens," said Bourn.

The NAO said the government should improve its research and collect better usage data in order design better websites. The report praised the efforts of Directgov and businesslink, saying they were streamlined, rational services.

According to the report, good sites save the government millions a year. The Financial Services Authority said its site saves the regulatory body some £9 million annually on administrative costs, while the Environment Agency said it cost them £66,000 a day when their site was down.

The report said the government made good progress toward meeting a goal of providing services in electronic form, helped by heavy investment of some £1 billion in e-government between 2000 and 2005. But it warned against focusing too heavily on web-delivery of services, as some two-fifths of the UK population have no internet access at home.

Email to a friend

Print this page