UK council websites flopping

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Most councils are doing a poor job at managing their websites to adequately serve the public, a report from the Society of IT Management (Socitm) has indicated.

Only nine of all UK councils - two per cent - managed to gain Socitm's top four-star score for the quality of their websites, representing a decrease from last year’s figure of 11.

There was a whopping 106 one star sites, although this was an improvement from 116 in 2010.

Furthermore, Socitm said there were 187 two star sites and 131 three star websites.

Over a fifth of visits to council websites in 2010 were a complete waste of time, the report found.

In geographical terms, London boroughs were the best performers, with East Midlands councils doing the worst in managing their websites.

“What we’re saying is that the top management in councils still don’t get the web,” Vicky Sargent, author of the Socitm report, told IT PRO.

“When you look at the web in isolation from other things, it’s been easy for councils to disregard websites.”

Despite the figures, satisfaction with visiting council websites increased by seven per cent and there had been some positive moves from local authorities.

Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council claimed it would achieve £1 million savings solely through improvements at first contact stage, Sargent revealed.

As part of Government cutbacks, councils across the UK will see their budgets slashed, but Sargent said improving websites and updating technology should help save funds in the long-term.

“What we’re talking about is for longer-term investments that will save money,” she added.

Despite cuts, some councils would have enough money to make such investments, Sargent insisted, stressing local authorities needed to look at their whole communications set up to improve customer service, not just websites.

“The web is no longer about technology. It is about delivering lower cost services designed around the user,” added Socitm president Jos Creese.

“Any public service organisation, therefore, which is not fully integrating the potential of web delivery in financial and customer service strategies is likely to be under-performing in both areas.”

Councils will also want to ensure they are looking after citizens' data as well.

Two local authorities were recently fined a total of £150,000 for breaching the Data Protection Act.

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